The 2004 Total Value Awards Category Model TVI Score Small car Hyundai Elantra 780 Compact car Toyota Prius 815 Mid-size car (tie) Hyundai XG 350 779 Mid-size car (tie) Acura TSX 778 Larger car Mercury Marauder 720 Sporty coupes under $25,000 Mini Cooper 813 Sports cars over $25,000 Mercedes Benz C-Class Coupe 779 Medium specialty cars (tie) Honda Accord Coupe 755 Medium specialty cars (tie) Chevrolet Monte Carlo 754 Near-luxury cars Mercedes Benz C-Class Sedan 798 Luxury cars Lexus LS 430 799 Convertibles under $30,000 Volkswagen New Beetle Convertible 735 Convertibles over $30,000 (tie) Cadillac XLR 784 Convertibles over $30,000 (tie) Lexus SC 430 784 Minivan Kia Sedona 731 Small SUV Hyundai Santa Fe 752 Medium SUV Toyota 4Runner 747 Large SUV Toyota Sequoia 711 Near luxury SUV Lexus RX 330 789 Luxury SUV Lexus GX 470 746 Compact pickup Nissan Frontier 699 Full-size pickup Ford F-150 723 Heavy duty pickup Dodge Ram 2500/3500 722 Source: Strategic Vision

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Cars made by Korea's Hyundai have been rated as among the best values because of improved customer opinion of its quality, according to a survey.

The survey of 69,000 car buyers, conducted by consulting firm Strategic Vision, said the once-maligned brand is rated as No. 2 in perceived value, behind only luxury auto brand Lexus. In the 2003 survey, Hyundai had the best value ranking of any brand under $30,000, but it trailed four different luxury brands -- Lexus, Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz -- to have the No. 5 ranking overall.

Daniel Gorrell, vice president of the automotive practice for Strategic Vision, said Hyundai was helped by both the improved impression of quality as well as a long warranty. The automaker has always made relatively low-priced vehicles, but in the past quality concerns hurt customers' view of its quality.

According to Gorrell, the brand that used to be the butt of jokes has made an impressive comeback in popular perception.

"A lot of time when you have a bad reputation, it's hard to come back," he said.

The survey was not good news for U.S. automakers. General Motors Corp. (GM: Research, Estimates)'s Cadillac, which tied for seventh with Honda, was the only U.S. nameplate to make the top 10 list, although Swedish automaker Volvo, which is owned by Ford Motor Co. (F: Research, Estimates), ranked tied for tenth with Audi.

U.S. automakers have offered larger and larger incentives such as cash back or zero-interest financing to move their vehicles, but Gorrell said that buyers only believe those offers only price the vehicles where they should be.

CORRECTION The story that originally appeared Monday erroneously gave Hyundai's overall value ranking on a survey by consulting firm Strategic Vision. We regret the error.

"The domestics continue having an image problem," said Gorrell. "They trail import manufacturers on expectations of reliability, durability and resale value, suggesting buyers have a lower sense of trust in these brands that forces domestics into the incentive game to sell their vehicles."

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Hyundai Automakers Auto Incentives or Create your own Manage alerts | What is this?

In terms of overall corporate ratings, Hyundai trails only Honda Motor Co., which produces both Honda and Acura brands. Toyota, which produces the Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands, ranked No. 3, while General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group finished in the last three positions of the eight-corporation ranking by the survey.