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What 157 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Hyundai Sonata Plug-in

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 (157)Crash / fire / injury (7)Engine (90)Electrical system (46)Transmission & drivetrain (16)Fuel system (9)Brakes (7)Lights (7)Hybrid Propulsion System (5)Speed control (4)Visibility & wipers (4)Driver assistance (3)

1 of 157 complaints match · Engine · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

May 23, 2019Electrical systemEngineFire

ON 5/11 MY WIFE WAS DRIVING WHEN SHE HEARD A CLICKING SOUND. SHE WAS NOT FAR FROM THE DEALERSHIP AND DECIDED TO DRIVE THE CAR IN TO GET LOOKED AT. AS SHE GOT CLOSE TO THE DEALERSHIP THE VEHICLE STARTED TO SMOKE. SHE PULLED OVER TO A SAFE LOCATION WHERE SHE COULD GET OUT AND AS SHE WAS PULLING OVER THE VEHICLE STARTED TO FLAME. SHE IMMEDIATELY GRABBED THE DOG AND JUMPED OUT OF THE CAR AND CALLED 911. WITHINJUST A COUPLE MINUTES OF EXITING THE VEHICLE IT WAS FULLY ENGULFED IN FLAMES AND EXPLODED.

NHTSA ODI 11209538

Working with the data? Download all 157 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 26, 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 2016 Hyundai Sonata Plug-in verdict →