CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2011 Sonata has a seriously defective engine that seizes without warning. It was awarded the dubious honor of being the first CarTalk / CarComplaints Turd of the Week in late September 2015.
A class action lawsuit was filed in May 2015 against Hyundai that claims the 2.4L Sonata engine is defective. More info here.
In May of 2017, the air conditioning started to fail. We live in Florida and it is already fairly hot. Hyundai dealer in Orange Park, FL told us we needed to replace the a/c compressor... for $1200. We paid them to install a new compressor.
A/C worked well until there was an unusual noise under the hood in early September 2019. Took it in. Paid $169 to dealer for diagnosis. They said it was the A/C compressor which needed replacing... even though they had installed a "new" one just 2 years prior. Dealership said they would contact Hyundai company to see if they would help fix problem. Despite calling her back repeatedly over several weeks, she never returned calls. When I finally reached her, she said there was nothing they could/would do.
Something smells about this. I am wondering if they put in a rebuilt or used or some kind of cheap knock-off when they "repaired" it 2 years ago. Have no way of knowing. I do not know if the dealership contacted Hyundai or not. For $1200, you would think the "repair" (or whatever they did) would last longer than 2 years. I drove a RAV4 for 15 years and never had an A/C problem.
Hyundai is a nice-looking vehicle. We like driving it. But they apparently don't stand up... at least our experience is that either their A/C compressors are bad or their dealer here is. Won't buy another.
After a long road trip driving from California to South Carolina, the air conditioner would blow how air towards the end of my trip. I would turn off the air conditioner completely, wait ten minutes, and turn it back on and it would blow cold, then get hot once again.
my a/c takes forever to get cold or when I stop at a red light it starts to get hot quick. mechanic said I need to evacuate and recharge it which will cost over 200 $
Engine died in early June, 2017, nothing worked, would not respond, coasted off road, VERY DANGEROUS!! engine replaced, car given back to us July 18th. While in the parking lot, service manage noticed A/C issue and made us wait 2 hours before quoting us $1500 to replace A/C compressor. He also had trouble starting the vehicle as did the technician that was diagnosing our car. Since that day, a week ago today, we lost ALL but one headlight, driver side high beam, our car still has the starting issue, air bag light stays on, and the turbo hisses a lot louder than it ever did. Manager said to bring it in tomorrow and leave it, did not offer a rental. A/C does work, but goes off, comes on, and blows hot randomly.
- George C.,
Westover, US
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
AC started to blow warm then back to cold for about two weeks until it completely failed. Also the AC and re-circulation lights stay illuminated and won't turn off.
This car is 6 yrs old and I've owned it for 4yrs in September. The AC should not go out on a 6yr old car. I had to get a new compressor, expansion valve and dryer. Thank goodness a family owned dealership gives my job teacher discounts or I would have paid more than the $1000 I did. This is the 3rd costly issue I've had with this car in 9 months
This was my second attempt at fixing the AC issue. I completely have NO AC in my car. I went to my normal car mechanic and he replaces my AC compressor along with some other items, all dealing with AC issues. However, we chose to replace the AC compressor with an aftermarket compressor. The AC only worked for three days. So this time around we took it to get a diagnostics at the dealership. I took it back to the dealership only to find out that my car had several recalls and that the aftermarket AC compressor was bad according to Hyundai dealership. I was also told that my car had no freon which was why the AC was not blowing out cold air. I also had to get my car recoded which was more money out my pocket. But even after replacing the freon it continues not blowing cold air. I never got my AC fixed, due to Hyundai having my car for several months addressing the recalls concerns. But I will make another attempt this summer on getting my AC fixed, I will go with the dealership which will cost me more money. I believe Hyundai might have another known issue with AC. I really hope someone is looking into this as this has cost my a lot of money. I was quoted at Hyundai $1400 to get my entire AC replace and fixed.
AC started to blow HOT air when the car was idle. As in traffic, a parking lot, a StarBucks drive through while wearing a white silk blouse with spray tan on my skin during hot day in JUNE. Beautiful recipe.
Took it into shop: No idea why it's blowing hot... we put some dye in it for you to drive around for a week then bring it back to us so we can see the leak.Me: Are you kidding me?? No. I am a realtor. I do not have time to drive around and sweating for a week so we can check dye results in 7 days. Please fix it. Y'all drive it around. I don't even know what happened with this because on my way to the shop my car DIED on me MID DRIVE. I ended up getting a new engine 101 days later and driving a rental during that time.
A/C just stopped cooling. Had freon added and it still did not cool.. I had the dryer, expansion valve and the accumulator (I think) changed and no change. System was vacuumed down...nothing. No leaks detected.
The AC was looked at while under warranty and the problem usually resolved itself. It was advised it was it working and no problems; however, it still happens about once ever couple of months.
Driving in the heat of summer was really awful, especially on my way to work. I work in a professional position and it is sad that I had to purchase a fan to plug into my cigarette lighter to keep myself cool. I was told that the compressor has to be replaced and I feel that it shouldn't be shot already. I was quoted an outrageous price to have this done and opt not too and hopefully there will be a recall for it soon. I had written to the Hyundai Headquarters and to this date have not received a reply to my problem. I can only pray that a recall comes up for this before next summer when I will be using my fan once again.
In 2012 I purchased a 2011 Hyundai Sonota. I was so happy with my new car. All my friends thought the car was beautiful. Now , ask me would I purchase another Hyundai, and I would tell you HELL NO!! Not only will I not purchase another Hyundai I would strongly advise anyone else against it. Beware used car buyers. Because I was the second owner I wasn't covered under the 100,000 mile warranty, but the car only had 20,000 miles when I purchased it. My car has been in shop several times since I've had it and now it's in the shop once again. The air compressor has gone out. I should have seen this coming and dumped while I could. Of course it's no longer under warranty. If it had happened last month I would have been ok, but instead I'm out of $1100. Maybe I wouldn't be so bitter if this had happened last month. Oh well, I'm buying American next time.
This problem started around may not even six months after we purchased the vehicle. The people from Johns Great Cars and Hyundai Consumer Affairs are refusing to take responsibility for the AC not working. Today I spent about two hours on the phone with that so called Hyundai Consumer Affairs. The first person I spoke with did not even know that she worked at Consumer Affairs.. the second person lied to me about two different places the car was worked on before I bought it. He said those places were not Hyundai related and I called those two places and they were Hyundai related. They do work on Hyundai vehicles.
Then I asked to speak with someone else who I thought might have known a little more about his job, but I was wrong this guy will not shut up. He just kept talking and talking I had to tell him I don't want to talk with him anymore because everything I told him he just kept asking the exact same questions over and over. Then I got to speak with someone else ....it has been one idiot after another unbelievable...
Hyundai is refusing to fix the AC and I told them it is there responsibility because we never used it and the last work that was done to the AC was at a Hyundai dealership ....this is not all I found out . There are things in the engine that are put in wrong when the Hyundai dealership did work on the engine in July 2014.
I am still working on them fixing my sons car and I am not giving up ....I am so sick and tired of those people who think its OK to constantly keep ripping others off.... I am not taking this lightly at all I have had enough of all this crap...I feel sorry for those people just like me with there complaints I read tonight ... I know if we all work together we can make a difference....
I live in Texas but it would get very hot out and then it would take forever to cool down. I asked my friend who owns a Sonata if having same problem, she said no. I took it in the dealer and they said something was wrong and they had to replace something on the compressor for the AC.
Have a great service department at dealership where car was purchased but unfortunately it doesn't happen consistently and they are "unable to reproduce the problem"....well it gets hot here in TN and when you have to stop the car and turn it off (sometimes more than once) to get the ac to kick on...it is a big deal.
The car is 3 years old and this happens about 3-4 times a summer. Also the a/c has a mildewed smell occasionally....and my friend has the same problem with hers.
This A/C has been a problem since June. Would crank the car and the AC would not work. Took 3 times, before I figured out the car had to be turned off and it would usually come back on then. They replaced the head unit first. Then the noise got really bad. The dealer rep kept telling me it was just the new compressor design.
3 days in the shop
Turned out to be a defective compressor. 5 days in the shop.
The original problem still occurs. All I have been told is Hyundai is aware of this problem and is working on it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
In May of 2017, the air conditioning started to fail. We live in Florida and it is already fairly hot. Hyundai dealer in Orange Park, FL told us we needed to replace the a/c compressor... for $1200. We paid them to install a new compressor.
A/C worked well until there was an unusual noise under the hood in early September 2019. Took it in. Paid $169 to dealer for diagnosis. They said it was the A/C compressor which needed replacing... even though they had installed a "new" one just 2 years prior. Dealership said they would contact Hyundai company to see if they would help fix problem. Despite calling her back repeatedly over several weeks, she never returned calls. When I finally reached her, she said there was nothing they could/would do.
Something smells about this. I am wondering if they put in a rebuilt or used or some kind of cheap knock-off when they "repaired" it 2 years ago. Have no way of knowing. I do not know if the dealership contacted Hyundai or not. For $1200, you would think the "repair" (or whatever they did) would last longer than 2 years. I drove a RAV4 for 15 years and never had an A/C problem.
Hyundai is a nice-looking vehicle. We like driving it. But they apparently don't stand up... at least our experience is that either their A/C compressors are bad or their dealer here is. Won't buy another.
- John H., Jacksonville, FL, US