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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  WOW! - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By satexas - June 15 - 8:56 pm

  My wife and i decided to depart from the luxury car segment and get something more practical. We decided on the hyundai because of the feature content of the limited and the gas mileage. We just werent sure of hyundai reliability. I am happy to say we have had the car 3 months and havent looked back. Sure its no speed demon, but if all you want is a great every day driver and a car that has most of the technology of a luxury car with great gas mileage then this is the car for you. My wife has managed up to 44mpg hypermiling it on the expressway. Those people that arent getting the high 30 mpg on the highway may just need to have a lighter foot. Great car would totally recommended.

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  Great car overall - but read the full review - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By tiversen - June 13 - 3:02 pm

  Have driven the car for about 1000 miles. This is a good choice for a highway commuter or inexpensive family car. Hope it holds up - but bought the 10 yr 100k bumper to bumper just in case. Here is the good, the fair and the needs improvement.

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  i wish i was getting the advertised gas mileage - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By debbishaw - June 12 - 9:52 pm

  i bought the car for gas mileage and i am very disappointed that i am only getting 31 MPG on highways. and they were not coming down on price due their gas fuel economy.is this even legal to advertise 40 mpg when it does not come close?

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  General electrical system problems. - 2009 Hyundai Elantra
  By hardrock46 - June 12 - 10:32 am

  We have owned 2 Hyundas previously and were very pleased with with both cars. Excelent reliability and performance. Then we bought this 2009 elantra (brand new) and have been very disappointed. While the car always starts fine, runs great and gets great gas mileage it is plagued with bull crap electrical problems. 1. Check engine light keeps coming on. Had it in for this several times. Dealer cant or wont fix it. 2. Tire pressure light kept coming on. They seemed to fix that, so far. 3. The theft alarm keeps randomly coming on. Just did it again this morning. Multiple trips to dealer, no fix. 4. Winshield washer quit. Tank full, pump runs, no water. Will take it back in again.

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  Great Car no problems!!!!! - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By hellblitz - June 10 - 9:08 pm

  The Car runs Great now going on its fifth year and doing nutting but basic maintenance. Never had a break down. The one defect to this car I would say is the Brakes. The work great and better then most cars Ive driven but they are small which means that you have to change them every 10k to 15k miles depending on how hard you break.

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  Best Car For The Money - 2012 Hyundai Accent
  By poematic - June 9 - 6:23 pm

  Just bought it today, out of all the new cars I test drove the look and feel of this one blows all of them out of the ball park.

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  40 MPG? - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By jouett - June 9 - 8:54 am

  Ive had my 2011 Limited for two months, and just under 2,000 miles. Traded an 09 Accord EX. Like the looks inside and out, and for the price, think its very well equipped. My only negative remark so far is with the advertised 40 mpg estimate. I understand all the variables that go into the final average fuel numbers. Driving conservatively on 30 mile r/t per day, Ive not seen 30 mpg yet. Prior to the Honda was an 03 Corolla that did provide 30+ mpg. Im hoping this one improve with time.

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  Know what you are getting. - 2009 Hyundai Elantra
  By skolakowski1 - June 8 - 1:27 pm

  The AC is inadequate. On 95 degree days, it is still warm in the car. This is a common problem for Hyundai. I had to have the windows tinted to help. I was in a head on accident and the air bags didnt go off. Another common problem for Hyundai. Im waiting for a recall announcement. The idiot lights come on sporadically (ESC,ABS,TPMS). The longest one has stayed on was over an hour. I dont know if the ABS and ESC are working. Another common problem for Hyundai. The car has over 50K miles on it and we have not had any problems with it not running or starting. We get about 25 miles to the gallon but do mostly city driving.

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  B R O K E N WINDOWS! - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By jennifer_c620 - June 5 - 8:06 pm

  I bought my 2007 Hyundai Sonata with about 44K miles, now it has over 66K and before I hit my 6 year/60K warrenty expiration, my left side rear window broke and was stuck in the down position, thankfully, Hyundai fixed it at NO charge, However, now that Im over the warrenty, my right side rear window has broken, in the down position . What is wrong with this company and its cheap parts??? I owned a Nissan before this and never had any issues like this. Also my paint is bubbling off on the mirrors, so far, this is the only place its pealing. Though, when I bought the car, it had been REPAINTED on the hood and front bumper due to paint bubbling. I never had faith in Hyundai and still dont!!

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  NOT WORLD CLASS - 2011 Hyundai Genesis
  By harry73 - June 5 - 3:32 pm

  This is my third Hyundai and my first major disappointment. While an otherwise decent car, the Genesis has a fit and finish problem with its roof. The car shows "indentations" or "ripples" around the sun roof and around the antenna installation. My car was review by the Hyundai regional rep and reported that this issue was noted in other cars on the lot and "came that way from the factory". I appealed to Hyundai Customer Connect who reiterated that "other like vehicles displayed the same characteristics,..operating as designed, therefore, no further assistance. The model should be called the "Donald Trump Edition", it has as many "waves" as the Donalds hair do. Major dissapointment!