VehicleVerdict

2016 Hyundai Sonata engine problems

The 2016 Hyundai Sonata has 459 engine complaints filed with NHTSA — 46% of the year's total, and down from the prior model year.

459

Engine complaints

46%

Share of year

1

Crash-involved

0

Related recalls

Engine complaints by year

Sonata engine complaints by model year1,008 complaints1987: 1 complaints1989: 7 complaints1991: 8 complaints1992: 5 complaints1993: 12 complaints1994: 1 complaints1995: 9 complaints1996: 6 complaints1997: 9 complaints1998: 4 complaints1999: 23 complaints2000: 33 complaints2001: 25 complaints2002: 22 complaints2003: 17 complaints2004: 10 complaints2005: 11 complaints2006: 74 complaints2007: 49 complaints2008: 50 complaints2009: 62 complaints2010: 29 complaints2011: 1,008 complaints2012: 573 complaints2013: 764 complaints2014: 319 complaints2015: 627 complaints2016: 459 complaints2017: 397 complaints2018: 218 complaints2019: 90 complaints2020: 28 complaints2021: 34 complaints2022: 23 complaints2023: 28 complaints2024: 3 complaints2025: 2 complaints
Sonata engine complaints by model year. Red bars are years to avoid.

What owners report

“ON MY DRIVE HOME FROM WORK, THE CAR STARTED SMOKING. I WAS INITIALLY DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY, BUT HAD JUST TURNED ONTO A SIDE STREET. THE SMOKE BEGAN TO GET WORSE AND WAS COMING INTO THE CABIN. I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER AND AS SOON AS I COULD GET OUT OF THE CAR, THE CAR COMPLETELY ENGULFED INTO FLAMES.…”

Complaint filed with NHTSA · Engine · February 5, 2018 · fire

Common questions

How many engine complaints does the 2016 Hyundai Sonata have?

NHTSA has 459 complaints about the 2016 Hyundai Sonata engine — 46% of all complaints filed for that model year.

Related

Based on NHTSA ODI data through June 2026. Complaints are consumer-reported and unverified. Updated July 5, 2026.

Compiled by Sharon Ben-Moshe, Founder.