Total Complaints
21 filings
HYUNDAI SONATA HYBRID · model year
21 NHTSA complaints, 2 crash reports, and 1 active recall for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2020HYUNDAISONATA HYBRID carries 21 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 2 crashes, 0 fires, 2 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2020 SONATA HYBRID is engine with 8 filings, followed by electrical system (6) and unknown or other (4). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 1 active recall campaign, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
NHTSA currently has 37 investigation files overlapping the 2020 SONATA HYBRID, and 1 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
21 filings
Crashes Reported
2 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ENGINE | 8 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 6 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 4 |
| STEERING | 1 |
| WHEELS | 1 |
| FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 |
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:TRUNK LID:LATCH
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2020 Sonata and Sonata Hybrid, and 2019 Genesis G70 vehicles. The trunk latch may become damaged, preventing the opening of the trunk from the inside. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety S
Over the last 3 months at least a dozen times the 12v auxiliary battery is completely dead after parking the car outdoors for an hour or so. This poses a safety issue, especially at night because you cannot easily access the car. You have to fumble around trying to get the key hole cover off in order to use the key supplied in the fob. Once you get access, you then have to press the 12v reset button in order to get the car started. This issue has been reported on the Hyundai sonata forums since the introduction of the 2020 sonata. At this point the dealer has not been able to find the issues as they say it has been occur while they have the car. Asking for the problem to occur while they are watching is unrealistic . Their calls to Hyundai tech support has been useless as they claim to have not heard of this issue.
On July 15th I was driving away from work and my car suddenly stopped accelerating. I was able to get it towed to a body shop I previously had it repaired at. They said the battery system was blowing a fuse when it would become undrivable. They took it to the local Hyundai dealership where they applied a new software update related to the battery management system. This did not solve the issue, it continues to stop while in traffic and the dealership refuses to do anything to figure out the cause.
On July 15th I was driving away from work and my car suddenly stopped accelerating. I was able to get it towed to a body shop I previously had it repaired at. They said the battery system was blowing a fuse when it would become undrivable. They took it to the local Hyundai dealership where they applied a new software update related to the battery management system. This did not solve the issue, it continues to stop while in traffic and the dealership refuses to do anything to figure out the cause.
On July 15th I was driving away from work and my car suddenly stopped accelerating. I was able to get it towed to a body shop I previously had it repaired at. They said the battery system was blowing a fuse when it would become undrivable. They took it to the local Hyundai dealership where they applied a new software update related to the battery management system. This did not solve the issue, it continues to stop while in traffic and the dealership refuses to do anything to figure out the cause.
Sudden failure of the electrical system with warning that the hybrid battery was in operable. I parked the car, turned it off, reset the 12 V battery, and the car restarted and operated normally. This problem with the 12 V battery needing reset has happened dozens of times while I was parked. This is the first time it has happened while I was driving the vehicle. A sudden disabling of the vehicle without warning poses a safety concern so I thought it best to report the problem. The local Hyundai dealership has heard of this problem, but they are unable to diagnose or repair it
Car shutdown (stops) in the highway driving 3 times last couple of weeks. - It first shows Battery Warning Light first and car shutdown on highway driving, and slowly park the side. It restarts with jump (it is hybrid system and allows jump inside the car). - When visited Hyundai Kirkland WA dealership, they found that there was an error in the Hybrid system, (v12 battery), but didn't know what's problem. - I left my car there 2 days but can't find the root cause even if there is a code; they said they can't repro it on highway driving. - I might have to pick it up tomorrow without any fix from them.
Car shutdown (stops) in the highway driving 3 times last couple of weeks. - It first shows Battery Warning Light first and car shutdown on highway driving, and slowly park the side. It restarts with jump (it is hybrid system and allows jump inside the car). - When visited Hyundai Kirkland WA dealership, they found that there was an error in the Hybrid system, (v12 battery), but didn't know what's problem. - I left my car there 2 days but can't find the root cause even if there is a code; they said they can't repro it on highway driving. - I might have to pick it up tomorrow without any fix from them.
Case Synopsis: My ownership includes three Hyundai Hybrid vehicles: two 2020 Sonata Hybrids and one 2022 Tucson Hybrid. Each of these cars has consistently manifested engineering defects, predominantly overheating, within a year of purchase. These persistent malfunctions have led to the vehicles being inoperable and beyond repair. As a result, we have endured financial setbacks from negative equity, costs of repairs, reduced value of the cars, and considerable inconvenience and safety hazards due to these ongoing overheating issues.
Case Synopsis: My ownership includes three Hyundai Hybrid vehicles: two 2020 Sonata Hybrids and one 2022 Tucson Hybrid. Each of these cars has consistently manifested engineering defects, predominantly overheating, within a year of purchase. These persistent malfunctions have led to the vehicles being inoperable and beyond repair. As a result, we have endured financial setbacks from negative equity, costs of repairs, reduced value of the cars, and considerable inconvenience and safety hazards due to these ongoing overheating issues.
My car's battery dies 2 or 3 times every week. I have to enter into the the car with the manual key that is inside the key fob then hit the 12v rest button to start my car. I have been to two Hyundai dealerships and they both tell me nothing is wrong. I just picked it up a week a go and it has died twice since I picked up. I see many complaints on reddit about the same issue, even some with car dying while driving. This is a serious that Hyundai needs to figure out.
My car's battery dies 2 or 3 times every week. I have to enter into the the car with the manual key that is inside the key fob then hit the 12v rest button to start my car. I have been to two Hyundai dealerships and they both tell me nothing is wrong. I just picked it up a week a go and it has died twice since I picked up. I see many complaints on reddit about the same issue, even some with car dying while driving. This is a serious that Hyundai needs to figure out.
Starting in July 2023, my car has exhibited a recurring problem that seriously hampers its functionality and reliability. Specifically, the car intermittently fails to respond to unlock commands from both the key fobs and the Hyundai cellphone app. Initially, this issue occurred infrequently, happening about once a month. However, the situation has escalated, and in October 2023, it happened three times within a span of two weeks. I promptly brought my car to my local Hyundai dealership, hoping to find a solution to this perplexing issue. On the first visit, the dealership stated that they were unable to duplicate the issue, which left me deeply frustrated but willing to continue troubleshooting. The dealership suggested that I either leave my car with them overnight or bring it in again for further diagnosis. Due to my reliance on the vehicle for daily transportation, I opted for the latter, bringing my car to the dealership on two additional occasions. Regrettably, on each visit, the
I went to work at 5 in the morning, I turned the heater for the first time after last winter. I noticed that the heater was struggling to warm the cabin. After 10 minutes driven I got an overheating alert on the dashboard. I pulled over on the freeway shoulder and it started to notice a lot of steam coming from the exhaust and a really strong coolant smell. I waited for the engine to cool down and went back home, I drove for 6 minutes and notice a huge amount of smoke coming from the exhaust I pulled over agin on the freeway and waited 20 minutes i finally arrived home and notice the coolant reservoir was empty since the car was burning all the coolant through the exhaust. I went online and saw many many people with Hybrid sonatas complaining about the same issue. This should be a massive recall many of the customers complaining had 20 to 50 thousand miles on their vehicle. This is definitely a safety issue. Iâm glad my wife wasnât driving that day cause the freeway only has two la
I have a 2020 Hyundai Sonata limited, recently at 68,089 miles on the odometer my wife was driving and got an engine overheat light and noticed thick white smoke puffing out the exhaust pipe. I told her to pull over when she called me and have it towed to the dealer. Soon after I went to the dealer to look at it because they were saying it would be weeks before they could look at it, and I noticed the coolant reservoir was empty. So, I filled up the reservoir and took it home. Over the next few weeks of driving I noticed the same puffs of white smoke coming out the exhaust every so often and the coolant reservoir draining in a couple days, even though there never was any visible leakage under the car when it was parked. So after a couple weeks of having to top off the coolant every other day I took it back to the dealer and told them what was happening. They were not sure what to do, after a week of troubleshooting they ended up replacing the whole muffler assembly under warranty to fi
I noticed a strange smell almost like burning maple syrup in the garage for months. I thought it was just a different smell from Hybrid cars as I didn't have this used car very long. While driving at times the acceleration would stutter, again I thought this was just expected having never driven a hybrid car. Then on a trip a couple hours out of town someone stopped me on the road to tell me I was burning antifreeze and he could see white smoke coming from the car. I pulled over and didn't notice anything and continued driving but the heater wasn't working, it was blowing cool air despite the heat being on. I pulled into an auto parts store and got antifreeze in case. And then the overheating alert came on. I waited and filled it up and made an appointment at the dealer. They diagnosed it as a a blown gasket and a bad catalytic convertor and replaced all of that. After bringing it home I continued to lose coolant even with a two mile ride, I went from Max fill to half way between max a
I have had the same issue 3 separate times related to the coolant system. The first time happened January 2021. I was driving on the highway and I noticed that when the car switched from electric to fuel a large plume of white smoke came out of the exhaust and then the engine overheating message started. I checked the coolant tank and it was completely empty. I managed to get some coolant in the car and get to my destination. I checked the coolant tank again and all the coolant that had been put in was gone. I immediately had the car towed to the dealer. They found the issue was a leak near the muffler and eventually replaced that and other gaskets. In May 2022, I noticed again that when I switched from battery to fuel on acceleration that there was a plume of smoke coming out of the exhaust and my coolant was very low. Brought to the dealer and they confirmed again there was a leak but this time with the EGR cooler and associated parts. In December 2022, I had just gotten an oil chan
My car is a Hyundai sonata hybrid (non plug in) 2020. the issue I have is that when the car transitions from electric motor to the gas engine there can be a small delay resulting in the car not picking up and causing me to almost get hit in different scenarios. (I have not had this checked with a mechanic, Also there was no warning signs from the car indicating that there was a issue)
Check engine light came on and I contacted the dealer. Took 6 weeks to get an appointment and they advised that a module needed to be replaced giving me the impression it was a computer chip. The car has been sitting at the dealer since February 22, 2022, and they have been very cooperative including providing me with a free loaner to use. Unfortunately, they state that the part is not available (#HY25600-2J001 Thermal Management Module). Finding that this is not a unique failure as it is appearing inn 2020, 2021 models as well as some 2022 Hyundai models. Finding OEM part for sale on EBay, Amazon and even on the Hyundai parts website.
The contact owns a 2020 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while parking the vehicle and pressing the power button, the vehicle continued running. The contact was able to turn off the vehicle by repeatedly pressing the power button. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.
Mileage: 12,000
DRIVING ON DRY ROAD, IN MIDDLE LANE OF THREE LANES GOING 65 MPH. SUDDENLY, RIGHT REAR TIRE "POOFED" BUT I KEPT CONTROL, STARTED TO LOOK RIGHT TO GET OFF ROAD. TOOK FOOT OFF GAS, DID NOT PUT ON BRAKE. SUDDENLY, LEFT REAR "POOFED" AND THEN AN EXTREMELY LOUD-METAL ON METAL- SOUND OCCURRED BACK LEFT AND MY CAR JACK KNIFED INTO THE PASSING , FAST LANE. A DUMP TRUCK TRAVELING IN THAT LANE STRUCK ME, FRONT END AND MY DOOR. THE TRUCK HIT ME AND I ROLLED INTO THE GRASSY MEDIUM, ROLLING OVER SEVERAL TIMES. THE SAFETY DEVICES WORKED FABULOUSLY AND MY ONLY INJURIES WERE FROM THE SEAT BELTS WHICH SAVED MY LIFE. I AM LUCKY TO BE ALIVE AND I HOPE THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN TO SOMEONE ELSE. I WAS IN ICU FOR 5 DAYS AND HOSPITAL FOR A TOTAL OF 9 DAYS, I AM WILL BE RECOVERING AT HOME FOR MONTHS. I WOULD LIKE IT INVESTIGATED THAT EITHER A MECHANICAL ISSUE OR TIRE ISSUE CAUSED THE ACCIDENT. I ONLY HAD 2300 MILES ON THE CAR.*DT*JB
Mileage: 2,300
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.