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:

• 

  glad i bought the car - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By sky - September 23 - 2:00 am

  bought the car in january for 17,330 delivered. gls model...only options i didnt get were leather and abs traction control.ruby red...love the car getting 25 mpg hyundai should make the abs/traction control a standard feature, not an option. you gotta see how many people come up to me and ask me, " Soooo, you bought a Hyundai Sonata...how do you like it?" It reminds me of " Im not going first....you go first. Seems some people just wont take the chance. i did a lot of research on a ton of cars. For the buck I felt it was the best bang.

• 

  My First Lease - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By James - September 22 - 7:26 pm

  After shopping for several months and renting several suvs, we found that the 2007 Santa Fe was head and shoulders above anything else in its price range and several thousand dollars above. It is quiet, well appointed, has a smooth (for an suv) ride, and so far has been a pleasure to drive. Would recommend anyone looking at mid-size crossover suvs to give the new Santa Fe a serious and close look.

• 

  Nice car - 2017 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Jh - September 22 - 12:45 am

  Nice car for the $. Tons of options included for under $30k

• 

  Low Cost - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By glendye - September 21 - 6:26 am

  This is one of the nicest suvs I have had to date. I has everthing you really need on it, the ride is smooth and quiet, with plenty of power. The Gas mileage was not real good at first, but changed it to amsoil 0w-20 and changed the transmission fluid over to amsoil ATF and the gas mileage went up. I was getting 18 and 22, now get 21 city and 28 Hwy. Which made a big difference.

• 

  Excellent car - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Tibbylover89 - September 21 - 4:00 am

  I can not tell you very much, because I have only had this car less than a month! This car has amazing handling, its not terrible in the rain, the manual mode can be fun, the back seat room is very limited; but I do not usually have many people in the back seat anyways. I love to drive this car on rt. 81, I can really "unleash the beast". I got so much car, for only 8,500! It only has 55,000 miles! I fell inlove with Tibbys when my b/f got one. His is an 01 and at 90k miles, it drives like it is brand new! Highly recommend this car!

• 

  Looks and Feels Like Its "High-End" - 2005 Hyundai XG350
  By Hap H. - September 20 - 9:53 pm

  I drove the XG-350 (rental) on several business trips to the Washington DC area. I actually thought I was getting into a blend of Jaguar and Lincoln the first time I saw it. It wasnt until I was out of the dark parking garage that I realized my "up-grade" was a XG-350. After that I made it a point to drive them when I could. Its solid, smooth, and quiet at and above interstate speed limits. Truth is it will fly at relatively moderate RPM. At speed limit (65-70 mph) I get 32-33 MPH. Above speed limit 21-22 MPH is the norm. Its quietness will deceive you. Dont be surprised when you think you are doing 70 and its 85 or above. Love this car. Its a winner in all categories.

• 

  Fun to drive - 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By jhitchens - September 20 - 12:26 pm

  This car is an excellent choice if you are looking for a car that is fun to drive and you need that extra cargo space behind the back seat. My large dog loves the room he has there behind the back seat. When you need even more room, just fold down the back seats and WOW you have a lot more space. Driving is fun, with quick steering response and peppy little engine will get you up to hwy speed quickly. I have almost 50,000 miles on mine, and I have had no problems. I just follow the routine maintenance suggestions and that is it. I am retired, and my drive each day usually is about 3 to 12 miles with stops or lights in-between. I average 24 mpg. When I do take a trip, I get about 32-33 mpg on

• 

  Looks and Feels Like Its "High-End" - 2005 Hyundai XG350
  By Hap H. - September 20 - 7:26 am

  I drove the XG-350 (rental) on several business trips to the Washington DC area. I actually thought I was getting into a blend of Jaguar and Lincoln the first time I saw it. It wasnt until I was out of the dark parking garage that I realized my "up-grade" was a XG-350. After that I made it a point to drive them when I could. Its solid, smooth, and quiet at, and above interstate speed limits. Truth is it will fly at relatively moderate RPM. At speed limit (65-70 mph) I get 32-33 MPH. Above speed limit 21-22 MPH is the norm. Its quietness will decieve you. Dont be surprised when you think you are doing 70 and its 85 or above. Love this car. Its a winner in all categories.

• 

  No Complaints - 1999 Hyundai Elantra
  By Shade - September 20 - 2:00 am

  ABought this car 7/99 new for less than $12K. I should have bought the GLS with the rear wiper, but am very satisfied w/the car. Turned 90k miles this week and now need new brake pads (2nd pair and rotors were never cut). Never did the timing belt yet - waiting for 100K. Did have 1 occurence of the check engine light - my brother filled the car w/gas and "topped it off" so it messed up the sensor. I would definitely buy another Hyundai - cant beat the warranty and the space for the $$$.

• 

  Sonata GLS - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By phillyjay - September 20 - 2:00 am

  It smells. I thought the their was a fire around the area. The salesperson told me its the car they spray it with a special fluid. I smelled it during the whole test drive. When I parked the car I wanted to test drive another one because I thought perhaps it was just this car in particular. I was so dissappointed and went to another dealership and the same thing happen. I fell so in love with this car after test driving a nissan altima that I bought the Sonata GLS. He told me that the car will stop smelling after 150 miles has been used. Is this true? Have anyone else experienced this?