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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  Good Car - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Punumscott - December 8 - 8:00 am

  A solid performer. 14,000 miles and no real problems. Have experienced same minor issues mentioned by other owners such as squeaky dash/window and unusual/rough gear changing with auto transmission. Handling is a little loose and suspension is a little rough and noisy. Random feature on infinity sound system has an irritating software flaw that causes it to play the same songs over and over again. On the positive side system sounds great.

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  Great Car, too bad there have been so many recalls - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By Mary - December 7 - 11:44 pm

  I bought this car 1 month ago with about 85,000 on it for $11,999. I love how it feels and the acceleration and braking are exceptional. I bought one with Black Interior/Exterior color. It has a very sharp look and it definitely makes you look twice. The black Exterior is metallic and sparkles. I do notice a fair amount of light scratches in the paint but it is only noticeable if you are looking very closely at it. I like the heated seats and the Satelite radio. The stereo system is okay, have heard better thou. There is a considerable amount of rattling noise from the passenger door and the passenger seat has more vibration from the road then it should. I have to re-adjust the seat to stop it from rattlein. I live where the roads are rough and the cars suspension does not ride well on them. Im going to replace the tires with ones that are not high performance. I hope that will soften the ride. My car has had 8 recalls and the last one was in April and has yet to be repaired by the dealer. They are waiting from Hyundai on instructions on what to replace. It is the STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM recall. The power assist could fail without warning and make it hard to steer the car. If you buy one of these cars make sure all recalls have been taken care of. Which one should do with any car they buy but exceptionally the Sonata. My car is one of the cars that was assembled in Alabamba. A large number of engines have metallic metal shavings in the engine that can cause it to seize up. I had mine checked and they say it is not affected but still warranty the engine up to 125,000 miles or 10 years. I love this car but do wish I would have checked for the recalls before I bought it.

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  Hyundai Review - 2001 Hyundai Accent
  By T.J. Kahler - December 7 - 12:26 pm

  It has no power. It has like 105 horses and you also can find hardly any racing parts for it if you go to a part store.

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  My XG350L - 2003 Hyundai XG350
  By donaghadee - December 7 - 10:00 am

  Great ride, lots of bells and whistles for the price.People have actually asked me "what is it". When I tell them it is a Hyundai they have comments like "I didnt know Hyundai made such a nice looking car!

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  Faulty Design - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Michael82 - December 7 - 10:00 am

  The base manual 4 cylinder Tiburon is not recommended by me. The engines idle stays very high, (around 2-3,000 RPM) and makes for a horrible shift, while wearing out the clutch. My Tiburon has 7,500 miles and the clutch is starting to shatter. I once timed how long it took for it to idle down while coasting, exceeded 30 seconds, only stopping because i came to a complete stop. Hyundai made it clear that they will not help in any way because thats how they say they designed it. I would like to have known that before i bought it!! I did drive one prior to this purchase which did NOT perform the same way. Basically Hyundai is not standing behind this vehicle!!!

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  Versatile and reliable - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Bryan Rauworth - December 7 - 3:17 am

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  Some good and compromised quality issues - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By abjee - December 6 - 8:54 pm

  I own a Hyundai Sonata 2013 Limited and have put 18 K miles on it. Hyundai Sonata is a solid car overall with a powerful engine, great design and several added features for a lower price. It also has very good safety ratings (which hopefully will not be tested while I am on the road). But to gain on these aspects, there are some compromises made by the company in making this car, which are pretty glaring and somewhat annoying.

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  Fun Car_No issues with speed - 2012 Hyundai Veloster
  By attaymik37 - December 6 - 4:20 pm

  I researched the Veloster so when it was time to look they were just coming in and I didnt want the base model. Being my impatient self, I bought a Genesis Coupe (big mistake--different review) in Oct; just traded it in yesterday for the car I should have had in the first place, a black Veloster. The ride is smoother, more comfortable and the amenities are outstanding for a car in this class and price range. No disrespect to the Genesis (Coupe) but this car suits me so much better and I couldnt be happier!

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  So Many Problems! - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Scottielisa - December 5 - 9:03 pm

  I have had 2 coil packs go bad. 2 oxygen sensors go bad. Twice they had to replace the front sway bars and it sounds like they need replaced again. The right front hub was replaced and now I have a clunking noise when it is down shifting, shifting up from 1st to 2nd and also it happens in reverse. I currently have 63000 miles. 40000 hwy. I bought it for the style and I had a couple other Hyundais so I thought it would be good quality. I dont know if mine was made on a Friday when they wanted to leave early for the weekend and rushed the job, but Im hoping Hyundai will do something about my continued problems with it. Well see.

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  best bang for the money - 1998 Hyundai Accent
  By trig514 - December 5 - 4:25 pm

  Love my accent, Great mileage and fun to drive