Model years Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
Complaints about this year name brake far more often than the model's other years — 20% of them, about 21× the usual rate of 0.9%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 95 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 19 |
| Involving a crash | 6 |
| Involving a fire | 5 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 36 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- steering wheel — 27.4% of this year's complaints, against 9.6% across the model's other years (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: steering wheel, coming steering, bumps, stated upon.
- engine failure — 13.7% of this year's complaints, against 3.9% across the model's other years (3.5×). Owners wrote it as: engine failure, block, mechanic said, said engine.
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
- pulled over — 13% of complaints, 32× usual
- steering — 19% of complaints, 7× usual
- started — 19% of complaints, 5× usual
What owners wrote
VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION ON I-75. BEGAN TO MAKE A LOUD NOISE. AND STARTED TO STALL. I PULLED OVER TRIED TO GO AGAIN. CAR WOULDN'T GO OVER 30MILES PULLED OVER AND CALLED A TOW TRUCK. DEALERSHIP STATED THE ENGINE WENT OUT.
WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH, HE ATTEMPTED TO BRAKE AND ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE VEHICLE STALLED AND COULD BE RESTARTED. THE FAILURE RECURRED ON FIFTY OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS D…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V746000 ENGINE Fixed free of charge.
- 20V393000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 17V617000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 18V137000 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 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid? What happened to yours?
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