Hyundai Kona Complaints

964 consumer complaints on file.

#11648537March 16, 2025
ENGINE
While driving the car it stalled and all dash lights came in. After about 20 mins it started back up and I proceeded down the road. After a few minutes the engine light came on blinking. I got the car to a local mechanic who placed it in the diagnostic machine. It came back code engine-pistons. I have a Hyandai 2020 Kona MPI-NU 2.0l engine but it was not included in the recall of the same vehicles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11647670March 11, 2025
ENGINE
The engine has been a problem since I got the car. It used to just stop in the middle of traffic and just not drive I would have to completely turn the car off and back on in the middle of the highway. I went to Hyundai in Texas to get it fixed and they said they did so I drove it to where I live now In north carolina it broke down again the shaft gear was broken I had to drive it back to Texas for them to fix it the whole way there I was unable to turn the car off while getting gas with the chance of it not Turing back on. got it to Texas and to the dealer they said it was their problem they would fix I got the car back and seemingly thought everything was ok. this past week I was driving to work and all of the sudden on the middle of the right lane of the highway my car just started to slow down and shake a little I had gotten it to the side to pull over and I thought if I turned it off it would turn back on. it turns on but does not drive. I am a [XXX] living [XXX] in North Carolina with a car that has so many problems for it being a 2021 car. with no recall in sight I have seen this specific car on the side of the road more times than I have seen any other car. if someone does not see this as a problem and thinks it shouldn't be recalled you are the issue I need a working car to get to work so I can pay my bills without a car I have no way to make my money this car has been a problem since the get go. Im not asking for a new car I'm asking for this one to be fixed and stay fixed for it to have so many issues is insane and just not safe with the world we live in if my car doesn't start for some reason at any point and something is going wrong its dangerous. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11647527March 10, 2025
POWER TRAIN, ENGINE
My vehicle has a very rough idle-vibrating at idle or stopped and not shifting properly-gear slipping. There is sluggish acceleration or jerking and the problem worsens while at a stop light/stop sign or at times when making a turn. The RPM goes between 200-300 when I accelerate to go from a stop and the car revs as it slowly hits 20 mph and then jerks into the 30-40mph on the streets. I took it to the dealer January 2025 where they could not duplicate the concern, and all they did was a TCM judder improvement update for the DCT. The problem was dismissed as being an issue associated with the DCT and was told that unless a warning light turned on or my car broke down on me, they couldn't do anything more. The service representative advised that if I am in stop and go traffic and the car starts vibrating or shaking, I should pull over the side and turn off the car for a few minutes before continuing on my way. It has been less than 2 months and I have to take it back to the dealer so they can run diagnostics on it again. Same issues, no warning lights on the dashboard indicating there is a problem, but I am not comfortable driving the car anymore.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11647216March 9, 2025
ENGINE
My 2018 Hyundai Kona has been dealership serviced since buying it and it had about 115,000 miles on it when these issues began. Vehicle started to burn oil twice as fast as every time i would bring it into the dealership for the routine oil change, they would ALWAYS tell me that I had no oil in it. Therefore, I started to carry a quart of oil in the trunk and fill it up every 3 weeks or so. This went on for a few months until I started to notice a power problem while driving it on the highway on a trip. Tried to pull over at the next stop and then the car began shaking uncontrollably and engine shut off and would not start again. Took it to the dealership and they said your engine is shot and you're going to have to either buy a new car or put a new engine in it. I have seen many complaints and reviews about people having these same issues with the 2018 models. I know that there were a lot of recalls for the 2019 with these same issues with the incorrect heat tampered pistons causing these exact issues that the many of us 2018 owners have had. Please do the right thing and look into this. There are too many people having these same issues and this was my only means of transportation at the time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11647205March 9, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
On Monday [XXX] I was driving home from work going 45 mph when my forward collision warning came on and the car stopped. However, there was no one in front of me. This was extremely dangerous and if there was a car behind me I could have been hit. I am extremely scared to drive this car. I had it towed to Lynne’s Hyundai in Bloomfield NJ. They said their computer could not find an issue so had nothing to fix and asked me to pick up the car. However, after what I experienced I refused and called corporate Hyundai. They told me my safety was their number one priority and they would resolve this for me. However, after they spoke to the dealership they said they could not duplicate the problem so nothing could be done. I gave numerous solutions that would make me happy but none were taken. I now have a car I am literally scared to death to drive and had another malfunction with the front sensor yesterday where it told me the car in front of me was pulling away but it was stopped. The vehicle is available for inspection. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11647008March 7, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
While I was driving the heads up display and the telemeter all go black I lose all lights all blind spot and warnings. Then the car will recycle through and all the displays will come up again. This happens every month and a half or so, and the dealership says they cannot replicate the problem and they don’t know anything.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11646776March 6, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, EXTERIOR LIGHTING, VISIBILITY/WIPER
While driving the vehicle the digital dashboard for the RPM's and Speedometer, infotainment center, accent lighting and all exterior lighting including tail lamps, head lights, turn signals and marker lights all powered off for approximately 2-3 seconds. During this time, the engine continued to run as if nothing had occurred. After the 2-3 seconds all affected systems that shut down turned back on and continued as if nothing had occurred. Even Apple carplay had no signal reconnection time, almost like it was never disconnected in the first place. This issue appears to just shut down all outward lighting/indicator lamps and then power back up. This issue has repeated itself on 5 separate occasions over the course of the last 3 days. Took it to a dealer on the 4th day (today, March 6th), and they could not get the issue to replicate despite driving for 30 miles and having it for 3 or so hours under their care. No codes were logged, no indicator lamps showed an issue and no erratic driving or lasting effects of the power blip. Outside of the dealership this issue has not been inspected further. A contact was made with Hyundai USA in attempt to address this safety issue. No reply has been received since submitting yesterday afternoon. This issue has happened during the day as well but given the lighting conditions is not as dangerous as losing all head lamps or tail lamps at night where the driver or other drivers may be affected as they travel about the roadways in the case of merging on and off of a highway or being able to see any animals that run into the roadway.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11646210March 4, 2025
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2019 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, the vehicle vibrated and lost motive power. The check engine warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and the engine seized. The vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed with engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that on another occasion, while his wife was driving 75 MPH, the vehicle vibrated, and the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine had failed, and the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while driving 75 MPH, an abnormal sound was coming from the engine. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the dealer then deleted the diagnostic code. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 126,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11645781March 2, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Rear camera is not working properly. Either I have a blurry image or a black screen when in reverse position.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11645210February 27, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
Car will stop running and not start back up when stopped at a light or stop sign sometimes. I have started driving with the auto start stop off because I will be stuck at a light or stop sign because it will power off but not come back on again. This has occurred several times. The dealership told me there was no issue 11/22/24 but were willing to sell me another battery if I wanted to just replace the battery. The battery would test fine and then not and then fine again. I did price battery’s and they tested my battery at auto zone when pricing them and it tested fine with them also. They did not feel like it was a battery issue. I don’t either now since it stays on no problem when I turn off the auto start stop. There is something honestly wrong because if I leave that feature on, it will power off and sometimes stay off. The first times it happened was in November 2024 but it keeps happening. Sometimes i forget to click off the auto start stop and it will happen to me again but I shouldn’t have to turn that feature off to prevent my car from shutting down and not restarting when stopped.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11644875February 25, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL
The contact owns a 2024 Hyundai Kona. The contact was away from the residence for several weeks, and after returning, while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The contact called for Roadside Service who was also unable to start the vehicle. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer. The dealer determined that the battery had failed and needed to be replaced, along with the battery terminals and electrical wiring harnesses. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle had started to exhibit electrical failures. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the instrument cluster failed to boot up properly. Additionally, the contact became aware that the fan was blowing air independently. The contact had taken the vehicle to another dealer. The contact was advised by the dealer that the vehicle needed to remain at the dealer for a week for further testing. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 941.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11644722February 25, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The horn stopped working. The first time, replacing a fuse fixed it, the second time I had to go to the dealership to get the horn replaced under warranty. There were no warning lamps.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11644183February 21, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The shark fin antenna came off at 55 mph going down the highway. The dealer who sold me the 2021 Kona SEL, tried to blame us for it, saying there is no way to know if you hit a bird etc. They stated it would cost me about $1,300.00 to repair this. My response was, are you serious? we have had this car for less than 3 months and this is your answer. So i went to a certified Hyundai dealer, both gave the same response, but added our tech is trained to spot defects and said the screws would not be shown, it would have ripped the entire unit from the car if it came off due to a defect. which is entirely untrue. Both dealers added that they had never even heard of this happening before, so they referred me to contact Hyundai corp to open up a registered complaint. The response I got was the dealer was the one who makes the ultimate decision. she gave me a link to buy direct from Hyundai as soon as I stated I would make a complaint here. Then I asked her the same thing I asked both dealers, why are you denying this? This is a very common issue. I also added that if the truck behind us was struck by the antenna ripping off, I would be in court to sue them. I then added it will only be a matter of time before injuries or death from this occurs and that will end up with all of the complaints being used in court to force you to comply. I ended up finding a better deal from a Hyundai dealer than the one she gave me. I performed the repair myself. the repair cost me about 300 dollars. I also want to ad that when i used AI to ask how to tell if the antenna was defective, the explanation and pics were exactly identical to the pictures I took. as this was during warmer months I felt very happy a person on a motorcycle was not hit. People need to research this on their own before purchasing this auto in my opinion.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11643814February 19, 2025
ENGINE, EXTERIOR LIGHTING, SEATS
1-The turn lights(right and left turn)died too quickly.i change my bulb every month .I went to independent service center and they told me the car must have some wrong wire that doesn't support bulb.Even if I change my bulb ,it doesn't take long and a warning signal come out and stated that I need to check my light.it is so annoying. This happened one year after I start driving the car. 2- The passenger seat is too low that you don't feel comfortable seating inside.It is not possible to bring it up.I went to the dealer but they wasn't at the same location anymore. 3- The windshield wipers fails to operate properly, component can't wipes properly.After one year driving the car i noticed that wipers are loosing their components. 3-Defective straps by passenger side,I noticed it when I start to give ride to a friend after a year owned this car. 4-My engine symbol is showing.I went to an independent center ,nobody can fix it . I sent the car to Hyundai ,they told me I have to spend $10000 to have the engine fix. I don't understand i was doing all my oil changes on time.now I have to drive this car with my engine light on.i am still fixing it but it is costing me too much.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11643311February 18, 2025
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2020 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving approximately 30 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle stalled. The driver was unable to restart the vehicle and had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic. The contact stated that the mechanic had not diagnosed the vehicle; however, an oil change was performed. The vehicle was repaired; however, the check engine warning light remained constantly illuminated. The contact that the vehicle was taken to a local dealer and two software updates were performed as per the manufacturer recalls on the vehicle, but the contact was informed that the recall repair for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V301000 (Engine) could not be performed. The contact stated that the check engine warning light remained illuminated, and the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The mechanic related the engine warning light being illuminated with the unrepaired recall. The contact was referred to the dealer again for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 106,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11643397February 18, 2025
POWER TRAIN
-the gear drive was diagnosed as needed to be replaced -the GRU may lock up during driving causing the vehicle to stop -dealer confirmed needs replacing -no warnings or lights on vehicle, it was noticed that the vehicle made a louder noise while driving but could be confused with tires or normal air noise while driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11642982February 16, 2025
ENGINE
While the engine was running on the highway or also at idle, it intermittently stalled out and all of the warning lights were displayed on the dash including a collision warning. You have to put the car in park and restart it even while on the highway causing a severe safety risk. It has been to Hyundai several times for diagnostic/repair and they have been unable to identify and correct the issue. Hyundai eventually replaced the computer for lack of any other option, but the issue persists. This week the check engine light was on permanently so I took it to Christian Bros for a diagnostic and they found several codes for crankshaft and camshaft issues and determined the engine is consuming oil. OIL CONSUMPTION is a known issue at Hyundai and the subject of recalls but my particular Kona VIN number is not identified as affected even though it absolutely is having the same exact issue as described in the other Kona's recalled. I am taking it back to Hyundai this week for another try at engine 100k warranty but I know they will reject my request. How do I get this issue covered under the existing OIL CONSUMPTION RECALL for my particular VIN being that I am a 2019 2.0L engine just like all the other 2019 Kona recalls? Why is my vin excluded? THis makes no sense.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11642709February 14, 2025
ENGINE, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
While accelerating onto the highway, the engine backfired and suddenly lost speed, violently shaking.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11642082February 11, 2025
ENGINE
On [XXX] I drove my Hyundai Kona from Louisville Ky to the Cincinnati area when my car started to stumble and I was able to pull off the highway in Florence, Ky. I tried to start the car but there was a very bad noise from the engine so I turned it off. I called the Hyundai service number and let them know what had happened. They had my car towed to a local Hyundai dealership. I was told by that dealership that my oil plug had fallen out and the engine seized. I had no indicator lights come on until the car lost power. The Hyundai dealership in Louisville has completed all my maintenance on my car since I bought it. I had my 50K maintenance done on [XXX} where my oil was changed. I was still under my mileage for an oil change. After talking with the local dealership they stated that my warranty will not cover the repairs and advised that teenagers have been vandalizing cars and that is likely what happened. They advised me to enter a claim with my car insurance company for vandalism. After researching this issue, I feel that this is a defect as the temperature that day was -5 and during my drive the oil pan expanded and the plug fell out. I had not seen any oil leaking from my vehicle until the engine seized. I am still working with the dealership but they are sticking to the vandal theory and that I will have to pay for the repair which they have estimated will be around 12K. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11641724February 10, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
6/17/2024 12 volt battery was dead; EV was fully charged 6/16/2024 using Level 2 charger in my home garage. AAA charged the battery; I drove to Crossroads Hyundai Loveland, CO and asked to have the converter to the main battery checked; this was not done. Crossroads checked the battery via CADEX with "good battery charge" as result. No other diagnostic work was performed. 8/26/2024 12 volt battery again depleted; AAA charged twice 11:06 am (recharge and retest ) and 3:51pm (Bad & replace). I drove again to Crossroads Hyundai which claimed battery test showed good battery. Technician found a draw dropped after pulling fuses F6 multi media and F16 memory. Techline at Hyundai was contacted and tech was instructed to install junction box for fuses (91950-K4061 Junction Box assembly I/PNL 91). The car was undriveable on the Crossroads lot until part received and replaced 9/20/2024. 9/24/2024 when I arrived to pick up the car, the service advisor told me the door was left ajar after car wash, causing draw on battery; the battery was damaged by continued discharge due to strain from parts replaced. Hyundai agreed to replace the battery at no charge to customer. There were no warming lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to 6/17/2024. My safety, as a senior and woman is at risk if the car was stranded in a parking lot or other area outside of my home garage.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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