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:

• 

  Sonata FL - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By Jarrod - December 25 - 9:16 am

  The ride is exceptionally smooth. At 80mph on I95 still the same and handling that with 2300 rpms. Received 35mpg on the way home...gotta love it!

• 

  XG 350 L - 2005 Hyundai XG350
  By XG 350 L - December 25 - 8:33 am

  I enjoy my car, and would recomend it to anyone regardless of price you get a lot more bang for the buck. Haggle with your dealer. Pay no more that $19,000 for a new one.

• 

  Even better than I thought it would be - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By James - December 24 - 11:51 am

  I love this car! I have been driving a 94 Geo Prizm around for a long time, finally traded it in for a pre- owned 05 Elantra GT 4dr sedan (manual transmission) with only 8400 miles on it, and I am in heaven. It is a great commuter car, plenty of pep, I get good gas mileage, and it loooks great to me, which is what matters. I have only had the car for 3 days now, and I like it more every day I drive it. I seem to find excuses to have to run errands just so I can drive this car some more. The handling also seems to be perfectly fine to me, as long as you dont compare it to a performance sports car. Now if Hyundai only made a small minivan or CUV for my wife . . . :)

• 

  Wont go back to Accord! - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By A former honda nut - December 24 - 11:23 am

  After driving a Sonata for a week as a vacation rental car, I knew it was the car for me. I was about to purchase my fifth Honda Accord, but in terms of value for the money, the Sonata is a winner hands down. It combined everything I wanted in a car, all the bells and whistles, with a very sweet price. It rides beautifully, is very roomy even for four people, is beautifully appointed and is easy to drive. The leather seats are very comfortable and driving position is excellent.

• 

  Still a great ride - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Paul Cocke - December 24 - 2:10 am

  My 2015 Hyundai Sonata Limited 2.0T, which I bought new four months ago, has more than 5,0000 miles on it and I can report no problems. The build quality is excellent - no rattles or squeaks. A few observations: * The turbo engine works great. You wont win any drag races, as it is a bit slow to get started, but once you get going the engine pulls effortlessly. I commute 60 miles a day through the rainy Cascade Mountains of Washington state and it is a very pleasant ride. I am getting 26-27 mpg combined and about 31 highway mpg. Taking the advice of my salesman - and encouraged by low gas prices - I use premium gas. The turbo seems to like that. * The smart cruise is excellent. I use it all the time. The blind spot warning already has prevented an accident or two. * Love the backup camera; the lane departure system is annoying but I leave in on for safety. * My grand children love the pull-down shades in back. * The car handles quite well. I never use the paddle shifters but do switch between eco, regular and sport driving modes. Sport seems to do better in the rain but cuts down on gas. I use eco around town. * I wish the car had fog lights. While the LED lights look cool they do not help with visibility. * Navigation works well and the car stereo is excellent. Between Pandora and XM radio my commute is much more interesting. * My biggest complaint is the automatic trunk opener. You can stand behind in with your keys in your hand for minutes and nothing happens. Then you casually walk by and the stupid thing opens. Still love the car. I have been watching and these 2015s have good deals right now. Wait until the end of the month for better deals. Negotiate ruthlessly and dont worry about the color. And dont be fooled by the addition of the stolen car service (a waste of money - your auto insurance likely covers it)

• 

  Squeaks & Rattles - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By RayB - December 23 - 10:40 pm

  I bought the VeraCruz (instead of a Lexus) because of all the great revues that I had read and because of all of the nice features for the price. However, Ive had a terrible time with squeaks and rattles. (Headliner and the overhead vents, door pillars, doors, back seats, etc) The dealer told me that the noises are normal because of all the plastic parts and there was nothing that they could do. In other words, they didnt want to spend a lot of time on it. I dont know if this is just poor engineering or poor build quality, but this is unacceptable in a $35K vehicle. Make sure that the radio has a lot of volume, youll need it.

• 

  Great Car Overall - 2006 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Jack Ries - December 23 - 9:13 pm

  The tiburon is a great car, but it depends on which one you have. The GTs have a lot of issues with the transmissions (clutch, flywheel, shift forks, etc.), but these can all be delayed (if not prevented entirely) by not driving the car like a Ferrari. I bought the SE because it had more options and creature comforts (I live in the northeast, so the mirror defrosters are especially handy.) The car feels heavy in fast turns, but that is only how it feels. Once you get the hang of the seemingly slow steering and the delay on the clutch, you really start to enjoy the sporty feel of the extra notchy 6-speed gearbox. Bottom line, it feels like an expensive sportscar in an imports clothes.

• 

  Great balance. - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By jcjc78 - December 23 - 4:18 pm

  My family has always bought Hondas or Toyotas, but we dont really care for CVT transmissions. We decided to check out the 2015 Sonata just as a backup option, but we were very impressed. It doesnt do anything exceptionally well, but it is just such a good car overall that we purchased two of them: one for me and one for my father. It isnt fast, but it has enough power. The ride isnt soft, but it isnt rough or harsh. It doesnt get hybrid mpgs, but I average over 32 mpg with almost no highway driving. The interior styling wont win any awards, but it is very easy and intuitive...and spacious. Overall, a well built machine. Quite pleased with our decision.

• 

  Excellent Interior and Value with some regrets - 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT
  By depiction - December 23 - 2:36 pm

  I came from a 2005 Mazda3 and was looking to buy a new hatchback for the versatility. I test drove the Impreza, Mazda3, and the Elantra GT. Thankfully I havent noticed the MPG problems other owners have mentioned. In mixed driving Im able to get 30-31 MPG with Active Eco mode off. After a couple tests, Ive found Active Eco mode useless. Its a great value with an excellent interior. Unfortunately its suspension is very harsh and its a bit noisy (both engine and wind noise). I feel every little bump on the road. even after upgrading to excellent Michelin tires. At 65 MPH, interior noise is about 75 db, as measured by an app on my iPhone. A 2010 Mazda3 measures about 70 db.

• 

  2013 R spec 2.0T Outstanding value! - 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By bdblom - December 23 - 4:30 am

  Purchased this R spec 3/22/13. Coming up on first 1000 miles, Love this car so far! This is our 2nd Hyundai in 2 yrs, My wife drive a 2011 Sonata 2.0T and we love that car as well. The 2.0 direct injected variable valve timing turbo engine is very stout and with 30k on the Sonata, trouble free. I hoped Hyundai would put that engine in the Genesis coupe, so when they did it was a done deal for me. That engine mated to a 6 spd manual is really fun to drive and I love the new look of the coupe. I also appreciate the simplicity of a rear wheel drive 4 cylinder. I am a experienced auto tech (30+ yrs) and find this car to be well thought out. Looking forward to a long term relationship.