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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  102K miles and still going strong - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By luvmelmuch - September 10 - 11:45 pm

  I bought my 2011 Hyundai Sonata off the showroom floor with 3 miles on it. I travel for a living so reliability and comfort were king. In addition the gas mileage on my model is still 36 MPG. I got 60k miles on the stock tires and put the second set of shoes on and it is a lot quieter. I have had no major or minor repair issues. I keep the oil changed and tires rotated and it has been great. I hope to hit 200K with no problems.

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  More Bang for My / Our Buck - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Rick Perez - September 10 - 3:30 pm

  The wife and I were looking for a SUV without the SUV price. We are also planing for a family and LOVED ALL THE BELLS and WHISTLES on the Tucson LX that came standard. We treated ourselves. It was worth the jump from GL to LX The Autoplex mall here in Hawaii was no pressure and traded in our VW Jetta and never looked back.

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  Could be better - 2007 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Bill - September 10 - 10:26 am

  We generally like the car. It has been reliable and the gas mileage not bad - around 30 mpg on a trip. The 4 cylinder is underpowered but adequate for around town and long trips providing you dont live in the mountains.

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  Better than expected - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Jerry1225 - September 10 - 8:20 am

  I live in the Philadelphia area and we had a 26" snowfall followed 3 days later by a 20" blizzard with freezing rain and sleet. The Santa Fe handled the 26" snowfall without getting stuck once. It did get a little dicey here and there. The blizzard on top of it was too much and it got stuck a couple of times. So did just about everything else.

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  Highly Recommend- - 2016 Hyundai Sonata
  By Alvaro M. - September 9 - 7:48 pm

  Purchased a 2016 sonata se- Did my research on other cars- including an Altima, Accord, Camry and Mazda6. And oh boy, my head was spinning and hard to make a decision, specially since I am tall, 6ft 2in. And finding a vehicle that would be comfortable is quite a struggle for me. Until I looked into the Sonata- For the money and feautures you get- I could not complain! Back up camera and Android Auto is phenomenal!!! Works 100% of the time and to top it off- The gas mileage- I drive about 60 miles a day and what I can say is it does really good- I average 32-33 mpg! The vehicle accelerates just fine- it brings me up to speed whenever I need it. We are a family of three- And really recommend to test drive the vehicle. The color I purchased mine was Red exterior color with Beige interior- Tint the windows and you got yourself a good looking car!!!

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  It has sold me on Hyundai - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By jefe - September 9 - 2:00 am

  I now have just over a year in and I still love the car. No complaints worth mentioning. I went with the Hyundai after 10 years in SAABs (you cant tell them apart when they pass you fast!) and while it is not a SAAB, its not $30,000 either. I will certainly buy Hyundai again.

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  I love this car - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Allison - September 8 - 2:02 pm

  I previously owned a Chevy Cavalier. It was a cute, comfy, cheap car, but everything in the world went wrong with it and it was only three years old when I bought it. My 2009 Hyundai Sonata was purchased in 2013. I owned it for three years before it was wrecked in an accident. In those three years I never had to do anything other than oil change, wiper blade change, and new tires--all normal stuff. It ran perfectly and gave me no real trouble. Although it is a little too wide near the sideview mirror level, it is extremely spacious. I could sleep comfortably in the trunk or backseat if needed. It is super reliable. The one time the check engine light came on it turned out my gas cap was off. I love this car. It broke my heart when it was wrecked. But, even in that, it was a good car. A car clipped me while speeding. He was coming down the hill at a good speed and did not even brake. He smacked into the front/side of the car, and the car jerked but did not spin. The front was all smashed, but the damage was only about a foot in, and everything moved about a foot to the left from the side swipe. The rest of the car was fine. I could still drive it the few blocks home. The insurer just considered it a "total loss" because the cost of repairing it exceeded the retail value of the car. That is the main drawback. I dont know why, since it is a very good car, but it has very poor resale value (about $7,000 at just 7 years old). I owe more than the car is worth. I would highly recommend this car to anyone--but would recommend bargaining down to the Kelley Blue Book value, which is much less than what most dealers sell it for, to make sure you dont end up with a big gap to cover if the car goes kaput. Or, at least factor in the cost of gap insurance, which is really important if you get this car.

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  COOL RIDE I would recommend it - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By korrosive - September 8 - 2:00 am

  I bought my GT with 30k miles on it amidst frowns from my friends. It has been an awesome ride and I have taken 500mile trips a couple of times with no problems. My RR wheel hub assembly has been replaced twice in this year under warranty, my manifold was replaced during my timing belt replacement. My headlamps go out every 3 months, whenever I go through a car wash water seeps in the rear seats right above the trunk. I have a very aggressive driving habit, but the car just compels me to drive faster and harder because it handles extremely great.

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  Bought my second Sonata - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By bogambo - September 7 - 10:13 pm

  I just traded a 2007 Sonata Limited for a 2009 Sonata Limited. The 2007 was a great car but this is a fantastic upgrade.

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  ERRATIC STEERING PROBLEMS - 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By rockyatv - September 7 - 12:59 pm

  We purchased a 2013 Sport 2.0 Turbo Oct 2012 and have only put on 4000 miles since then because of the poor steering. Picked it up on a Friday night and was back on Saturday,could not drive it on highway and keep it between the lines. Have had it back 6 times, adjusted the alignment, flashed the computer and even put in a new steering column and still have the problem. Filed under the Lemon law and have been going through the process for 4 months. Have to go through the BBB auto line before the state. BBB is funded by the auto industry, just found out our claim was rejected, even after the arbitrator had an expert driver do the report. DONT BUY WITHOUT DRIVING ON HIGHWAY,WORST DRIVE.