Complaint volume
358 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2018 Hyundai Sonata Complaints
358 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2018 Hyundai Sonata, grouped by component category.
358 Total complaints
18 Crash reports
12 Fire reports
9 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are engine, unknown or other, electrical system,engine. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 18 crash reports, 12 fire reports, 9 injury reports, and 1 fatality report. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 135 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 37,255 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to engine, unknown or other, electrical system,engine?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2018 Hyundai Sonata?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2018 Hyundai Sonata
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2018 Hyundai Sonata complaints?
18 Crash
12 Fire
9 Injury
1 Fatality
28 Towed
6 Medical attention
What are the most common 2018 Hyundai Sonata complaint categories?
ENGINE 113
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 32
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 15
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 15
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 11
STRUCTURE 11
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 8
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 8
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 7
358 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | On the way home from the produce store today, the engine seemed to stall or seize while I was driving and the car reacted in a jerky manner. I kept going, as I was close to home, but could only travel about 20 mph, and it would periodically feel as if it were about to conk out. Check engine light came on at this point. Made it home, but no longer feel safe driving it. Am online now, searching for what to do. What I experienced sounds like the engine recall problem others have experienced, although my 2018 Hyundai Sonata is not on the recall list. Perhaps it should be. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Purchased a certified pre-owned 2018 Hyundai Sonata - found out recently the car is burning/losing oil- A few weeks after having an oil and filter change my oil warning light started flashing while driving.. Checked engine oil and could not believe that oil was almost empty.. Major concern is for major engine malfunction and possible locking up while driving- which could be fatal !!! Now I have to monitor oil levels/consumption every other day- I have contacted Hyundai and they're suggesting that I be without transportation while they take an undetermined amount of time to test the vehicle which is unacceptable ! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | ENGINE | The engine is burning oil. Oil level drops by 3-4 quarts every 1,500 miles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | I was stopped at a red light and when it turned green, I began to accelerate. The car stuttered and the check engine light was blinking. I pulled over and had Autozone run the code. The code is P1326, engine knock sensor. It was put into limp mode and it shook pretty bad in lower gears while accelerating. I had to pull over and let several cars pass me as I couldn't go above 2,000 RPMs. When I got home, I called roadside assistance and had it towed to the nearest dealership. That was this morning (5-4-2022). I just purchased this car used in the beginning of March. I don't have all the records since I just purchased the vehicle used. I just changed the oil last week. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while her daughter was reversing out of a parking space, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration. The vehicle drove forward and crashed into a brick post. The contact's daughter did not sustain any injury but later received medical attention. There were no airbags deployed. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard where the dealer later picked up the vehicle and took it to their location. The contact was unaware of what was repaired since the dealer did not provide a work order and she had to sign a power of attorney for the dealer to release the vehicle. The failure recurred with unintended acceleration up to 25 MPH, immediately after the brake pedal was released. The vehicle was not repaired. The insurance company did not deem the vehicle totaled. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 41,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed Medical attention | 41,000 |
| Mar 2022 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the trunk latch was previously replaced; however, the failure recurred. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V619000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to a dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | 17,000 |
| Feb 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The shark fin antenna assembly becomes dislodged from its base very easily and can fly off while driving or scraping ice off the roof with minimal force. Hyundai should do a better job attaching the outer shark fin plastic cover to its base. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V619000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact called the local dealer and left a voicemail. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while their vehicle was parked, starting the ignition, and attempted to make 3 point turn exiting out of their driveway, the vehicle accelerated on its own and went over their curb into their neighbor yard. The contact stated they depressed the brake pedal to stop the vehicle, however, the vehicle continued to accelerate at a slow speed before finally coming to a stop. The contact was able to reverse and exit out of their neighbor's yard and continue to drive to their destination, however, the failure intermittently occurred several times. The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer who inspected the vehicle but could not diagnose the cause of the failure. The contact went to another local dealership (Cars Unlimited Of Suffolk LLC 2096 NY-112, Medford, New York 11763 Phone: (631) 758-2200) but the dealer was not able to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 8,896 miles. | Crash: No Fire: No | 8,896 |
| Jan 2022 | STRUCTURE | In August 2021, my son went to open the front passenger door of his 2018 Hyundai Sonata. When opening the door, the handle came off in his hand. We reported the broken handle and asked if it was covered under the factory warranty. We were told by the local Hyundai Dealer that it was not. So we paid over $100.00 to have the handle replaced. Fast forward to January of 2022, I was packing my son's car for him to return to college and the back passenger door handle came off in my hand. That's two door handles in less than five months. There was no forced entry. No yanking or pulling above a normal opening the door process. My son is unable to access the passenger side of his car and has to crawl across the back seat. When the front passenger handle fell off, the passenger front seat was unusable. I have done research online and this seems to be a problem. Our car is not the first one to have this happen. I placed a claim with Hyundai Motor America and was guaranteed a call back within 3-5 business days. I have since placed four more calls in to the customer service line and have yet to hear from anyone regarding fixing this issues. It has been over two weeks. I have photographs to upload but the system will not allow the upload although they meet all criteria. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | THE OVERHEAD CONSOLE DOES NOT CLOSE. IT DOES IT ALL THE TIME. I KNOW THERE WAS A RECALL ON IT BUT NOT ON THE 2018 MODEL. IT IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE IT BLOCKS YOUR VIEW ON THE RIGHT SIDE THANK YOU | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ENGINE | The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that after filling the engine with oil, approximately 2 months later it was discovered the engine oil level was extremely low. The contact indicated that the engine oil was being consumed at a very rapid pace. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 65,000. Consumer stated it was determined it was a valve cover gasket not pistons as a previous mechanic stated. So no need for recall. | Crash: No Fire: No | 65,000 |
| Jan 2022 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V619000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who confirmed that the parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ENGINE | The contact's mother owns a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while his mother was driving approximately 20 MPH, the vehicle started shaking inadvertently and would not exceed 25-30 MPH. The check engine warning light illuminated. The contact's mother was able to continue to drive the vehicle under 20 MPH. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 40,913. | Crash: No Fire: No | 40,913 |
| Dec 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,LANE DEPARTURE | when the car is cold it would not start. I checked what the problem can be online and it turns out that there are a lot of out cars with the same problem. The problem is starter. sever people after changing the starter there vehicle was fixed. Another problem is sometimes the blind spot warning system does not work. These problems are reported by people with the same car but not by dealers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | UNKNOWN— Engine has been making noises, vehicle keeps breaking down (ENGINE ISSUES, alleged starter) and Hyundai dealerships keep ignoring and not documenting my complaints and passed the vehicle for all inspection after others have documented some of my complaints that I brought to them. They simply didn’t want to do any work because it was covered under bumper to bumper warranty until I threatened to call Hyundai USA with a lawyer and my engine problems were NEVER ADDRESSED or examined by the Hyundai Dealer in my area even though I specifically kept complaining about my car seizing and stopping on me in the middle of the highway with my toddler in the vehicle! It’s doing it again and no one at anything Hyundai cares! I’ve been lied to and passed on for over a year now and the problems list keep getting longer and longer! I was told that the Engine was replaced in March 2019 and that was that..I was dismissed! No more questions asked when I made my complaint directly to Hyundai USA this time! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I purchased my 2018 Sonata on 10/23/21 from South Point Austin with 30-35k miles on it. In the year of owning it, I've had 3 manufacture issues occur. Once on 12/31/20, there was an issue where my car detected an issue, and my maximum speed was 30 MPH while I was on the interstate. It was a sensor issue and covered by my manufacturer's warranty. On 11/11/21, I had to purchase a new starter for $789.26 despite this being a manufacture issue and covered by warranty. There was not a dealership in my area that would look into my car until 2022. They would not cover a rental until at least a diagnosis report came back which they would not begin until 2022. They said the lengthy waitlist for a rental would prevent me from securing a vehicle to use in the meantime. Because I need a functioning car, I had to purchase this out of pocket. On 11/23/21, I had to purchase a new battery. Again, this should be covered by factory warranty, but the dealerships would not look at my car until 2022. I paid $241.14 out of pocket for this. Setting the issue of these unexpected expenses aside, my car does not feel safe to drive and has had several manufacture complications. I had a near fatal accident in my previous Sonata do to a software issue causing the brakes to go out. This line of cars should be looked into for the safety of all. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The trunk latch released failed and is malfunctioned. My safety along side passengers were put at risk when the car experienced a flat tire on the highway far from city limits in extremely hot weather and trunk was not opening to get to spare tire/tools. Trunk had to be forcefully opened after hours to finally to get to spare/tools. There was no warnings prior to this failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while braking and pulling into a parking space, the vehicle reeved up, accelerated forward, and crashed into a wall. There were no reported injuries, or air bag deployment. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where they were unable to duplicate the failure after a road test. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000. Consumer stated crash was due to electronic malfunction. Auto will be assessed by Hyundai Corp case still open. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | 20,000 |
| Sep 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Coding P0507 Idle air control system Rpm higher than expected P0441 Evaporator emissions incorrect purge flow P0420 Catalyst system below threshold | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving, the oil warning light illuminated. The contact stated that he checked the engine oil level and discovered that there was no oil in the engine. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure was diagnosed as an oil plug needing replacement. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure continued. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer several times and the failure cause could not be determined. The contact stated that recently an oil consumption test was completed, and the dealer determined that to be the failure cause. The dealer contacted the manufacturer who stated that the failure cause was due to the owner's negligence and no solution was offered. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 40,000 |
| Sep 2021 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V619000 (Latches, Lock Linkages) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and stated that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I am affected by the new decal in regards to my trunk latch and it urgently needs to be fix. It would not open after multiple attempts and a few days later it started working again and now that it’s open it will not close | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | ENGINE | 2018 Hyundai Sonata sport. Purchased vehicle 03/20/2021 and it has been in the shop 5 times for the same issue. Car starts to smoke and make a loud knocking noise, when checking the oil, it appears to have no oil in the engine at all. Every single time they have changed the oil and replaced it and within a 1,000 miles the oil has completely dissolved in the engine. They performed a consumption test and stated that they did a top engine cleaning for the combustion and that it should not happen again and if it did that they would reach out to Hyundai to start the process of replacing the engine. Took it back at the 1,000 mile mark and they stated that it was fine, but after only a few weeks to a month the car started smoking and knocking again, took it back and yes the engine was bone dry again no oil at all on the dipstick. This vehicle has been in the shop more than I was able to drive it. The oil light keeps jumping on and off and the dealer is aware of this issue and they stated that the manufacturer is aware of this issue as well. But it seems that they are refusing to rectify the issue with a new engine and just keep patching the problem, that I would have to keep taking back every 1,00 miles for a consumption test. The oil ight was present when they sold me the vehicle but the dealership stated that they had performed an oil change and it needed to be reprogrammed but that did not fix the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1. Accelerator malfunctioned as I removed my foot to hit the brakes. The speed increased. When attempted to hit brakes, would not brake. The brake hardened up and car went through bank glass door and window. 2. It malfunctioned. 3. Vehicle is in the body shop. Will take to dealer when done 4. Police and insurance 5. No warnings | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |