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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  Its been a good car - 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By Kris - March 19 - 11:55 pm

  Year 6 of ownership and Ive been satisfied. The touring has been a good car for my family of four. I was looking for something with versatile cargo space but not an SUV since I like to ride low to the ground. Pros are the spacious cargo, excellent breaking, nice interior layout and price for the amount of car. In many regards its a hidden gem. The cons are bumpy ride, thin fabrics make light dirt stains stand out, and OEM tires wore quickly and did not do well in the snow. However, with good all seasons or snow tires this car does well. At 45,000 miles only 1 minor repair (break pedal was making a little noise but nothing dangerous) that was included in the warranty. I narrowed down to the Prius And Subaru Outback, but did not enjoy driving the Prius, and the out back boxer engine was too loud and I didnt like the sitting position. Also considered golf and matrix but the cargo space was too small. No regrets so far.

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  Very good car for my needs. - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By EdmontonHyundai - March 19 - 12:26 pm

  Ive had the car for about ten months now, and it has been excellent, good mileage, no mechanical issues, its my first Hyundai, so I wasnt exactly sure of what to expect, very satisfied. I live in Canada, and unfortunately, the 4 cylinder cars dont have traction control or stability control? not sure about this, standard on all cars in the states, come on Hyundai, were the ones who really need these features! So, Id be sure to get those features in my next one/or if I could start over, as winter traction could certainly have been better. Otherwise he car has been great, drive lots, runs great, could have an oil life monitor, more headroom, and a power passenger seat, next car will.

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  Still a "WOW" - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Julien - March 18 - 9:23 pm

  This car has the quality, reliability and performance of a Lexus for thousands less. In 3 years, weve changed the oil and 1 light bulb. Thats it! It goes like stink (that might explain the gas mileage), does it quietly (allowing us to truly enjoy the cars great audio system) all the while feeling secure (even our son loves how the car handles). Incredible Bang for the Buck. 3 people have bought an Azera on our recommendation and love their car as much as we do. Hyundais Best Kept Secret.

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  Better than any american car ive had! - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By kwf - March 18 - 12:39 pm

  I have had this car about 2 and half years. I have had no problems as of yet. I am almost at 50,000 miles. I am thinking about upgrading to the Genesis, it also looks like a great car.

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  reliable - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By T Bagn - March 18 - 10:36 am

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  Much More Than You Think - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Jay - March 14 - 7:16 am

  To be quite honest, I didnt want it. My eyes were on the Santa Fe. However, after a test drive, I was hooked. The ride was smooth and the handling suprised me. Not to mention though the interior is quite basic, the seats are extremely comfortable and the inside is put together quite well (durable). If finances are your main concern, the Tucson by far is the best bang for your buck! No other SUV at similar pricing is loaded with all the safety features the Tucson has and is backed by the #1 warranty in America! If I havent sold you on it, take a drive for yourself.

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  Nice car with minor problems - 2012 Hyundai Veloster
  By rf888 - March 13 - 10:19 am

  Have had this car for over one month and driven for over 1000 miles. This car is fun to drive, great gas milage, and pretty roomy on the front seats. I have no complain about the lack of power, thats what you have to sacrifice for gas milage. My complain about this car is the minor problems. The right rearview mirror cracked on the first day I drove this car, probably the heated mirror was overheated. Contacted dealer and got it fixed for free after almost a month. The second problem was the light in the cargo area. It stopped working about 10 days after I got the car. Hyundai service had hard time to diagnose the problem but told be it was fixed. However, the light stopped working two day

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  Anyone else have this issue?? - 2008 Hyundai Azera
  By Ron - March 13 - 6:34 am

  All features work well and car handles well. I now have about 13K miles on the car and the front rotors already show signs of wear. The dealer indicated that this was due to the hardness of the brake shoes. It would look as though the rotors would already need to be turned. Has anyone else had this issue? Gas mileage is less than impressive.

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  Vibrations at 65MPH and up - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Poor Service - March 12 - 10:00 am

  Steering wheel vibrates at 65 and up, feels like wheels are not balanced. Dropped off for service and got it back the way it was. Dealer wrote: wheels rebalanced. I have marked the weights on all wheels, and they were untouched. Great car, bad service. If this will not change Hyundai will have to compete with Chevy not Toyota or Acura like they would like to. The service will make or brake the company, just ask Audi of Usa.

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  QUALITY GOOD/MPG BAD - 2005 Hyundai Accent
  By drew - March 10 - 8:29 pm

  Its a peppy fast little car for the size of the car and area that I live in which is nothing but steep hills. The car had 26,000 on it when I purchased it and I only put 10,000 on it since then and I did not need to repair anything for it so far. The gas mpg could be better, I drive in the city 99% of the time but I only average 20-22 mpg. When I drive the highway, the mirrors seem to roll down a bit causing air to seep in causing loud whistling noise