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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  Very attractive - 2016 Hyundai Elantra
  By sebrena - November 12 - 5:46 pm

  My only two complaints is that the electric steering is hard to adjust to. Feels stiff. The road noise and ride could improve more.

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  My first brand new Vehicle - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By Ron in PA - November 12 - 1:56 pm

  I have owned this vehicle for 3 years and have been very pleased with most aspects of the vehicle. I love the design the ride is noce handling is good, service has been good. Gas mileage although not what expected is not bad for a car of this size. I boughtr the car for price and warranty length and so far have been happy most of the time. Areas that have been problems, Paint is not holding up, chips easily from road dirt, seating areas are not wearing well, they show signs of use easily. Not happy at all about only being able to purchase certain parts from Hyundai such as a Battery, brake pads, air filter. Would buy another Hyundai from the exp, with this vehicle Love the car.

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  Wife loves the car - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By bucs180 - November 11 - 10:43 pm

  After 13 years of driving Dodge Intrepids and the loaners due to service the Sonata LX is a more practicle car to own. My son is 18 and he and I share driving an Explorer Sports trac while my wife drives the car. Well, the v6 is very quick and my son has pushed the speedometer further than the law allows. We owned Hondas and Toyotas in the past, now we members of the Hyundai family. My wife has an eye towards the Azera. Very happy with our car. Its now been a month since we took delivery and couldnt be more pleased.

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  veracruz se awd - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By jaxquest - November 11 - 6:36 pm

  I purchased the se awd with entertainment package,i waiied for it to come out and wasnt dissapointed. Our only problem was getting it for the price we want to spend.We are very happy with it except for a couple of minor problems,vehicle dont auto lock doors when vehicle engaged,but not much else to complain about.We love the car,and has lots of toys

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  No Regrets - 2005 Hyundai Sonata
  By MARGY - November 11 - 4:08 pm

  I did a lot of research before I bought this car. I hadnt even thought of looking at a Hyundai until I read about the warranty, roadside assistance & all the favorable reviews & about what a great value it is for the money. Finally I went to a dealership to "rule out" this vehicle & instead wound up falling in love with it & buying it. No regrets!

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  Still going strong - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By CDF - November 11 - 12:27 pm

  It has been an unbelievably reliable vehicle, is comfortable, and still looks good. Its had minimal issues beyond routine wear and tear and maintenance. It has fewer electronic bells and whistles (nav, entertainment, etc) than newer vehicles, but the stereo and Bluetooth and cruise control are really nice.

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  Very happy with our Santa Fe - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Opie_2k - November 11 - 4:36 am

  My wife and I purchased this vehicle as a hauler for our new baby and cross country trips. We bought it in Fall 03 and have not been disappointed at all. Since it is her car I make up errands just to drive it. The handling is fantastic, the options are generous, the safety is great, and the warranty makes us feel comfortable with the future. We have the 2WD version of the 2.7L V6 and it performs admirably in the snow and the rain. The "manu-matic" feature on the transmission is really great for low grearing through snow or steep grades. We also opted for the 6- disc player which rocks. On our long haul trips (8hrs+) Ive found the seats to be very comfortable and the driving enjoyable.

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  Very Impressed - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By llslice - November 10 - 11:01 pm

  This car has a quality feel to it. Very smooth shifting automatic,good pick up and turning circle. Firm comfortable leather seats. Switch gear for climate control and turn signal has the feel of Toyota quality. Windshield washer nozzles spit out 3 streams each.Ice cold A/C. No wind noise on the highway.Sporty handling. Bright brake lights(I can light up the persons face sitting behind me at a stop light) For the weekend mechanic oil filter and spark plugs are easily accessable. NOW THE BAD: It took 3 trips to 2 different dealships to fix the leaky moonroof. Front and rear passenger seats need to sit higher for more thigh support.Mushy brakes. Overall a great bargain.

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  I hate this car - 2013 Hyundai Azera
  By Jay Skousen - November 10 - 4:28 am

  This is probably the 15th car I have owned and I have had only a few clunkers, but this one takes the cake. It is not the "big" issues, I have not had any mechanical issues, but it is the little things. If I can recall them, they are: > The placement of the power seat controls are on the doors near the C(?) pillar so that in order for either the driver or passenger to recline the seat or move it all the way to the rear you have to maintain a sit up until the operation is done. Ditto when you want to return the seat to its normal position, a sit up is needed. > The GPS is difficult to program, and it has a tendency to take you on strange routes, going from our home to my daughters in Dallas the last 20 miles it had us on narrow two lane roads when there were major 4 lanes and decent two lanes available, and it would have been shorter, faster. Even on moderately near destinations, 50 miles or so, it has a tendency to misdirect you right as you near the destination, it has had us turn West when we should have gone East on X road just a half mile from the destination. A terrible terrible system. It does not show the roads you are coming upon either. I suppose it does tell you many POIs such as rest areas, but I would have had to take out the manual to find out how, gads this bloody thing has at least 3, yes 3, manuals! The piece de resistance though is that in most cars with the GPS factory installed have a hood surrounding it so the glare from the sun is minimized. Not this car, there are times during a sunny day one cannot see the display. > The sound system has an awesome sound I believe it has 12 speakers, an infinity system. BUT, it is not intuitive on how to program stations you want to save. It is nice to be able to save, what is it 18 stations per band, BUT, when you push the steering wheel control to move to the next station it only allows the six stations shown. To get to the others you have to take your eyes off the road to select the next 6 and so on. On my GMC it flows from channel to channel and once you have gone through all the channels you can reverse. I will say though, the saving grace is the voice command. It works well. (I never did figure out how to instruct it to get directions via the GPS, I only used it to find me a station to listen to). > I have heated and cooling seats in the front and to heater work fine, but after the first summer season the cooling seats for the driver were minimally effective, I could live with it, but when I first got the car it made me cold, not now, though I am comfortable but gee. > I lived in the Detroit area for nearly 40 years and learned to drive there. I was livid to find out that I had wheel locks placed on the car. Not one, not one person I know anywhere has lost a wheel to thieves, not in Detroit or here in Ohio where I now live. The key was gone when I first went for a rotation and was asked for the key, I was nonplussed. I had to order a key for $15, and could not buy new lug nuts as in the infinite wisdom of Hyundai the lug nuts are not a standard size I had to have the dealer replace the lug nuts for another 20. This is not an option I would tout if I were them. Can you imagine your spouse having a tire issue anywhere and not being able to take your wheel/tire off because it is locked? Whew! > It seems to that Hyundai has an issue wherein you press on the gas and the car thinks for 3-4 seconds before it responds. Drives me nuts, and of course the dealer comes back, "it is normal we find nothing wrong" I compained 3 times. I have driven for nearly 40 years and have owned multiple cars and vans. My brother worked at GM in engines as an engineer, this is not normal. I am not a fool. I expected this to be the last car I would buy as I am now in my 60s. but I am going to get rid of this damn thing and buy something else. I am sure there is other issues, for instance I do not like the keyless entry and start feature, but my wife does. The big issue for me is that when I am exiting the car and press the lock button if I am still coming out it will not lock. I dont like that, but my wife has no problem so i mention it but it really is not too big an issue.

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  Accent - 2005 Hyundai Accent
  By Courtney - November 9 - 11:03 pm

  Just bought a 2004 Hyundai Accent Gt Hatchback, its doing me fine. This is my first car and so far Im enjoying. I recommend this car.