2009 Hyundai Sonata problems
Owners have filed 612 complaints with NHTSA about the 2009 Hyundai Sonata. Brakes is the most reported problem area, at 16% of complaints. Next are electrical system (10%) and engine (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 612 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 16% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 29 and 16
- Injuries and deaths
- 40 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 69,000 miles 492 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 59 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 64 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 77 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 84 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 82 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 37 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 31 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 31 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 11 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 11 |
| 200k+ miles | 5 |
What the data shows
Of the 492 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 69,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 52,000 miles (87 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 29 complaints mention a crash; 16 complaints mention a fire; 40 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2009 ranks 11th most-complained-about out of 34 model years of the Hyundai Sonata with enough data (310 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
2009 hyundai sonata-2 front end collisions air bags never came out for either. Front end work done after 1st front end collision. Air bags did not come out during 2nd colision either. Concerned why the airbags did not come out for either accident.
On 10/08/2009 my 209 hyundai sonata went into an unintended acceleration. As soon as I put the car into drive it began to accelerate. The brakes did not work and I was able to shift into neutral. I was on a narrow dirt road with little limited options as to where to steer the vehicle. I missed a boulder, garage, and tree before hitting the side of a house. The ambulance was called and I was transported to the local emergency room. I had a concussion, fractured knee along with a number of bruises and abrasions.
I was driving the sonata when all of a sudden the car lost its force and wouldn't move. While stuck in the middle of the street I was pushing the gas peddle but the car would not go. The ESC off light came on, and the check engine light as well. I powered the car off and turned it back on but the car still did not have a lot of force, but enough to get to a nearby parking lot. I left the car off in a parking lot for about 5 min and turned it back on. The ESC light turned off, but not the check engine.
The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while attempting to open the front driver’s side door, the outside door handle detached from the vehicle. The contact also stated that all four door handles had detached from the vehicle. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.