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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  Floating !!!! - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By noliman - February 21 - 12:15 am

  After many , many cars, domestic and abroad, I can tell you only this- FANTASTIC C A R ! Floating feeling, as plain, not ordinary car. BRAVO for Hyundai.

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  2006 Hyundai - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By James - February 20 - 11:09 pm

  This is my first new vehicle ever, and I plan to drive this for many years to come. Although I originally intended to purchase the 06 hatchback, it was only available in a manual which I wasnt looking forward to as I drive in a lot of stop-and-go traffic. The driving of the vehicle is fantastic and I have driven some vehicles that cost twice its amount that perform much less effectively. The Elantra has a peppy 4-cyl that proves that this world does not need to be dominated by 6-cyl vehicles it is both peppy and quick when it needs to be. It comes standard with most of the features that are not provided standard on comparable vehicles.

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  Love my Santa Fe - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Cynthia - February 20 - 4:26 am

  I have had my 2004 Santa Fe for 8 months now. I love it. I have plenty of room for my family of 4. It is great for traveling and shopping. Going through drive through restrants is a breeze. So is loading and unloading groceries from the back. We just got back from a trip to the Smokie Mountains. My husband commented that it was a joy to drive. Smooth handling like a car. The only draw back is when going through parking lots, tourists didnt hear the engine and we had to wait for them to get out of our way.

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  Review - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Gary - February 19 - 2:49 pm

  This is my wifes car, she really enjoys driving the car, it has been good mechanically, although the rack & pinion needed to be replaced, other than that just the regular oil changes. If the car remains problem free for a couple more years, we would look into buying another Sonata.

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  Hyundai does it again - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By slamm215 - February 19 - 5:16 am

  After owning various cars from several different manufactures I can say that this is one of the best looking and driving cars period. Hyundai has made some bold strides as of late and this car is a true testament to that. The one aspect of Hyundai I would criticize was their bland styling but with this new Sonata that goes out the window. Now when I see a Camry or an Accord on the street they just look boring and out dated next to the Sonata. You wont win many races with the 2.4 L engine but its more than adequate and w/35+ MPG on the highway you cant get a better power/mpg ratio.

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  Best car in price range, or even higher - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By mike - February 18 - 6:02 pm

  Very happy with car, quality far above domestic cars,and beats many Japanese models costing thousands more which is a big surprise to me. The Koreans are offering a lot for the money.

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  Unreliable - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By kurtish - February 18 - 3:48 pm

  Bought used, dont do that! 65K warranty used for transmission at 32K. Out of warranty transmission replaced at 82K. Owned 3 years with 6 breakdowns requiring towing. I have never had this much trouble with any other car. Rapid loss of value. Intermittent poor shifting even after dealer service. I cant recommend this car in any way.

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  First Week review - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Patrick - February 18 - 1:53 pm

  We expected to buy a European model (VW passat or Volvo S40 or S60) We saw the Hyundai Sonata at an Auto Show, it has all of Features we were looking for (LX model). I was on the fence about VW due to reliability rating I read and Volvo due to a friends experience was expensive in the maintainance and upkeep (Eats Breaks more than most cars) We found in Sonata the ride, quality of craftmanship and noise level in cabin all similar to European models we liked. The 10/100,000 limited powertrain warranty and 5/ 60,000 Limited Warrenty was also a draw to the stand behind quality of Hyundai. Features, Ride, Craftmanship all are in line with what we wanted for the class of car we bought.

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  Hyundai has outdone Japan - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By Chris Carroll - February 18 - 11:03 am

  Bought this used (1 yr old) from dealer (pgm car) with 11K miles. My wife and I have put 35K on is since, and this car has not needed to see the dealer since, with the exception of 1 recall. Other than regular maintenance, this car has needed nothing, and still looks and runs like new. The car has depreciated less than $3,000 in the 3 years weve owned it, and now Im shopping for one for my son. If you want a good, stylish, reliable and economic car, the Sonata should be your first choice.

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  Utterly amazing - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By JC1212 - February 18 - 2:00 am

  I initially wasnt even going to look at the Hyundais when I was going to buy either a Toyota Camry or a Honda Accord. However, when I read in Consumers reports that the Sonata had predicted above average reliability, much better than the new Camry, and slightly lower than the Honda, I had to take a look. And I walked out with a new car. After test driving the Honda and the Toyota, I couldnt believe the difference. For the same price as the base Honda/Toyota, I was getting a V6, leather interior, sunroof, 4 wheel disc brakes, better warrenty, amazing stereo - the best I have seen in any production car, etc.