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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  Super Car - 2011 Hyundai Genesis
  By JT - November 4 - 2:00 am

  Coming from a 2008 Lexus ES 350, which I really enjoyed, I really didnt know what to expect. I was more than pleasantly surprised! My phone paired very easily. The phone book downloaded and voice recognition of the phone book without training was very good. Very comfortable cabin, and despite what I had heard, I do not find a problem with interior noise. Because of the sports suspension, has a very nice "road feel". I am really enjoying the car.

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  Hidden Gem - 2010 Hyundai Elantra
  By IMHandy - November 4 - 2:00 am

  Ive had my Hyundai Elantra GLS for about a month. Its quiet on the highway, gets as good as the mpg rating, has some neat features (Ipod plug/XM radio)) with easy to view/access interior controls and overall is fun to drive. I moved from a 2001 PT Cruiser to the Elantra and though I miss the great storage of the PT, I dont miss the lower gas mileage or the harsher ride. Overall I love the handling, the smooth ride though the exterior styling is a bit bland, I still give this model an outstanding rating. Additionally, the Hyundai has an outstanding bumper to bumper warranty.

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  Most impressed for a truck guy - 2009 Hyundai Accent
  By agnmah - November 3 - 2:00 am

  Handling was awesome. Was worried about highway but performed great. Daughter going to college next august and have no problems passing car on to her.

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  Throttle - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By Hyundai Owner - November 3 - 2:00 am

  Good Fuel economy, Nice ride, Good performance. However, I had my Throttle stick, I had it back to the dealer and they fixed it that day. It was explained to us that it was a computer chip that went bad.

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  Dependable car! - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By Jonathan - November 3 - 2:00 am

  I have owned my car for the last two years now and I have been very pleased with the reliability of the car. The car presently sits @ 24k miles and the only complaints I can think of that come to mind are : For the year in which this car was built, I wish it did better then 27 mpg avg. The other issues are as follows : - Stains are easily visible from simple things such sweat or water spills or water from your coat jacket in which you might wear out in the rain and get into your car with. - CD Player always says LOADING when there is no disc in it and therefore I cant tell what station I am tuning into on the radio. - Trunk seems to come unlatched mysteriously often while parked.

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  Very good but something missing - 2010 Hyundai Genesis
  By lismer - November 2 - 2:00 am

  After researching this car for more than six months, I purchased the v/8 with the tech package in may of 2010. The 4.6 liter engine rocks. Its smooth and powerful. The nav system is first rate. It does however take me the long way around sometimes. The radio and sound system is middle of the road but acceptable. Fit and finish is as good as I have seen on much more expensive cars. Ride and handling is great. Fuel efficiency is not what I expected. The car is rated at 25 mile per gallon highway. After three long trips the best mine has done is 23. That strictly highway and staying south of 75 miles per hour. Overall rating 8.

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  Quicker than you think - 2011 Hyundai Genesis
  By Cartman1949 - November 2 - 2:00 am

  This car is much quicker than you think. It is so smooth and quite that your speed builds extremely fast within a very few seconds. The Tech package is great. If you want a sports car dont buy this one. If you want a combination of luxury, power, comfort and tech features then this is the auto for you. The bang for the buck factor is off the charts. I ran it through our local drag strip at 13.8 sec @ 104.32 mph. Very impressive. I also went on vacation and averaged 28.5 on the highway! This is amazing for a 385 hp V8.

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  Spiritual Successor to the EK Civic - 2009 Hyundai Accent
  By Bobj - October 31 - 2:00 am

  Ignore the 07 consumer reviews from the "sport compact mafia". Amazing how hostile people are to Hyundai. Car is a blast to drive. only 2500lbs, short-ratio tranny, and 110HP makes it pretty fast. Add synthetic oil/filter, NGKs, Grounding Kit, and the AEM short ram (none will affect warranty), and you easily have a sub-8 sec 0-60 (R&T got mid-8 sec range out of the factory). Thing drives like its on rails, shifter/driverside-armrest combo borders on perfection. Interior looks spartan, but "just right" with upscale touches.

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  E Class MB has nothing on this car! - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By lag - October 31 - 2:00 am

  The factory Dunlop Sport 5000 tires were a disaster--noisy, rough riding. They might be fine if your planning on doing some late night "drifting"in your local Walmart parking lot! I doubt that most purchased this car with that in mind! Most of my driving is long distance touring and those tires were not compatible with that driving style--replaced with Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum "sneaks"--what a difference--very quiet--very smooth--great wet road traction and all but eliminated that choppy ride except on real bumpy back roads. Not quite the ride of the E Class MB (realistically the benchmark of "smooth") I dumped but real close on the open road--definitely not worth the price difference!

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  Good Car - 2009 Hyundai Elantra
  By Daniel - October 31 - 2:00 am

  I enjoy my car. It is a commuter car and is well suited to its purpose. I get 33 mpg average and keep the oil changed. I have had no problems with it other than the vanilla nature of it. I knew of its commuter purpose when I bought it though so Im not surprised. The ride quality is soft and smooth, it does well wet weather but I have no information on snow. The brakes are outstanding, only complaint I have is the engine noise above 3000 rpm is a little intrusive. Overall I have had a positive experience and I hope to drive this car into the ground for the next ten years.