Hyundai Sonata Complaints (2016)

888 consumer complaints on file.

#11502989January 21, 2023
ENGINE
On April 12, 2022. I was driving with my grandson. I heard some loud engine noise in which I thought was coming from an old red truck next to me. I continued driving and continued to hear the noise after I was away from the truck. I realized the noise was coming from my vehicle (2016 Hyundai Sonata). The interior lights started flashing ( oil light, engine and battery lights) and the car started losing power. I was able to pull over to the right lane by the curb. The engine shutdown and wouldn't start back up. The car was towed to Jeff Wyler Superior Hyundai, 238 W. Mitchell Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio 45232. My vehicle is still there. In January of 2022 I had my car at the dealership for losing power. They repaired it, saying it was the cylinders and then in April 2022 the whole engine shuts completely down.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11502815January 20, 2023
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. The contact stated that while his son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with low oil and engine failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V746000 (Engine). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 67,036. The contact noted that the failure speed was approximately 40 mph. It wasn't long after purchasing the vehicle that the engine seized while driving. The contact stated that the manufacturer will not honor the warranty due to the incident occurring from "an outside influence". Said influence is unknown to the contact.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11502513January 18, 2023
ENGINE
I have a 2016 Sonata with 81,000 miles, I was driving the car when I started hearing knocking noise under the hood and Suddenly the car cut off and wouldn’t start. No dash board lights came on. Prior to car shutdown. My safety was put at risk because the car cut off near the highway and I had to push the car to a safe location. The dealer confirmed that the engine needed to be replaced at $8,500.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11502255January 17, 2023
ENGINE
I was driving the vehicle, it started making a weird noise, the console lights started flashing and then the engine shutdown and wouldn't start back up.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11501906January 15, 2023
STEERING
I want to report a safety concern to the NHTSA in regards to the 2016 Hyundai Sonata. In 2019, I took my Sonata in for repair work because the steering wheel locked up while I was driving the vehicle on the city streets. I was able to get over to the side of the road with a great amount of effort, turn the car off, turn the car back on, and the steering wheel was working again. Towards Oct/Nov time frame of 2019, my 20 year old son was driving the Sonata on a city street. He had the steering wheel lock up on him while he was driving. He, too, was able to manage to come to a stop and force the steering wheel, with a great amount of effort, to pull over into a parking lot. We were able to acquire control of the steering wheel again after turning the car off and turning it back on again. While my son was driving the car, in college, he had the same thing happen again. He was able to get it corrected and immediately get it to a Hyundai dealership where he was going to college. While the auto technician was driving the car, he too experienced the same problem. The technician was able to guide the car to a slow stop and eventually get it back to the dealership. I have all the paperwork stating this. Eventually the dealership was able to narrow down the problem to about 2-3 steering wheel angle sensors. Those were replaced, fortunately under warranty, and we were able to move on. The car was repaired in December of 2019. Just this week, on January 10th and 11th of 2023, I was driving the Sonata to and from work. On my way home from the hospital that I work at, the steering wheel locked up on me again while I was on an overpass in the city. I was able to manage getting the car home, but it took all my effort to be able to control/manipulate the steering wheel in to turning motions. I am a 6'5" / 226# man and it was extremely difficult for me to control the car and the steering wheel. This problem should not be recurring after 3 yrs from previous repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11501699January 13, 2023
ENGINE
Purchased a 2016 Hyundai Sonata on 7/2/22. At the time, it had approximately 119,000 miles on it. About a month later, the car overheated. Thankfully, husband is a mechanic. Since the initial overheating, we had been diligently adding coolant every few days. However, as of last month, the overheating had gotten so bad, we took it to an independent mechanic who quoted us about $8,500.00 for repairs, including installing a new engine.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11501546January 12, 2023
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:OIL/LUBRICATION
We purchased a 2016 Hyundai Sonata in December 2020 for our son who is in college. In early August of 2022, my son noticed his oil light was coming on before it was time for an oil change. He had the vehicle topped off and maintained regular oil change and service schedule. While in for service at Fitzgerald Hyundai in Rockville, MD, August 2022, they replaced the spark plugs (4 cylinder tune-up) at 108,127 miles. The car continued to burn a lot of oil, so another appointment was scheduled at the dealership in Rockville September, 2022 at 111,792 miles. An oil and filter change, complete 23 pt. Vehicle Maintenance Inspection was performed, and all fluids topped off. The vehicle continued to burn oil at an unacceptable rate well before an oil change was required. My son continued to get oil changes and top off before the standard mileage. Another appointment was scheduled with the same dealer in Rockville, MD December 2022 at 118,989 miles requesting a diagnosis for the excessive oil consumption. After inspection, we were told an oil consumption test needed to be performed in order to determine why we are having this issue. We were also told that the spark plugs needed replacing again, less than 5 months from the previous replacement. Our service advisor said oil was probably shooting out onto the plugs. Hyundai denied the request to pay for the oil consumption test. The service advisor said she sees this a lot when I asked about excessive oil consumption on a vehicle with less than 120,000 miles. Also, they kept the car for almost 2 weeks.We are looking to rid ourselves of this piece of junk and purchase a vehicle by a reputable manufacturer. In the meantime, we are topping off and getting frequent oil changes. There definitely appears to be a defect with this year and model vehicle and Hyundai should acknowledge there is an issue and resolve it. I will never purchase another Hyundai and will spread the word to everyone I know, not to buy a Hyundai.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11501013January 10, 2023
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, and it was confirmed that no cause for the failure was found. The contact then took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed as engine wear, due to a lack of proper lubrication The vehicle was not repaired. The contact then took the vehicle to another dealer, North Freeway Hyundai (20440 Interstate 45 N, Spring, TX 77373) where it was diagnosed as needing the engine to be flushed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but stated that the vehicle was out of warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 59,013.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11500417January 6, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
While driving the hybrid system warning light comes on and says to check hybrid system, vehicle goes into limp mode will not accelerate over 25 mph and codes need to be cleared before vehicle van be driven. This has caused me to almost have several accidents. The vehicle slows down and gives no warning prior to this occurring. It has started happening more frequently vehicle currently has 85k miles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11500514January 6, 2023
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
While driving at night, when I engage my turn signal to make a turn and my headlights go off. The headlights stay off until I play with the turn signal leaver moving it up, down, forward, and backward until the headlights come back on. I see this as a major safety issue. Driving a night without headlights impairs my ability to see and for other vehicles to see me. A search on the internet displays many websites discussing this issue for my year, make and model of car. Local Hyundai said there is no recall. There was no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms presenting on this issue. It appears there is a malfunction in the turn signal switch. This has been occurring for over a month.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11499944January 3, 2023
ENGINE
Upon buying the vehicle the engine started to burn excessive amounts of oil.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11499739January 2, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:ANTI-THEFT:IMMOBILIZER/PROXIMITY:KEY/SENDER
The vehicle is able to be started without a key by using a usb cable. This makes the vehicle extremely vulnerable to theft. Because of this issue vehicles incur other damages due to theft such as broken windows and possibly bodily injury due to theft. They are able to remove the steering column cover, unplug the ignition switch and using a usb cable as an object to turn the ignition. Because the switch appears to be plug and play it makes it easy to steal cause Hyundai car owners unnecessary dollars for repairs. https://youtu.be/fbTrLyqL_nw This is the link showing what they do. It’s not just Kia vehicles. My vehicle was stolen the same way.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11499744January 2, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:ANTI-THEFT:IMMOBILIZER/PROXIMITY:KEY/SENDER
Car was stolen on 12/27/22 because 2016 Hyundai Sonata does not have an engine immobilizer - highly likely inspired by recent Hyundai/Kia TikTok challenge.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11499583December 30, 2022
ENGINE
My 2016 Hyundai Sonata is sitting at the Red Hoagland dealership in Winter Haven, FL after the engine started knocking. Rather than continue driving it and risk an accident with our 19-yr old child driving it, or risk worse damage to the engine, I had it towed to Red Hoagland service department. This occurred less than a week after we had it at the dealership for the third and final oil consumption test. These tests were being conducted as part of Hyundai’s process to identify the known engine issue with this model. Each 1,000 mile test revealed that the engine was consuming approximately 3.5 quarts of oil per 1,000 miles (approximately 1 month timeframe). Despite the results of the tests and now the engine failure, Hyundai has denied the claim on the lifetime warranty of the engine. Their stated reason is “out of warranty caused by time in service and mileage on the vehicle.” The mileage on the vehicle was 143,260 on 10/29. Apparently to Hyundai a “lifetime warranty” on an engine that is known to fail due to this oil consumption issue does not mean “lifetime” but only less than 145,000 miles. I will appeal this decision and if they do not honor their lifetime warranty on this known issue they will hear from my attorney and hopefully the NHTSA will also help to enforce what Hyundai should have already done rather then making me go through this additional effort and trouble.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11497772December 16, 2022
STRUCTURE:BODY
The Sunroof wind deflector , the panel has become detached. It is loose and flapping when sunroof is open. Yes it is available for inspection. My safety was at risk because when it happened at first it scared me and I didn't know what happened. 2nd if it had came all the way off it could have flown into someone else's windshield and causing them to crash or swerve to miss it flying in the air. I did mention it to the dealership when it was there, but rather they looked at it or not I have no idea. No one else has inspected it. No warning lamps or other signals appeared before hand.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11497593December 15, 2022
ENGINE, ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:OIL/LUBRICATION
Huge amounts of oil consumption, have to refill all oil every 20-30 days. Car shut down on highway and went into limp mode, had to impede traffic to attempt to pull over safely. Potential known issue with Theta II engine, but dealership is declining a fix.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495623December 1, 2022
VISIBILITY:SUN/MOON ROOF ASSEMBLY
I have a 2016 Hyundai Sonata with a panoramic sunroof. The sunroof has a collapsible wind deflector that pop up when the sunroof is open. If the wind deflector becomes partially dismounted while the sunroof is open, it can interfere with the closing sunroof panel. The loose deflector can actually dislodge the sunroof panel from its track (imagine a crowbar prying a board loose for the general effect), at which point the force of the passing wind can lift it away from the assembly. Attempts to manually force the sunroof closed around the detached deflector element can cause similar problems. The wind defector was fixed twice by a Hyundai dealer and has separated a third time. Hyundai won’t fix the separated wind deflector because the warranty and repair warranty have expired. Even if fixed a third time the fix is unlikely to last making the situation unpredictable and dangerous for me and subsequent owners. Hyundai recall bulletin Date: December 08, 2016 Attn: Dealer Principal/General Manager/Service Manager/Parts Manager 16-01-067 The sunroof assembly incorporates a wind deflector to help reduce wind noise in the passenger compartment when the sunroof is open. If the wind deflector becomes partially detached from its mounting bracket while the sunroof is open, the deflector can interfere with the closing of the moveable sunroof panel. In some cases this interference can result in the sunroof panel detaching from its mounting tabs.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495275November 29, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
My vehicle is a hybrid and the Check Hybrid System light has lit up while I'm driving and you have to pull over and turn off your car when that happens. The car will slow down and come to a complete stop regardless. It's scary when you are driving on the freeway. I've had this happen to me several times and my car has been worked on four times now by the Hyundai service department in Amarillo and Lubbock TX. I purchased extended warranty and it's about to expire at 100,000 miles. I currently have around 82,000 miles on my car. I contacted the Hyundai corporate office and have a case number. I'm very disappointed the way the Hyundai corporate office and the service department has handled my situation. I even lost my job because I had no transportation for two months. I just paid off my car yesterday and I can't even drive my car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494395November 21, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving on the highway at speed, I received a red Check Hybrid System error, and immediately lost all acceleration, putting myself and all occupants at risk on a busy interstate highway, as we tried to find a safe way to quickly change lanes and coast to a stop in a safe location. The cause is under diagnosis by a Hyundai Service Center. This was a sudden failure and there had been no previous warning alerting us to substandard system condition.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494043November 17, 2022
EXTERIOR LIGHTING, SEAT BELTS
The first is the drivers side headlight not properly projecting light. The light projected a shadow across the center of the light preventing proper illumination in front of my vehicle. This is causing a safety issue. Brought car to dealer who confirmed that the left headlight was deformed preventing proper projection of the light. This deformity was not covered nor are there any recalls even though numerous people reported the same issue. Am working on privately replacing them both. The second was the return tensioner not properly retracting the seatbelt back in. This was not covered by the dealer but it’sa safety issue where the system may fail.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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