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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  Great buy!!!! - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By bigleo - November 23 - 2:00 am

  I would say a great truck to own.I had no problems with this truck.Great features for the money.

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  Previous Toyota and Honda owner - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By albad - November 23 - 2:00 am

  Overall, this is a very good car. Good acceleration although a little slow to start. Very smooth and comfortable. Generally quiet. Looks great. Ive owned a Toyota Camry and a Honda Prelude in the past. As far as I can tell, this car is about as good as those cars but $5000 less. I refuse to pay extra for the Honda and Toyota name even though I was happy with those cars. I did a lot of research and its true that Hyundai are much better cars now. Very few regrets so far. The way I look at it, Hyundais are a steal right now because theyre reliable but because they havent caught on with the public yet, their prices arent ridiculous.

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  Excellent vehicle - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Oliver Perea - November 22 - 4:10 pm

  We like the handling of the vehicle, the MPH with mixed driving is anywhere from 22 mph to 26.7 mph, it drives through heavy snow very well. We love the third seat (we have a seven year old and friends). The heated seats are excellent, better than our Lexus! Storage for this and that is great.

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  2011 stunning Black on Black limited - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By Heather - November 22 - 5:00 am

  Absolutely the most beautiful car I ever had. I cannot believe the drive, smooth and powerful

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  the best choice ive ever made! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By joe c - November 21 - 11:33 pm

  what a beautiful car! it looks so good, and wherever i go i get a great compliment. hyundai has changed forever. my perception has changed forever. this car blew my mind, and it looks so much better than my previous 03 accord, and it costed me 4 grand less than my previous accord. its roomier, and the overall exterior is so much appealing than my accord!

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  Hyundai Tiburon GT Special Edition - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By mat2818 - November 18 - 10:00 am

  This is a great car. Love the sound of the exhaust and it has great handling around the corners, better than my maxima. Turns everyones head when i go by them.

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  Very happy with this car! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By wdlp65 - November 18 - 5:33 am

  I just bought this car last week, and I have to say it has to be one of the coolest cars Ive ever owned! You cannot believe all of the features you can get on this car, all for under $25,000 dollars! Took it to the hand car wash and the man at the window looked in the camera screen and said "you own the Audi?" Wow! The car looks great and runs even better, what a great car and a great deal.

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  Love it. except for the shimmy - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By JD - November 17 - 9:03 am

  I love so many things about my new Sonata, but i am really puzzled by the violent shimmy I experience when I open the rear window while driving at highway speeds. It is scary and i wonder if others have experienced this crazy behavior and what I might do about it. Seems to me that this should not happen with such a nice car in every other respect. Any opinions or suggestions? JD

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  First time Hyundai Buyer - 2011 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By bear7 - November 17 - 6:37 am

  Ive never considered a Hyundai before in my whole life. Im a patriotic American and have tried to buy American over and over to help my fellow countrymen but - damn! - Im sick of the cars. I researched a hatchback, SUV or wagon for the wife to replace her rapidly deteriorating Saturn Ion. The Touring is designed by Hyundai Europe in Germany (its the i30 over there) and it feels like it. we feel we got a German station wagon for a Hyundai price. Outstanding standard features and PEP #2 options (reasonably priced) and comfortable as heck. huge cargo capacity. We love it. Excellent price through TrueCar.com.

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  Phenomenal bang for the buck! - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Sedan Lover - November 16 - 10:00 am

  The Sonata is truly a steal at under $20,000. The leather in the LX is supple, the faux-wood trim looks anything but fake and the automatic climate control with air (I believe polen) filter is a nice feature for lazy drivers such as myself. The car rides smooth and feels solid with just the slightest understeer at higher speeds. The child safety features are wonderful. They made putting my dughters car seat in a breeze!