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:
1 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
52,826 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.
My driver side coil spring broke while traveling at low speeds I heard a metal clank and then a piece of metal fell onto the road way, I've had my car in before to have this part replaced when the first recall came out in 2015. As I live in Wisconsin and I now see I am not the only one who is having this issue of this part failing again. I called the Hyundai customer care center and of course "my VIN isnt supposely one of the affected vehicles" please reissue a recall for this part.
Head lights go out when directional is touched, front end bottom out going over dips in roadway, steering has lots of play when turning wheel left and right
Hyundai Sonata 2011 when driving through bumps or a smooth service it feels as if the car is going to fall apart. Since I purchased the car it has a clunking and rattling sounds underneath and a few replacements has been done but it still feels as if its loose underneath. The car has gone through many recalls plus was out of service for about 3 months for engine replacement. The driver side of the car is not aligned as it should. The best part is while driving the entire inner cover of the wheel on the driver side fell off, and almost caused an accident while having my child in the car. Engine was recently replaced. While driving the car has no type of acellator pick up. When turning left it sounds like a cranking noise "cluck, cluck, cluck" its horrible. I have this car in and out of the shop plenty of times since I first purchased it but my theory is that I purchased a lemon car but apparently because the miles it don't qualify. Okay now what it qualifies for? manufacturing defects smh when I drive in the rain the windows do not defross as it should therefore I'm afraid to drive it during bad weather
Since, I have owned the car I have, noticed the steering wheel feeling loose. Over, the last several months I have experienced uncontrollable rattling and increased shaking. I took my car in to be looked at and 3 different shops told me my steering rack was about to go. After some research on my make and model, it is determined that some 2011 Sonatas made between certain dates had faulty steering racks from the start. The car is almost undriveable and Hyundai continues to ignore this problem when it should go into recall. There are over 1100 complaints to the same issue.
While driving at highway speeds on the us 101 northbound into san francisco my 2011 Sonata suddenly began veering out of its lane and was hard to steer or control. I was able to brake and steer just enough to get to the right highway shoulder without hitting anything as there were no cars immediately to my right. I was stuck on a dangerous part of the highway shoulder for an hour waiting to be towed, with the vehicle seeming dangerous to drive to a safer spot. While waiting for a tow on the highway shoulder I was able to look at the rear-left wheel which was inclined into the wheel-well at about 30 degrees on the top side. After getting towed off the highway the tow-truck driver was able to look under the car and noticed that the upper rear control arm of the back left wheel had broken. The back left wheel was loosely moveable using just our hands. This failure could have caused a much more serious accident! I am waiting to get a full inspection report from a mechanic.
The contact owns a 2011 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and making a right turn a clicking and popping noise was present coming from the front suspension system. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer taylor Hyundai (3233 Washington rd, augusta ga) who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.
I took my car to the Hyundai dealership in turnersville NJ they claimed they but a "new" engine as a replacement of my recall because the engine was making a knocking sound so they kept my car for 3 months then they called me on memorial weekend to pick up my car two days after I picked up my car the engine light went back on so I took the car back then service department wanted to charge me to fix it which I refused too. Now last month I get another recall for my Hyundai 2011 Sonata what it's going on my engine light still goes on and to be honest I'm so disappointed with this car that I don't even drive even though I'm making payments on it still. I hate my car and Hyundai cars
The drivers side rear light bulbs keep on going out. Have changed them about ten times in one year! I cannot change them anymore as the plastic casing has morphed by the heat of the fuse connector to the bulb! there are two bulbs rolling in the casing as they came off when trying to extract and replace. Also I have never had any lights illuminate on my dashboard, even when my engine was knocking due to shavings in engine (that was replaced, thank you). Lastly, had to replace my shocks and struts this year and was told by mechanic at big O tire that they contacted Hyundai directly as they ran into an issue with replacing what should have been correct struts. They were told this particular car with associated VIN has the 'goofy' struts!!! I'm sorry but I didn't pay a goofy price for the car!
I was driving my 2011 Sonata at a slow speed in a parking lot when I heard the sound of metal hitting the ground underneath my vehicle. I walked out to find a fractured front passenger side spring coil which had completely snapped off. This could have been catastrophic had this happened on the busy interstate which is where I was headed. I realize many others have had this issue with the 2011 Sonata in "salt belt states". I am in Wisconsin. This defect is referenced under Hyundai recall 133, though I, like many others, have a VIN that is not included in the recall, despite the numerous incidents of this happening with vehicles outside of the recall VIN range. Clearly these are not isolated defects. This is a potentially catastrophic manufacturing defect that could easily puncture a tire and result in death if it occurs at a high speed. It is unacceptable for this problem to be ignored by Hyundai. The range of vins affected by this defect is likely much broader than Hyundai has taken responsibility.
The front driver's suspension spring broke off at low speed, buckling the vehicle. The vehicle became disabled as the body came and remained in contact with the wheel. It could have led to a serious accident. The tire could have been punctured if it was traveling at a high speed. There is a relevant recall: 15V629000 (on 2011 elantras and Sonatas, front suspension springs could corrode and snap in cold regions), but Hyundai said that it does not apply to this vehicle. It is possible that many VIN#S might have been missed in this recall notice. According to the service manager, that recall# only installs tubing around the springs so that in the case of spring failure(snapping), the body will not come in contact with the wheels or puncture tires. That is, the recall work still allows the springs to snap. But, is this corrective action sufficient for a safety recall that is this serious in nature? take caution as many 2011 Hyundai elantras and Sonatas could run into this sudden failure.
Driver side coil spring snapped while backing out of my driveway. The piece remained in the front end and fell out down the road, would have shredded my tire if I or anyone else ran it over. This part has been recalled in my model vehicle but only from a different manufacturing plant.
Front drivers side coil spring broken. I was notified at first service after having purchased used vehicle. The coil spring appears to have corrode faster than normal which caused coil spring to break. This VIN is not listed on the current coil spring recall.
2011 Hyundai Sonata. Consumer writes in regards to broken drivers side strut spring. The consumer stated there was a recall for the failure, but the VIN was not included.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Baraboo, WI, USA