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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  fun car - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By the tib - September 23 - 12:03 pm

  love the speed and handling of the car...great car i drove a civic before this one i loved that car but the tiburon blew it away.....

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  Genesis has issues to deal with... - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Darryl Rabideau - September 23 - 10:53 am

  After three months, I have found the Genesis to be unstable when driving in medium to strong wind, The steering wheel feedback from the highway is to severe and not acceptable, the manual trunk lid operation to be cheap and unacceptable, the lack of electrical front passenger seat settings to be unacceptable. I continue to study the driver services and reserve any comments on that part at this time. It is the items mentioned above that upset me as an owner and I find it unacceptable engineering for such a car Hyundai hopes to use in competition with BMW, Mercedes and Lexus.

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  wow cool car - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By joeys car - September 22 - 10:06 pm

  a great car if you buy it now you get $2500 rebate,i only got $500 rebate so what are you waiting for good luck

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  09 Santa FE - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By marksj - September 22 - 8:03 pm

  Great feel on the road. Drivers seat is very comfortable. Has several adjustments to make it feel that way. Very quiet inside the car. You cannot even hear the engine run. Seat cloth seems durable and feels good.

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  So far It Rocks! - 2010 Hyundai Sonata
  By Silvaflight - September 22 - 7:30 am

  Well this is my first Hyundai and we bought it on a total whim!! The salesman was great and the car rides and performs like none other I have owned. Love the performance of the V6 and the handling of the car. Also the size of the trunk is great. If this is how all Hyundais are I am a Hyundai guy for life!

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  Comfort, bells and whistles but still cheap - 2016 Hyundai Sonata
  By Gaius Gracchus - September 22 - 1:24 am

  If you are after a vehicle that has a lot of space and nice features - like a backup camera, adjustable passenger seat (height, too!), automatic mirrors, etc., for a low price, you may consider the Hyundai Sonata 2016. It has tons of passenger room and the seats are pretty comfortable. The turning circle for a car this size is great (much better than the Accord, for example). It also has a surprisingly quiet ride and is not too bumpy. However, Hyundai still does not know how to make a good engine. When you start your car in the morning, it rattles and taps like an old sewing machine. After a bit it quiets down. Also, at a stop when you are idling, it will start to vibrate a lot. It sometimes seems to shudder upon acceleration or even sometimes coming to a stop. Thankfully it has a good warranty, but if you do not follow the maintenance rules exactly, they will void your warranty in a heartbeat. It is probably best to get them to do the oil changes, even, so that they cant say you did not do it properly. Hyundai is notorious for trying to bug out of honoring their warranty.

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  Great Car!!!!!!!!! - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Boo - September 20 - 4:20 am

  To ease the fear of new Hyundai owners, Ive had my SF for 3 years now and have put on a staggering 126,000 miles. The only problem I have had was a flat tire, and the replacement of a ball joint(minor problem) thats it! Great car, and value!

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  hyundai gls sonata..2004 - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By douglas andrews - September 20 - 2:00 am

  just bought my hyundai a week ago....totally satisfied

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  Santa Fe - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By selena s whitfield - September 20 - 2:00 am

  jerking transmission, shut off on me as I was driving.

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  Flagship of cars under $30K - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Gidz - September 19 - 11:16 pm

  I love this car. It has so many standard features that you wont imagine in any car under $30K. I highly recommened this car.