2010 Hyundai Sonata problems
Owners have filed 415 complaints with NHTSA about the 2010 Hyundai Sonata. Body & structure is the most reported problem area, at 40% of complaints. Next are brakes (7%) and engine (7%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 415 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Body & structure 40% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 23 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 20 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 65,000 miles 329 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 | 42 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 46 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 47 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 77 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 55 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 24 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 22 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 6 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 8 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 329 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 65,000 miles. For body & structure specifically, the median reported mileage is about 68,000 miles (139 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 23 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 20 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2010 ranks 13th most-complained-about out of 34 model years of the Hyundai Sonata with enough data (238 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.
Drivers side impact with failure of driver's side air bag to deploy. Side curtain air bag did deploy. Accident resulted in fatality.
We were hit on the right front passenger side by a driver on a Suzuki motorcycle. The driver was ejected from the motorcycle, went thru the right passenger window, traveled across the passenger compartment. He came to rest head down on my lap. Accident was fatal for the motorcyclist who died at the site. My adult autistic son was seated in the rear seat behind the passenger seat. The side front passenger window was completely shattered and the rear right passenger window was shattered also.
I was stopped in traffic on I-4 in florida and a GMC pickup truck hit me in the rear of my car a 2010 hyundai sonata. The GMC truck was going 70-78 MPH when it hit me. None of my side or any of my air bags deployed as they should have. It happened on 12/23/16. Your lower date code wouldn't let me insert this date. Super government technology.
The manual transmission in my 2010 hyundai sonata has been having abnormal issues since my date of purchase. First it was just stalling when disengaging the clutch from reverse and first gear; now it is primarily from first gear. To get the car to move forward you must drag the clutch and push the accelerator causing an odd clacking noise in the front of the car, or sometimes it has a squealing or rubbing sound and the car does not move forward and there is a burning smell.
After driving on highway and then slowing for traffic which became stop and go traffic - the brake pedal started slowly fading all the way to the floor. After coming to a stop and pumping the pedal - the brakes seemed to respond but then the same issue repeated - had to have the car towed and discovered that the calipers had frozen on both rear wheels (wheels would not turn freely by hand when car was on lift) and the front right caliper was becoming tight as well.