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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  Great first car - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By Batoutofhe11 - September 24 - 8:02 pm

  this is the cheapest little car you can get, it has very little put into it interior or electronics wise, but it makes up for all that by having an average of 40 miles to the gallon. which even modern cars have trouble doing. this car is surprisingly good in snow, getting me around in as much as 6 inches of snow as long as i braked real early and kept it in third gear or below. the interior sucks, but i really couldnt care about it since it was my first car. the only big problem is that the car is made for an average sized male, meaning if you are shorter than say 5"5 like me then youre seat belt will always get stuck on the seat back support adjuster. there is no electronic or power anything, my girlfriend hated that dis-feature about this car but seeing all those cars get hacked i liked the dis-feature. this car model has a glitch in the programming that will show the check engine light sometimes, and the problem will read engine cylinder 1 or 2 random failure. leave that be, its nothing. if you want to do anything switch out the spark plugs and wires, dont go crazy on repairs. the battery hook wires rot off at around 80,000 miles

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  Everyone looking in this segment, test drive Equus - 2015 Hyundai Equus
  By J. Solecki - September 22 - 7:07 am

  I just leased the 2015 Hyundai Equus Signature. When I came to the dealership I was not really expecting to end up with this vehicle and test drove Genesis V6 and V8. Liked V8 better and then started thinking of maybe leasing this vehicle for my business. The sales person (Brett of Humble Hyundai in Texas) mentioned that they have a very good deal on Equus lease so I test drove it and actually liked it a lot. It maybe is not as sporty as Genesis but instill a lot of confidence on the read and the ride is much, much more refined. In the end I decided to go with the Equus as the lease offer was really good and Brett was really accommodating, followed up timely and was not pushy at all, unlike some of other car dealers I visited prior. Considering this is my first ever lease they made the process easy and I was in and out of the dealership pretty quick. We will see how the vehicle holds up quality wise but so far I am very satisfied. Everyone looking in this segment really ought to look at this car.

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  An absolute bulletproof workhorse - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By Brian - September 21 - 9:35 pm

  Lets be perfectly clear. This is a commuter car. If that is what youre looking for, then this is the best value there is. My wife bought this car brand new before we met. Now she has a 20 mile commute and mine is 120 round trip, so the Elantra now carries me to work everyday. I plug away the miles, in traffic and at 80mph day after day. There was some sort of sensor problem a couple years back, but that was while it was still under warranty and hasnt repeated. Im about to roll over 100,000 and it is running like new. I fully expect to get well over 200,000 out of this little beast. Even though its small, i fit comfortable as a large man. Im 65" and 240lbs. I spend 2.5 hours a day in this car and am plenty comfortable. It fits 4 normal sized adults comfortably. On the professional level, I sell components and raw materials into the Asian auto markets. Hyundai is right up there with the Japanese auto makers in terms of quality control and engineering. It is built to last.

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  What hasnt gone wrong??? - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Kaitlyn - September 21 - 2:12 pm

  I HATE this car. I take relatively good care of my car but it is literally falling apart. In the 5 years that I have had it, my driver window dry rotted and had to be replaced, my back passenger window has done the same thing, my driver door handles have both broken (interior completely broke off and exterior wont catch the latch anymore, the passenger side exterior hand literally broke off, my fuzes keep blowing so my airbag and check engine light are constantly on, my airbag had to be replaced on the passenger side, and my visor will not stay up anymore. Should i continue? It was a good first car due to good mpg and safety features, however, in the long run it is proving to be more money and trouble than its actually worth.

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  love this car - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By ED - September 18 - 9:16 am

  brought this car new in 2006 have been one of the greatest , havent had no major problems with it an have replace nothing but brakes, bulbs , so far got 342,000 miles on it now, still run like a champ love this car.

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  I love my Genesis with the Ultimate package - 2015 Hyundai Genesis
  By Kathy Denworth - September 18 - 5:55 am

  The vehicle is fabulous. Cheers to Hyundai for having the Genesis badge front and back and removing the Hyundai badge. Jeers to Hyundai for requiring the purchase of the Blue Link Connect Care package to get the Remote package. To get the remote package for my lease period is $408 because I have to purchase connect care, which I really dont care about.

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  Best small car Ive ever owned - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By jl parks - September 17 - 7:20 pm

  I got this Elantra, after a 2011 Accent saved my life when I got T-boned by a Buick at 50 mph. The drivers side of the Accent blew the front end of the Buick apart. This is my 3rd Hyundai. Excellent car, that does simply everything well. The navigation system is fantastic, and easy to use. The audio system is tops, and the Bluetooth system works great. Front and rear heated seats- the front seats are among the most comfortable Ive ever been in. Stable, reliable, and wonderful on the highway. As with most small cars, extra road noise. I get 28-30 driving around town, and have achieved 38-40 on trips. I use the ECO setting constantly. Cruise works well, and the controls are all well-designed. No wonder this was the North American car of the year in 2012.

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  Stay away from hyundai entourage..run and never lo - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Amanda - September 16 - 7:37 pm

  This car has a defect with the starter and wiring..something defective with the antitheft system. You will regret buying so dont. We paid 11,000 and asked to trade in a month later offered 3,000 by the same joke of a dealership. Van randomly does not start. Ongoing issue since purchase. Key Hyundai service dept has been totally useless. Sales dept was not honest and upfront about the vehicles issues. DO NOT expensive mistake our family made.

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  Still in Love - 2014 Hyundai Elantra
  By LawtonLady - September 13 - 11:44 am

  I purchased my elantra June 2014, 15 months and 12000 miles later, it is still a great vehicle. I have been through many cars, I get the car shopping itch almost yearly, and after checking out all the new models and value in the market, for the first time ever, I decided the vehicle I had already was still the best option. Its very stylish, my limited has all the sleek technology of any extremely pricey vehicles, but for a deal that cant be beat. It drives really well, I mainly use it for my daily work, school, and hoke trips, but I have taken long distance drives and it handles great. I was looking into a suv, for more room, better suspension, and less road noise, but unless your willing to pay $35,000 or more for the same features, you wont find a vehicle with a better bang for its buck. Its economical, save with price, save on gas, and I havent had any maintenance issues so save on repairs.

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  Great 1st year, not so much now - 2015 Hyundai Genesis
  By Disappointed - September 10 - 4:17 pm

  Ive had my 2015 AWD 3.8 V6 Hyundai Genesis with the Ultimate Package now for a little over 1 year. Within the last 3 months, the car has developed numerous extremely annoying rattles, clunks, thuds, popping and creaking sounds inside the cabin anytime the body flexes or encounters bumps. I cant tell where they are all originating from: dash, door, sunroof, or trunk. Its very disappointing that an otherwise fine vehicle is plagued with these kinds of problems. This is my first Hyundai (and probably last) vehicle and the problems Im now experiencing were my worst fear prior to purchasing. They make the car feel and sound cheap and are practically impossible to fix, let alone find. The build quality just isnt there yet. Other gripes: 1. Front bumper too low frequently scraped from simply entering and backing out of driveway. 2. Not enough headroom. 3. Not enough heat felt in foot area. 4. Driver side door takes more effort to close than passenger doors. 5. Side view mirrors too high obstructing vision. 6. Limited rear view. 7. Seat cushions too hard. 8. Noisy and rough riding Hankook tires. For a car in this class, Hyundai has a long way to go in my opinion. In particular, the cabin should be the focus and should be much quieter and completely devoid of ANY rattles, squeaks, clunks, thuds, popping or creaking sounds.