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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  More than happy Santa Fe GLS Owner!!! - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Blip22 - October 14 - 10:00 am

  Reviewed and researched for two months all SUVs in this bracket but nothing came close. Escape/Tribute did not have good reliability reviews, Highlanders too expensive, CR-V is small. Couldnt find anything wrong with the Santa Fe except for the engine needing more horses. Took 4wd GLS for a test drive. Was very good but I went for 2wd for more power for the engine, but got it along with the abs/traction control. I think I made a very good and wise choice. Right now, I just have one complaint - Im not getting the mileage ratings - although the dealer said that well reach the mileage ratings after break-in/3k miles.

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  VERY GOOD CHOICE ! ! ! - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Family Guy - October 11 - 9:15 pm

  I have bought my Elantra brand new for $13.800. I insisted on ABS (also came with cruise control and traction control) I worked as a "valet" so i was test driving all kinds of vehicles, but between corolla and civic, i liked elantra better. 10yr and 100,000 miles was a plus. only problem i had with the car is fuel tank. a wall inside the tank was loose, and was making noise. Hyundai dealer changed the tank under the warranty. the engine is not so fuel efficient. the most mpg i got is around 29mpg on a highway (but car was fully loaded, driven 75mph+) but in the city i dont know where the gas is going. i refuel, and few days - boom - gas is not there (trip less than 150- 200 miles(14.5 gal!!))

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  Elantra SE.......Lives up to its expect - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By Eric L - October 11 - 12:45 pm

  I drive quite a bit and wanted a car with good MPG. Was looking at the Honda Civic and then the Consumer Reports review came out on the Elantra, peeking my curiosity. After renting an Elantra for a week, I decided to purchase one with leather and a sunroof. I could not find one anywhere close to where I live, all the dealers laughed at me for trying to find one. I finally located one 500 miles away with everything I wanted and drove it home. I am extremely satisfied with it, gets almost 36 MPG highway and about 30 locally. It has plenty of pep and is responsive, the sound system is excellent, the car is quiet inside and has plenty of room upfront. This car is a bargain.

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  Rattle and Shake - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By rowbean - October 10 - 9:29 pm

  I loved my car from day one. It never got the gas mileage they swear by, but I still loved it. I purchased it May 2010 and ran the A/C all summer with no problems. After 10 months, the entire car would shake and rattle when the A/C was on. It was like nothing I had ever felt. I had to take it 3 times before they would finally speak to the factory rep. After 5 days, they finally determined the A/C condenser was warped. Its still in the shop today.

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  Feeling Mislead - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By ken1584 - October 9 - 9:57 pm

  Never again, Hyundai. I chose this car over the Camry and Accord based on the ride and rich set of features that were advertised with it. The Blue Link option was what tipped me over the edge in going the Hyundai. Its been three months since I bought the car and Ive found that some of those Blue Link options were just vaporware...items that were advertised, but never materialized. Things like Geo Fencing and Valet and Speed Alert, which were prominently advertised when I bought the car are still not available in my car and no longer appear on Hyundais marketing site.

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  Two Years Owning a Santa Fe - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Ken Parker - October 9 - 11:10 am

  Two years owning this car and weve taken it to Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas with no problems. This car is very sturdy and has survived very windy conditions. The ride is comfortable and there were times we slept in it at rest stops with ner a backache.

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  I am just shocked - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By Bridgeport Buddha - October 7 - 7:45 pm

  Truly amazing how much car you get for the dollar. Pzero, fuel economy, fun to drive and less of an economy feel than expected. Hyundai certainly has come a long way. Thank goodness the hybrids at the time were too in demand and their dealers were so high and mighty. We started to look most fuel efficient and then cost efficient and ended up at a Hyundai dealer. After checking consumer comments here, the price and the test drive, there was nothing left but to do the smart thing and buy. The sparkles in the paint help it look clean even when its not - bonus for the lazy owner.

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  Not bad - 2001 Hyundai Accent
  By KoryuKitsune - October 7 - 5:14 pm

  Its not really that bad of a car. It ran great until the Transmission blew (THat or the head gasket were not sure what on yet). Only got in one wreck in it and that persons license plate numbers are indented in the car and thats it. Its a Sturdy car. I really wanna fix it up.

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  Pretty much what I expected - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By woiferl - October 5 - 4:54 am

  If you do your homework, this car doesnt offer many surprises. However, I would say the comfort and engine arent as terrible as some say it is. Its a family sedan, so you wont do 0-60 races that often. Theres some turbo lag to get it off the line. However, the mid-range strength is about what youd expect from 245hp and does not disappoint. Plus, if you need more agility, you can use the shifter paddles and youll be zipping around fast enough to guarantee tickets. The seats in the Sport are stiffer, but also provide more lateral support - they are not Mercedes quality, but then you can get a loaded Sport for less than $25K. In terms of value, this one is hard to beat.

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  Some good things some bad - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By dadams1000 - October 4 - 6:29 pm

  While most of my Sonata experience is good some things I dont like 1) When starting the car when the engine is cold I believe there is excessive noise, have told the dealer about it had them come out to my house so they could start it cold. They tell me its the fuel pump and the noise is normal. 2) The site lines to the rear are terrible. 3) The horn sounds like a bike horn. 4) I have owned the car for just over a year and I got aprox. 27mpg for the first 6500 miles. Since then mpg has gone down to aprox. 24 mpg. I have talked to the dealer about it but they tell me there are no error codes and ???.Overall I like the car but dont think Id buy another.