Model years Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
2021 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
Complaints about this year name randomly far more often than the model's other years — 23% of them, about 57× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 53 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 19 |
| Involving a crash | 1 |
| Recalls | 0 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 49.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- battery — 50.9% of this year's complaints, against 13.2% across the model's other years (3.8×).
- first — 18.9% of this year's complaints, against 5.9% across the model's other years (3.2×).
- inside — 18.9% of this year's complaints, against 7.2% across the model's other years (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: inside, diagnose, responded, 55r17.
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
- battery — 51% of complaints, 5× usual
- button — 21% of complaints, 52× usual
- coolant — 21% of complaints, 52× usual
What owners wrote
The Battery dies randomly and requires the physical key to unlock the door. It is a hybrid, so it has a 12 volt battery button that jumpstarts the car. While driving the vehicle, the battery meter on the dashboard will show a near-full battery and then a near-…
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.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
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 2021 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid? What happened to yours?
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