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What 31 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid Hev

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 (31)Crash / fire / injury (2)Engine (9)Transmission & drivetrain (7)Fuel system (5)Speed control (5)Visibility & wipers (5)Electrical system (4)Brakes (3)Driver assistance (3)Backup camera & sensors (1)Lights (1)

5 of 31 complaints match · Speed control · clear filters

Jun 30, 2025Electrical systemSpeed controlBrakes

1. Sometimes vehicle does not start. Only starts if battery reset button pushed. 2. Sometimes vehicle while moving has delayed braking after juddering. Only stops when car stopped and restarted. 3. Sometimes vehicle while moving suddenly revs, RPMs spike until car stopped and restarted. Engine revs but does not shoot forward. 4. Spookiest of all, while moving car suddenly stops accelerating. Pedal on the floor and it is coasting to a stop. When car stopped, and turned off, then it will work. Had we been on the interstate we would have died, These incidents were sporadic and occurred on and off during the month of April and May. Each of the above occurred numerous times to different drivers. Service at two locations were unable to ID. We sold the moving death trap to one of the Hyundai dealers who could find no mechanical problems with the vehicle. The vehicle was terrifying to drive. There are other reports on this vehicle of these issues ... which appear to be electronic. Hyundai has good engineers. They know what is causing this and simply do not want to replace a very expensive but obviously failing electronic control module.

NHTSA ODI 11670164

Dec 13, 2024Speed controlCrash1 injury

As I was (very slowly) pulling into a parking place at a park near my home and I was braking to come to a full stop, the car suddenly lurched forward, jumped the parking place barrier, and hit a tree. The front end of the car was badly damaged and the airbag opened. I sustained injuries to my left hand and my chest, though nothing was broken. The car was towed to a body shop, where it has been declared not reparable. Photos of the car at the scene are attached. This accident seems to be consistent with reports/recalls of the Hyundai Elantra of unintended acceleration when releasing the brake. We did talk to police shortly after the accident but we are unsure if they filed a report.

NHTSA ODI 11630568

Sep 26, 2024Speed controlBrakesDriver assistance

Our 2023 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid developed an issue with the forward radar. At speed, the car produces a warning ding and then a warning message is displayed stating, "Critical Forward Safety functions are limited. Radar blocked." If the adaptive cruise control is engaged at the time of the warning, it immediately disengages, forcing the driver to quickly respond. If there is a vehicle in the adjacent lane to the right, the automatic braking may at times activate. It happens rain or shine, in good or inclement weather. We have cleaned the areas of the sensors without effect. One dealership has evaluated the vehicle twice and a second dealership once but we have been informed that there was no defect identified. I believe this issue to be a serious safety defect.

NHTSA ODI 11616748

Nov 14, 2023Transmission & drivetrainSpeed control

The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds and attempting to park the vehicle, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated before the contact was able to regain control of the vehicle. The following day while driving away from a stop light, the vehicle briefly shuddered and was unable to exceed 20 MPH, prompting the contact to pull to the shoulder of the roadway. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 3,000.

NHTSA ODI 11555047

Oct 12, 2023Transmission & drivetrainSpeed controlEngine

On four occasions in the last five weeks, I have been driving at relatively low speed (20-30 MPH), and when I attempt to accelerate, the vehicle will not accelerate when I press the gas pedal. The tachometer shows the RPMs are maxed out, but the vehicle does not accelerate no matter how hard I press the gas pedal. I have to pull off the road, turn off the vehicle, and restart to fix it. I am certain I have not accidentally hit any buttons or switches each time. I have tried changing drive modes (eco/normal/sport) and using the paddle shifters and that has no effect. Cruise control is off, and no other speed limiting system is activated. There are no warning lights or indicators when this occurs. This is incredibly dangerous, as I am unable to get up to speed on a main road. A few instances led me to be unable to successfully merge onto a main road, which has led to me almost being rear-ended on one occasion, and the most recent instance I was in the left lane of a main road and attempting to pass a large truck and could not maintain speed. I was fortunate to come upon a slight downhill slope and was able to coast across the right lane and get off the road, but it was a near-accident. The dealer service center was unable to diagnose the issue, and therefore could not repair it.

NHTSA ODI 11549579

Working with the data? Download all 31 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 20, 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 2023 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid Hev verdict →