Home · 2012 Hyundai Accent 5 · Complaints

What 152 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Hyundai Accent 5

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (152)Crash / fire / injury (21)Engine (36)Brakes (33)Electrical system (24)Speed control (18)Airbags (17)Fuel system (12)Body & structure (9)Steering (9)Tires (9)Suspension (7)

1 of 152 complaints match · Steering · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Jun 22, 2014SteeringSpeed controlBrakesCrash

WE PURCHASED A 2012 HYUNDAI ACCENT ON OCTOBER 19, 2011. FROM THE VERY FIRST DAY WE STARTED HAVING ISSUES WHERE THE BRAKES WOULD NOT BRAKE AT TIMES AND WOULD HAVE BOUTS OF UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. FROM THE FIRST DAY OF PURCHASE WE ADVISED THE HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP AND EVEN BROUGHT IN OUR VEHICLE TO BE LOOKED AT. THEY REFUSED TO DO ANY KIND OF DIAGNOSTIC AND SAID THAT I WAS BEING A PARANOID WOMAN AND NEW MOMS TEND TO WORRY TOO MUCH. MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE BOTH DRIVEN THIS VEHICLE AND EXPERIENCED THIS ISSUE. WE ADVISED HYUNDAI, THE DEALERSHIP AND OUR INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE ISSUE. EACH TIME WE BROUGHT THE CAR INTO THE DEALERSHIP THE ACTED VERY CAVALIER AS IT WAS "NOT A BIG DEAL" AND WOULD SEND US ON OUR WAY. WE HAD VARIOUS COMMUNICATIONS AND HAVE PAPERWORK WHERE THE DEALERSHIP NOTED WE WERE COMPLAINING OF THE BRAKES NOT WORKING AND THEN THEY WOULD STATE THEY DID NOT/WILL NOT DO A DIAGNOSTIC. I WOULD NOT ALLOW MY CHILDREN TO RIDE IN THIS VEHICLE FURTHER AS IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THIS WAS NOT ONLY GOING TO KEEP HAPPENING BUT AS TIME PASSED IT HAPPENED MORE FREQUENTLY AND CAUSED ME TO FEAR FOR MY LIFE. IN DECEMBER 2013 I ADVISED MY HUSBAND I FEARED FOR MY LIFE. ONE WEEK LATER 12/16/13 I WAS IN AN ACCIDENT WHERE I WAS SLOWLY TURNING, WENT TO BRAKE AND THE BRAKES FELT EMPTY AS THEY DID WHEN THIS WOULD HAPPEN AND THE CAR REVVED LOUDLY AND ACCELERATED AT AN EXTREME SPEED. THESE BOUTS OF UNINTENDED ACCELERATION ARE DOCUMENTED YET HYUNDAI AND THE HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP WILL NOT RESPOND APPROPRIATELY,. THEY DISMISSED MY CLAIM STATING OUR FLOOR MAT PROTECTOR WHICH LAYS FLAT AND HAS PLENTY OF CLEARANCE IS THE CAUSE HOWEVER I MUST ADVISE AND HAVE RESPONDED THAT THE FLOOR MAT PROTECTORS WERE NOT PURCHASED UNTIL THE FOLLOWING YEAR AND DID NOT GET PUT INTO THE VEHICLE UNTIL JULY OF 2013 SO THE DOCUMENTED INCIDENTS WERE MOSTLY BEFORE AND ONE IN JULY 2013 AFTER THEY HAD BEEN PLACED IN THE CAR. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10605008

Working with the data? Download all 152 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 25, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2012 Hyundai Accent 5 verdict →