Overview & Reviews

A relative newcomer to the American marketplace, Hyundai is a Korean automaker with a product line that has improved greatly over the past decade. Hyundai cars and SUVs provide a high level of content for an affordable price, and are currently backed by one of the industry's longest warranties.

In 1947, Chung Ju Yung founded the Hyundai Civil Engineering Company. Mere months later, the outfit was bombed in the Korean War. However, the company regained its footing to distinguish itself as one of Korea's leading construction enterprises during the 1950s.

By the late 1960s, Chung had turned his attention to the automobile industry. The Korean government at that time believed that it made more sense to import vehicles than produce them domestically, and had made its opinion known. Still, Chung opted to follow his own convictions, and in 1967, he founded the Hyundai Motor Company.

The company quickly established an alliance with one of the industry's oldest automakers, signing a two-year contract with Ford in 1968 to share assembly technology. Hyundai's first car, the Cortina, was created from that partnership. The manufacturer's first car to be designed and built in Korea was the compact Pony (although the car was based on Japanese technology courtesy of Mitsubishi). The vehicle made its debut in 1974, and the following year Hyundai began exporting it to overseas markets.

Hyundai entered the U.S. market in 1986 with the introduction of its subcompact Excel. The car was an immediate hit, with its supreme affordability being a primary selling point. More than 100,000 Excels were sold stateside in the first seven months. By 1988, Hyundai had begun to produce cars using its own technology. The midsize Sonata was the first fruit borne of this endeavor.

Unfortunately, Hyundai's nascent image was soon tarnished by the poor durability and reliability of its vehicles. Sales tanked. However, rather than abandon the American market in the '90s, Hyundai chose to invest heavily in new product designs and improvements in overall quality and reliability. In 1998, Hyundai also purchased Kia, another Korean automaker, to expand its business and economies of scale.

It all started to pay off by the start of the new millennium, with the 2001 Elantra in particular showing massive improvements in overall quality, reliability and performance. Other models followed suit and the desirability of Hyundai cars increased sharply. Providing an extraordinarily long warranty period didn't hurt either.

Today's lineup is indicative of Hyundai's complete turnaround. Hyundai has a vehicle for nearly every segment, including the economical Accent subcompact, the popular Elantra compact, the midsize Sonata sedan (also available as a hybrid), sporty Genesis and Veloster coupes and a couple of stylish SUVs. Hyundai has also expanded into the entry-level and premium-level luxury sedan markets with its Genesis and Equus sedans. Having gone from being the butt of late-night TV jokes in the 1980s to a well-respected manufacturer of quality vehicles, Hyundai has created a very inspiring rags-to-riches story.

User Reviews:

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  bad ride - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By not happy - January 17 - 6:16 am

  Bought my tucson in oct 2006. I checked reports. Wasn t happy after I bought it. I get 19 mpg. in town 17hgy. Seems like thats backward. After only 2000 miles I have had 11 tires replaced. Second day they turned the front roters they were warped. Service said tires were bad . The tucson shakes,wobbles at low speeds. Stering wheel vibrates bad. Service says nature of this to happen. I think it has to big of tires on it. Has 235/16/60. tire to wide.Service tech. said only way to change that is to drive it a while and trade it off. I think i will take his advice. I depended on J D Powers ranking when I bought my tucson. I was let down I am 50 years old. I buy new every 2-3 years . NOT HYUNAI.

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  Love the car, but not customer service - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By luvmysanta - December 17 - 10:00 am

  I love my car! For a great value, I got tons of stuff! People walk up to me in parking lots, and ask about it! Unfortunately, the customer service Ive encountered has bean really, really, REALLY bad! Theyve made it clear early on in my ownership, that if something does go wrong, they will not honor the warranty, or make any attempts to help the customer. I had a small concern, that I brought to their attention, and they just tried to sell me another car (requiring several thousand in cash), rather than fix the problem. Ive been trying to get the problem corrected since November of 2001, with no luck (its now April of 2003).

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  Poor Gas Mileage - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Mike - December 16 - 11:56 pm

  The highway/ city gas mileage has averaged 17 mpg over the course of 12 fill ups and a recent (3/2/07) highway fuel consumption test performed by the dealership revealed 16 mpg. Ive filed a complaint against Hyundai with the Better Business Bureau but Im looking to take this issue higher up. I drive the 06 GLS 3.7 liter V6.

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  Strange, drawn out problems - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Angela Tweet - December 4 - 10:00 am

  I loved Hyundai when I purchased my 2005 Santa Fe. The car was pretty amazing until spring of 10, when it started to show signs of overheating, without the thermostat going up. Lithia told me it was fine, and I drove it until it started stalling. I took it back in, paid for a new radiator (not under warranty after 60K), and dealt with either cracked radiators/ bubbling coolant or not having a vehicle for 3 months. They couldnt figure out what was wrong. Head gasket had to be replaced (under warranty) but since that had been what blew out the radiator, why didnt I get any refund? Or the more than $1k of equipment that they didnt seem to care was stolen from my car while they had it!

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  Turbo Terror - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By norman grajek - November 22 - 12:16 pm

  I recently leased a Tucson Limited. --This SUV looks nice from a stand still view. However the TURBO -CHARGER is a terror. When I try to get on a busy hi-speed highway and merge into traffic . the TURBO Charger -/engine all but stops. and I get left sitting in a hi-speed lane with NO POWER. This has happened several times both to MY WIFE and I. It has been back at the dealer for several days . no fix yet. Stay away from this vehicle

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  mr - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By paul bartels - November 4 - 6:00 pm

  Ride and handling are ok. Dont like the way trans shifts. Its too slow shifting, wastes gas doing so. You can get better performance by shifting manually. Brake pedal feels too soft.

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  I miss my Subaru! - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By PAMom - November 1 - 1:30 am

  I traded my 2002 Subaru in for this 2007 Sonata. I barely made 4 payments and now it sits. Was driving home with my children, thankfully I just got off the interstate when I lost complete power. With 4 snow banks along the roads I was lucky to get off the road. Bought a new battery, only for it to drain completely the next day. Bought an alternator, have been trying to replace for the past 4 days. This is the worse design I ever saw! Read on other blogs how Hyundais are noted for blown alternators because of valve gasket leaks shorting them out. Other Hyundais have been recalled but not the Sonata. I had to replace the alternator on my Subaru-took less than 15 minutes. As far a gas mileage I barely get 19 mpg city, 21 mpg highway. Very Poor. Dont know if I will ever get another. s

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  2017 Hyundai Elantra too much too little - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By gary knott - October 9 - 10:54 pm

  1. The raised center console gets in the way when shifting, and when just driving. 2. I dont want keyless doors and trunk, and there is no option for "manual". 3. The electronic odometer/etc. is too cluttered and mult-purpose. give me one spot for each function and minimize "cute" inscrutable" symbols. 4. Tire pressure sensors are great, but tell me the actual pressures when I "ask" to see them. 5. Ditto with engine coolant temp. give me the number in Farenheit. (You could add an oil temp output too.)

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  A mistake - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By dncb777 - September 15 - 7:00 am

  While very excited about my initial purchase based upon reviews, it was only a week later that creaks, squeaks and clunks began to appear. After three trips to the dealer the problems only seem to be growing, and are the kind of problems I do not expect adequate resolution to be forthcoming despite very good involvment from corporate. I suggest staying with Honda or Toyota. They cost more for a reason.

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  hyundai review frwn - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By wm nundahl - August 29 - 4:00 pm

  the vehicle is nice to drive , but the service and warranty mean nothing. i have had problems with there home office, the dealer itself and the way the handle their customers, if there is any warranty work to get done , seems they have to get hold of there service rep. and then you dont kmow when your going to here from them, you can complain all you want and bring warranty issues to thier attention and you might as well have been talking to the wall. i have had issues that have been on going and were resolved 6 mos. later-- do you call this customer service i dont. seems they are more concerned with thier bottom line, and they only seem to do whats nesc.