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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  Really unique SUV - my second Santa Fe - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Boris - May 25 - 7:16 pm

  Dear Sirs, I was also the owner of the previous model of Hyundai Santa Fe for 6 years without any problems, and I will say only that the new model 2007 of Santa Fe really presents the huge step forward and is completely comparable to Japanese and European SUVs. Recently it was comparably tested with Volkswagen Tuareg by Auto-Bild in Germany and both have been completely equalized. With my compliments ! Boris B from Slovenia P.S. Owing to the fact that I could not choose the right style as you do not offer the diesel motor 2.2 CDRi / 150 HP, I have signed the first one on the your list !

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  Toyota/Honda Who? - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Raleigh GT - May 25 - 2:41 pm

  Best bang for my buck out there in 2003! No other car make offered leather in its class. I love all the extras! The purple dash board is cool too.

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  great car - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By bill monahon - May 25 - 2:00 am

  excellent car for the money. engine has plenty of power(I had the v6).

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  Finally Got it Right! - 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By gilbertgirl47 - May 25 - 1:53 am

  Purchased 2012 Hybrid in Aug 2012. Loved it. After a week, it started lurching sometimes and the gas mileage wasnt what I expected. After complaints to the dealership my cars computer(s) was upgraded twice at no charge and now I get great mileage and no more lurching. Drive 60% in town and 40% highway. I average 37mpg but on long road trips get 39-42mpg, sometimes higher. Have seen 50mpg. Hubby loves to drive my car more than his! One reason we chose Sonata is that three of our grandchildren can ride in back with no problem. Stylish, fun to drive, roomy and we love it! The trunk in the hybrid is smaller than the regular Sonata, but plenty of room for luggage for a road trip for 2.

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  2011 Hyundai Veracruz Problems - 2011 Hyundai Veracruz
  By afred - May 24 - 7:08 am

  Three days ago my 2011 Veracruz with 27K miles just quit while on the road. It had a total electronic chassis failure. First the ECM warning light and then all the warning light and then car came to a stop. Towed to dealer, the next day I was told it was a loose battery cable(??), strange since no one had touched it. Drove it out next day before I got into the freeway, same thing, car quit, same warnings. Towed to dealer. They said they had 3 code and it has a throttle position sensor, after they changed it they called and said that was not it. Need to keep the car and see what it is. Three days without a car, dealer has offered to rent one though. Car is totally unreliable to take out.

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  Love My Elantra! - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By Nayko - May 24 - 1:32 am

  I bought this car used in the fall of 2004, with about 50K miles on it. Ive been driving it almost everyday since and have never had a single problem! It runs really well and didnt have any problems starting up in Chicago winter weather. Fuel economy is decent too. While it isnt particularly luxurious or anything, its still a great car especially when you consider its price.

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  SOLD!! - 2005 Hyundai Sonata
  By Carlos - May 23 - 6:03 pm

  I drove out of the dealership in a beautiful bright silver 2005 Sonata for less than $16,000.00 total (WOW). Its a great mid size car for the price. Very comfortable ride, and very good looking too. I get plenty of compliments on this vehicle.

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  ok school car - 1997 Hyundai Accent
  By rose2003 - May 23 - 2:27 am

  The car was really fun to drive when i first bought it in 2002. Ive had a problem with it eating tires. i have to put new tires on about every 3 months even when i buy expencive tires. ive had the alinement done and it still goes through tires. Ive had to put an alternater in and replace a barring in one of the tires. Otherwise it has been fairly reliable i drive about 45 miles everyday for school and work. It gets about 32-35 mpg. so thats nice but it shakes really bad and there is a lot of noise when driving. it has 135,000 miles so i guess problems are to be expected.

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  Great car!! - 2005 Hyundai Sonata
  By tjj - May 23 - 2:17 am

  For a 17k dollar car, this is really worth the money. Quiet, smooth, decent power, well equipped, excellent warranty. What else do you want?

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  Three years old and still like new - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Steven J - May 22 - 7:46 pm

  My 2002 Santa Fe just turned 3 years old and it still runs like the day I got it. Never a second of trouble. This SUV has the quality, power, ride, roominess, and style to equal its more expensive competitors. Most important, its extremely reliable.