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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  I love it!!! - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Michelle/Houston - September 8 - 12:10 am

  I have owned my Santa Fe for about 6 weeks now and love everything with/about it. Gas mileage has improved to 22.5 mixed driving (I have 2k miles on vehicle). Very quiet, smooth ride, love my heated leather seats even though Im in the south. I didnt think I would use the heat but leather is cold in mornings. No transmission problems, its a fantastic vehicle with great rebates. Oh, the stereo system with 6 disc and infinity speakers sounds awesome! Sunroof is quiet too. No complaints here at all. I would highly recommend this vehicle. My other top running choices were Rav 4 or Highlander but the price I paid for what I got beat Toyota by far. I mean they got 100k mile warranty included.

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  Satisfied - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Kaz - September 7 - 3:26 pm

  I love the Santa Fe. Affordable price, good warranty, competitive performance.. Korean cars have gotten a lot better over the past 10 years

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  Excellent! And love it - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By JOHNQ - September 7 - 2:33 pm

  Attractive design was why I chose this car but it was much much better in all aspect than the CR-V and rav4 I test drove

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  Watch out Big 3...Here is the wild card! - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Jackson - September 7 - 12:20 pm

  At first (Ill admit) I had my doubts buying a Hyundai over a Toyota or a Honda, but after driving the Entourage all summer long and putting over 2,500 miles on it...I am now a true believer! There are so many positive things to be said about this car I dont know where to begin. My favorite I guess is the 245 horses that powered our family up some of the steepest mountains this summer. The Five Star Crash Ratings is ALWAYS nice to have, and the traction and stability control made us feel safe in heavy rain storms. The interior feels luxurious, and the drivers side ergonomics is exceptional. My kids love it, my wife loves it... and above all, its made right here in the USA!

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  Tough decision but the right one. - 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By dwaggard - September 7 - 2:34 am

  After 2 months of research and driving a lot of CUVs we were getting very discouraged with what we were finding. CX5 was way too slow (especially after owning a Mazda 3 for 5 years. Ford Escape was nice but doesnt seem to get as good of MPG as EPA states and was very cramped in cockpit. CRV was comfy but seemed cheap on the inside & sounded like it was straining & had a lot of tire noise. Sorento had worst ride Ive ever experienced (after everyone commenting on this, youd think they would fix that) 09 Lexus RX350 was our first choice, it was awesome but was $1,500.00 more than the new Sante Fe and had 38k miles & would only give us another 62,000 miles of warranty being "Certified".

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  Look Out Lexus - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Thunder - September 6 - 5:26 pm

  We drove so many different vehicles, so many differnt times.This little SUV is awesome. We have two kids and they have plenty of room and we have plenty of space. When I first suggested Hyundia, I was doing it as a joke. I remember the "disposible cars" of the early 90s. My wife said she would not even test drive one. After I started to read the reviews I was amazed. After driving one...WOW. My wife loves it. I love to let her drive my F150 just so I can drive it. Drives better than her Maxima use to. Absolutely LOVE IT!!!

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  so far GREAT!!!! - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By bayou man - September 6 - 9:53 am

  After much research and comparisons we decided on the SE v6, this style gave us more standard options than any of the others. Plus several other options added at no extra charge, add in the warranty and it was a easy decision. It may have a little less horsepower rating than some of the top competitors but unless you buy it to drag race, or want to exceed 145 mph I think it is more than efficient. You get advantage of great gas mileage 32.5 hyway,would only wish I could have got that kind of mileage with my 63 Impala SS W/ SAME HP. BEATS OUR 2.5L V6 mAZDA by a long shot.Ride is awesome, quite, smooth and precise, interior is great. Find a better deal than this buy it.

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  Follow up on 2010 Tucson - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By broncob - September 6 - 2:41 am

  Follow up review to our Tucson after 20,000 miles. My wife and Is biggest hesitancy with purchasing a Hyundai was the long term reliability. The warranty obviously helps mitigate those fears, but we still didnt want our car to be constantly breaking down. I am happy to report that after 20,000 miles, we have not had a single issue with our vehicle. We live in the mountains of Colorado, so it has seen extreme conditions and plenty of hills, and it handled it all beautifully. The 4 cyclinder does fine on the passes, the AWD did great in the snow and rain, and we averaged about 26 MPG all around. My only complaints about the car are numb steering and the ride is a little rough, but not bad.

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  What a GREAT driving/owning experience! - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
  By EvB - September 4 - 3:46 am

  We originally owned an 03 Tiburon and 02 Jetta. We wanted to downsize to 1 car, so it had to be reliable, high-quality, and with great performance. Our 03 Tib had been awesome, but we initially felt like trying something new. We test drove 7 other 07 cars including Acura TSX, Eclipse GT, and Lexus is250. To our surprise, none of them could match Tiburons combo of reliability, quality, performance, warranty, and features we wanted --- except the Lexus for $11,000 more! So, we bought the 07 SE (6-cyl manual). LOVE this car. A joy to drive, beautiful inside and out. Trust us: the back seat is fine for 2 adults for around town; front seat has as much headroom as the Jetta. 100% satisfied!

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  I love my 2003 Sonata! - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By BelleJarr - September 4 - 2:00 am

  I just graduated from college and was thrilled to be purchasing a new car (I drove a 1988 Celica with 200,000 miles on it thoughout college). A friend bought a Sonata just before we graudated, I fell in love with it, it reminded me of a Jag or Mercedes. I was certain that it would be out of my price range, I was shocked on how affordable it was! I purchased a 2003 black 5-speed with standard features for around $15,000(I prefer to drive a manual, its just more fun). My Mom and Dad saw it and thought it was a Mercedes and my husband (hes a mechanic)loves the warranty and loves to drive it too. The standard features are great for the price!