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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  My Sonata - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By KathrynMck - November 9 - 2:00 am

  People have asked me what type of vehicle I have...and are surprised to find out its a Hyundai. Some have thought it to be a Jaguar or a Mercedes by its looks. When they have traveled in it, they state how nice it is.

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  One of the best in its class - 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By bahappy12 - November 9 - 12:40 am

  The Hyundai Santa Fe is second best in its class according to consumer reports magazine. It is rated second, right behind Honda CR-V. It is a little more roomy than the CR-V and better warranty overall. CR-V was also a little more expensive. Years ago, Hyundai was not rated very good, but they have made drastic improvements over the past few years.

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  First time Hyundai Owner - 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By Treetop - November 7 - 2:16 am

  It is my first time to own a Hyundai car but so far after having driven 3k miles, I am more than convinced that I made a right choice. ET (Elantra Touring) has more features than any other cars in its class for less $$$. Better gas mileage than my previous 2.0 Mazda Protege 2002 and city/highway combined getting average 30 mpg. My 2 kids have more than enough space in the back. Good cargo space and well thought out dashboard design. I just had a trip of 400 miles but didnt even feel fatigue. USB connection (I dont even have iPOD) gives me more than I need, that 8GB flash drive can store plenty songs that I can control from my steering wheel.

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  Value Buster - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Richard Thomas - November 5 - 11:13 am

  Went from Infiniti to Hyundai Azera. Lots of room, smooth ride, comfortable seats, great stereo and awesome brakes! Dont like to overspend on anything. Didnt with the Azera!

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  Best bang for the buck - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By ACD - November 5 - 11:13 am

  Started out at the 2008 CAS and compared all 7 passenger cars. Narrowed it down to Saturn Outlook and the Veracruz, Saturn lost. So far 9800 miles and not a single problem other than two broken seat belt clips from a clumsy kid. Handles snow great, even through 2 drifts. I have nothing bad to say about it, only thing that is annoying is the XM radio switches back to preview channel when you switch to AM/FM. MPG on highway tops 25 MPG, but winter has it down to 17.3 overall. Summer 19 MPG. Its my favorite car. My daily driver is a Toyota Camry Hybrid, so I get to have fun once in a while and drive this instead.

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  awesome value for the price - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By coreyb. - November 4 - 10:00 am

  i traded in a 2000 chevy tracker for my elantra. let me tell you ,after driving a car that you hate for 2 years its nice to drive one that you like. the car has a smooth ride, great pick up, and good fuel economy. drove to D.C. and back from Va. beach off of 1 tank of gas. thinking about bying the missus one for xmas. i like the $300 car payment the best.

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  Dream car - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Shyrl - November 4 - 2:00 am

  I absolutely LOVE everything about this car! Its comfortable, classy and best of all affordable! I like the way the all controls are within easy reach for the driver. The trunk is very roomy, deep and it opens much wider than most cars. The safety features (including front and side airbags) is an added feature. The best thing of all is the wonderful warranty you get with the Hyundai. Why would you buy anything else?

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  Better yet uglier than my previous 2013 Santa Fe - 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By goblin - October 31 - 6:19 am

  ...Or, lets talk about the Santa Fe Sports poor brother Disclaimer - this is a review from a Hyundai owner for Hyundai owners. If youre looking to compare with other similar vehicles, your mileage may vary. Previously owned - 2002 Mitsubishi Diamante, 2010 Sonata, 2013 Santa Fe Limited. If you like me have been fascinated by Hyundais 2013 Santa Fe (long base, not Sport), you like me have been charmed by its many qualities and irritated by its few quirks. On the quality side - amazing design, amazing bang for the buck. Performance, acceleration - everything was pretty much as it should be. For the 2013 model (the first of the series) though, there were a few annoying issues. To name them - a convoluted equipment level choice (you HAD to have the captain chairs on the back if you wanted a panoramic roof), and, probably the one and only real issue - a rear suspension which was too soft for its own good (probably a straight port from the shorter wheelbase Santa Fe Sport), which was ok when driving alone with a light load, but not ok at all with a full house. This has apparently addressed prior to the 2017 model discussed here, so if you drive a 2015 for example - this might not apply to you. If you have a 2014 though, it probably does. The other issue was that you would probably have test driven an entry level model (same engine and suspension), but once you opted for the limited you had to chime the larger wheels (19") in, which would make the ride even harsher (why on Earth would all brands decide that "Luxury" rhymes with "larger low profile tires" is beyond me). Other than that, the 2013 Santa Fe was pure joy all the way. Enter the 2017. As mentioned - its pretty much the same, yet not the same vehicle. So Ill just point the differences: - It is very easy to mess up a good design, and just like Infiniti did it 10 years ago with the FX, Hyundai has been able to do the (few) subtle changes that changed the design for the worse between the 2016 and the 2017 models. Compared to it competition the Santa Fe is slightly narrower. In the previous versions this has been nicely compensated with a design which emphasized horizontal lines - including for the lower part of the fender and the fog lights which were horizontal. The 2017 Santa Fe Sport ALSO has horizontal fog lights, which make it look wider a wilder. Not so for the Santa Fe. The vertical fog lights (Im quite sure someone was very proud with that choice) manage to "close" the horizontal line of the cars fascia and to isolate it between two vertical lines going up, making the whole vehicle look narrower and taller. Always wondered why the 2017 Santa Fe and Santa Fe Sport dont look equally dynamic seen from the front ? Now you know. On the back, a change as subtle as inverting the position of the backup lights (on the bottom part of the taillight on the 2017 rather than on the top part in the previous models) is enough to disrupt the lines of a behind which, already by design, is heavier, and different from the perfect behind of the Santa Fe Sport and thus very, very easy to mess up. Last but not least - the absolutely perfect design of the 2013-2016 Santa Fe alloy wheels in Limited trim, combining elegance and dynamics to perfection, has been updated to a bland, smaller looking (if not smaller physically), average Joe alloy wheel design. Now that we bashed the exterior, lets enter the vehicle, shall we ? The other reviewers remarks about the interiors plastic put aside (I wouldnt know, have not compared with other brands), I found the 2013 dash close to perfection in design, and almost so in ergonomics. The large central volume radio button (Limited with navigation) was perfect and easy to find, and the rest was up to speed. The navigation has always been probably the most intuitive to use in the car world. Same for the huge, easy to find fan control button. The only real faux pas were the stupid Plus / Minus temperature control buttons, which should have always been rotary buttons (like on my 2010 Sonata, which - behold - had rotary temp control buttons but a linear Fan control button. Eeeeh... theyll get it right for my retirement year...) In 2017, the Fan controls are the same or almost (good and bad), the radio is a banal two small rotary buttons setup (bad). The navigation and the head unit have more possibilities, but somehow the navigation screen doesnt look as clean, there is no way to switch between connected phone units while driving, little things like that. The front seats are just as beautiful as the previous ones (very, very comfortable for whoever likes german like seats, or "made of soft wood", as the French call them). The seats ventilation is genius. Beautiful thing. Finally, memory seats. The easy entry/exit feature Ill discuss later. Now, lets drive. Or not. Apparently, space is limited. Lets see if we can add another review...

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  2008 Hyundai Santa Fe - Great Value - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By orzecap - October 30 - 10:06 am

  My wife and I spent 2-3 months researching the purchase of a new vehicle to replace our worn-out Dodge Caravan minivan. Final decision came down to the Santa Fe and Toyota Rav4. The Santa Fe won primarily on the greater "bang for our buck", the Rav4 interior felt cheap compared to the Santa Fe. The Santa Fe has more than adequate power. The ride is smooth and quiet. The interior is well thought out and comfortable. The exterior styling is attractive, but not "over- done". This vehicle is a pleasure to drive. I will have to see how reliability will be over time, but Hyundais great warranty helps with piece of mind in that area.

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  Great Spunky SUV - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By kmdavis - October 30 - 10:00 am

  Great vehicle for the price. I have had no problems with the vehicle.