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.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
6 / 5
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
53,140 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I have been having intermittent transmission problems for a while now. I"ve had the codes checked several times and by several people, and each one says that its a code for a faulty automatic transmission temperature sensor. It causes very hard and unpredictable shifting. We"ve had to stop driving it all together because of safety concerns due to the fact that the last time I drove it I had my 11 year old daughter in the car with me and the car would not shift into the proper gear while going through a busy intersection, and we were almost T-boned by a large SUV, the impact would have been on the passenger side where my daughter was and I have refused to drive or allow the car to be driven since. I have found a very large number of complaints for this same issue on several sites online, most of which I have come across on a Sonata forum. This is a known issue by the manufacturer. This is not something that is uncommon among these cars, but it is extremely dangerous, and the fact that there has not been a recall issued to correct it is, in my opinion, reckless and irresponsible. We put our lives, and the lives of our family and loved ones, in these cars because we trusted this company/manufacturer to keep us safe, and they have failed and continue to fail by not addressing this issue properly.
Our car had a recall, the recall was fixed in 2014, but it has since broken. During that time we have put only 30,000 miles on the car. The transmission cable snapped and they are charging us $1000 to fix something that they said they fixed. This is a part that shouldn't break for the whole life of the car. Our car had a recall, it was repaired by Hyundai, and they are refusing to repair the 'repaired' work. We called Hyundai corporate offices and got the run around. I feel, if this was a national issue, to where they had to recall 850,000 cars, they must have been a serious issue. They fixed our car 5 years ago and something that shouldn't break in the life of the car breaks. Please advise us what our next step is, . thank you for your time and consideration
- Miami, FL, USA
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Loud clunk noise will driving and car was stuck in 4th gear (limp mode) and check engine light turned on. Codes P0753, P2709 and P0758 revealed failure of 2 shift solenoids and line pressure solenoid due to transmission wire harness shortening out.
My car is at 77000 miles it scary driving it anymore it revs up at a very low speed won't shift and then it jumps so hard that it feels like your neck is going to break I took it to the dealer they did a transmission flush it got worse I took it back they did another transmission flush now it's terrible I took it to a transmission shop I now need a new transmission $4,500 for a rebuild this car is dangerous it's not only happening to me it's happening to a lot of other people I know that have the same vehicle I don't drive on the freeways this is just on city streets
I am a senior citizen who in 2015 purchased a pre-owned 2011 Hyundai Sonata. The vehicle has received 15 recalls in the time I've owned it most of which are life threatening safety issues, complete motor lock up, sudden loss of fuel and stalling.(brake stopper pad malfunction 3 times), seat belt anchor failure, complete safety air bag failure, exhaust system failure, high pressure fuel line leaks, my wife and I live on very limited social security monthly benefits and not in a position to afford a new car or repeatedly have to spend 100's of dollars every few months for repairs due to manufacture error / damage in construction of the vehicle. We have been nearly killed several times on the highway due to the fact that the motor either ceases to get fuel while traveling on the freeway or entering such on an onramp just as a semi truck and trailer approached at 70 mph and we had no fuel acceleration. On yet another near fatal situation the motor locked up completely in the middle of a busy four lane highway, which immediately resulted in a a fire under our hood.........all caused by the deficiency of the engine which was the subject of a recall and we were told had been addressed. The fire destroyed most all other components in the engine compartment and had to be replaced, some at our expense. Shortly thereafter, the entire transmission had to be replaced and we had to pay $3500 to repair......fyi, we live on $1700 per month social security and this caused us a very extreme financial difficulty for months thereafter. There is more to our disastrous experience as a Hyundai Sonata product owner and what we're wishing for is that Hyundai might buy back this vehicle at fair price so that we may find a safe vehicle to drive without fear of being stranded, injured in an accident or killed. Other Sonata owners have experienced many of these same issues.
In motion car surges and jerks forward randomly. There is a gas smell when driving and car begins to shake when engine is engaged. Backup camera will not engage at random times or car will not turn on with push to start system. Diagnoses engine and electrical issue but Hyundai won't include in their recall campaign.
As stated in service bulletin 14-at-010 there is a known issue with the transmission temperature sensor. This is covered on there the 2011 Hyundai Sonata's 5/60,000 warranty. This an an element of the transmission and should be covered under the 10/100,000 transmission warranty. Being that Hyundai releases this service bulletin, this sensors possible failure is a know fact and has been experienced by many others as my online research proved. Hyundai should cover this and not have their dealers charged over $700 to correct this known fault in the Hyundai vehicle.
Unfortunately, at 50,000 miles my car began having major issues. It has been less than a year, since I bought my used car, and it is having major mechanical issues. Every time I go from parking to drive, or drive to reverse, my car jumps. While on the highway it jumped in motion. After that incident I was afraid to drive my car again. My mechanic told me it was the transmission. A new transmission costs over $3,000 dollars! I am a student and do not have that money, nor will I have it anytime soon. The dealership that sold me the car, gettel Hyundai of charlotte county Florida, never advised me that Hyundai's have been know to have transmission failures. I invested money into a car that I cannot drive because it was faulty when sold to me.
When changing gears from park into reverse, the gear indicator symbol on the dash disappeared and the car stopped moving and appeared to slip into a neutral or a non-gear. After putting the car into park, shutting the car off, and restarting the car seemed to help however when putting the car into drive the car jumped forward.
When accelerating the car jerks and then runs smoothly on the highway, the car jerks everytime stopping at the stop light and moving from a stop light and also jerks when reversing. The engine light came on, so I took it to Hyundai dealership. After servicing the car and wynn fuel injection and throttle body services which already cost me more than $800, the took the car for road test and it was still jerking, they told me that the transmission bad and it needs to be replaced.
Takata recall, my vehicle was in motion when my airbag warning light came on 3 week ago while driving on city street and have not come off since then. I have also looked at the car history and have noticed 14 recalls on this vehicle including the airbags. While in motion, my doors unlock by themselves. Lastly, the transmission shift gear sometimes disappear from the dashboard as well as the shift gear which in most case the car wouldnt start or jerks when it disappear while in motion
The car slips out of gear with changing the shifter from park to reverse. The selector will be in reverse and as the car is moving it slips out and goes neutral
The contact owns a 2011 Hyundai Sonata. The contact heard an abnormal noise progressing from the steering wheel when it was turned in either direction. In addition, all four tires were prematurely worn to the point that they may need to be replaced. The vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign numbers: 14V434000 (power train), 15V568000 (engine), 15V759000 (service brakes, hydraulic), 17V152000 (seat belts), and 18V137000 (seat belts, air bags). The contact did not receive any recall notifications. The vehicle was taken to palm springs Hyundai (3919 E palm canyon dr, suite a, 1-(760) 202-8888) where it currently remained for over three weeks. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 23,800.
In random instances, while parking the vehicle, the car will shift to park and completely park. When the car is stationary and turned off, a beeping alerts begins and the dashboard screen will prompt 'shift to park'. the car will not completely turn off, leaving the battery running.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Schaumburg, IL, USA