2019 Hyundai Sonata

Typical pattern

6.5% of complaints about the 2019 Hyundai Sonata came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2019 vehicle — around the middle of the 191 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 5.5 yr in service. The most-reported system is engine (86 complaints), typically at 6.0 yr or about 90,000 miles.

Complaints: 214
Median age at failure: 5.5 yr
Median mileage: 26,200 n=56
Crash / fire / tow: 11.7% of reports
Safety recalls: 0

In owners’ own words

Engine 11,000 mi 9 mo in service

2019 SONATA 2.0T WITH JUST OVER 11K MILES ON IT BEGAN TO SUDDENLY STUDDER AND WANT TO STALL AT LOW RPM OR AT THE STOP. OBDII ERROR CODE P0302. DEALERSHIP SAID CYLINDER 2 HAD LITTLE TO NO COMPRESSION AND NEEDED REPAIR. COULD BARELY LIMP VEHICLE TO DEALERSHIP AND SMELL THE UNBURNED FUEL BEING PORTED OUT OF THE EXHAUST.

Engine 13,000 mi 1.8 yr in service crash / fire / tow

EXHAUST TIP UNDER RIGHT REAR BUMPER EXTENDS PAST END OF BUMPER. A FEW WEEKS AGO SOMEONE BURNED THEIR LEG WHILE ACCESSING THE TRUNK. YESTERDAY, A SEPARATE PERSON WAS ALSO BURNED FROM SAME EXHAUST TIP FROM STANDING CLOSE TO BUMPER TO ACCESS THE TRUNK. WE HAD 2016 SONATA FOR 4 YEARS AND NEVER EXPERIENCED BURNS FROM SIMILAR EXHAUST TIP. CAR WAS PARKED ON LEVEL DRIVEWAY. CAR WAS WARMED UP FROM RECENT DRIVE AND TURNED OFF.

Engine mileage not reported 4.1 yr in service

4500 miles after an oil change the oil drain plug fell out and oil leaked out resulting in an engine stalling. An oil warning light came on 7 minutes before the vehicle stalled on the highway.

Other 1,804 mi 8 mo in service crash / fire / tow

I WAS BACKING OUT OF A PARKING SPACE AND WHEN I MOVED THE CAR IT TOOK OF AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED , FLEW PASSED 5 OTHER PARKING SPACES AND CAUSED ME TO HIT A PARKED VEHICLE

Other Sonata model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2019 Hyundai Sonata

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

In owners’ own words

Other Sonata model years

How to read this