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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  Helpful Hints - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By amber - April 18 - 6:43 am

  The car performs well, but is slow on take- off. I can hear air at the windows when driving fast. One sensor had to be replaced in 5 years of ownership. Would purchase another because of warranty.

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  What out for??? - 2017 Hyundai Sonata
  By Frank Arsenault - April 13 - 12:50 am

  Bought a 2017 Sonata 4 DR. Was not told by Dealer/Sales or Management that the Navigation system in my Sonata was only workable when MY CELL phone was pluged into the automobiles port. When I went to another dealer, then I was told "the Sonata Limited" had Navigation that did NOT require what I was told at the first dealership. PROBLEM was I already purchased the first one. I was so upset that in ONE weeks time I turned THAT Sonata in for the one I did not know about earlier.. Shame on Dealership #1...

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  Little, nagging problems - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Melissa - April 12 - 2:30 pm

  I love the look and style of my Sante Fe, hate the poor mileage, and have had a series of different, nagging little problems (related to assembly/quality, affecting safety) that have it in the shop WAY too frequently for a new car that is supposed to rival Honda/Toyota quality! The biggest issue is that the turn signal switch stopped working reliably after about 4 months, and the dealer has not yet been able to fix the problem after 3 tries/3 months - its very dangerous to suddenly find onself unable to signal a turn/lane change, particularly in poor weather! Also, seat belt tensioners in the second row were not installed properly, and did not work at all. Fun to drive, when its working!

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  Did I get the Lemon? - 2013 Hyundai Veloster
  By toomanycats305 - April 6 - 2:06 pm

  Ok, Ive read your reviews and it looks like Im a loner out here that has acceleration issues all the time. I cant go 35 mph without it chugging and begging to please go at least 45 mph to get a smoother ride. I cant do that when I live and drive in a 35 mph zone. And its in the shop as I write this since it choked up and literally STOPPED while trying to accelerate and pass on a two lane highway over the weekend. Now I know how head-on collisions occur!! The car is cute, comfortable and dangerous. I want to sell it or trade it and now feel stuck since I only bought it in Dec 2013. I should have wondered why it was still on the lot.Theres a design flaw with the tranny and they know it.

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  VeraCruz - 2010 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Cheryl - April 5 - 7:00 am

  Very uncomfortable passenger and back seat. You can feel every bump and pothole magnified. Fuel economy is not what advertised.

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  NO RESALE VALUE - 2000 Hyundai Tiburon
  By supersoc_zk601 - March 30 - 10:00 am

  Bought it brand new in 2000, seemed like a good deal. Sporty, but the interior leather is junk and starts to wear right away. Not comfortable if you are tall.Forget trying to trade it in even at the dealership where u bought it. They will just tell you the market is dead and that they will give you 3000 below wholesale. The paint is garbage too it chips if you look at it funny.Never had any mechanical problems but I only had about 15k miles on it when I got rid of it. Under no circumstances should you pay over DEALER INVOICE for this car! And do not buy if you dont plan on keeping it for a long time.

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  Ooops ... - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By stekicar - March 18 - 2:54 am

  This model of Sonata is miserable failure. I do not know from where to start. Before I purchased it, I drove it three times just to make sure it does not have that pull to the left issue. Unfortunately, after 10k miles I have front tires uneven wear. Dealer states that nothing is wrong with tires although even 1st grader would see difference between even and uneven tire wear. Contacted Hyundai and they refused any responsibility. Rest assured - they will make sure you dont get solution to tire (?) problem. I did not notice it before but steering wheel is not placed centered to the drivers seat. It is at about 1 inch offset to the left. Radiator leaked at 10k miles. Fixed under warranty.

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  Is it just my car that has gone bad? - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Ex-Hyundai Lover - March 15 - 9:06 am

  First when i got it, it was great. but as time goes on it began. Had my Sunroof Fixed 4 times in 1 year (same problem occuring over and over again). also my clutch had to be replaced when the car had less than 19000 miles. Believe me I dont drive like maniac. one more thing, almost 2 year into my Tiburon, my car lock system broke, so had to get it repaired. My 2 years of driving Hyundai, I had gone to dearlership for service more than 7 times. I didnt buy the brand new car to get it serviced every 3 month...Other than that it was fun to drive.

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  Misrepresentation of gas mileage - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By JRSPARROW - March 3 - 3:33 pm

  I get an average of 18.6 mpg. When I brought it back to the dealer they drove it 60 miles under ideal conditions and the best they could get was 23 mpg Cruise control on the hwy. They then told me thats what I should expect even though the sticker advertises 24 city and 31 hwy.

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  First Impression - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By PenguinBriar - March 2 - 1:16 pm

  Really liked what the SE brought to the table over the GLS or Limited. I like to feel the road, and I do with the SE. I test drove 2009 Limited (6 cylinder) and thought it had the flu. No guts and sloppy feel. Even though the new SE doesnt have the same HP, it FEELS like it does and the ride in the 2011 is MUCH more responsive. The styling isnt even in the same league as the previous Sonata. There are a lot of professional reviews that should be read.