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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  Love it. - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By themomma - February 5 - 2:50 pm

  After much research, and test driving a Ford Escape, I decided my give up my fully loaded Expedition for this sweet little ride. Compared to the Escape, the Tucson is a better ride, better interior design (no need to dismantle back seats to fold them down), it looks more expensive especially the interior, gets better gas mileage, a better warranty (plus road side assistance for 5 years), seats are more comfortable, and it has ample leg room for backseat passengers. What kept me with Fords for the last 3 car purchases was the keyless touch pad on the door, my all time favorite feature, however I will just have to learn to take my keys out of my purse before getting in the car.

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  What Are You Waiting For? Get This Car! - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By jr75 - February 5 - 10:00 am

  Ive had the Elantra GT for a year, and love it! Anyone "on the fence" about a Hyundai should really check out their new line -- esp the GT. These cars have terrific build quality, are reliable, and the features that cost an additional $3K-$4K in other cars are INCLUDED in the GT. Wife owns a Honda and she loves my car! Any fault that could possibly be found is beyond minor when you compare what you get vs. what you pay. Love the look of the car. Friends constantly stop me to ask if its "really" a Hyundai. The photos on the site dont do it justice...Do yourself a favor -- put it on your list. Trust me, youre definitely NOT "settling."

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  Love My - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By OrlandoMan - February 5 - 10:00 am

  Did a LOT of reseach and the Santa Fe is the BEST value for the money! Only had it a month and no problems. Its fun to drive and doest cost an arm & a leg!

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  Luv my Sante Fe - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By msmomof2 - February 5 - 10:00 am

  Very spunky V6. My husband loves the speed shift feature. Theres some wind noise from the sunroof but its tolerable. Plenty of cargo room. Lots of extras (leather, 6 disc player, auto A/C, sunroof) for the money. Great gas mileage (app 22 mpg in city - and I have a heavy foot)!!

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  3.5L engine makes it happen - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By T Pres - February 5 - 10:00 am

  The 3.5L engine gives this vehicle the only thing that was missing when comparing to other SUVs. With a price out the door with taxes at $25,000, its a steal. No other SUV can match that price with all the extra features that are included in the price.

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  2 Dr. Hyundai Accent - 2004 Hyundai Accent
  By drlove207 - February 5 - 2:00 am

  I have only had this vehicle for about a month but I am continually more impressed with it. It has quite a bit of pickup for its engine size and is pretty fun to drive. Cupholders are great. Not a huge fan of the exterior design but value of the car for the price (with great warranty, good gas mileage, etc.) is tremendous. The good reliability review Hyundai just received by consumer reports put me over the top for buying this car.

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  For Your $$$, Beats Civic & Corolla - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By Michael - February 4 - 4:46 pm

  I bought this car after test driving multiple Toyota Corollas and a couple Honda Civics. The Hyundai is typically a couple grand cheaper and you get more bang for the buck. The gas mileage is decent but not great -- I think Toyota and Honda may have this car beat. I average about 23-24 MPG with mixed city and highway driving, though I do drive fast on the highway. The car is very comfortable and roomy. It feels like a midsize rather than a compact. The interior is very classy. The Elantra simply looks a lot better on the inside than the Corolla, which looked cheap and out of date. There is plenty of room in the backseat for passengers and the trunk is a good size. Overall ride is smooth.

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  Sucha deal!!! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By movaldes - February 4 - 5:23 am

  Honestly, Ive only had this car a few days but I truly love it. We got an LX in Golden Beige and it is beautiful. The engine is quiet and responsive. And the deal I got after having 2 dealers fight for my business made my decision even easier. Im leasing it for 27months but with the warranty being offered by Hyundai, Im seriously considering buying this car at lease end.

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  A lot of misrepresentations in these reviews. - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By Bryan Kelly - February 3 - 11:27 am

  I know there has been a lot of debate about the GAS MILEAGE this car can REALLY achieve - to the point Hyundai had to issue some corrections, Being honest, if you cannot drive a six speed manual CORRECTLY, you will not get the 43 to 44 on the hwy - AS ORIGINALLY CLAIMED. I am fully aware the vast majority of US drivers most likely learned to drive in an automatic, and I have met many, many US drivers who have no ability to drive a manual gear box correctly. I learned to drive in the UK in the 1970s - the manual was the only option in most cars and engine displacement was always around 1600cc. It is not that I perceive myself as a brilliant driver - perhaps just 36 years of experience in a stick shift. So, with respect - I KNOW this car can achieve 44 to 45 mpg on the highway - absolutely no problem - and I do not think I was given a MAGICAL ELANTRA -- so these complaints are really not legitimate IMHO. If you drive this vehicle carefully using good manual changes -- you will get the original 44 mpg performance - trust me, I have had this car since 2011 - so I do think this is a legitimate comment!

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  Got What I Wanted. - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By movalncal - February 3 - 2:00 am

  I drove the 4 banger 1999 Sonata and decided to buy the 1999 GLS V6. Its quirky, reliable, and still fun to drive some 5 years later. EARLY in life it did go back to the dealer for warranty repairs (including a replacement transmission shipped in from Korea in 2000) but its still going. The only negative experience was with the dealer --what some dealers want for the car makes it more than lesser Accords. Play hardball.