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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  DONT Buy A Genesis Thinking Its a Luxury Car - 2013 Hyundai Genesis
  By Bert Blackman - October 9 - 12:20 pm

  Dont buy a Genesis thinking its a luxury car. My car has wind noise, lots and lots of wind noise. Engine sounds funky, although nothing has broken yet. It sounds like its coming apart. At 15 months, all of my clear coat has peeled off. Of course, not under warranty.... But, the worst thing about this car is that if you buy one, you have to take your "luxury" car into a Hyundai dealership and talk to Hyundai service people for every little thing. And, that, is akin to being treated like a skunk at a wedding. Wind noise: Not their fault. Vibrations: Not their fault. Paint peeling was caused by a "rock chip" even though it started in the back, around the trunk, first. Washing the car removes paint. "Sweet." Part of the reason one purchases an upscale car is for the upscale experience. I own Porsches, Mercedes Benz, Infinity, etc. All are acceptable. Hyundai is like a cattle call. Did I save a few bucks? Yes. But after 15 months of this, I regret not just going down to the local Porsche dealership and dropping 125,000 on a Panamera. Life is too short to suffer with Hyundai and the untrained ruffians who work there. Oh, and in this car, you are either burning up or freezing to death. Climate control is awful. Freezing in winter, heat up, and cold air blows.... somehow......

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  LOVE THIS CAR!!! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Blaine - October 9 - 10:02 am

  I bought this car 3 years ago with 60,000 miles on it. I now have 148,000 and still runs great. Front seats can be uncomfortable at times. Powerful V6 and fun to drive. Replaced the fuel pump at 127,000 miles, other than that, just brakes, rotors, tune up, oil change ect....got a aftermarket radio so I could have us plug in and aux cord plug in. Get about 22mpg city and 26mpg highway.

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  CAR HAS ISSUES - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By James - October 7 - 5:30 am

  Check engine light comes on every 5 to 8,000 miles. Coil pack keeps going out when this happens and the car sputters and misses. Also driver airbag not working(red warning light is on). Brakes are not the best either.

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  Almost 10 years in this thing - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Brian - October 3 - 1:04 pm

  Overall, its been a solid car with decent reliability. Its solidly built and pretty quiet on the highway. Gas mileage is middling, but it is a V6. Power is decent for a family sedan. Pros: Reliable, fairly quiet, inexpensive to maintain Cons: Interior is low rent. For some reason, the suspension has started to squeak when going over any small bumps. Hasnt affected handling. May be due to the excessive dry heat (Phoenix az) we have here. Have had to replace radiator hoses and one of the windshield washer nozzles (again probably due to the heat here). Would I buy again? Probably not. But for reliable transportation at low cost with decent power, its been a good purchase. Its like a good mule, not a quarterhorse.

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  Trouble From The Start - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By Patti - October 1 - 8:20 pm

  Ive owned seven little old cars in the past fourteen years, many much older than this one, and this one has given me the most trouble bar none. As you probably suspected, the Toyotas and Hondas behaved perfectly. Now Im not gonna say it is all the cars fault, because Im certain its at least partially the fact that the previous owners were idiots (reversed the radiator hoses, made sure the PCV valve would never come out with the application of hardening mud). Plus, you have to consider, if idiots are buying Hyundais... yeah, that was kinda mean. But beware! Every thing I do to it, every fix, is like going down the rabbit hole, even though this car is relatively easy to work on. Let me start from the beginning. I bought the car only 4k miles ago, and with blown struts and cracked windshield and a little hitch in its shifting--I knew about all that. One week after the purchase, driving down the highway, radiator blew. So, tow bill. New radiator, and it was still overheating. This is when we realized the hoses were reversed. New thermostat, new belts while were at it. Two week long saga of getting the belts on juuuuuust right to get one or the other or all of them to stop squealing. Pro tip: tighten the alternator belt. Before I forget, let me mention that now, one of the pulleys is squeaking, will probably need to replace THAT soon. One of the back drum brakes was squeaking, tried to get that off to fix... of course its well and truly stuck, /fail. I did some research on the internet about the shifting, found a lot of people had had success with changing the transmission speed sensors. Bought them on ebay, installed, and... I think its shifting somewhat better. It doesnt do the odd shifting thing anymore... mostly. Its still not perfect, and its driving me a little insane. I think its manuals from here on out for me. But anyway, back to the car. Tried to change the PCV valve, unscrewed it from the valve cover... and the whole effing brass fitting came out of the valve cover with it, because apparently, someoned glued it in. Jammed it back in, PCV valve unchanged. Option at this point: Get really, really creative getting the PCV valve out, or new valve cover, $250. The engine was filthy, decided I was going to wash it before working on it. Wound up flooding one of the spark plugs. Couple-day saga of changing spark plugs (which were due anyway, so whatever), Heet, wires. Apparently Id fried the wire, too. Couple days after that, headlights went out. Both of them, at the same time. Odd, yes? Anyway. Theres more, I know theres more, but Im drawing a blank right at this second, so how about the good: The seats are comfortable, the sunroof still works and doesnt leak, aftermarket stereo plays Pandora. Oh! And Im beginning to suspect parts are cheap, cuz the junkyard quoted me $550 for a new (100k miles) engine. Peeves: Rear foot space is sparing, little spots of rust starting on body.

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  my little friend - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By Frank - October 1 - 7:15 pm

  136000 and still going strong. I drive it easy and give it tlc.everything works. it is a good little car. I love it. cassette player died but I got a after mart thats sounds good. I dont know what these other people knock it for. it ony cost me 13000 dollars new.maybe I got a good one but I still love it. 15 winters so far and runs like a champ. rustproofing does pay off. body has none and paint still sines because I wax it often. so there

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  Terrible buy - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By DILLAN - September 30 - 8:24 am

  The warranty given by Hyundai doesnt guarantee the motor 100,000 miles unless your original owner. My engine blew even after regular maintenance. The recent recall of the 2011 and 2012 model confirms my suspicion that they wont recall them because its only affecting a certain region. The mechanics know that vehicles are defected as well.

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  Nice car for the money - 2014 Hyundai Genesis
  By Tom - September 29 - 8:32 am

  Purchased mine in July 2014 Nice car now has 18000 miles with no issues however the cost of car vs what options are in it ,think it a bit short for being the basic model probably could have purchased a fully loaded Chrysler 300 with all options otherwise its a nice car

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  BEST SEDAN ON THE ROAD - 2010 Hyundai Genesis
  By Gary Lewis - September 28 - 7:59 pm

  Top notch sedan. The 4.6 is the one. 3.8s just dont cut it. Ive had this car for three plus years and wouldnt think of even trading it in. Great performance and beautiful lines. No issues whatsover. Change oil, brakes, tires. A++++++

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  13 years & counting!! - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By Jim Hoth - September 27 - 12:49 am

  I bought my Accent L new in early 2003. It was a carryover 2002 model, so an additional $500 was taken off of the already low $9,495 window sticker. I was not after a car with a lot of bells & whistles... in fact, I liked that it was a bare bones base model as I felt there would be far less to wear out when it got older. 13 years later I have 77,000 miles on it & can truthfully say its been the most reliable car Ive ever had. its started in -21F with wind chills of near -50F, its idled in 102 degree heat with the temp gauge never leaving the midway point. It handles decent on wet roads, fair in the snow, & excellent on dry pavement. I have done very little to it except routine maintenance, which I have done everything at their recommended intervals. The engine is smooth, I can shift the 5 speed manual transmission with one finger, & the original paint looks like new yet. The only items I have had wear poorly are the shifter boot, the door panels faded very easily, & I am now needing to have the foam rubber inside the drivers seat replaced. The exhaust flex pipe developed a hole in 2010, but it was covered by the 10 year / 100,000 mile warranty. The gas mileage is far above what the window sticker rates it at. I consistently get 40-43 MPG in the Summer & have even topped 50 MPG once on a trip with all highway miles @ 55 MPH. I use Bosch triple platinum plugs, full synthetic oil, & run mid-grade unleaded. I plan to have this car for many years yet.