10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 6
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 3 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 9,265 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
Motor started burning oil at the rate of.5 quarts per week and a few months later vehicle failed to accelerate, had major vibrations and hesitation. Piston rings had failed. Verified by dealer. No other symptoms. Numerous problems with same motor reported by others and repair services. Has been recalled in Australia for same issues.
- Limestone, TN, USA
Felt a large shudder/vibration go through the whole car while on the highway and lost some power. The check engine light came on immediately after so we took it to a mechanic. Diagnostics came back as Hall sensor and cam shaft timing errors. It was found that the timing chain had slipped a tooth. Additionally, one of the pistons was found to have significantly lower PSI than the rest (105 vs 140) which they said is indicative of a pending total engine failure. A recall was issued for the 2019 model for this exact issue and symptom but Hyundai has said it doesn-??t apply to our situation. Hyundai quoted 12-17 thousand dollars for a new engine. The car has 87 thousand miles and is less than 6 years old.
- Round Rock, TX, USA
Vehicle was traveling down the highway with cruise control on and suddenly proceeded to not maintain speed and lost the ability to accelerate and shake in the middle of the interstate. Check engine light came on after this and we were able to limp it off the highway onto the ramp. No warning lights, no over heating, or any signs were given prior to this incident to give the impression this vehicle would stop operating. My family's safety was put at risk as it lost speed suddenly on the interstate in the middle of traffic and could have caused other cars to hit us as we slowed and tried to get over to access the ramp. Vehicle was towed and inspected at a local mechanic and was informed there was oil burned on the spark plugs and cylinder 1 and 3 had little to no compression.
- Noblesville, IN, USA
While trying to accelerate on a on ramp onto the interstate, I felt my engine begin to knock. I pulled over and was able to get the car to drive home. The next morning my car would not turn over. I had it towed to my mechanic. They said it was bone dry of oil, I have always had it regularly serviced. They diagnosed it with engine failure. I-??m just above the 60000 mile warranty at 63000 and Hyundai refuses to honor the warranty or help with the engine failure.
- Pensacola, FL, USA
The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that while accelerating from a stop, the contact heard a loud knocking sound coming from the engine with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer however, a diagnostic result was not disclosed; however, the dealer stated that the oil needed to be changed. The vehicle was not repaired, and the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to another dealer where it was diagnosed with engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle would not be repaired under warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
- Miramar, FL, USA
I was sold a car with 1 unprepared safety recall and 22 technical service bulletins. In addition to was previously salvaged sue to collision, hail, flood and fire. The vehicle also was a 2019 made into a 2018. When the ecm was reprogrammed the new vin was wiped clean and altered. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Graham, WA, USA
Pulled into driveway and saw smoke coming from engine. Popped hood and saw engine block was on fire. Quickly closed the hood and called 911. Within a few minutes the car was completely engulfed. I just had the car serviced a few days earlier and prior to that i had the 60k mile maintenance service done. There was around 63k miles on the car.
- Wallingford, CT, USA
UNKNOWN. AC stopped working. According to repair shop, alternator belt sliced through the aluminum housing tube and Freon cannot be recharged. It needs total rebuild/reroute of AC tubing as The position and location of alternator belt is too close to the aluminum housing/tubing for cooling system. This is a bad build/design. When it-??s really hot outside this is very dangerous for all passengers in this vehicle. Repairman/mechanic said he has seen this issue more and more on several Hyundai-??s that came thru his shop, that he believes a common defect and has educated him as first thing to look for on a Hyundai needing AC repair.. and one can speculate there are MANY more, since he-??s not a dealership.
- Portola, CA, USA
My vehicle suffered an electrical fire that wasn't covered under warranty just 2 months after I purchased it. It was inspected by the manufacturer, repair facility(licensed dealer) and insurance however I was denied the inspection report. A Hyundai warranty information sheet states my vehicle had 1 unrepaired service campaign in 6/2022 for the FCA forward collision avoidance. Which meant it was also sold to me without being disclosed. However the NHTSA website says it has 0 unrepaired recalls. Right before the electrical fire the electrical system went haywire. My safetey and my childs safety is at risk everyday I have this vehicle. Without my knowledge or consent, the dealer and my insurer choose to authorize repairs. The fact that at the time of purchase, no safety or crash testing had been completed by the NHTSA is concerning. All vehicles without NHTSA safety testing completed, prior to the 1st being sold and driven on the road puts everyone at risk. The fact that NHTSA does not require these safety tests to be conducted on every single vehicle driven in the states puts everyone at risk, not just my family. Even worse after my vehicle caught fire and caused $12,000 in damages, my car has a clean carfax. There is nothing making reporting this mandatory. insurance companies, thhe dealer/repair facilities do not have to report to the DOL or anyone for that matter that the car was involved in a fire at all. In fact the repair/dealer my vehicle went to reported it as multipoint inspection, maintainence. This puts all drivers and passengers at risk on the road. There's no question that a vehicle after having caught fire and suffered electrical problems is no doubt more susceptible to additional problems down the road. This puts all cars and people on the road in danger, not just me and my own.
- Graham, WA, USA
8/29/20002, the ABS brakes system and Fuel Injection system 10/31/2022, Battery 11/8/2022, car stalled on the freeway 11/9/2022, Car stalled on the freeway 11/19/2022, Timing Control and camshaft position sensors 12/2/2022, Engine fire, the smell of burning plastic 1/9/12, Grinding noise near the right rear tire. I can provide the invoices under separate cover.
- Brea, CA, USA
Oil change was on 1/13/2023 at 33,505 miles. On 2/25/2023 at 35,366 miles after driving on the highway for about 30 mins at 65 mph, the oil light came on and car was making a loud noise as I pulled in to park. My car was parked for about 1.5hrs at my destination. I attempted to drive home and get back on the highway when my engine stalled at about 40 mph and my engine and battery light came on. I had to pull over to the shoulder as my car would not drive anymore. My car was then towed to my house and later to the hyundai dealer where they determined that my engine stalled due to lack of oil because my drain plug was missing. Hyundai refuses to fix this under warranty because the drain plug is missing and they are insisting this is because of the oil change place I went to nearly 2 months ago. When I went to the oil change place, they insist that they didn't do anything wrong, and if they did incorrectly put the drain plug on, my oil would've leaked much sooner than it did. There is currently and investigation with NHTSA with my exact issue where the oil drain plug still falls out, even if the person performing the oil change puts the drain plug on exactly how it should be. Directly from the NHTSA site: "Apparently, the thin metal, along with engine vibrations and expansion/contraction tend to loosen the drain plug without any other intervention. NHTSA is investigating this as a factory defect issue." My safety was deeply put at risk as I was driving on the highway when this happened and I could've easily gotten into an accident and faced injuries. I'm stuck in the middle as the oil change place denies it is their fault and hyundai refuses to fix under warranty strictly because the oil drain plug is missing. When I explained to them that I would've have this issue with my engine if the drain plug was present, they agreed. They are stating that it is $10,000 to repair my car and that I have to pay upfront and cannot do multiple payments
- Katy, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the oil and battery warning lights illuminated, and the vehicle would not accelerate as needed. The contact pulled over on the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was restarted but the vehicle would not accelerate as needed. The contact became aware that there was no oil in the engine. Additionally, there was oil leaking underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that due to the oil leak the engine seized and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the warranty had expired. The failure mileage was 35,300.
- Katy, TX, USA
The car stalls out and I have to now replace the entire engine. There has been recalls for this exact issue on other years of this car but not on this one.
- Owensboro, KY, USA
According to the garage Piston Ring failure causing engine damage and oil consumption. Vehicle shut off while excelling on a high traffic route. Vehicle has been in the garage since 1/13/23. As of today 2/1/23 still awaiting news of engine replacement.
- Amsterdam, NY, USA
We had parked our 17 year old son's car in the upper parking lot of our baseball field. While parked, the engine smoked, then spontaneously caught fire. The police arrived on sceere!!!! We totally cannot comprehend that this even happene, along with our fire department who was able to put out the pretty massive engine fire, along with some of the front being damaged as well. Our son had been driving this car to our high school and also the high school baseball field, with pretty packed lots. It unbelievable to even imagine if this happened thned to a pretty new car (22,000 miles on it). We are so very grateful that this did not happen while our 17 year old was in the car! This is truly needs to be looked into. Thank you.
- Westborough, MA, USA
Car just turned off while driving 4 times. Dealer service Said it was ignition coil they replaced. Drove it for 40 mins when I got car back from dealer (after one month) and car made a very loud noise and stopped working again. Couldn-??t get it to start and when I did it wouldn-??t go past 10 mph. Got it into a parking space and called service at dealer. Today they said they can-??t find anything wrong with it. I am afraid to drive car if this has happened on highway I would-??ve been smashed. The dealer still Has my car I want them to keep checking it out. I am afraid they will not find trouble unless they drive it for a time like I did. I contacted Hyundai corporate but they were of little help Please help
- Lakeville, PA, USA
On 1/13/21, vehicle emitted a blue smoke and misfired when accelerating from complete stop from rural road onto state highway.. vehicle was taken to ciocca Hyundai of williamsport, where it had been serviced 2 days prior. They replaced 2 spark plugs and stated it was fine. Vehicle worked fine until the following morning. The vehicle was misfiring during an acceleration from complete stop and eventually quit on me. I was on a state highway at this point. The vehicle was towed to ciocca Hyundai of williamsport. They serviced it until 1/18/21. Upon pick up, they stated that they believed it to be bad fuel that was causing the trouble. The fueling station I exclusively use has no reports of bad fuel besides mine. The following morning, 1/19/21, the vehicle's main display showed an error message that "a possible condition has been detected with the engine control system. Please take vehicle to nearest dealer." See attached for image of this message. Ciocca Hyundai came and got the vehicle. They had it for two weeks. Upon receiving the vehicle back, they stated that it was just an "old code that wasn't cleared" and that the vehicle was not displaying any issues. 15 miles after leaving the dealership, that message reappeared. On 2/5/21, the vehicle felt like it was jerking slightly. I reported this to the dealer and they stated that the vehicle would be ok to operate in this condition. On 2/6/21, the vehicle emitted a blue smoke during acceleration from complete stop on side road. The vehicle then misfired to the point of almost quitting when pulling out onto a state highway from a complete stop. This could cause an accident. I reported this to the dealer who wants the vehicle to come in tonight for an appointment on 2/10/21. Hyundai Consumer Affairs has been notified of all of this but hasn't provided any course of action besides just investigation.
- Muncy, PA, USA
My husband and I were driving uneventfully down a highway for about an hour and pulled over for no other reason but to get gas. We have a high tech blue link system and only 17K miles on the car. There were no lights or warnings at all. Just after parking at the gas pump the engine started smoking and quickly burst into flames. The car filled up with smoke and we were able to get out without a scratch, but my husband had to jump back into the burning vehicle to push it away from the pump. Two fire extinguishers did nothing to stop the flames, but we were lucky that a fire engine was close by and came to finally put it out. The electric door locks had stopped working early on in this incident and they had to smash the windows to get back into the car.
- Beacon, NY, USA
Was driving Hyundai Kona down the freeway. I smelled a burning smell, I saw the check engine light blink once. The car went into limp mode and I started pulling over to the shoulder. Stopping on the shoulder, I noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood. I evacuated the car and within a few minutes, flames were present. It was between 2-3 miles start to finish.
- Elk River, MN, USA
- North Dinwiddie, VA, USA