Model years Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
2013 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
Complaints about this year name stop far more often than the model's other years — 30% of them, about 11× the usual rate of 2.6%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 106 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 19 |
| Involving a crash | 8 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 37 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- stop — 30.2% of this year's complaints, against 9.7% across the model's other years (3.1×).
- brakes — 24.5% of this year's complaints, against 7.9% across the model's other years (3.1×).
- car stopped — 6.6% of this year's complaints, against 0.5% across the model's other years (12.5×). Owners wrote it as: car stopped, runs.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- manufacturer made — 18% of complaints, 45× usual
- brake — 19% of complaints, 20× usual
- made aware — 19% of complaints, 20× usual
What owners wrote
notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for…
while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to stop the vehicle, he heard an abnormal sound coming from the front of the vehicle. The service brake warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the hy…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V746000 ENGINE Fixed free of charge.
- 17V617000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V152000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 23V651000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2013 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid? What happened to yours?
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