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 THIS CAR - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By JJBrown - December 7 - 2:00 am

  I traded-in a 1998 Jaguar XJR for this car. The Jag experience was awful. This car on the other hand, has been a joy. I still love to drive it after a year of ownership. It looks great. It drives great. For the money you can not go wrong. I added some aluminum trim rings to the round dash vents and fuel/temp guage to brighten-up the dark interior. One thing that bugs is first gear. Cant get enough traction. Limited-slip diff would make a big improvement.

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  2003 Tib - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By sdfullerc - December 7 - 2:00 am

  So far, this vehicle has exceeded my expectations in most every way. With 27,000 miles on it already, I have had no problems to speak of. Performance is great (for the price); regularly tempting me to peel the tires and redline at every stop light or onramp.

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  New Owner - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By sinbad - December 7 - 2:00 am

  Purchased the car a few days ago. No options on this 5spd hatchback. Paid 14,800 for it minus the 750 rebate. Nice car. Bought it for the styling, price and warranty. I heard the rebate just went up today!

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  SSS service still stinks - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By vin kehayas - December 7 - 2:00 am

  i was totally taken when i bought this car. great buying experience, until da - da-da-da i brought it to service. repairs i needed were minor but boy did they show their ignorance and lack of concern and plain stupidity.couldf not do a wheel balance correctly. tech could not find the problem i had even thou the part was on order from first visitand laying in parts dept, discover the differance, i did not.

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  EXCELLENT CROSSOVER - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By SH - December 5 - 10:33 pm

  We love this car. We debated a lot on which crossover to purchase, and finally decided that the VC was the best deal. We couldnt get any other car with all the features we wanted for this price. The dealership even added the Parrot bluetooth system, which is really convenient. Fuel economy is probably its greatest weakness, averaging about 20mpg, but still is comparable to its competitors. Other cool features, the rear view mirrors tilt down when youre in reverse so you can see how close you are to the curb (can turn this feature off as well). Seats are pretty comfy, even the third row where weve had a few adult passengers have a comfortable ride. We love the power liftgate.

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  Traded in Honda Civic - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Natelee - December 5 - 10:00 am

  I just had to trade in 3 months old Honda Civic to get this baby. My Tiburon matches all of my wishes.

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  Great car your daily needs & for college - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By SSJ4Vegeta - December 5 - 10:00 am

  My silver accent gl is so nice, i love the gleam of light it makes during a sunny day. A excellent fuel saver and smoothness when driven. I got an great price on it too!! Its packed, I play my CD-Rs in all the time too.

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  Great Value - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By bri70 - December 5 - 10:00 am

  Excellent value for the money.

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  Great for the money - 1998 Hyundai Elantra
  By HAC - December 5 - 2:00 am

  The car is reliable, economical, sound and safe. Have performed routine maintenance and the car still performs almost like new. Was involved in a collission (was rear- ended) and damage to the car was very limited, while the other car was severely damaged. Extremely safe car.

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  Update on my 7/28/09 review - 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By Happy Camper - December 4 - 7:46 am

  I absolutely LOVE this car! I have yet to find something I really dont like about it. Best mpg to date is 37 mpg on a long cruise-controlled drive to New York state and back! Someone else, here, noted an issue with the cd player: cracks and pops from a brand new cd. But I dont care, really. Who even WANTS to listen to cds what with the fabulous XM radio music selection?! Contrary to my earlier request for more horsepower, it really doesnt need it. The Touring has ample get-up-and-go for this 55 y.o. And Im still discovering neat design features that Hyundai engineering deserves great kudos for.