Hyundai Sonata Complaints (2020)

198 consumer complaints on file.

#11561382December 21, 2023
ENGINE
In May of 2023 my check engine light came on. Took the car to the dealer and the diagnosis was that the egr cooler was the culprit so they replaced it and everything was fine until 12/21/2023. I am driving on the highway and suddenly I hear a loud alarm and upon checking my instrument cluster I see a warning for engine overheating, the heat was on but suddenly the smell of something burning covered the entire cabin of the vehicle. I had to pull over to the side in the middle of a busy highway in freezing conditions and shut my engine down to avoid further damage. I believe the egr cooler has failed once again inly this time leading to a more terrifying experience. My car was towed to the dealership but I am worried for myself and others with similar vehicles I would not like anyone to experience what I did. I have seen multiple online forums with people complaining about the same situation. Mileage was around 57,900 miles when this occured. I bought the car with 30,000 miles as a certified preowned model. I kindly request for a recall for affected sonatas manufactured from the year 2020 to ensure our safety on the road. If it was not for warranty I would not be able to pay for the repairs
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11555368November 15, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My car's battery dies 2 or 3 times every week. I have to enter into the the car with the manual key that is inside the key fob then hit the 12v rest button to start my car. I have been to two Hyundai dealerships and they both tell me nothing is wrong. I just picked it up a week a go and it has died twice since I picked up. I see many complaints on reddit about the same issue, even some with car dying while driving. This is a serious that Hyundai needs to figure out.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11552328October 27, 2023
AIR BAGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
I was driving Home from work and I fell a sleep behind the wheel and Hit a park car. The police report states that my impact speed was 50mph. My insurance company is very concerned that my Air Bags or sensors are defective and that I contact you immediately. Due to the damage and impact of the accident.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11549646October 12, 2023
ENGINE
Starting in July 2023, my car has exhibited a recurring problem that seriously hampers its functionality and reliability. Specifically, the car intermittently fails to respond to unlock commands from both the key fobs and the Hyundai cellphone app. Initially, this issue occurred infrequently, happening about once a month. However, the situation has escalated, and in October 2023, it happened three times within a span of two weeks. I promptly brought my car to my local Hyundai dealership, hoping to find a solution to this perplexing issue. On the first visit, the dealership stated that they were unable to duplicate the issue, which left me deeply frustrated but willing to continue troubleshooting. The dealership suggested that I either leave my car with them overnight or bring it in again for further diagnosis. Due to my reliance on the vehicle for daily transportation, I opted for the latter, bringing my car to the dealership on two additional occasions. Regrettably, on each visit, the dealership was still unable to replicate the issue, leaving me with a vehicle that continues to malfunction. My frustration reached its peak during my last conversation with a Hyundai HQ customer care representative. I expressed my concern and requested that Hyundai cover the cost of a rental car while my vehicle was being examined more thoroughly. However, the representative refused to accommodate this request unless the issue was identified as warrant-able. This response left me feeling unsupported and unheard. I would like to emphasize that I have diligently documented the recurring issues with my Hyundai car, even providing video recordings of the last three incidents to demonstrate the problem's severity and consistency. Despite my efforts, Hyundai has chosen to close the case with no resolution, citing my refusal to bear the cost of a rental car as the reason.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11549170October 10, 2023
ENGINE
I went to work at 5 in the morning, I turned the heater for the first time after last winter. I noticed that the heater was struggling to warm the cabin. After 10 minutes driven I got an overheating alert on the dashboard. I pulled over on the freeway shoulder and it started to notice a lot of steam coming from the exhaust and a really strong coolant smell. I waited for the engine to cool down and went back home, I drove for 6 minutes and notice a huge amount of smoke coming from the exhaust I pulled over agin on the freeway and waited 20 minutes i finally arrived home and notice the coolant reservoir was empty since the car was burning all the coolant through the exhaust. I went online and saw many many people with Hybrid sonatas complaining about the same issue. This should be a massive recall many of the customers complaining had 20 to 50 thousand miles on their vehicle. This is definitely a safety issue. I’m glad my wife wasn’t driving that day cause the freeway only has two lanes and the shoulder is extremely narrow. Please do something about it, I already called the dealership to make an appointment since my car is still under the extended warranty. If you need more information feel free to contact me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11547004September 27, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VISIBILITY/WIPER
Defrost doesn’t work because harness melted and blew a fuse
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11545736September 20, 2023
SEATS
While exiting the vehicle there was a loud pop from under the drivers seat. Upon inspection the left front weld attaching the drivers seat to the positioning bar to raise and lower the seat bottom had failed and separated completely. This causes the front seat bottom to sit at an angle and not fully attached to the structure of the car, causing a severe safety issue in the event of an accident as the driver is not properly aligned for the airbag, the seat belt no longer aligns correctly on the body, and there is a greater risk of full seat detachment in a collision or while simply driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11545443September 19, 2023
VISIBILITY/WIPER, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Sunroof shattered/exploded for no known reason while driving. Resulted in glass falling towards cabin of vehicle as well as loud bang.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11541066August 27, 2023
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
malfunction cause unanticipated acceleration in sport driving mode.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11537122August 8, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have a 2020 Hyundai Sonata limited, recently at 68,089 miles on the odometer my wife was driving and got an engine overheat light and noticed thick white smoke puffing out the exhaust pipe. I told her to pull over when she called me and have it towed to the dealer. Soon after I went to the dealer to look at it because they were saying it would be weeks before they could look at it, and I noticed the coolant reservoir was empty. So, I filled up the reservoir and took it home. Over the next few weeks of driving I noticed the same puffs of white smoke coming out the exhaust every so often and the coolant reservoir draining in a couple days, even though there never was any visible leakage under the car when it was parked. So after a couple weeks of having to top off the coolant every other day I took it back to the dealer and told them what was happening. They were not sure what to do, after a week of troubleshooting they ended up replacing the whole muffler assembly under warranty to fix the issue. So far that seems to have worked. I'm reporting this, because I want NHTSA to investigate these models Hyundai Sonata hybrids 2020-2023 and get Hyundai to engineer a recall solution to this issue, because there seems like hundreds of stories on the internet of people having the exact same issue with these car models. I'm not sure replacing the muffler is a long term solution, unless the replacement mufflers were redesigned. If they are replacing them with simply a new muffler, with the same design flaws as the original I think it will likely fail again just like the original. My car is now at 70,800 miles and the issue seems to be fixed, but I have read many stories on the internet of people having 2 or 3 muffler assemblies replaced on these vehicles and the issue continues to reoccur.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11535290July 30, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Tonight on 7/29/2023 after driving between 5-10 miles at night with very light traffic, my dashboard flashed a message telling me "Forward Safety system disabled. Radar blocked." After receiving this message and it clearing from the digital instrument cluster, a small triangle appeared with a exclamation mark. After driving between 1 to 5 miles further down the interstate the triangle cleared from the screen. There is no damage to the grill, or sensor, and no indication of mechanical issues as I was driving down the road. The grill and sensor both also have little to no dirt as I routinely wash my car each weekI have read through multiple other comments like me stating nothing whatsoever is on the front grill that could be obstructing the sensor. And like the other complaints, if there is no warning light, there is no code stored!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11532836July 17, 2023
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
Engine leaks oil. I went to the dealer and they blamed the other Hyundai dealer saying they stripped out the drain bolt. After all the back and forth they told me they will replace the drain pan. I scheduled to have the car dropped off and wasn’t given a loaner. When I went to pick up the car they told me the ac bolt and bracket are broken and to come on Monday but the drain pan has been replaced. I went home and the car continued to leak oil and when I went back to the dealer and called them out they came up with every excuse in the books. Bolt is stripped, impact to pan, and so on. Long story short I went to fix the oil pan and they damaged the ac bolt so instead of telling me to come back to do everything they said they did the drain pan but the bolt would have to be done another day. I am waiting on a loaner car as I waisted a whole day without a car and the issue wasn’t fixed. I have a receipt showing the work was done but it never was. The dealer is dishonest and unprofessional. Not sure how they get away with this. They need to be held accountable.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11527764June 19, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Hyundai updated the software for the display and made the font smaller which makes it difficult to read and a safety issue especially when driving at night. I contacted Hyundai and they say that if it is not in the owners manual there is nothing they can do. I have tried to explain to them it is a software issue that came about when their software engineers updated the software and it makes this a safety issue and they have no way to revert back to previous versions.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11522690May 18, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY
Exterior paint is peeling and stripping. Hood, doors, front and rear bumper, side skirts, and front lip.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11517693April 18, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Paint on hood of car is peeling off, down to bare metal
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11517035April 14, 2023
ENGINE
I noticed a strange smell almost like burning maple syrup in the garage for months. I thought it was just a different smell from Hybrid cars as I didn't have this used car very long. While driving at times the acceleration would stutter, again I thought this was just expected having never driven a hybrid car. Then on a trip a couple hours out of town someone stopped me on the road to tell me I was burning antifreeze and he could see white smoke coming from the car. I pulled over and didn't notice anything and continued driving but the heater wasn't working, it was blowing cool air despite the heat being on. I pulled into an auto parts store and got antifreeze in case. And then the overheating alert came on. I waited and filled it up and made an appointment at the dealer. They diagnosed it as a a blown gasket and a bad catalytic convertor and replaced all of that. After bringing it home I continued to lose coolant even with a two mile ride, I went from Max fill to half way between max and min. Clearly the problem wasn't the gasket or the catalytic convertor. Others have shared similar experiences online and had to have many parts replaced. The coolant tank, the EGR cooler (?), etc. I don't know what the problem is but something is wrong with these cars.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11512791March 20, 2023
ENGINE
I have had the same issue 3 separate times related to the coolant system. The first time happened January 2021. I was driving on the highway and I noticed that when the car switched from electric to fuel a large plume of white smoke came out of the exhaust and then the engine overheating message started. I checked the coolant tank and it was completely empty. I managed to get some coolant in the car and get to my destination. I checked the coolant tank again and all the coolant that had been put in was gone. I immediately had the car towed to the dealer. They found the issue was a leak near the muffler and eventually replaced that and other gaskets. In May 2022, I noticed again that when I switched from battery to fuel on acceleration that there was a plume of smoke coming out of the exhaust and my coolant was very low. Brought to the dealer and they confirmed again there was a leak but this time with the EGR cooler and associated parts. In December 2022, I had just gotten an oil change from the dealer and they gave me a clean check up. The next evening I was on the highway again and I received the engine overheating message. I was able to get to the dealer the next morning after refilling the coolant twice. I provided them with the previous paperwork from the other two fixes. They confirmed again that the leak was happening with the muffler so they replaced more parts. In all I have for over 3 months fixing the same issue. I posted on Reddit to see if others have had the same issue and slowly more and more people with the same model year or the year after are reporting the same problems as seen https://www.reddit.com/r/Hyundai/comments/uhx7lf/coolant_leak_through_exhaust_on_2020_sonata_hybrid/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Every time it's happened it's been covered under warranty but my concern is that it happens outside of the warranty and I will be on the hook for an expensive repair or forced to a new vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11500951January 9, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
While driving my cars a light starting blinking and my engine light came on and the car lost power This has happened on at least 3 occasions and I had to pull over upon starting the car after a few hours all returned to normal I reported this to dealer and they could not find a problem
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11497838December 17, 2022
EXTERIOR LIGHTING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I took my vehicle into the dealership when it was under 12,000 miles for another issue and mentioned a problem with the headlight on the right fogging up with moisture. I was immediately told that this had to be seen with their eyes because light cost more than $1,000. It has continued for over 1 1/2 years. Early this month, I took a picture at night and in the morning. The service manager wanted to add another hoop; can you get a picture of the water in it? The water is droplets on the light, decreasing visibility on the road. Pictures are attached. There is one picture that shows the left headlight with no issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11490241October 20, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My car is a Hyundai sonata hybrid (non plug in) 2020. the issue I have is that when the car transitions from electric motor to the gas engine there can be a small delay resulting in the car not picking up and causing me to almost get hit in different scenarios. (I have not had this checked with a mechanic, Also there was no warning signs from the car indicating that there was a issue)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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