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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  Main bearings let loose. - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By Robert Sarti - February 25 - 2:01 pm

  Updated my review... I have own multiple vehicles over the years. I average 100 miles a day just going to my office. I also drive that vehicle for my job. I average about 35,000 miles a year. I have never gotten rid of any before 250,000 miles and never had any major issues with any of my previous vehicles. At 103,000 miles in this 2013 Sonata, the main bearing burnt up. Originally I was told my a mechanic that it was the oil pump. (Took it a different place to have the engine replaced.) The engine has been burning oil since 40,000, at 60,000 the engine starting chattering. The transmission has been slipping since 80,000 miles. Ive heard that Hyundais engineering/manufacturing has come a long way, but they still have a long way to go. As soon as I replace the oil pump, its getting traded in for anything but a Hyundai or Kia.

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  Will never buy another Hyundai! - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By Caleb - February 24 - 12:10 pm

  I have had nothing but problems with my vehicle from the start!!! Ive had my car stall out in numerous places. Have had an oxygen sensor replaced, two (2) wiring harnesses caught fire! Ive gone through 18 halogen head lamps, my car viciously started shaking at ~ 30K miles, and the dealers didnt want to do anything about it. Also, the Hyundai corporate office will not be of any assistance to you. There "consumer affairs" department is a waste of money!

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  Shake Rattle & Roll Continued.. - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By mother of 2 - January 16 - 11:50 pm

  I read 8/16th 2006 posting...having same problem...Entourage has been at dealer 12 days ..I ve owned car 20 days, Contacted Corporate and BBB autoline per warranty manual..This was the worst NEW car purchase ever..Stay away..They exchanged axle, tires & rebalanced tires & realigned steering...Still SHIMMY...Going back for 3rd visit..& pregnant 8 months..Like I have time for this AGGREVATION and drive back and forth do dealer...Enough is Enough..Hopefully they will take this back..I ve kept daily records...We shall see

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  I HATE this car - 2004 Hyundai Accent
  By Jon - December 13 - 4:07 pm

  My car only has 20000 miles on it and it has spent more than 3 months in the shop in 2 years. I have had to pretty much replace every origional part. I strogly advise not to buy this car. My family owns 3 and every one of them has had major problems from replacing the transmission to the entire break system. I even had to replace a bad battery. These cars truly are junk!

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  do not buy this car unless you like heat in summer - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By R.N. - November 5 - 8:52 pm

  i am bringing this 2016 tucson limited in to dealer tomorrow 6/27/16 for the fourth time a/c blows hot air dealer keeps saying they can not find the problem ****** CARCOMPLAINTS .COM LISTS FOUR OF THE SAME COMPLAINTS

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  wont buy another hyundia - 2001 Hyundai Tiburon
  By tibappointed - September 8 - 10:00 am

  trading my sunfire was my first mistake. paying retail was my second. the car caught my eye and had to have it but was i wrong. tires only get 20,000 miles driven politely. and are ridicously expensive. You can only put V rated tires on this car and there is no need for them. resale value is a joke after owning the car for 9 months lost $7,000 value. luckily it has the great warrantee because it needs it

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  Should be Called Accident - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By ACCENTSUCKS - September 6 - 10:14 am

  Oooh the pain of owning an accent. Oil seems to magically disappear in this car. Standard transmission pops out of gear all the time. Master cylander replaced twice, brakes twice, oil constantly, rusting already cant wait to get rid of it. Warranty useless, product useless avoid this car like the plague that it is!

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  Black leather driver seat backrest wears off. - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Jim Schlidt - May 17 - 1:41 am

  We bought this car new with 1700 miles on It. At 2000 miles the leather on the drivers seat backrest was worn off and was white. Cheap material! The dealership looked at it and said that there had to be something wrong with the material and ordered a new seat cover. It came in and they had the upholstery guy install it. The car now has 5300 miles and the seat is doing the same thing. Contacted the dealership and they said "To bad we replaced it once." Filed a case with Hyundai America and after more than a month, a few ugly phone calls and a lot of emails they told us the same thing and that it was the way we got in and out of the car. They said we slid our butts getting in and out! Really? We needed to put the seat all the way back, get in and put the seat back up. If anyone in the world can get in and out of a car without sliding there butt on some part of the seat I will kiss that butt! I am in the process of trying to trade the car. I am 65 and was hoping this would be my retirement car. DO NOT buy a Hyundai with black leather!!

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  Stay away from this car! - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Barry Lynas - May 8 - 10:54 am

  The turbo engine and dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT) are downright dangerous. On numerous occasions, when beginning to accelerate, the engine will rev while the car doesnt move for several seconds before the transmission kicks in. Sometimes it never kicks in and you have to put it in "P" and back to "D" to go. Took it back to the dealer, who told us several Tucsons have come back with the same problem. They reset the computers and said dont bring it back. Hyundai is "working on it." Yea, right. Ive complained to everyone who will listen: Hyundai Customer Care, Consumer Reports magazine, Safecar.com, and the state Attorney Generals office. In the meantime, Im warning everyone to stay away from Hyundai.

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  Hundai elentra 2010 - 2010 Hyundai Elantra
  By Bi - January 22 - 8:36 am

  Car is piece of c...