9.2
really awful- Typical Repair Cost:
- $5,150
- Average Mileage:
- 96,400 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 192 complaints
Most common solutions:
- engine replacement (148 reports)
- not sure (33 reports)
- junked the car (4 reports)
- sold vehicle (4 reports)
- replace lower half of engine (3 reports)
This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Hyundai dealer.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
My Sonata will not accelerate sometimes. It happens a couple times a week. seems to be getting worse. Heard there was a recall so I called Hyundai and they said parts weren't available yet and that I would get a letter in the mail to get the problem fixed. that was in December. Still waiting. The engine is now making a strange noise when started and when I'm idling. Acceleration is getting bad now. It hesitates when I make a quick take off.
- Aaron B., Nicholasville, US
I just had my car serviced three weeks ago from the exact same service center I always go to and was told my car was in very good condition, there was nothing wrong with my car. I left to go on vacation, drove 97 miles and then my car made a really loud noise I felt like I was losing power, I pulled off the road into a shopping center and I did lose power before I was able to park the car. AAA came out and checked the battery, oil, belts and could not tell what the problem was. The car would not restart. The car was towed to their repair shop where they determined the engine was toast. I have always taken good care of my car and have every receipt of the work done to my car. I called Hyundai and found out that this has been happening to 2011 Hyundai Sonatas around the 90k mile mark. My car just turned 100k miles.
- tpaden, Glen Burnie, MD, US
On November 21,2015 while driving in Westminster, md picking up various items for my son's birthday party my car made a noise when I accelerated that sounds like two coke bottles hitting eachother we pulled over since there was no lights that came on stating any Type of issue. We checked for anything wrong and could not clearly see one so we restarted the car which seemed perfectly fine and I got maybe 5 miles down the road and my cars accelerator stopped working on 140 which is one lane!! At that point my engine had seemed to die but all the power was still on in the car! We had to push it to the shoulder so it would not cause an accident! I had two of my three kids with me as we stood in the cold trying to get back home and figured out what to do with my car! On Sunday I had it towed to PA to the Hyundai dealership of Hanover. Monday morning I called to see what was going on and they said they were going to look at it shortly and asked multiple questions regarding what had happened. I received a call the next day stating my engine had died completely! At not cost to me it's covered by the recall! They also stated they would provide me with a rental until they could get my car back on the road. When I arrived to pick up this rental they gave me a 2011 accent which obviously is no where as big as my Sonata but I thought it's only temporary until December started getting closer and they could not guarantee my car to be fixed by a certain time and to find out all the previous issues are apart of all the other recalls. After two weeks of that car it started to have problems. I took it back just for them to give my a raggedy 2005 Elantra which was more spacious but still not equivalent to my Sonata and the payments monthly I pay! It's now December 22, 2015 and I still do not have my car back. I called yesterday just to figure out what's going on and the service manager told me they hope to have the engine by 2016 and it would only take a few days after they receive my engine to fix it and all the recalls! I am beside myself that one I've only had this car for a little over two years and all this happened, two I've gotten rentals that are not equivalent to the car which Hyundai has, three I will be without my car on one of the biggest holidays and four there is no sure fine answer as to when I will receive my car back. This is utterly ridiculous and very poor service from Hyundai! If you knew you had an issue why is it so hard to get this fixed in a timely fashion!! By the time all is said and done I could have just gotten a new car!
- Brittnie B., Taneytown, MD, US
I bought this car NEW from South Bay Hyundai in 2011 and absolutely loved driving it! Around 75,000 (November 2015) there was a knocking sound in the engine. I let the car sit for a couple of days and then took it in to Firestone for a tune up, Oil change, and look over of the vehicle. Firestone called me on November 30th to advise that the car was void of all oil and had seized. After an inspection that revealed no leaks or any signs of mis-use, we were informed that this was not a Firestone caused issue. The vehicle never showed any signs of having oil or engine issues (Including warning lights, or smoke) until 3 days prior to the seizure. By the time I took the car in, on the next day, the problem was already present.
I was informed by the 3rd party adjuster hired by Firestone, that there are no leaks or signs of issues with the oil and the tune up 6 months ago revealed nothing as well. The car did not have any check engine lights come on until the banging sound started and I took the car in to be fixed.
My next step is to reach out to Hyundai and get direction on what they need to happen to see if this will be covered. If anyone has advice in this matter, please message me at dtbywv@gmail.com.
- Bryn M., Lakewood, US
My 2011 Hyundai Sonata engine seized up while on the interstate doing about 70 MPH...(300 miles from home)
Towed to a Hyundai dealership and have been waiting for a new engine for 72 days now. Its under warranty but Hyundai has offered no rental car reimbursement or trade-in allowance or anything.....72 days waiting on an engine....WTF can I do?
- Malloy F., Mandeville, US
I bought this car NEW from Kamloops Hyundai and absolutely loved driving it! Around 69,000 (May 2014) there was a knocking sound in the engine. This was intermittent for a few days and then just as i was rolling in my driveway the engine started to really bang over and over until I turned off the car. It would not restart. I had it towed back to the dealership.(the first time I had it towed for seized brakes). The dealership is over an hour away and luckily my BCAA towed it that distance. When I had the car in the first time for the seized brakes, I asked the service dept. to check the engine because it always smelled like something was burning. I was told that it was everything from the catalytic converter burning off to whatever was on the highway to melt the ice, that this is what was causing the smell. I may be a woman but I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to cars and I knew there was something wrong with this new car! The diagnosis was a catastrophic engine fail.
I did not purchase the extended warranty and the only way the service dept. would change out the engine was if I could prove that I had the oil changed at the recommended times. Apparently having dirty oil would cause the engine to fail!! hhaaaaa Unfortunately they didn't tell me that when the car was hauled in there. After about 5 days I called to see what was happening. I'm not sure why they didn't call me, I just assumed it was being repaired. They said to start gathering all my service records as it would have to be presented to Hyundai Canada. This took another 2 weeks to get approval.
Fortunately I keep all those records and a mileage book for work so after a little digging I took it in to the dealership. When the new engine was finally approved I was told that it would be anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks as there wasn't an engine in Canada for my car. Seriously??! I needed that car for work and live in a rural area without transit. This was a gong show without a vehicle. I was denied a loaner vehicle because I didn't have the extended warranty. Didn't matter that the engine failed under the Manufacturers Warranty. The dealership treated me like they just didn't care. It also didn't matter that because of my husband and I, 3 other friends bought vehicles from Kamloops Hyundai. I will never recommend this dealership or these cars to anyone. The warranty is barely worth the paper it's written on. It took me 2 full months to get my car back!!
My troubles started in May of 2014 and now in Dec. of 2015 I am looking at getting rid of this car at 99k km's.
This week there is a clunking noise in the front end. I was told that the new engine that was put in is only good under warranty until 100,000km. That means they are only giving me the remainder of 31,000km's on this new engine! I don't know if this clunking sound is the replacement engine, if it's a strut, an axle or a bearing going. I just know that this car has been nothing but trouble from the start. The dealership only wants to sell cars and does not look at the bigger picture of repeat customers.
- T. V., Blind Bay, BC, Canada
I've had this car since new in 2011. its been losing oil more and more for no reason. My car VIN is registered as one that needs to be checked for the engine problems they have been having. I brought it to the dealer after it went through 4 quarts in a week. the car has been perfectly maintained since new. the dealer , JENKINS HYUNDAI IN LEESBURG FLORIDA says to me it is seized we can get you a used motor installed at $8100.00 . I look up online and find there is a class action lawsuit for engines in the sonata that seize prematurely. Of course they did not tell me that. after I call back to ask about the lawsuit they tell me come pick it up if you don't want us to install a motor. unreal bad service. I see online that the 2011 sonata engine seizure problem is out of control but Hyundai seems to be doing nothing about it. This was my first Hyundai and will be my last. As President of Festivals of Speed I deal with cars all over the world and I am extremely disappointed in the lack or service the dealer and Hyundai is offering. Now I have a car that the dealer says is seized after only five years of ownership. I just got done with the payments and 3 months later its dead. So much for customer service Joe Sabatini
- festivals, Eustis, Pacific Islands (US)
The engine on my 2011 Hyundai Sonata Limited seized on 09/12/2015. To this day, Hyundai gives no explanation and no date when I can expect to have this replaced. I am now going into the 9th week without any comment from Hyundai. Dealer has no clue what Hyundai is doing about the fix. Very poor way to run a major international company.
- Doug B., Buffalo, US
Bought the car used and had it for 42 days. Was going up a hill and engine stalled. Once restarted, could not go over 2000 rpm or it would stall. Engine light came on and engine started making noise -- sounded like rod/valve problem. Confirmed with two independent mechanics that the engine was destroyed.
- John M., Berlin, MA, US
I purchased my vehicle in 2012 and I have had nothing but problem after problem Thank God I had purchased an extended warranty which paid for what needed to be done in the beginning so I just sucked it up. I have all so had to take my car to the Hyundai dealership to get repairs for multiply recalls on the car.
Fast forward after the last recall work I had done on my car I noticed that it kept feeling like it didn’t want to go, and I was like oh no I hope my transmission is not about to go, but my engine light never came on to indicate there was any problems then I started having problems with the car starting I would come out the house in the morning to go somewhere and would have to find someone to give me a jump or call a towing company to come out and pay to have them give me a jump. So after so many times of this it finally happened again after coming out of the dollar store which happened to be right next to Auto Zone so after trying to get a jump and they couldn’t start it they took the battery out gave me a loaner battery and charged my battery for 24 hours.
When I returned the next day they told me that the battery was fully charged and reading good and I shouldn’t have any more problems, but sure enough I did so I ended up getting a new battery. Well no sooner than I did that my engine light came on and the people from Auto Zone said that would happen because of the battery being taken out and put back in and after so many miles it would go off and that’s exactly what it did. I started driving my car a little bit after that it was still acting like it didn’t want to go at times, but I didn’t think nothing of it because still no engine light came on then one day I ended up noticing the engine light had come on so I took it back to Auto Zone again right before I get into the parking lot the light goes off I tell them everything and that I had gotten a new battery from them well they put their detector thing on the car and gave a reading something about the cam shaft so I leave there and get a couple of miles away and it starts acting like it don’t want to go and I’m pressing the gas and it’s going slow all of a sudden in the middle of the highway it cuts completely off all most causing an accident.
My boyfriend gets out of the car to try and push the car out of the road he can’t so some men help him push it into a fast food parking lot. So I have it towed to just brakes the only place open close and they look at it and told me it’s my engine in disbelief I don’t believe that because my cars a 2011 I get my oil changed and everything how could this happen!! Fast forward again have the car towed from there to Hyundai for them to look at it I asked if the car had any recalls regarding the engine and was told no they said a lot of engines in this type vehicle had been going out due to no oil in the car which for me I knew this was not the case so after they looked at it they confirmed my engine was gone said it looked like the oil hadn’t been changed on the paper work which I showed them it had been changed. They gave me a price for a new engine I paid them the fee for looking at my car and had it towed back to my home. Stressing and crying because I am a single parent with little income didn’t know what to do now I have to rent a car pay a car note for a car that’s no longer working and figure out how I was going to come up with getting all most $5,000 to replace the engine.
I call my lender Capital One told them what was going on they told me they would give me deferred payments for the month of June and July so I would only have to worry about paying starting Aug, and just to pay on it and as long as I don’t get more than 70 days past due I would be ok so I decided to do that until I could get up the funds to have the car fixed, but I gave up it was too much to keep the payment going and try to get the funds to fix it as well as rent another vehicle to get around so finally I had to use funds that I had for my car payment to try and purchase a new vehicle because rentals was too much so after getting another vehicle and having another car payment I thought I was about to lose my mind trying to juggle all of this. I was in a lot of stress there was no extra funds so I was like how am I going to get the money to fix the car I finally went to see someone for bankruptcy and realized trying to juggle all this was going to be way too much. I’ve been getting sick worrying about all of this.
I finally cleaned out the car and told Capital one to come and get it I believe on the 18th of Nov and the came on Nov 20th 2015 and got my car only for me to find out yesterday that there was a recall and my car was listed now to get it back they told me I would have to pay $1,935.76 which would bring me current on my payments until Dec 18th 2015 they told me I could pay the repo fee and late charges later plus whatever storage fee is owed to the company that has the vehicle all of this by Nov 30th 2015 before they try and auction the car off.
This situation it ridiculous I am furious and I am going to seek an attorney this is very bad business and it’s sad that anyone would have to go through this much hassle and problems on a recently purchased vehicle that cost a lot of money for me it is double because I’m a single mother all ready with limited income it’s not right!!! Something needs to be done, and at this point I don’t know what can be done, but I will find out!!!!!
- teeteecb, Powder Springs, GA, US
I purchased a used 2011 Hyundai Sonata in Nov. 2013. Worst mistake of my life. I bought the POS car with 32,000 miles on it. I mainly used it to get back & forth from work.
Fast forward to Aug 2015. One bright & sunny Sunday morning, I decided to go to brunch with my boyfriend. We got in the car, drove for maybe about 5 minutes, then all of a sudden my steering wheel locked up, lost power, and started smoking. I took it to the shop & they confirmed that the engine was shot & I needed to replace it....it was not repairable. So I paid $5,400 to replace my engine.
Less than 3 weeks later, I was involved in an accident because someone decided to Tokyo drift in front of my car to do a u-turn in the middle of the street without looking. My car was totaled by my insurance company & the $5,400 that I just spent to replace my engine was just a waste of money. My insurance company only gave me $1,880 for my engine. Needless to say, I will NEVER purchase another HYUNDAI again & I am switching insurance companies as soon as possible.
- jkwilli1, Suitland, MD, US
I was driving 70 mph on the highway and the engine shut down, Thur Sept 10th 2015. I had it towed to a local Hyundai dealership in Salem NH. On Friday Sept 11th 2015 the dealership notified me the engine had seized and I was out of warranty. They quoted me $5,500 for a rebuilt motor, or $8,750 for a new motor. They offered to disassemble the top of the motor at a cost of 3-hrs labor to send pics to Hyundai and ask for assitance in the repair cost due to the car being out of warranty.
At this point I have not made a decision on what to do; I've contacted the law firm representing the class action law suit for further adcise.
- Patrick M., Palmer, MA, US
On Sept 3rd, 2015. While on the highway the car started to hesitate and the air conditioner was coming on and off. Not until the last second did the oil light go on and the car died out. Had it towed to dealer and was told engine was seized up. Was told that they found a used engine with 30000 miles on it and would cost 5840 plus tax to replace. Ended up selling the car for 800 bucks and found out a week later there was an engine recall.
- Ron S., Plainfield, IL, US
MY VEHICLE HAS SEIZED MANY TIMES. MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON FOR A DAY AND NEVER CAME BACK ON AGAIN. AT TIMES WHEN I DRIVE, IT FEELS LIKE ITS GONNA STOP WHEN I'M SWITCHING GEARS (PARK, DRIVE ETC), THE LIGHT DOESN'T COME ON AND IT MAKES A WEIRD SOUND AS IF ITS GOING TO TURN OFF AND I CAN'T SEE WHAT GEAR I'M IN.....THE LIST OF PROBLEMS GOES ON! WISH I NEVER PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE!
- Tia P., Houston, TX, US
My engine completely froze and will not budge, period. Contacted the dealership that sold the vehicle to me used and they referred me to the local Hyundai dealer I would have to go through for the apparent recall regarding the faulty engine on my car (Parr Hyundai). Called a man named Steve at Parr Hyundai and explained my plight. He acknowledged that there was indeed a recall however, it had not been implemented and was in the "prep" phase meaning there was no timeline on when/if the repairs would be performed and maybe I should call the dealer who sold me the car and see if they could get me into a different car through trade-in (the car doesn't run Steve!). I told him my car was having all the symptoms described in the recall and the recall letter states "Bring your vehicle to the nearest Hyundai dealer. Hyundai will replace the engine at no cost to the owner and the warranty for all engines affected (past owners and present) was now 120,000 miles." Yet he insisted mine was out of warranty. Basically he blew me off and told me there was nothing they could do until the parts were assigned, which could be months down the line. I contacted Hyundai Motor Group USA and spoke with a William. He was much more helpful, he opened a case with Hyundai and assured me they would do everything they could to see it resolved. He further stated that the repairs should be performed regardless as my engine had seized and there IS an active recall and the warranty had been extended. I am currently waiting on the final word as my case was sent to higher authority at both Hyundai and management at Parr Hyundai in Bremerton, WA.
Update from Oct 8, 2015: Dropper my car off at Parr Hyundai in Bremerton Washington. That was on a Monday. According to the service manager they were going to inspect it (which they charged me $110). Once they inspected it, they would have to determine the cause of the engine seizure and make contact with Hyundai motor group to ensure they were authorized to perform the repairs. That was three days ago and there hasn't been so much as a phone call. The service staff over there at Parr Hyundai were extremely abrasive. Upon entering the office, before I could even discuss what Hyundai motor group had advised me to do, the service manager cut me off and said "Look, there's no recall currently implemented, there's nothing we can do right now." To me, this is not my fault, and I am still a very viable paying customer, but this behavior is deplorable. I am out a vehicle, living on a friend's couch and having to rely on them to get me to and from work.
- crookedanchor6, Edmonds, WA, US
Coming off the freeway after driving roughly 20 miles at about 70MPH and 2,000RPM-ish I came to a red light and my engine stalled.
I shifted into park and attempted to start my car again, it clicked as if the battery was dead but all the lights came alive and it sounded like it made an attempt to turn over. I tried a couple more times and smoke began to come from under the hood. I had to push it off the road and call AAA.
After letting the engine cool while waiting for the tow truck (took 3 hours) I tried to turn over the engine one last time. Nothing but a click sound, all lights came on, radio, air, etc. engine refused to budge. I pulled to dipstick to find metal shavings in the oil as I rubbed it on my finger.
- crookedanchor6, Edmonds, WA, US
A couple of weeks ago I started hearing what sounded like a loose piece of metal heat flashing making a knocking noise with the motor while accelerating. A few days later as I'm driving with my family in the car, we started losing power/torque to accelerate beyond 3500rpm, as we were driving on a highway on-ramp. I pulled over, looked at the engine and everything seemed fine. I get back on the highway and have the same issue accelerating so I accelerate below 3k rpm. The knocking sound wasn't present at this time. As I'm getting near my house, the oil pressure indicator started to appear when I accelerated but disappeared within a few seconds. I get to my house and let the engine cool. When I check the oil, it turns out I've lost 2.4 quarts. I add oil and take the car for a short drive, only to find it wouldn't rev beyond 2800rpm without the engine clunking rather hard.
The next day I take it to my auto mechanic. He finds a crack in the upper half (2-piece) oil pan that is made of aluminum. He showed me that oil leaked on top of the plastic aerodynamic underbody piece. Because my oil was leaking from this crack, the pressure was low enough to throw of 2 oil-regulators which accurately time the motor, thus likely warping the piston connecting rods.
After replacing the oil-regulators, which were damaged by the low oil pressure, the metal knocking noise didn't go away. There is likely crank shaft damage along with damage to the connecting rods. The mechanic doesn't want to rebuild half of the motor as he is certain the mechanics on the top end were slightly altered because of the damage on the bottom half.
Used motors vary in price from $2500-4500 and after labor I'm looking at roughly $4-7k total in costs. Brand new engines don't come fully assembled, but in parts, so after labor they cost around $10k. Thank God I bought an extended warranty. I hope they cover it. It looks as though they try to scam customers by claiming negligence.
After searching the internet, it looks like many many people are having the same problem I am, and at varying mileage.
Update from May 18, 2016: My engine was replaced by my local mechanic. He found a used motor from a company that provided a 1 year warranty. A month later, Hyundai came forward with the recall issue on VINs from the Montgomery, AL plant. The motor that I replaced my original motor with also fell within the VIN ranges provided by Hyundai. I went through their inspection protocol (their proof/fix) and they said the engine would not have the issues.
Well, my engine started making loud grumbling noises when accelerating at 2000rpm. I took it to the mechanic to look at it and get another oil change. The oil had metal fragments in it. We're sending the sample to an independent lab to determine the metal present before I go back to Hyundai. Hyundai told me this engine wasn't going to have the issue, and look where I'm at.
By the way, I did get my money back from Hyundai on my out-of-pocket costs to the first engine replacement. The extended warranty covered the rest, but that company wasn't interested in pursuing Hyundai for their own reimbursement despite the recall notice.
- Jason F., Columbus, OH, US
We began hearing some noises from under the hood, and scheduled to take the car in for maintenance and an oil change on Wednesday of the following week (8/18/2015 was our appointment). On Sunday we were traveling from MD to PA, about an hour and a half drive. After an hour of driving, we stopped to pick up a gift for my nephew's first birthday party and were on our way.
The car started like normal, we got back on the road, and my husband began to accelerate. It accelerated for about 2 seconds, then just stopped accelerating, touching the gas pedal did nothing. The car had shut off. The different lights on the dash came on, the power steering and power brakes ceased to work, and we barely made it off the road. We put it in park, took the key out, waited for a minute, and tried restarting it. It would click once, then nothing. We tried jumping it, nothing. We were told it sounded like the alternator, so had it towed to a nearby triple A shop. We were dreading the news of having to replace the alternator, but feared it may be more from the noises we started to hear prior to the car breaking down.
The following day (Monday, 8/17/15) we received a call that the engine had seized. And upon calling the dealership we bought the car from, found out that the extended warranty we purchased, had just expired at 109K miles and we were at 130K miles.
We asked the AAA the car was at, and the dealership to call around to get pricing on how much an engine would be. They were shocked to learn that the engine for the 2011 Hyundai Sonata is unavailable nationwide, indefinitely. This is unheard of and is what prompted me to search online to check if a seized engine was one of the MANY problems/recalls/MISTAKES made with this car, and surprisingly, it was!
We are now left to decide what to do with the car. Get the pricey tow from Pennsylvania to Maryland? Give it to the dealership to fix, praying that if they are able to even find this type engine, the next person who buys the car isn't hurt if/when it seizes again? Any thoughts/advice are welcome!!
- labuda, Cockeysville, MD, US
We live in Arizona. We was on our way to Vegas. We took my car because it had low mileage 30,000. We was about 50 miles outside of Henderson. I heard a noise. We thought it was the truck next to me. The car stop. No light nothing. Wouldn't start. Luckily I got I off the road. We call tow truck wait in the heat over 1 hour. He took us to the car dealer. They try to start it. They said the engine seized.They was really curious. They got us a rental car. This was unreal. I always thought having a new car was not having car problems. Was I wrong.
- jeancarson67, Mesa, AZ, US
Was driving to the golf course Sunday 28 Feb 16 and the car stalled at speed while making a right turn. No warnings. I pulled over to the side and put it in park. Several cars went by me and honked at me. I turned the key and the car started right up. Started driving again and only got about 800 feet before it stalled again. This time I dropped it into neutral and once again restarted the car with no problem. I drove the last 5 miles to the course without incident. Also drove home without incident.
I drove the car to work Monday [4 miles] and back with no problem. Tuesday the car stalled three times going to work. Each time restarted without a problem but clearly the car wasn't working right. I called the dealer from work and made arrangements to have the car looked at the following Thursday (3 Mar 16). I didn't drive the car Wednesday except to drop it off at the dealership that night for the following days appointment.
Called the dealer Thursday afternoon to see how things were progressing and was told the engine had seized while they were testing it. They said they would have to replace the engine and I would need to get a rental car. They quickly told me they would pay for the engine and the rental car. This car has run great for over a year (bought it used) and there was no indication whatsoever the car was having any problems.
- Hawk J., Hanover, MD, US