10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 3 / 26
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 5 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 47,696 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
****buyer beware*****purchased this car in Feb 2014 with only 230miles on it and in Sept 2014 I pulled out of my home turned right and had no issues...although about 50 feet later I stopped at a red light on a fairly busy street with mid to high traffic, I stopped and once in motion, immediate my ets light came on the dash and my steering completely froze up and steering wheel lock up. I was in motion going about 40 mph, not yet up to the 45 speed limit. There were cars all around me and I had to physically force my car to right with my emergency lights on. I was lucky this didn't happen on my way to get my child from school, or after. Otherwise it would have been a completely different situation. The Hyundai corporation, has refused to buy back their default death trap of a vehicle and had the nerve to offer a "month car payment". my life could have been taken from me and they only offer a payment. Not acceptable. Buy back your known defective vehicle. I have had four recalls on this car in less than 3 years of purchase.
- Loveland, CO, USA
The vehicle has a history of losing power completely. At this point I am unable to enter the car with the keyless entry, you have to do it manually. The car was parked on the street. Once you put the key in the ignition the horn/alarm goes off and doesn't stop. It also seems to be revving while it is in park. While driving I experience little power surges from the car where it accelerates with me trying to do anything. There was also another instance where the car would not start once the emergency brake was engaged. Once disengaged the car started with a little hesitation. I only had the car for 6 months and have had to bring it back to the dealer at least 6 times.
- Mount Vernon, NY, USA
During cold weather, the 2.0 turbo Sonata engine will cut power to the car and go into a "limp" mode if an over boost code (usually P0605 & P2110 ), is triggered. This causes an unsafe situation as there is very little power available to get out of the way or can cause a rear vehicle crash. There have been a couple times where this has happened on 0 degree days or even at 30 degrees. This will happen at any speed if the boost pressure is exceeded and makes for a very dangerous situation. The ECU should not be cutting power or fuel, it should be reducing the boost to compensate for temperature. The only way to restore the power to the engine, is to shut the car off and restart.....codes will still be active but the power will restore itself.
- Madison, WI, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Sonata. While driving at 25 mph, the instrument panel lights flickered and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 54,000.
- Paso Robles, CA, USA
Earlier that day the wrench was lit up on the dashboard, but it disappeared. I was driving out of my neighborhood at about 15-20 mph and the screen read "warning! do not drive! irreparable damage to ? I can't remember" it started to freeze the driving. Then I parked it and it would not start back up. It was towed to the dealer and they replaced the battery and hpcu. It scares me to think what would have happened if I was on the freeway. I bought this car April 20, 2014 and now can just get 2/3's what I paid for it. Sad, but true. When I get some money I will be trading this in as I am nervous driving this car now.
- Arlington, TX, USA
The tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) has displayed erroneous tire pressure readings during cold weather climates numerous different times despite having the correct psi or adding air to reach an ultimate psi reading. This has been an issue with other models of Hyundai vehicles with the TPMS feature according to other owners.
- Homewood, IL, USA
Starter and battery needed to be replaced on 2012 Hyundai Sonata. Not covered by my warranty.
- Ronkonkoma , NY, USA
When going to work I parked my car in the garage. When I came out to try to start it said check brakes. The brakes were not on, I then pressed the brakes and pushed the button and it said it needed the key. I put it in the slot and it still said the same the whole time making the sound when it starts. The tow number and the closest dealer said to hold the brake in and the key against the push for about thirty seconds, still did not start. The tow truck hired to come asked me to take the key inside the key and put it in driver's door and lock and unlock then do the thirty second brake with pushing the button again still would not start, towed to dealer service manager acted like he never had anyone ever complain about this before. I asked him how road assistance and the other dealer and the tow truck driver knew. I cannot wait until I can get out of this lease.
- Hendersonville, TN, USA
The car hesitates during start up! I have had it into the shop approx 9 times since we have had the car. This last time (approx 30K miles) they told me it was normal. I am afraid this car is an accident waiting to happen!
- Rotonda West, FL, USA
Vehicle was overheating. Took to dealership and was told the wires were melting together and the wiring harness needed to be replaced. After replacing the wiring harness it was one problem after the next that the dealership contributed to the overheating. 3 turbo's replaced, the front and rear wiring harness, the computer control module, some tubes and hoses and 6 mos later....the car seems to be running again but now there is a recall on the transmission...ugh. I tried to have Hyundai let me out of the lease since I only had a few months left. Consumer Affairs passed the buck to Hyundai lease and vice versa. It is a nightmare to work with this corporation. Filed a complaint with the BBB and was able to get reimbursed for two payments since they had my car in for repair for over 60 days but they would not let me out of the lease. Will never have a Hyundai again because of Hyundai motor America and the way they pass the buck, will not take responsibility, and take care of their customers. They are a horrible corporation.
- Loveland, CO, USA
I took my car into the Hyundai dealer for a 30,000 service. They said the computer has an upgrade to the software. After the upgrade, the cruise control speeds up by 4 - 5 miles per hour when it is set. For instance, if you set it at 65 mph, it will speed up to 69 or 70 mph and then slow back down to 65. It does this when you initially set the speed or if you brake and then hit the "resume" button. In the case of "resume", if you initially set it at 65 mph and use the brake to slow down and then use the "resume" button, the car will speed up to 69 or 70 before going back down to 65. The cruise control will do this no matter what speed you initial set it at. I took the car back in and the service people thought it was strange. So they said they ran the upgrade to the software again, but it has the same issue. They then told me that the surge in speed was within an acceptable tolerance range. I have owned many cars with cruise control and none of them have ever done that and this car did not do it prior to the software upgrade. It is pretty dangerous if you are not paying attention.
- Albuquerque, NM, USA
First let me tell you how many times I brought the car in for service, the service manager [xxx] telling me they could not find anything wrong, replaced the A/C unit. Blue tooth fuses have blown out several times no radio, they replaced the fuses, then replaced the battery... there is a electrical short some where.. the date above in October I was so mad I was traveling on a inter state highway in the fast lane, then my car lost power, , at 67 mph no brakes no nothing thanks god.. I had to wait to power down... I waited for about 20 minutes shaking... I kept trying to start the car with the push button start nothing happened I then called Hyundai road service... after waiting... finally the car started.. I had power but no radio, ,, I drove off the inter state and it was only 2 miles from the car dealership.. I was so mad also my blue tooth and one light burned out.. after talking to the service mgr.. he told me to wait in which I did...2 hours later a service guy came to talk to me and said he could not find nothing wrong again.. except that he would replace the light bulb... after that I asked the sales rep to put me into another car.. they said ok but for $50 more a month and a loss of 2 years paying for the car... I then went to the same owner dealership and they worked with me for 2 days I got a new car $20 more a month and a loss of 2 years in payments... please note that a new service manager at the dealership said he worked at another dealership and told me it looks like the starter switch was the problem.. after seeing the GM recall I guess anything is possible information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
- Hollywood, FL, USA
Tail light assembly on drivers side broke off from the car, it was parked in the driveway when we noticed it. There was no accident, no damage or evidence of someone hitting it. Looks like the plastic part of the light holding it to the bolts just broke off. Dealer said they have no knowledge at all, of this happening.
- Rochester, NY, USA
Unintended acceleration, had to slam on brakes and put car into neutral in order to prevent shooting into a intersection of oncoming traffic. The car immediately threw a number of codes, and a engine control system condition code, check engine code.... dealer tells me when unloaded off the tow-truck that the brake pedal went to the floor, after 6 days of having the car the dealership service manager is telling me no problem could be found due to not being able to reproduce the problem.
- Paris, KY, USA
I was getting ready for work and the temperature outside was -2 degrees so I went to warm up the car for 20 mins and then started to head out to work. As I was leaving not even 5 mins later I started to smell something burning. So I pulled over and started to see smoke, then I started to look around to find out where it was coming from and I see smoke coming from the bottom of the back seat right behind the driver seat. So I started taking my personal belongings out of the vehicle. After removing my personal belongings, I went to the car and now there was more smoke coming from the bottom of the rear seat closest to the rear door driver side. So then I pulled up the seat and I see flames, and there were flames, I call 911 and they came like in 5 mins.I'm just blessed that I didn't have my kids with me.
- Hackettstown, NJ, USA
I have had issues galore with my car since the day I drove it off the lot. First issue and still is just gave up on bringing it back was the steering that drifted. Then I had a sound coming from the rear of the car that made a loud noise. I also have a sound coming from the sun roof. After that I had a oil leak in it's first year. My radio went out, my driver window stop working. My turbo quit on me. Battery died. I was stranded by the car 3 times. It would turn over fast but not crank. I called road side on one of those. My air bag lights come on while driving down the road. It rattles like cheap parts. I have called Hyundai with no response as of yet. The dealership says they can't do anything. I pay a car not for a car I don't trust to drive.
- Biloxi, MS, USA
Walked out of store I had been shopping in for over an hour and car was in flames. The fire investigator explained it as an electrical short that started at the main engine wire harness and melted the tubing/wiring all through the engine compartment down near passenger headlight and the melting wires/tubing/rubber dripped and ignited on a pile of leaves underneath the car in the parking space. The resulting fire and electrical burn melted all rubber plastic, external belts, wire harness, front bumper, intake manifold and any plastic rubber, fluid lids, exterior parts surrounding or attached to the engine.
- Matthews, NC, USA
On or about October 1, 2103, the emergency brake light on the dash came on as I started the car and backed out of the garage. I checked and rechecked the emergency brake to make sure it was off and the pedal was not depressed. Every other time or so, when we used the car, the emergency brake light would come on and we always double checked to ensure the brake pedal was off. On October 7, 2103, we went to the jenkins Hyundai dealership and after they checked the vehicle, they could find nothing wrong with the brakes or the computer. As we left the place, the brake light came on for the 20 mile trip home. The Hyundai warranty states that we should not drive the vehicle because the brakes could lock up and cause an accident. It is either a brake problem or a computer and I would prefer to have it fixed before it causes an accident.
- The Villages, FL, USA
After low tire pressure light going on/off for 2 days(tire pressure was fine) all dash lights came on and vehicle would not get out of park. Had to have vehicle towed to dealership. After about a week went to pickup "fixed" auto and when started car all the lights on dash lit again. Another week goes by and they "found" a faulty SRS control module (airbag control module) which they removed and replaced. No issues until Oct 7th while driving about 25mph all lights lit again on dash and speedometer and RPM's immediately went to zero even though I was still moving. Had to be towed again to dealership. They "found" a ground wire corroded at left front strut tower. Cleaned the connection and reinstalled...did not replace. Went to pickup car after numerous test drives by dealership on Oct 18th and again upon starting all dash lights lit and could not get out of park. Vehicle still at dealership. They have no idea what is wrong with it.
- Springfield, PA, USA
- Boynton Beach, FL, USA