10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
17 / 54
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 0
Average Mileage:
59,302 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.

2013 Hyundai Sonata engine problems

engine problem

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2013 Hyundai Sonata Owner Comments (Page 7 of 33)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #523

Aug 152022

Sonata

  • 98,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while accelerating at various speeds, she heard a loud knocking noise at the front of the vehicle. The oil warning light illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the oil was changed but the oil warning light remained illuminated. The contact then stated that five to six hours later while driving, the engine failed. The vehicle was towed back to the independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was made aware of the vehicle recalls. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was out of warranty and advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.

- Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA

problem #522

Aug 132022

Sonata

  • miles
I was traveling north on interstate 295 in New Jersey at 65 mph in the left lane. Without warning my car stated to go into shut down mode loosing speed and forced me to exit onto rt70 in cherry hill when all the dash warning lights came on and the engine shut off. I pulled over to a safe haven. I checked the oil dipstick which was full. I tried to restart the engine and starting hearing a loud metal tapping sound from the engine with multiple dash board warning lights flashing. I immediately shut the car off and called for a 70 mile tow home. I had to Uber other family members home do to no safe seats for 4 people in the tow truck. I started a case number 20174138 with Hyundai corporate customer service.

- Toms River, NJ, USA

problem #521

Apr 202019

Sonata

  • miles
My car has been having issues for the last 3 years and dealership replaced the water pump 2 years ago. Went back to the dealership for engine issues like hesitation and stalling several times and they said they can-??t find an issue, they adjust the brake light switch one time as they said they had the code for it, but the car still has the hesitation and stalling issue which they wanted to charge me again for a diagnosis. I looked up online and there are actually recalls for the engine connecting Rod and probably these recalls were cleared by the dealership from my previous visits but I can assure that the engine was not replaced nor the fuel system was not inspected at that time.

- Fremont, CA, USA

problem #520

Aug 022022

Sonata

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driving at freeway speed and car shutdown. Multiple warning lights and warning alert continuously chiming just like connecting rod bearing Recall campaign 953 states. Car went into Limp Mode. I called and had a tow truck take the car to Hyundai service center. Service center contacted Hyundai and was instructed to borescope engine, take pictures, etc and send data to Hyundai. Took one week to hear back that Hyundai concluded it supposedly isn-??t rod bearing failure even though the car is doing everything Campaign 953 says it would if rod bearing failure is the issue. I asked the service center if my vehicle had campaign 953 knock sensor software installed and they told me no because it didn-??t affect the hybrid models, which is not true as the recall states Hyundai Sonata hybrids from 2011-2013. I believe my vehicle has been damaged by the issues prompting Hyundai to issue the recalls and do not want to pay for my vehicle. They did not get an independent center to make a determination. Of course they aren-??t going to claim it as their fault if they are the only ones who get to check it. I believe Hyundai knows these vehicles pose a risk to owners lives and choose money over our lives. If you look up the other engine issues on this site you will see that the VINs are very similar and likely very close in manufacturing protocols, hence so many having these life-threatening issues. I asked the service center how much it would cost for an engine and they told me that since Hyundai has a lot of issues with parts to fix this issue that they would have to rebuild the engine at a cost of $17-18,000! An outside source should be able to check the issue and give Hyundai their findings in order to properly address this very dangerous issue.

- Temecula, CA, USA

problem #519

Jun 012022

Sonata

  • miles
We were notified that due to a recall Hyundai has they have increased the original engine warranty from the standard 100,000 mile to a 150,000 miles then we were later notified they had increased it to an unlimited mile engine warranty for the original owner. I ask because the engine in my wife's car started "knocking" while we were on the freeway in Medford, Oregon forcing us to stop, we had it towed to the Hyundai dealership in Medford on June 1st. We have made MANY calls and gone by to try and find out the status on our car and have not been told what the problem is, matter of fact we have not received a call back on any of our calls to the dealer. I filed a complaint with Hyundai USA. They talked to me, got the facts and advised they would call me in "3 days". They also missed the return call to us. I responded to Hyundai USA again yesterday and they just called me, when I asked what the status of my car was the person advised me the dealer was going to contact me (this will be the 5th time but it hasn't happened yet) they are waiting for a specialist to come out and identify/evaluate the problem and its cause. I told them "no one" has contacted me with any information on my car since June 1st. The factory warranty is 100,000 on the engine (per the recall extended to lifetime), my car has 87,000 miles on it. The cause should have little to nothing to do with it getting repaired. Its been serviced by Hyundai dealers since we purchased it. The day the engine began knocking the very first thing I did while waiting for the tow truck was pop the hood and check the oil and other fluid levels, i have never had oil consumption issues. All were in the full/normal range. It has been over 2 months without any information on our car. We live in Northern California and the nearest dealer is in Medford Oregon 1 hour away. I have an open claim with HyundaiUSA 20032955, also not responding to my emails.

- Yreka, CA, USA

problem #518

May 302022

Sonata

  • 108,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while his wife was driving 65 MPH, an unknown warning light illuminated. The driver pulled over and the engine seized. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the mechanic stated that there was no oil in the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 108,000. The VIN was not available.

- Orange Park, FL, USA

problem #517

Jun 182022

Sonata

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was driving one afternoon on my way from the nail shop with my sister my boyfriend & his friend when my call stalled in the middle in the street after managing to get the car out of the street it burst into flames. Due to not having the funds to move it it was towed. It did not have any lights on the dashboard which is why this was very weird for me. After not knowing what caused this stalling or fire I received a recall for my car in the mail.

- Houma, LA, USA

problem #516

Jun 242022

Sonata

  • miles
I have replaced the engine in the car after Hyundai -??fixed-?? the engine issue in 2020 the engine locked shortly after! I literally took great care of the engine that I replaced it with and it locked as well. The engine was a used engine! I have put so much money in this car and now I need it repaired again.

- Ypsilanti , MI, USA

problem #515

Jun 102022

Sonata

  • miles
Motor suddenly stalled without warning. The car turned off and would not restart. I had to roll to a stop on an on ramp. I had to have the car towed home until I could afford to have it looked at. Lights turned on, but the motor would not turn over.

- Lindale, TX, USA

problem #514

Jul 212022

Sonata

  • miles
While driving the car flashed "Hybrid System Warning! Safely stop and do not drive" and immediately shut off propulsion. I was able to coast just enough to get off to the side of the road. Now the warning comes up as soon as the engine kicks on to charge the hybrid system and the car will not move. If I wasn't in the right hand lane on the highway this could've caused an accident. This happened once in December 2021 with about 86000 miles and went away after letting the car sit for about 30 minutes. It happened again today July 21, 2022 and left me stranded. The car is unusable as of now.

- Woodbine, GA, USA

problem #513

Jul 072022

Sonata

  • 106,354 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while he and his significant other was driving approximately 10 MPH, the engine was knocking. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled and lost motive power. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed at a dealer or local mechanic. The contact personally diagnosed knock sensor detection system failure with a code reader. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V746000 (Engine). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 106,354.

- Lewisburg, PA, USA

problem #512

Jul 132022

Sonata

  • miles
The engine will just cut off occasionally when im driving and I have no control of the steering wheel or anything else

- Ferriday , LA, USA

problem #511

Jul 142022

Sonata

  • miles
As i am sure you all are already aware of Hyundai sonatas and other models are having a major issue with oil consumption i know me personally i am having to add oil to my engine every 200 miles or so which out of all the vehicles i have owned i have never had to do this and when i say add oil i mean after just two or three days of driving i will check my dip stick and there will be no oil on the stick there are thousands of us out here with this same problem. It can cause an very unsafe situation if we are driving on the highway or road and the engine seizes up from no oil causing a crash and Hyundai ignores the problem their needs to be an investigation. Its just like their GDI theta engines that fail prematurely Hyundai was allowed to sell this vehicles to us the consumers even with them being aware of the huge safety issues that the engines had and continue to have. We as tax paying citizens are pleading with you to look into this matter and hold Hyundai accountable for their lies and actions of selling cars that they knew was unsafe and had issues.

- St Charles, MO, USA

problem #510

Apr 152022

Sonata

  • 83,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to push the vehicle to the side of the roadway. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine was blown. The dealer advised the contact to file a claim for the repair to be covered; however, the claim was denied. The dealer informed the contact that she had to pay out of pocket for the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V312000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) which she associated to the failure; however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 83,000.

- Cathedral City, CA, USA

problem #509

Nov 272018

Sonata

  • miles
Hyundai is at it again for not repairing safety defects! I filed the following claim with Hyundai but was first the claim was accepted and allowed then denied when Hyundai objected! The attached documents show my efforts on both the steering issue and fire issue!

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #508

Mar 072022

Sonata

  • miles
On May 7th 2022 my 2013 Hyundai Sonata engine caught fire just driving down the road. I had only bought it 2 months prior. Smoke started coming pouring out of the vents and I had to pull over and have the fire department put it out. Hyundai has looked at it and offered to pay off my loan but I gave $4000 cash down and now that is lost. They won't cover that. Will there be another class action lawsuit ?

- Coraopolis, PA, USA

problem #507

Jun 252022

Sonata

  • miles
Engine siezed at barely over 100000 miles not due to neglect to car. Engine should not sieze for no reason with this many miles on it.

- Spartanburg, SC, USA

problem #506

Jun 292022

Sonata

  • miles
I was driving on the way home doing 55 mph with my kids and the car started to slow down and light began to pop up on the dashboard. The car shut off. I tried to restart it it wouldn-??t restart. I called a tow truck as I was waiting in 100 degree weather with two kids someone tried to give me a jumpstart how ever when they tried to jump start it we noticed smoke coming from the hood. I went to a part store and brought another battery. Thinking it-??s the battery I put the new battery in. Car still would not start. And smoke arised again as I-??m Still waiting for tow truck for 7 hours @10pm tow truck finally comes. Tow truck takes car to my residence. The next day I call Carvana and silverrock they tow the car to a dealer then call me and tell me the repairs would not be covered. Even though I haven-??t had the car for a two full months. I spent my entire pay check. The Mechanic from Firestone tells me it-??s a starter. I get the starter fixed 804$ and The next day the same thing happens again only this time my car began to smoke much more. I-??ve never experienced anything like this. I-??m also paying a car note on this car and I put down more than 4000$. Can somebody please get me out of this lemon. This should not be legal.

- Austell, GA, USA

problem #505

Jun 292022

Sonata

  • miles
Hello- On 6/29/2022 I was driving to work when engine power was cut off, like half power. The cars traction control light came on and the AC stopped cooling. I drove to a safe place where is turned the car off for a few minutes, I had only been driving for 20 or so minutes at that time. When I started the car back up everything was fine until yesterday. At two separate times on 6/30/2022 the engine would just cut off/ stall. The control panel would light up like a Christmas tree. I would have to pull over and put the car in park and turn the car back on. Not really sure what is happening here but has me worried as these two stall incidents happen at pretty low speeds but I do have to drive highway speeds for work. I do not hear any knocking of the engine or smell gasoline and all warranty recall, except the July recall, is up to date. I use 93 octane gas because of the age and turbo. I also have a push start which makes this fun to restart.

- Locust, NC, USA

problem #504

Apr 142022

Sonata

  • miles
On 4/14/22 while I was pulling up to a stop light my car shut down and the engine caught fire. All dashboard lights illuminated when car shut down. I tried restarting my car to no avail. After a min or two I pushed the car to the side of the road and was just about to call AAA for tow. I then noticed a small amount of smoke from the front end of my car. I decided to open my hood and that's where I noticed a small fire on the engine block. With nothing to put it out I called 911. The fire dept arrived within 5 min from my call. By that time the engine was completely engulfed in flames. The car was a total loss. There were no warnings, or car issues prior. I was driving normally and as I said just pulling up to a stop light while coming to a stop. This is ridiculous and Hyundai should be held accountable as financially this has cost me thousands. And doing very little research online this shows to be a huge issue with many people.

- Lakeville, MN, USA

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