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:
20 / 6
Injuries / Deaths:
5 / 1
Average Mileage:
51,010 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.
One of my relatives died in an auto accident in her new 2011 Sonata, which was manufactured on 10/28/2010 by Hyundai motor Alabama. The accident was reported on a community website. www.northjersey.com/news/transportation/ridgefield_park_accident_kills_woman_closes_route_80_detoured_milk_truck_overturns.html in a nutshell, she was driving in the eastbound local lanes of route 80 when she lost control of her car. The vehicle rolled up onto a divider between the express and local lanes and hit the end of the guardrail to the left of her car. The impact spun her vehicle into the path of a tractor-trailer. The trailer struck the driver's side door, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The subsequent autopsy report could not identify any medical conditions causing her to lose control of the vehicle. On the other hand, there are numerous complaints about the power steering of 2011 Sonata on various websites. One of them is the website of auto recalls for consumers 177 out of 266 complaints (67%) on 6/12/2011 are related to the steering column. This is a safety concern, because it pulls the vehicle to the left stronger and stronger as the speed accelerates above 25 mph. Sadly, the underlying cause is hard to detect, because the power steering of this vehicle is electronically controlled. Those consumer complaints appear to be consistent with the evidence at the scene of this accident. The police report indicated that the car ran into the guardrail on the left side of road. The national highway transportation safety administration (NHTSA) once announced the Hyundai Sonata recall on 9/23/2010 in connections with the steering column. The recall affects 2011 Hyundai Sonatas manufactured between 12/11/2009 and 9/10/2010. However, it appears that the defect of the power steering column affects Sonata vehicles manufactured even after this recall period.
Upon immediately driving my brand new 2011 Hyundai Sonata, I noticed the vehicle pulls drastically and unsafely to the left. If I let go of the steering wheel, I will be in the next lane within 2 seconds. It is dangerous, especially if the road is curving to the right. Then I will be in the next lane in less than 1 second. Have brought it to dealer 3 times, they changed tires, replaced strut, realigned, and did a special wheel balance, to no avail. They send a factory engineer to look at it and he said that there is nothing wrong with it. He is lying. I sent video to Hyundai corporate, and filed a lemon law claim. I am supposed to have an area manager drive it with me this week.. I have owner several new cars in my life, this is dangerous a recall is needed.
I have a turbo limited Sonata. It has a severe left pull. If I am driving on a flat surface and let go of the steering wheel, I would be off the road to the left in about 5-6 seconds. If I am accelerating, I would be off the road within 1-2 seconds. It is a real problem. My dealership does not have the specs to fix the issue. I called the next closest dealer and they also do not have a fix. I am constantly assured that Hyundai is working on the issue, but lets face it, it has been over six months. I have lost faith that they are working on a fix. The newly sold 2011 Sonata limited turbos are being sold with the 17" wheels, not the 18" wheels I have. Therefore, it looks as though they are trying to change it to fix the problem. But what about those of us with the 18" wheels" do we have to wait until someone dies before this gets fixed" that is not acceptable to me. There are already over 165 complaints and I hope more are added daily. I am a repeat Hyundai Sonata buyer and very discouraged with the quality of safety in this car. Please investigate the problem and force a recall!
Within days of purchasing this vehicle it was noticed that it pulled to the left. We drove it for 1,000 miles thinking that it was winter with slush on the roads and therefore this may caused the pulling. We took it out on the road and it did not stop pulling tot he left. The pull was constant and required one to apply pressure to the steering wheel to the right to counter the constant pull to the left. We have taken the vehicle back to the dealer 3 times and there has been no mediation of the problem. I have called the hynudai customer service. The first time I left the car with the dealer for 4 days. They said everything was in "spec" with Hyundai specifications. They even said the technician drove the car and found no pulling to the left. I left the lot and immediately returned stating it pulled as bad as before. I brought it in again and they rotated the tire and balanced them. This did not correct the problem. This last time, the dealer performed a road test force balance. This has not corrected the problem. This pulling is acute and is a safety hazard. It is to the point that I will not allow my spouse to drive the car out of town. The dealer acknowledges nor admits this is a safety problem but the service manager did indicate when he rode with me there is a definite steering problem. I have received no satisfaction from the dealer. This problem needs to be corrected by Hyundai before a fatality occurs.
2011 Hyundai Sonata SE 2.0 turbo pulls to the left. Dealer did a front end alignment per the tsb for this problem but that did not fix it. This has occurred since the car was new back in November of 2010.
2011 Sonata turbo limited pulls to left, demonstrated this to service manager at the dealer who says it is the way I am driving the car. Complaint filed with Hyundai, BBB, etc. This car is unsafe and should be recalled. Loaner car that they gave me did the same thing. Hyundai needs to be forced to acknowledge this problem with 2011 Sonata and repair the vehicles.
My Oct. 8 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T is a left puller. I know there is a problem with this model. My dealer will not admit to the problem and I am getting tired of dealing with it. Some day someone is going to die because of this pulling issue. Please help us solve this. Thank you
2011 Hyundai Sonata turbo pulls to the left, sometimes pretty hard, almost causing an accident several times. Any release of tension on the steering wheel by the driver results in the car swerving to the left. It does not matter if the road is flat, it drifts; but if there is any type of crown, it will swerve left. I have not ever had it pull or drift to the right on any road condition. This became very noticeable early on. The car currently has 4,000 miles on it, and is being taken back to the dealership for repairs this week.
The contact owns a 2011 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated the vehicle would drift towards the driver's side while driving approximately 40 mph. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the failure was due to the balancing of the tires. The vehicle was aligned but the failure continued. The vehicle was taken back to an authorized dealer where it was in the process of having the failure diagnosed. The failure and current mileages were 500.
2011 Hyundai Sonata limited turbo 2.0L, bought April 2011, pulls left. On left-canted left lane car pulls hard to left, needs constant cw (right) force exerted on steering wheel to maintain straight. On right-canted right lane car drives straight with no driver interaction needed. On a flat road car has slight pull to left, needing constant slight cw (right) pressure to maintain going straight. Had dealer align front-end.. no change.
I bought a 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2 weeks ago and found a left pull plus a slight drift to either side when going straight on a highway between 55-80. It turns well in the corners either left or right but again when going straight it has a tendency to wonder to either side and at times a slight pull to the left. At this point it is just a bit annoying but I am afraid of it getting worse as time goes on. I am placing a call in the am with my dealer and possibly to Hyundai assistance to file a complaint. I found this issue when I eased off the steering wheel on a straight stretch of highway for about 3 seconds it will go straight then it will go in either direction on a straightaway. I find that when I have the steering wheel straight it will travel straight for a few seconds and then start veering off to either side. My initial thoughts after reading some posts on the Hyundai forums is that it is a disconnect with the electronic steering control computer or the software for it has a flaw in it. My car was built in March of this year and I know from reading posts from back in early 2010 this has been an issue. I don't think it is a front end alignment problem because when you stop the car it goes straight. I'm not sure if tires could be the issue either as many posted that they had all the tires checked and replaced, struts changed, wheel bearings changed, steering angle sensor recalibrated and still the problem persists. I can live with the issue for now but if it gets worse could become a big safety issue. My wife drives this car with my daughter who has a disability. My concern is for them getting into an accident because of this. Or worse causing an accident which claims lives. Again I will go back to the dealer to have this looked at but I am not confident that they will be able to fix this issue. I have read that Hyundai engineers have not be able to figure out what is wrong. It's a shame I like the car. Please get Hyundai to fix this before someone gets hurt.
Picked up my 2011 Hyundai Sonata last night with 8 miles on it. Pulled out of the dealership and the vehicle immediately pulled hard to the left. Dealer says this is the electronic steering, but it's dangerous! there has to be a further problem. I got this vehicle for safety with a child on the way. I do not feel safe driving this car. If I even lift my hands off the wheel for 2 seconds, the car would veer into the median. Out of probably 1000 complaints I read online, the dealership was unable to correct the problem and Hyundai has not admitted to any issues.
Purchased new Hyundai Sonata limited 2.0T. From the time of delivery, steering pulls left, especially in the center and left lanes on 3-lane roads (ie. Interstate highways).
2011 Hyundai Sonata turbo steering issue - hard left pull. Dealer tried alignment, replaced the strap and then did alignment again. The issue is still present. Sonata pulls hard left, especially noticeable at highway speeds. Car feels unsafe.
Since my 2011 Hyundai Sonata SE turbos has been new it pulls to the left. So bad that if I take my hands off the steering wheel for 1.5 seconds at 55mph my car drifts completely to the left lane. This is dangerous. The dealer has looked at an worked on it 4 times, replace tires, rebalanced tires, replaced struts, realigned car, even did a road force wheel balance, nothing helps and the factory sent an engineer who claims that there is no problem. The problem with his statement is that is that I have several video tapes and witnesses of it doing it and I took the service manger for a ride so he can experience it. I currently just started a lemon law case on it. Want this fixed or a Sonata that doesn't do this. This is a problem with certain cars built in a certain time frame. They won't admit that but I found that out from reliable inside info. Have owned about 10 new cars in my life and none of them ever did this.
Vehicle pulls to the left...felt it at right away but was unsure if it was the vehicle or the roads making it pull...I had the vehicle 2 weeks when I was positive it was the vehicle. Took it to the dealer and was told alignment was in "specs". vehicle continues to pull. Waiting on Hyundai tech support to look at vehicle again. Road conditions make no difference when it comes to this pull to the left.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hopewell Junction, NY, USA