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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  mustve gotten the one with the bad seats - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By rocks3 - May 14 - 3:52 am

  The Elantra caught my eye with its good looks, lots of room inside and spacious trunk for a small car. Comparatively the other cars I tested in the 30-40mpg range were very small inside. Mileage so far has ranged from 30mg to 36mpg, both city and highway. Traffic light stops cut the fuel economy. On the highway the suspension is very stiff, I feel all the bumps in the road, and the wind pushing the car on windy days. Also dissapointed that the Elantra does not come with a spare tire! Ive never had a Hyundai before, Im concerned about what winter driving in snow and ice will be like, mine has Continental tires.

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  9 months into it - 2010 Hyundai Elantra
  By worldbfree - May 13 - 9:27 am

  I now have about 16k on the car, over 100 mile daily commute. I ask a lot of the car and it meets my needs. It has plenty of pep. I can get to / cruise at 80-85 no problem. I just got over 32 m.p.g. for the first time, slowed down used cruise, plenty roomy - reliable, seats have improved. It does not glide or float down the road like my 08 Sonata 4 cyl but I had my 2002 Elantra 8 years 193k, you cant go wrong with a 2010 Elantra not as pretty as the 11 but for about $13,500 cmon auto,cruise,ac etc. - average about 30 m.p.g.

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  Hyundai - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By no1 - May 12 - 7:14 am

  Dont buy a Hyundai. The 06 Sonata is my 4th of 5 Hyundais. At 74,000 miles the airbag warning light came on. The dealer wants $1100 to replace the seat sensor. Asked for assistance from Hyundai. No thanks,its 15,000 miles out of warranty. Still has powertrain though. This is the second time ive asked Hyundai to repair a safety issue out of the base warranty and the second time theyve refused. That wont happen with Toyota or Honda.So dont buy a Hyundai. When the cars age and safety issues happen,they will show you to the curb.

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  Buy a Ford - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By rotag - May 11 - 7:21 pm

  Bought this car with 16,000 miles in Jan 09 and a 08 Ford Fusion with 10,000 miles in Feb 09. Both have 45k now and the Fusion hasnt had one issue, zero. the Hyundai has had so many issues I cant mention them all here. Additionally, I caught the dealer ripping me off. Hyundai corporate is terrible and doesnt care. Had issue with fuel tank where after the pump would shut off when filling the tank with gas it would "burp" and spit up gas...took 7 trips to the dealership to fix. Have replaced all 4 tires and all 4 brakes...again no issues with Ford. The only saving grace is the repairs are covered under warranty although Id rather have a call without a warranty that wont break.

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  Bad Tires O Genesis - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By jspong002 - May 11 - 12:47 pm

  After only 7500 miles my two rear tires were completely bald. The dealer replaced them commenting they had never seen anything like that before. After the next 8000 miles the remaing two tires were also bald, but the dealer and Hyundai refused to replace. Do not buy a Hyundai with Dunlop Sp Sport 5000 m tires. Insist the dealer change them or dont buy the car. These are junk tires and should never be put on a car, as they are unsafe.

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  Too Good To Be True? - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By rkesten - May 10 - 12:10 pm

  I bought my 2008 Hyundai Accent with only 32k miles on it bout a month ago. it is still under warranty for about another year and a half and I gained incentives from the dealership that covers then engine for the entire time I own the car. Im sure glad I have the warranty becuase tomorrow I have to bring the car in to be looked at. For the past few days the check engine light flashes on, and slows down while doing so. This only happens on my way to work (I have even let my car warm up to see if this works--it did not). Also, the transmition is slow. When i shift from reverse to drive, it has a pretty decently long delay. I find this almost dangerous if I need to back up and drive qucikly.

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  A Pig with Lipstick - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By newburgh_jim - May 10 - 9:03 am

  I shopped around and the Sonata seemed to be the best value at the time. I was wrong, as they say "You get what you pay for". In the first week I noticed the ride just felt cheap and the tires squealed going around corners. I had to replace the back breaks at under 20k miles because the original set stuck or something and cooked the back rims and actualy browned the hub caps. Worse yet, I had to pay for this obvious manufacture defect. Poor fuel economy and with 44k miles as of 11 May, 2011 average fuel economy is 20.9! Tires were rotated but had to be replaced at around 22k miles. I do not abuse my vehicles and all maintenance was on time. Now the engine is ticking loudly.

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  Good commuter car - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By raoul_duke - May 10 - 9:02 am

  I drive 75mi round trip to work, so I needed a low cost car with good MPG. So far so good. I have been averaging 35-37 mpg 80% highway miles. I wanted to stay under 20k out the door so it was between this and the Corolla. The Corolla seemed really basic/bland and I would most certainly had buyers remorse had I chosen to purchase the Toyota. Performance is what you would expect from a 4-banger and the 6-speed transmission seems all over the place, but not too bad.

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  2007 Sonata peeling paint problem - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By brossart - May 7 - 7:47 pm

  I bought my 2007 Hyundai Sonata new, and at that time, I thought it was a good car, but I have since changed my mind. After an electrical short in the steering column, rear brake problems, engine computer malfunction, and now bubbling and peeling paint, I have had enough. Warranty covered most of the problems, but since my Sonata has 43,000 miles on it, Hyundai wonÂ’t cover the peeling paint, because the paint is only warranted for 3years 36,000 miles. The paint is so thin on this car that when driven on the highway, even bugs cause chipping of the paint on the front bumper and on the hood of the car. This appears to be a sub-standard paint job. Paint should not be peeling off this soon.

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  Honestly.. Very Disappointed!! - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By tigerbill61 - May 6 - 6:50 pm

  Sadly bought my 4.6 LOADED brand new after reading about All the Great reviews. Its now been 2 years since my regretable purchase. Please let me reassure you I am a REAL Person and not a rep from some other ripoff car company like BMW! Tires very cheap replaced at 12,000 miles! Key needs to be within 1 foot or placed in slot to operate the pushbutton start!. Terrible in the snow and wet roads with the rear drive! Backup camera works 50% of time! You need a Hyundai brand I-Pod cable to work you I-Pod connection (Extra 75.00) Hmm never mentioned! The Transmnission shifting is a Nightmare and very embarrasing! Frequent updates for stereo _ etc. Im outta words with alottt more to say!