Model years Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
Complaints about this year name speed far more often than the model's other years — 19% of them, about 7× the usual rate of 2.6%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 131 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 19 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 40.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- sunroof — 11.5% of this year's complaints, against 2.2% across the model's other years (5.2×). Owners wrote it as: sunroof, panoramic, panoramic sunroof, driving down.
- long — 9.9% of this year's complaints, against 3.2% across the model's other years (3.1×). Owners wrote it as: long, operating, block, bearings.
- hev — 9.9% of this year's complaints, against 3.3% across the model's other years (3×). Owners wrote it as: hev, flashing, dealership said.
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 — 11% of complaints, 27× usual
- knocking — 11% of complaints, 27× usual
- noise — 13% of complaints, 14× usual
What owners wrote
THERE IS NOISE POOOOK SOUND WHEN I PRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL. IT COME FROM THE BREAKING SYSTEM. MY CAR HAS ONLY 13467 MILES ON IT.THIS SOUND COMES ONCE WHEN I PRESS BRAKE PEDAL. I HEAR THE NOISE WHEN THE VEHICLE IS BETWEEN 10- 40 MILE PER HOUR SPEED. TOOK IT TO SA…
while his wife was driving at a slow speed out of the driveway, she heard a knocking sound coming from under the hood. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be repla…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V749000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 21V619000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
- 20V746000 ENGINE Fixed free of charge.
- 16V726000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 16V232000 AIR BAGS 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 2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid? What happened to yours?
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