Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

Hyundai Sonata Hybrid

What it says about you

Opinion

A large saloon nobody notices, with fuel economy that beats things half its size.

Not measured, not from the data, and offered in fun. Everything below this is not.

17 model years on record, 741 complaints filed.

The years to look at closely: 2021 (randomly), 2017 (hev), 2016 (speed), 2015 (who), 2013 (stop), 2012 (mechanic), 2011 (brake). Everything else drew a normal number of complaints for this model.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • brakes 2013, 2015 peak 24.5% of that year's complaints
  • engine failure 2011, 2016 peak 13.7% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2027 nothing on record 0 complaints
  2. 2026 1 recall 1 complaints
  3. 2025 0 recalls 11 complaints
  4. 2024 nothing on record 0 complaints
  5. 2023 nothing on record 0 complaints
  6. 2022 0 recalls 19 complaints
  7. 2021 randomly 53 complaints
  8. 2020 1 recall 0 complaints
  9. 2019 0 recalls 4 complaints
  10. 2018 1 recall 9 complaints
  11. 2017 hev 79 complaints
  12. 2016 speed 131 complaints
  13. 2015 who 51 complaints
  14. 2014 3 recalls 28 complaints
  15. 2013 stop 106 complaints
  16. 2012 mechanic 154 complaints
  17. 2011 brake 95 complaints

What does a Hyundai Sonata Hybrid say about you?

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Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.