CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2011 Sonata has a seriously defective engine that seizes without warning. It was awarded the dubious honor of being the first CarTalk / CarComplaints Turd of the Week in late September 2015.

A class action lawsuit was filed in May 2015 against Hyundai that claims the 2.4L Sonata engine is defective. More info here.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
48,639 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.

2011 Hyundai Sonata lights problems

lights problem

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2011 Hyundai Sonata Owner Comments (Page 3 of 11)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #179

Jun 012019

Sonata 4-cyl

  • 90,000 miles

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

Interior dome light stays illuminated when vehicle is running and doors are closed. In order to have the interior dome lights not illuminated, dome light switch has to be kept in the 'off ' position.

- Bronx, NY, USA

problem #178

Sep 012019

Sonata 4-cyl

  • miles
The fuel sensor stopped working. Can not tell how much gas is in the car. My daughter ran out of gas in the middle of the highway on her way home from college! the car has now failed inspection. I was told that it was the fuel sensor. Paid to have this replaced at Firestone auto care. Did not fix the problem. Was then told that the Hyundai dealership would have to fix it because it must have to do with the computer system. This car has multiple recalls and even the engine itself blew up. I can not keep lights on it because every time the bulbs are replaced they blow. I even ordered whole other tail light package thinking that would help but it did not. This car is nothing but a safety hazard!!!!!

- Gastonia, NC, USA

problem #177

Apr 062020

Sonata 4-cyl

  • 133,000 miles
The driver side tail light bulb was out. When I attempted to replace it, I noticed that the light assembly molding had melted (due to the heat for the taillight) and I could not remove the tail light bulb. When I looked at the passenger side, it had melted as well. At this time, I even have a taillight bulb that fell into the light assembly on the passenger side because it could not be pulled through the melted molding. The light sockets for both the driver and passenger tail lights had burn marks on them.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #176

Jul 012019

Sonata

  • miles

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

While in drive and park, brakes lights and tail lights keep going out. Have replaced bulbs 4 times in less than a year. Both seat belt lights constantly flashes even when buckled up. Air bags and tire pressure light will not go out after resetting repeatedly. Dome lights no longer work in automatic

- Columbus, GA, USA

problem #175

Feb 132020

Sonata

  • 170,000 miles
The brakes lights and head lights goes out alot.. bulbs melting into socket and burning out frequently and having to replace the whole assembly. It's very hazard because it can catch fire. I was driving on highway doing rain and noticed my head light just went out and I pulled over to check and checked the back as well cause I smelled something burnt. The rear break light was burnt and melted into socket. I've replaced the back assembly aleast once to twice a year.

- Laurel, MD, USA

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problem #174

Feb 052020

Sonata

  • 0 miles
On Wednesday, February 5, 2020, I was at a traffic light when someone motioned to speak to me in regards to my driver side brake light being out. I proceeded to drive to my dealership to get it changed out knowing it was probably just a burnt out bulb. The dealership service personnel informed me that the whole socket where the light bulb sits in had melted. This caused alot of erosion in the bulb socket and affected the wiring as well. I feel deeply that this can cause a fire considering the light bulb busted and caused the whole inside of the socket to melt. I payed $150 to repair the socket and wiring to fix the problem for now. I was told it may not last long. I'm hoping this problem doesn't linger and create more problems. I am very concerned on how these light bulbs pop and melt everything. I would like this to be treated as a safety issue. Please help me resolve this issue. Thank you for your time and have a great day.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #173

Jan 212020

Sonata

  • 99,000 miles

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

This is the second time the left rear lamp has failed showing signs of burning. The lamp assembly was replaced by the dealership approximately 2 years ago. When the turn signal failed recently I went to change the bulb and discovered that's a socket showed signs of being burnt again.

- Loveland, CO, USA

problem #172

Jan 012020

Sonata

  • 130,000 miles
Tail light wiring harness melts, then overheats bulbs and melts the tail light housing. Side effect was that my headlights turn off when using a blinker at night. This happens at speed. Not only is it a fire hazard from the wiring melting / bulb overheating / melted tail light housing, but it is a safety hazard from the lake of headlights on a turn. Hundreds of complaints online for 2011-2013 Sonatas with this exact issue. Paid $400 at dealership to get wiring harness and housing replaced, but it is original stock gear so it will likely happena gain.

- Buford, GA, USA

problem #171

Dec 052019

Sonata

  • miles
The rear brake lamps and rear lamps repeatedly burns out within two weeks of replacing them. The signals lamps burn out in less than one year.

- Deer Park, NY, USA

problem #170

Dec 292019

Sonata

  • 122,000 miles
I parked my car after coming from work, went back out to change my brake light that was out, after I couldn't change my bulb because its toasted to the harness, I tried starting up my car which it did, but my shift lock was locked on on park and my traction control came on and I have no brake lights.

- Cornville, AZ, USA

problem #169

Dec 142019

Sonata

  • 124,000 miles

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

At 1st my car my consuming a lot of oil. I was going to get top off at my oil place every week. I tried to take it to my nearby Hyundai, they told me they wanted $350 to do a test. Then my car was not gasing the way it usually did. It was stalling, I had a burning smell coming from my engine. I took it to my mechanic and he replaced the O2 sensor, heating sensor, PCV valve, he did a transmission flush. It started to work ok, and I was driving with my disabled husband and our 4 year old daughter when the car engine went out on us on the highway. We got the car tow to our mechanic and its more problems then solutions. Its now the Cadillac converter, this car is extremely dangerous to drive. I have receipts of the repairs, towing and daily oil inputs.

- Hackensack, NJ, USA

problem #168

Jul 012019

Sonata

  • 200 miles
This issue has been going on for months now. And I have driven around seeing many other Hyundai Sonatas with he same issue. When I hit my brake, the brake lights will not go out. I have finally figured out how to get them to go out (pulling my brake upwards with my foot). This has resulted in my lights staying on and my car dying a few times. It is a very dangerous problem as others are not able to tell when I am braking because my brake lights stay on wihtout putting my foot under the brake and pulling up on it.

- Abingdon, MD, USA

problem #167

Nov 132019

Sonata

  • 178,177 miles
This is my son's car but the title is in my name. We went to dennis Hyundai for repairs related to several recalls on the 2011 Hyundai Sonata. Beforehand we noticed that the driver side tail light was out. We assumed that it was just a burned out bulb but since the car was in for service we decided to let the service department check it out. The service department at dennis Hyundai investigated and stated that socket on the tail light appeared to be "melted" and it was a defect in the tail light wiring assembly that Hyundai is aware of. The service managers at dennis Hyundai stated that the tail light wiring assembly was redesigned to fix the flaw but that the redesigned tail light wiring assembly does not fit the older model Hyundai Sonatas such as my 2011. Dennis Hyundai wants to charge $311.42 to fix their defect. A search of the web shows a lot of these complaints. This is just one website: If Hyundai is aware of the problem and admit that it is a design flaw why are they charging their customers to fix it" considering that the tail light assembly involves the brake lights this would be a big safety issue. If both tail light wiring assemblies fail due to the issue of the sockets melting, something I've never heard of, the driver would have no brake lights at all except for the high stop light. Why has there been no recall to address this problem and why are Hyundai dealerships being permitted to charge customers to fix what they know is a design flaw on their vehicles"

- Powell, OH, USA

problem #166

Mar 302018

Sonata

  • miles
I purchased this vehicle March 2018, I have spent unnecessary money on headlights and my back brake lights. I've spent $180 replacing my harnesses due to my bulbs melting inside of my harnesses. My car smells of wires burning inside of my car. It's multiple people driving these particular cars and I've noticed their Sonata's have the same issues with the lights... I have people that drive the same car pulling me over or pulling beside me asking if I have trouble with my lights. You guys need to really recall these cars back in, my car shouldn't have a burning smell

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #165

Oct 232019

Sonata

  • miles
My front, back, break lights are constantly out. I'm replacing them several times a month. I've taken it back to the dealer where they've changed the housing. Problem still continues. This is very unsafe because there is an over heating issue with this vehicle.

- Silver Spring, MD, USA

problem #164

Oct 112019

Sonata

  • 79,000 miles
My headlights and rear lights and brake lights keep going bad, there is a problem with the lights staying on some kind of electrical issue.

- Upper Darby, PA, USA

problem #163

Oct 032019

Sonata

  • 133,000 miles
2011 Hyundai Sonata. My headlights and interior started blinking off and on by themselves while I was driving at night for about a 30 or 40 second interval. Took to dealership and had it diagnosed and they found that the there was an intermittent internal fault with the multi-functional switch. Just got it back so I've only driven it about 50 miles at night so far no problem but it's too early to say for sure if this fixed the problem to my satisfaction. The problem only happened about 3 times but it is unpreditcable when the problem occurs but when it does happen and it's dark, it's not safe so we took it in right away on the third time because this was the longest period of time that the problem lasted. If you're having any problem like this, I suggest you get it looked at right away, very dangerous. It cost me $209 to have it fixed. The vehicle was moving about 55mph when this occurred. Date was 10-17-2019.

- Wilson, NC, USA

problem #162

May 152019

Sonata

  • 85,000 miles
Head lights go out when directional is touched, front end bottom out going over dips in roadway, steering has lots of play when turning wheel left and right

- Mesa, AZ, USA

problem #161

Jul 022019

Sonata

  • 126,000 miles
The brake light explodes every couple of months.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #160

May 172017

Sonata

  • 75,000 miles
The rear tail lights need to be replaced constantly and have gotten so hot as to melt the tail light assemblies.

- Tampa, FL, USA

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