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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  DONT BUY HYUNDAI :( - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By BJ Vasquez - June 25 - 11:30 pm

  Ive had it in 3 time on my electric lock, it makes a screeching noise and until THEY hear it they wont fix it. You have a warrant on it but they will not fix it. Plus the transmission is slipping when you are at a stop sign it acts like it cant get up to go and you have to push the gas pedal really hard so you want get hit. Then one morning at home I was backing out of my drive way and put it in drive and it would not go, it took like 5 minutes before it would move I took it to Bob Howard in OKC and they keep all day and said cant get it to do it. So bring it back and leave it a few days, I am scare to drive it. I feel like because Iam a older woman and a widow they are not listen to me. So dont buy at Bob Howard in OKC.The transmission is terrible it shifts like it was a old stick car, it has something called a double clutch that cannot be fixed, They reset it back to the factory settings, and said that all they can do. THe door locks still has the screeching noise, they put on new locks but it still does it. So when I pick it up they said they could do no more. Plus when I bought it he let on that I could get cheaper interest if I took this $1400.00 play that protects the inside and out, which by the way consists of 5 bottles of stuff for you to use on it. When I try to cancel it they make it clear it cannot be cancel. So rip off as usual, so that adds on to the cost which you will never see. So my question is can they be sued and is anyone suing them and getting anywhere. I truely afraid to drive this car. How about some help. BJ

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  Hyundai Tuscon 2016 DCT Transmission - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Don - May 26 - 6:27 am

  Stay away from this vehicle. I have 13,000 miles. DCT transmission always acting up. Sometimes stalls, hesitates off the line, will not move forward / acts like it is in neutral when starting at red light. Dangerous vehicle, never no if you are going to move forward when you accelerate. It acts up several times a month. Most of the time the Dealer cannot replicate it because you can not make it happen. Very aggravating.

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  Door Handles - 2010 Hyundai Sonata
  By yorkies5 - May 6 - 4:03 pm

  I have a 2010 Hyundai Sonata and it sucks. 3 of the car door handles have broken off in the last month. They will not pay for them. I have read other reviews and this is a on going problem. Hyundai tried to say they havent heard of this before. But I guess they havent read the reviews. I will never buy another on. my son has a 2008 and he has had many other problems. Alternator is only one of the problems he has had with him.

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  POOR PERFORMER - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Myhyundai - May 4 - 10:00 am

  The vehicle did not meet my expectations and had many expensive, time consuming mechanical difficulties.

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  JUNK - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By cafelady - April 29 - 7:52 am

  Look at something else before you buy this lemon bought new and from the get go,brakes were awful.Countless times to the dealer for brakes and 2 summers in a row for the air. I finally got tired of the vibrating steering wheel on the hwy,after many times at my mechanics shop for new brakes and balancing. Bought a Toyota,trade in was awful.I stood firm and got the mimimum on what Edmunds says here. I will NEVER buy another one.

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  Worst car I ever owned! - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By retwmt - April 6 - 2:44 pm

  I have owned many cars and this one by far is the worst. Its bad on gas, burns oil and the steering is seriously messed up. I keep hearing how this manufacturer has come a long way, which makes me question how thats being measured. I Returned the first week of owning it. If you never driven any other car in the past 20 years this might be the car for you.

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  Engine change after 1200+ miles...STAY AWAY!!! - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By Richard - March 24 - 10:57 pm

  I purchased this car with the understanding that Hyundai has improved quality and how I was wrong. At around 1200 miles, my car started running rough and the oil pressure light came on. Long story short, it was determined my car needed an engine replacement. STAY AWAY!!

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  This car is junk! - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By ssx_girl - January 24 - 3:17 pm

  We bought this car BRAND NEW with 8 miles on it. I liked the look of the outside, and my brother had bought a 99 Accent & had no problems with it. This car has been NOTHING but one problem after another. We have had the speedometer break once a year, and it has been totally replaced once. It broke again yesterday, and we have to have it fixed again this week. The transmission was replaced before the car was 4 years old, and now that it is almost 5 years old it is going in again for problems! I WOULD and WILL *never* purchase another Hyundai as long as I live. Im lucky I paid an extra $1500 for the extended warranty beyond their 100,000 mile deal they have. It has saved our pocket books!

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  Worst Car I Ever Owned In 48 Years Of Driving - 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By BJE - January 1 - 11:46 am

  I hated this car from day 1. I have had it since new and only has 46,500 miles on it. It pulled to the right. After bringing it back to the dealer 4 times, they kept telling me they aligned it. 7 years later, it still pulls to the right. After driving for more than a 1/2 hr, you feel like you are fighting to keep it on the road and your fingers get numb. Uncomfortable front seats. Horrible suspension and gas mileage is only 27 mpg. Poor in the snow. Electrical system issues with the back up lights (I hit it to come back on) and brake light issues. The moon roof does not work (after 4 years). Extremely uncomfortable ride.

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  Do Not buy a Hyundai - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By jackiefran - November 4 - 2:11 am

  Do Not buy a Hyundai! They do not stand behind their products! Warranty sounds good until you go to use it !! Hyundai dealership scammed me all the way !! After they they screwed me the salesman hit on me and tried to .. too !!