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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  3rd Hyundai 2nd Elantra and loving it - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Gman - February 15 - 2:00 am

  Ive had my GLS for two months now, and I love it. Smile everytime I have to drive somewhere. Made a few of my coworkers mad after taking them for a drive(One had just bought a Sentra for $14000 and the other bought an Echo for $12500) and I told them I only paid $10500 and their cars dont have all the stuff the Elantra comes with standard.

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  Needs cruise for manual trans - 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By Joe - February 15 - 2:00 am

  Overall its a great car. Going from an SUV that average 18 mpg to a hatchback with nearly just as much room that averages about 28 mpg for me Im very pleased with my purchase. I wish the base model came with more options (mostly Cruise control!), but with what you get in a base model for 15k its great

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  Strong buy. Love my blue Tucson! - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Yuri Aurich - February 15 - 2:00 am

  The first Tucson I bought was a 2006 gls 0 miles and I loved it! Then gave it to my mom and bought a BMW 325i 2006 after taking care of the bimmer and dealing with "way to expensive" service and maintenance fee decided to sell it and I did. I feel so much better now I bought an used 2005 Hyundai Tucson gls 4wd and I love it! I feel so good driving my car and going to Mexico 650 miles roundtrip from Las Vegas! With 70,000 miles on it it drives and feel like new. I would definitely buy another one and definitely recommend it to family and friends and you guys! Peace of mind, Hyundai never let me down!

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  Jury is out - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By m. smith - February 15 - 2:00 am

  I have owned my Santa Fe since 5/10 and have 15k on it since then Im happy to say that ive not experienced any of the transmission problems others have. I do have a service appointment next week to fix a problem with the rear door locks, they stopped working when using the key fob. Im a bit unhappy with all the doors and door hardware on this vehicle in regards to quality and am unsure how it will hold up over time (not optimistic). Other than that Im happy with the driving experience and mpg.

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  Beware of Warranty - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Arthur - February 15 - 2:00 am

  I rarely write review, but I have to write one for Hyundai. The warranty is not as it advertised. I bought it as brand new and after 3 months the AC is not working. So I took the dealer and they said a rock had hit my car and damaged the air condition function. I have been driving other cars for the past 20 years with different brands. I cannot believe the Hyundais product is so fragile. So today, I bring my car to another Hyundai dealership, they still cannot warrant it. I asked why other cars that I had driven for years that I never seen or heard this type of problem. They said, its Hyundais design. I do a lot of researches when I buy car, but I will never buy a Hyundai again!

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  Move over Honda and Toyota - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By Jay - February 14 - 6:00 pm

  I had a Civic previously and like the Elantra a lot more. It has more room, rides better, and has better acceleration. The only negatives are the relatively poor gas mileage for a compact and the rear window fogs in humidity unless the AC is on.

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  2800 miles and first issue surfaced - 2016 Hyundai Equus
  By Thomas kearns - February 14 - 3:39 am

  All has been good so far. Dealer had to replace back tires due to bubbling. Then this am driving to work on highway window goes down and stays down! Call dealer set up appointment ask for loaner to be ready. Get there no loaner wait for car rental agency ,no show, get driven to the car rental place, put me in an old sonata with no gas? Not the "Luxury" treatment sold to me up front. Valet service is a sham

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  Sensor Issues - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By incubritt2010 - February 14 - 12:16 am

  I got my Santa Fe with 68,000, and after 4 other lemons before that, I figured this car would be my knight in shining armor. So, naturally, the transmission went out 6 months after I bought it. Now a year and half later, it just wouldnt start one day. Long story short, Ive now replaced the Mass Airflow Sensor, the Coolant Temperature Sensor, and low and behold, this morning I went to start it and its running crappy still and trying to die on me, obviously not trustworthy. The mechanics are stumped, and so am I. If this happens to you, the code reads, "Fuel temp sensor", get ready for a domino effect of electrical problems that mechanics wont be able to pinpoint.

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  Surprising in every way... - 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By entheo - February 13 - 11:35 pm

  let me start by saying that ive previously owned four straight Audis, the last of which felt pretty boring to me, so it was time for a change. after test driving numerous vehicles (including BMW, Porsche) i took a spin in the sante fe 2.0T AWD, and was frankly shocked at how nice it was. ive purchased one and i couldnt be happier -- its quiet, refined, peppy, smooth, handles well and is actually fun to drive. very nice set of features, and of course an outstanding warranty. and all this for half (or more) of what i would have paid for a German counterpart. unless you feel obligated to impress your neighbors with an expensive nameplate you owe it to yourself to take one for a test drive.

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  Love my Sonata! - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Ryan Conrad - February 13 - 4:02 am

  Although Ive only owned my car since Sept 2004 I feel it was a great choice. I did lots of research & found this to be the absolute best over-all buy! Ive had only minor issues & will defintely purchase one again in the future!