2021 Hyundai Sonata
This year drew an ordinary 129 complaints for a Hyundai Sonata — the model's median is 425. What they were about is the unusual part: 9.3% of them mention safety risk, against 3.5% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 4 of the Hyundai Sonata, which began in 2020. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 129 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 425 |
| Involving a crash | 7 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 30.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- safety risk — 9.3% of this year's complaints, against 3.5% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: safety risk, repair shop, system malfunction, because vehicle.
- goes — 8.5% of this year's complaints, against 3.3% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: goes, signal, expires, warranty expires.
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.
What owners wrote
Engine makes rattling and knocking noises. Transmission hesitates and jerks Suspension front struts and rear shocks are bad. Possible the isolators. Having horrible back pain when riding in car. Starter intermittently doesn't work Lane keep assistance goes ove…
So for the past year and half my cars left turn signal has been working intermittently. It just stops working and then it starts again. I have taken it to the dealer many times they changed out signal assembly i have taken many videos show proof. I am told at…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V524000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 21V00M000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 22V746000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 25V796000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Hyundai Sonata 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? What happened to yours?
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