Hyundai Sonata Complaints (2021)

190 consumer complaints on file.

#11575925March 7, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The Battery dies randomly (like I have to open the car with they physical key to access the car dead) there isn't a pattern. I have taken it to the dealership and they can't diagnose it because they cant replicate the issue and say nothing is wrong. Sometimes the car dies while I'm INSIDE and just having lunch while the car is off.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11575899March 6, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Integrated 12V battery dies with no warning and requires manual keyed process to get in to the vehicle. Once inside, the battery reset button needs to be pressed to have the solar battery start the vehicles electric system. After a few minutes the engine takes over to start charging the battery. I have had the battery die 3 times on the 2021 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid in one week. Other postings online indicate others owners are having issues with the battery also with one owner loosing power while operating the vehicle on the freeway. After safely coasting the vehicle to the shoulder, the reset battery button restarted the electrical system for the car. Possibly an issue with the 12V battery implementation with the solar battery?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11571605February 13, 2024
ENGINE
Initially had loss of cabin heat. Later, vehicle randomly overheated. Repair shop replaced EGR due to finding confidant buildup of water/coolant mix. Within one week, problem returned. Dealer notified me that while replacing another part they found a TSB for coolant leakage into exhaust that was consistent with my issue. After research, it is clear that this is a widespread failure and should be a recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11565750January 16, 2024
ENGINE
Hyundai 2021 Sonata Hybrid. Blown head gasket. Reported 1,000 miles after warranty expired. Car was in the shop for Hybrid battery issues. Repair completed. 2 weeks later smoke coming from the exhaust. Hyundai says blown head gasket - will not honor warranty as I was just a few thousand miles over warranty. Seems to be a common problem with the Hyundai not honoring the warranty.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11562721December 30, 2023
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Antifreeze is coming out of the exhaust. Heater is only blowing cold air. Repair shop said it is a common problem with the Hyundai hybrids. Was told I had to take it back to the dealership. The y repair shop said this is very common and is wondering why a recall has not been issued by the NTHSB. Dealership has been unresponsive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11560873December 19, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The vehicle has been turning completely off after use for over a year now. At first it would happen every now and then at the beginning and all you'd have to do was restart the car manually. Now every time the car is turned off it needs to be restarted manually now. The car will also shut itself off while you are driving. It will tell you something is wrong and then won't let you get over 15-20 MPH. If you are on a neighborhood, it's less dangerous for this to happen where you can pull over and turn off the car and restart it. But I have seen other post that they've started to malfunction on the freeway and highways before. My car is a 2021, but recently I've seen 2023 models are doing this as well. I know some people on the internet have gotten their car fixed by replacing a back logged battery. It took some people over a year to get it diagnosed correctly and 6 more months to get a new battery. I assume this is also what is wrong with my vehicle. It is in the shop right now, but we have not gotten an answer back even htough it's been there for 10 days. The car app has also indicated that the car has not been turned on since we left it there.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11560898December 19, 2023
ENGINE
My vehicle's heat stopped working suddenly. A short while later, I received and overheat warning for the engine. I had to stop repeatedly on the shoulder of the highway to allow the car to cool so I could move it to a safe space at the next exit. The dealer has confirmed that the coolant was leaking into the exhaust system and burning up. This resulted in white smoke, inconsistent power, and a stumbling engine when it would switch over from the electric to the gas engine. This problem comes on suddenly and can leave you in a very bad situation since there is no warning to this problem. The dealer reported my car had no coolant left in it which is why it was frequently overheating. I have read about this problem on many online forums and it seems to be very common in this car. Hyundai needs to create a fix.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11559246December 9, 2023
ENGINE
I was on the highway going 60 mph then all of a sudden my vehicles rpm's jumped way up to 8 and completely lost power was on I-45 in Conroe thankfully I was in the slow lane. I have attached pictures of my dash so I could get proof this time. I had to wait 7 minutes for the car to do anything. It also burned all of my engine oil. So had to buy oil for my vehicle. I just had my oil change 3 weeks ago. This has happened before on on the frontage road a few months ago. I have claims open with Hyundai Customer Care. I have been stating that my engine makes a clicking noise, it hesitates, and seizes all the time. I have had this problem since March of 2021 and I bought the car in January 2021. I know I am not a part of the engine recall but I should be. I am scared to drive it. Hyundai doesn't care one bit. Well enough is enough I will be getting rid of this death trap. If you are looking at Hyundai's don't waste your time or money.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11559210December 8, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
1. Vehicle Speed Control 2. I was in a friend's driveway with the car in drive with auto hold activated. Car lunged forward and not able to stop it. Ran into a garage door did substantial damage to home owners property. I guess we were lucky the door took the impact. 3. I took to dealer today to report and have appointment to have looked at on January 8th. They have no previous report of this happening. 4. I have contacted my insurance company, but they are just filing a claim. 5. I was talking to my guest and was not looking at the dashboard, but I saw no warning message after the fact.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11558373December 4, 2023
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
While driving, engine alerted that it was overheating. Pulled over and coolant was very low, so I refilled it and then while driving to my family's garage to use the lift, saw white exhaust smoke. Took it to an independent mechanic, and in the ~10 mile trip there, over a quart of coolant had been burned off. He was able to reproduce the issue. No issues with the engine operation, it runs well and efficient, no check engine light. Mechanic found that a coolant line runs to the middle of the exhaust system and that this seems to be the issue. Other owners seem to have reported this same issue with this same model and roughly the same year, in which the muffler assembly needs replaced due to coolant leaking into the exhaust. Only prior issue was less warm air out of the vents for the previous week or so, but no other issues or warnings.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11556589November 23, 2023
ENGINE
the coolant reservoir has been dropping showing levels below min even after topping it off
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11551474October 23, 2023
ENGINE
I have a 2021 Hyundai Sonata SEL with a Smartstream 2.5L engine w/ GDI & MPI. I have have always heard a loud knocking noise coming from my engine since I got the vehicle when in park. When you are accelerating it hesitates and you can hear a knocking noise. I have taken it to the dealership multiple times and they were able to feel and hear what I was talking about but ensured me it was fine. Recently it has been a lot worse. On 10/18/2023 I was getting on to the highway from the feeder. I tried to accelerate to about 50 mph and I heard the same knocking noise and my rpms jumped all the way to the top. Then my car suddenly stopped getting on to the highway. It took it about a minute before I could start driving again. Luckily there was no one behind me because it could've been really bad. I got home and looked under the hood and it looked like oil had sprayed out of the engine. You could to see oil splatter on the fender. No one was hurt thankfully. I have been complaining about the knocking and hesitation while accelerating for almost 2yrs.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11549899October 14, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
My 2021 Sonata Hybrid Limited has been in the shop for over 3 months. At least 4 times while driving on city streets, I'd receive an error stating problem with hybrid system please turn off vehicle. Car would go into limp mode giving me just enough power to pull off to the side of the road (if possible), then completely shutdown. Fix action is to hit jumpstart button to get the power back to the vehicle in order to power it on again. After those issues battery constantly died and I had to use the physical key to open the door and hit the jumpstart button to get power. Dealer (Hyundai Jim Click East, Tucson, AZ) couldn't find an issue initially stating they could not replicate what I was experiencing. But eventually my patience ran thin and they finally identified a voltage error while in the service department. The rep informed me that the issue lies with the 12v battery which is integrated into the hybrid battery (stupid design). Service tech had to order a 12v battery from Korea (after dismantling the hybrid battery and sending the pics to Hyundai for approval). This was [XXX]. Still waiting on the parts, no updates at this time. There was another sonata hybrid limited like mine also at the dealership for the same issue. This vehicle had been there since June. They were able to get a new battery for that vehicle, however after a week the same issues reoccurred. I've noticed on Reddit forums that many 2021-2022 sonata hybrid limited owners have been experiencing the same issue, with the same long wait times from Hyundai HQ regarding a solution. At this point I believe it'd be best to open an investigation as there it's been difficult for the dealership and the owners to get any answers from Hyundai regarding this issue. I'd also suggest a recall for this vehicle as it's clearly a widespread problem and hopefully that will give Hyundai the kick in the ass needed to actually take this seriously. 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
#11549715October 12, 2023
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Battery keeps dying randomly. Approximately once every other week and I drive 12k miles a year… dealership reassures me it’s find. Found numerous reports of other Sonota Hybrid users experiencing a similar issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11548049October 3, 2023
ENGINE
Discovered that I had no engine heat to use in the cabin with cooler outside temps. Checked coolant tank. Was nearly bone dry. 2021 hybrid is under warranty with only 35K miles on it and regular scheduled maintenance. Have also noticed puffs of white smoke upon easy acceleration and switching from battery to gas. Refilled engine coolant, but it continues to leak internally with use (no evidence of pooling under car) with short mile trips. Had to leave at dealership for repairs and cannot get a repair date for another month out. Other hybrid owners of 2020 and 2021 report their dealerships discovered the coolant is leaking into the engine and mixing with the exhaust (thus the white smoke). I am adding my car to the list of others who have reported the same problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11546386September 25, 2023
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power in the middle of the roadway and failed to restart. The vehicle was pushed to the shoulder of the roadway, where the failure persisted. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who determined that there was no oil in the engine, causing the engine to seize. The vehicle was then towed to another dealer, who confirmed the diagnostic results. The contact stated that an oil change was performed three days prior to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 44,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11546182September 23, 2023
POWER TRAIN
I took off from the house about 1 mile the car stop in the middle of the road with no warning, lights or anything. Thank God I didn’t get an accident we took the car to the dealer and the dealer telling us it’s not covered by warranty. This is 2021 Hyundai sonata lease with only 44,000 miles my wife is so scared to driving Hyundai anymore. We talk to the dealer they don’t give us loaner car still one week from now they are telling us to pay $13,000 for the repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11542222September 2, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The car slowly goes forward after releasing the break
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11538846August 16, 2023
POWER TRAIN
The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the oil warning light illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V746000 (Power Train); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 41,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11536792August 6, 2023
ENGINE
This car is a Hybrid The car has a 12V battery reset system which stops the 12V battery from draining to zero voltage. This is a design feature. However, since purchasing this car we have had Hybrid Engine Failure warnings happen 3 times, in 2 months. When this happens the car engine shuts down, no matter at what speed you are driving! The car gives a warning on the dashboard that states - Hybrid System Failure - and the engine shuts down. The dashboard goes completely bland as all electronics are switched off. This has happened 3 times, 2 of them occurred on the freeway at high speed. Luckily we were able to pull over without being impacted by another vehicle. After a few seconds of stopping we are able to push the 12V Battery reset switch and the engine restarts when the start button is depressed. After the first incident the car was given to the local Hyundai dealer and they found nothing wrong with the car. It has happened twice since the car was returned to us and the car is currently in the Hyundai dealership, a different one, for diagnosis. We do not want to drive this car until the fault is determined and corrected
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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