About Hyundai Sonata
The Hyundai Sonata is a mid-size car that debuted in 1985. Read more Hyundai reviews to learn about other models.
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Hyundai Sonata Reviews
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I urge ANY and EVERYONE who reads this review to STAY AWAY from Hyundai! My wife purchased her car in 2016. The car she purchased was a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The ran marvelous throughout the years she has had UNTIL about 3 weeks ago. My wife sent me a picture of her check engine light all of a sudden turning on and her oil light blinked and went away. My initial thought was that her car was low on oil, so I put oil in her car and everything ran fine. When my wife gets off from work, she proceeds to drive her car and all of a sudden her car stalls and turns off, IN THE MIDDLE OF HER DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE!!
She manages to get her car off the interstate and onto the shoulder. She calls emergency services and they send someone out to assist us with getting the car off the interstate. Once we get the car to a safe location, the emergency services guy and myself began to inspect the vehicle to see if it could be the battery. We replace the battery and think that is the fix, well it wasn't. We get the car to start and the car is able to run but turns off again, it did the same thing it did when she was driving on the interstate. The car won't hold a charge and it sounds like something is knocking in the engine. Ultimately we ended up getting the car towed to our house.
The next day comes and I call Hyundai's corporate hotline to see if were are any recalls for her car and they said no. Come to find out the campaign closed and no one from Hyundai got in touch with us. We are a military family so we do move after every couple years but my wife's number has stayed the same and when we move, we make sure to get our mail forwarded. Anyways, the agent on the phone tells us that there may be a recall and to take the vehicle to a Hyundai dealer.
We take the car to a local mechanic shop and he tells us that the engine is falling apart from the inside out. We find a Hyundai dealer and take the car there. Come to find out, there is a recall for her engine. The service member gets the info for the car and does a write up to get the request sent up to Hyundai's recall decision center. While the service agent is doing the write up, he tells us that she is not the only person having this issue. He shows us a half of phone book thick of other people who are having recalls for the same issue.
Fast forward a couple days, we get the vehicle towed to Hyundai, the write up is done and Hyundai DENIED to get the recall fixed. Their reasoning is "engine neglect" and that a piece of the engine is not covered under the recall. We ask, how is it "engine neglect" when we take the car to get regular oil changes and maintenance done on the car. We have receipts of oil changes and repairs that were performed on the vehicle. We call up to Hyundai to get a case a number and to talk with the case manager who denied the claim; the misses who wrote gave us our case number was very helpful and understanding. She tells us we have to 3 to 5 business days for the case manager to get in touch with us.
Fast forward to the 5th day of waiting and we get a call from the case manager. We ask him why was the recall denied when we have taken car of the vehicle since we have had it in 2016, and he begins to tell us that since we did not take the vehicle to a certified Hyundai dealer and don't have records of the oil changes and maintenance, that was the ultimate deciding factor. There are plenty of ASE certified mechanics and shops that know how to work Hyundais and other brands of cars. Everything that was described in the recall for the Hyundai engines happened to my wife's car. Ultimately, I would suggest to not buy a Hyundai. Hyundai will NEVER get our business again and I will be sure to let EVERYONE I know to not buy a Hyundai.
I don't have any negative feedback on the Reliable Hyundai. However, my feedback is about Hyundai itself. I have a Sonata 2013 with 130K mileage. Recently, its engine started making noises and burning oil. When I took it to the Hyundai, they said this car has an extended warranty due to having this type of issue, and its engine needs to be replaced. But, before doing that, they need to run some test and send it to the corporation for approval.
After about three weeks, they told me that Hyundai hadn't approved because my car passed one of the tests, and they could not replace the engine unless I paid 9k for replacement. I have been in a financial crisis for the last few months, and this incident happened to my car. If this model has had tons of recalls due to the engine problem, mine should not be excluded, even though it passed one of the tests. I was asking myself why I bought a car from a car manufacturing company that does not have supportive and responsive customer service. Besides, I had to pay over a thousand dollars to rent a car while they had my car, and in the end, they charged me 350 dollars for the diagnosis. If you ask me, I would never recommend buying a car from Hyundai.
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My engine has failed, and my steering wheel column has locked. I had the software update on my engine with Napleton that qualified me for a lifetime engine replacement. I submitted maintenance records for my car and pictures of my valvetrain that are well maintained, and Hyundai denied my engine claim for exceptional maintenance neglect on Dec 8. On December 14th, after reviewing my oil changes, they still denied me for using low quality oil that's obscured. The problem I am having with my car is oil not being able to get to the pistons inside my engine. It's not fair to customers when the company know their engines have a manufacture defect.
Then they blame the customers for lack of maintenance to have an excuse not to replacing the engine. Knowing that with or without oil changes in the Hyundai sonata 2011 -2012 models the engines will eventually seize anyway. I've reached out to their company over 300 times trying to resolve this matter and I'm still in the same place I started at a month ago. I want to sue for pain and suffering. I've been without a car since Nov 9, and it's Dec 20. Hyundai has put me and my family life in danger on numerous occasions, with their faulty and defective parts causing two near-death experiences. Hyundai Sonata has had a recall on every part, and I consider them unsafe and dangerous.
I bought my 2021 Sonata Limited off the lot in April. It was a decent car until it hit about the 1 year mark. I then started having problems with my car where it would shake and lost all power. It was towed to the nearest dealership. Even though the check engine light had come on and told them the problem b/c the car wasn't do it anymore they made me come get it. Less than 24hrs later it did it again and I had to have it towed for the 2nd time. They had it for over a week and didn't do anything to fix it. Gave it back, was driving on the freeway at 85 and lost all power again. Towed again to different dealership-they had it for over a week and said it was fixed. Drove it home and less than a week doing the same thing. Towed to another dealership-They had it for 2 weeks and finally "fixed" it. The car doesn't have the power it used to have and doesn't run right.
About a month ago my check engine light came on again, took it in and was the Catalytic converter-They tried to fix it, stripped bolts and had to take the turbo off and send it to an outside machine shop. They had my car for 3 weeks. Runs sluggish, no get up and go anymore and Hyundai won't do anything for me. Worst part is I have a Palisade and that car is starting to fall apart at just 40k. Stay away. they are terrible
After a few weeks and a back and forth exchange with the help of The Better Business Bureau, Hyundai Consumer Affairs reached out to me with an offer letter for the remaining balance of the rental car reimbursement. I accepted and now have what I was asking for. Needless to say, it was a lot of hassle and after all said and done I do not feel like a valued customer and will not be doing business with Hyundai for my future vehicles. That said, I do appreciate that they finally did the right thing so I am bumping their rating up by 1 star.
I purchased a 2017 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid in 2017 with a 10 year/100K mile warranty. November of 2021 my Sonata randomly shut off as I was taking the family to dinner. It would restart and briefly run before shutting off again. I called roadside assistance and had my vehicle towed to the dealership (Johnson Hyundai of Cary) where I purchased it. This is the beginning of my nightmare. For 6 months my car was in the shop!! It was towed November 15, 2021 before finally being = repaired and returned to me May 16, 2022.
During this time period I was informed that the dealership could not provide me a loaner car because all their loaner cars were loaned out (which should maybe tell you something about the quality of vehicles they build). That said, the dealership told me to rent a car and that Hyundai of America would reimburse me the cost of the rental. I insisted on getting details on the reimbursement process and stipulations. Furthermore, I wanted the details in writing. I was unable to get that. After speaking with several people at the dealership and two different case managers at Hyundai Consumer Affairs I was given only a vague reassurance that so long as my rental was less than $60 a day then Hyundai "should" reimburse me. It wasn't the concrete information that I wanted but I also needed to get to work somehow and I was tired of playing phone tag.
During the time my car was in the shop being repaired (under warranty) I racked up $4,737.64 in rental fees. On May 16, 2022 I submitted my reimbursement claim. Jump to today (09/19/2022)- I get a call saying my reimbursement has been approved and they will cut me a check on the 23rd (meaning I still have not received anything). They also tell me that the check will only be for $3,616.65 (a difference of $1,120.99) because they were not going to pay for the Damage Waiver or satellite radio I added to the rental cars even though with those additions the cost per day was under $60.
This is theft in my opinion. I attempted multiple times to get this exact kind of information out of them before I began renting cars to no avail. Yes, I could have gone without the Damage Waiver but I wanted to cover myself should anything happen to the rental. Yes, I could have gone without satellite radio (and would have if I'd known the rules of the game up front) but I wanted the rental to be near as comfortable to the car I owned that needed repairs through no fault of my own.
As far as I am concerned, with the warranty they were providing (that was a large selling point for me) I should have to pay nothing due to their faulty engineering. I was less than thrilled to be driving non hybrid rentals and paying more in gas every day. I was less than thrilled with the amount of time and energy that it took to check on the status of my vehicle and get answers about a loaner/rental. Which, by the way, has a very real cost to me as in the form of taking time away from work.
I am less than thrilled about carrying a balance on my credit card for the rentals as they would not reimburse me for the rentals until the repairs to my car were complete. And I am less than thrilled that it has taken from May 16 till now to finally hear that a check is going to be cut to me in short order. Because if it were the other way around and I took 6 months to pay them the nearly $5K I owed, they would send me to collections. Furthermore, the check being cut for $1,120.99 shy of what they rightly owe me in accordance with the vague parameters they provided me around my reimbursement claim is not only unacceptable but criminal. My recommendation is to not buy from this company.
I bought a Hyundai Sonata sport 2.0T. After it reached 110.000, the engine had a problem with OIL CONSUMPTION; I purchased an Extended Warranty with a PROTECTION PORTFOLIO (Never buy this insurance, but it does cover nothing in the end), and they said that it was a manufacturing problem from Hyundai. Still, Hyundai washes their hands and declines, saying it is out of warranty. At this point, no one responded. I have to buy a new engine that is over $9.000. I would never recommend this brand, mainly because after 100.000 miles, you will need a new ENGINE, and no one will respond; at that time, the coverage will end, and even if you buy an extended warranty, it will not cover.
Purchased a 2017 Hyundai 2/20. Several months ago there was a hailstorm. Afterward numerous large chips of paint were missing. Found out it was a manufacturing defect in paint. Hyundai only wanted to pay 80% of 2 panels. There were 3 panels with large paint chips and I noticed many small ones starting to form. When calling Hyundai they told me I would have to give up that "good will" offering and resubmit with the 3 panels and chances are I would get nothing! I also had to have the paint job done at that dealer. My cost to do 2 panels was almost $400. My cost for the 3rd panel around $900 to $1,000. Plus when the other panels start chipping another $900 to $1,000 per panel! That is outrageous for a 2017 vehicle. Sold the car and will not purchase another vehicle from Hyundai or its subsidiaries.
Motor went out and was under warranty. It's been in the shop for over a year. Finally Hyundai decided after two failed motors that they would buy our car back. The offer came in and they would buy our car back once we paid them $1,000. Now that's not. They would buy our car. Once we paid him $1,000 we had to pay them $1,000 and they would take our car back. This was a recall on a motor. We own the car and they wanted us to pay them to buy it back. Absolutely ridiculous. Will never ever buy another Hyundai as we still fight to get our car back just as it was when we took it in one year ago. Still sitting in the service shop. Waiting for a motor.
2013 Knock Sensor and Engine recall. Engine light started flashing. Low acceleration. 97000 miles, warranty extended, Hyundai backed up 1 month to get appt. Tear Engine down. If bad replace. ETA MONTHS.
I'll start by saying I have been a loyal customer of Hyundai for many years. This is my second Hyundai vehicle and I was quite happy with it until last year, when the paint on my vehicle started peeling unexpectedly. After some research, I learned that it's a known issue which would typically result in a recall (but did not). The dealership I work through filed a claim with Hyundai on my behalf which was denied. Paint continued peeling in the same spot as well as in new areas. At this rate, my car will look like a military vehicle thanks to the camouflage effect of the peeling paint, which continues spreading and popping up all over the car.
When I tried appealing with Hyundai, I was told that once the original claim is denied, there is nothing else Hyundai can do for me. I am pretty much out of luck and need to pay out of pocket to repaint the entire vehicle. In my opinion, this is a very poor customer approach. If I contributed to the issue in any way or if it was just a small area that was affected, I would have considered handling it on my own. However, since the issue is caused by Hyundai's known problem with poor quality of paint/paint job, expecting a customer to cover the cost to fix it is unreasonable.
I can understand that warranty cannot last forever for things like engines, for example, but peeling paint is not a normal "wear and tear" process (if it was good quality to begin with). Again, the issue is known and widespread. I am not sure who from Hyundai may read this review, but I do hope that it will prompt Hyundai to revisit their decision. Otherwise, this is the last time I will ever buy or recommend Hyundai to anyone because in my eyes, I've been sold a lemon, a bad product the company knows is bad and won't take ownership of the problem. It's just poor business.
Hyundai Sonata Company Information
- Company Name:
- Hyundai Sonata
- Website:
- www.hyundaiusa.com
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