Most common 2013 Hyundai Sonata problems
Share of the 1,916 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Hyundai Sonata complaints by model year
Best Sonata years: 2025, 2019, 2020. Years to avoid: 2011, 2013, 2012, 2015, 2017. Compare all years →
2013 Hyundai Sonata recalls (9)
Fuel system, gasoline › Delivery › Hoses, lines/piping, and fittings
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2013-2014 Sonata vehicles. The low pressure fuel hose that connects the low pressure fuel pump to the direct injection fuel pump may crack over time, due to heat generated within the engine compartment.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the low pressure fuel hose, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 10, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460.
Fuel system, gasoline › Delivery › Hoses, lines/piping, and fittings
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2013-2014 Sonata vehicles. The low pressure fuel hose that connects the low pressure fuel pump to the direct injection fuel pump may crack over time due to heat generated within the engine compartment.
Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the low-pressure fuel hose for damage or leaking, replacing it as necessary. If no damage or leaking is found, heat-protective tape will be installed.
Engine
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2011-2014 Sonata and 2013-2014 Santa Fe Sport vehicles previously repaired under recall numbers 15V-568 and 17V-226. The high pressure fuel pipe that connects to the fuel pump outlet may have been damaged, misaligned, or improperly torqued during the engine replacement…
Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the fuel pipe, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began March 1, 2019. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460.
Air bags › Air bag/restraint control module
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2011-2013 Sonata and 2011-2012 Sonata Hybrid vehicles. On February 27, 2018, Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai) notified NHTSA that they were recalling 154,753 model year 2011 Sonata vehicles.
Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will install an external wire filter kit, free of charge. The recall began October 15, 2018. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460.
Seat belts › Pretensioner
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2011-2014 Sonata and 2011-2015 Sonata Hybrid vehicles previously repaired under recall campaign 17V-152. The seat belt linkages for both front seat belts may detach from the seat belt anchor pretensioners.
Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will again verify the connection between the seat belt linkage and the pretensioner and additionally install a warning label to prevent future seat belt linkage detachment, free…
Engine and engine cooling › Engine
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2013-2014 Sonata and Santa Fe Sport vehicles. Machining errors during the engine manufacturing process may cause premature bearing wear within the engine.
Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the engine, replacing the engine short block, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began June 2017. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-800-633-5151.
Show 3 more recalls
Seat belts › Front › Anchorage
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2011-2014 Sonata and 2011-2015 Sonata Hybrid vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the seat belt linkages for both front seat belts may detach from the seat belt anchor pretensioners.
Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners and dealers will inspect the connection between the seat belt linkages and the seat belt anchor pretensioners, repairing them as necessary, free of charge.
Power train › Automatic transmission
Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai) is recalling certain model year 2011-2014 Sonata vehicles manufactured December 11, 2009, through May 29, 2014. In the affected vehicles, the transmission shift cable may detach from from the shift lever pin.
Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, as necessary, repair the connection between the shift cable and shift lever, free of charge. The recall began in September 2014.
Air bags › Side/window
Hyundai is recalling certain model year 2012-2013 Hyundai Sonata passenger cars, manufactured from January 24, 2012, through June 21, 2012. The curtain side airbags on these vehicles may inflate without deployment command due to an error during manufacturing.
Remedy: Hyundai dealers will notify owners, and dealers will replace the curtain side airbags free of charge. This recall began on August 31, 2012. Owners may contact Hyundai at 1-800-633-5151.
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into 9 possible defects involving the 2013 Hyundai Sonata:
Scope and Timeliness
NHTSA opened Recall Query (RQ) 17-004 to investigate the timeliness and scope of Hyundai?s Theta II GDI engine recalls (Recall Nos. 15V-568 and 17V-226), and Hyundai?s compliance with reporting requirements. On November 23, 2020, the Agency entered into a Consent Order with Hyundai to administratively resolve NHTSA?s assertions of violations of law in connection with RQ17-004.
Non-crash Vehicle Fires
During this Preliminary Evaluation (PE), the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) assessed the scope, frequency and potential safety-related consequences of non-crash vehicle fires caused by both engine failures and failures of other vehicle systems/components in model year (MY) 2011-2014 Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe vehicles equipped with Theta II and Lambda II engines (approximately 1.3 million vehicles).
Air bags may be disabled during crash
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE18-003 on 3/16/18 to investigate incidents involving crashes, resulting in significant collision related damage, where the frontal airbags failed to deploy. ODI reviewed complaint data, available design, test, and field data on the model year (MY) 2011 Hyundai Sonata, MY 2012-2013 Kia Forte and Forte Koup vehicles.
Front Passenger Seat Belt Anchor Failure
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation on December 27, 2016 based on two ODI consumer complaints reporting a failure of the front passenger seat belt to remain connected to the seat belt anchor and pre-tensioner during a crash.On March 8, 2017 Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) filed a defect report with the agency stating that it would conduct a safety recall on 977,778 model year…
Engine Fires
On March 29, 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened two Preliminary Evaluations (PE19-003 on Hyundai and PE19-004 on Kia) to broadly investigate incidents of non-crash fires (regardless of origin or operational status of the vehicle) on various model year Hyundai and Kia vehicles.
Electrical overstress
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect. During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events.
Loss of Motive Power
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received a letter dated July 13, 2022, petitioning the Agency to initiate a safety defect investigation into loss of motive power allegations attributed to oil drain pan assembly failures on certain Hyundai Motor America, Inc. and Kia America, Inc. vehicles spanning Model Years (MY) 2005-2021.
Throttle control system vulnerabilities
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received a petition letter dated October 10, 2021, requesting an investigation of possible defects in the electronic throttle control (ETC) system on certain Kia vehicles resulting in the opening of DP21-003.
Non-crash Vehicle Fires
In a letter dated June 11, 2018, the Center for Auto Safety (CAS) petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to initiate a safety defect investigation into non-collision related fires on model year (MY) 2011-2014 Kia Optima and Sorento, and Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe vehicles. In a letter dated July 24, 2018, CAS requested that MY 2010-2015 Kia Soul vehicles be added to the petition.
What 2013 Hyundai Sonata owners say
Engine & cooling all 775 →
The contact owned a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while the vehicle was at a standstill at a traffic light, the vehicle seized and there was smoke exiting under the hood. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to exit the vehicle and open the hood when the smoke faded away but did not see any visible fire. The contact was able to push the vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to his residence. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer and had two unknown recalls completed on 9/1/2021. The contact also stated he would smell fuel fumes when starting the heater. The local dealer was made aware of the failure. The contact stated on 12/8/2021, while parking the vehicle, he saw smoke exiting under the hood. …
The contact owned a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. No warning lights were illuminated. A nearby Samaritan attempted to jump-start the vehicle, however the vehicle failed to start. The contact stated that 15 minutes later, the contact attempted to start the vehicle, and the vehicle started. The O'Rileys, where it was diagnosed with a failed battery. The contact was informed that the battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the following day, while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to crank. The contact noticed smoke coming from under the hood. The contact and the contact's son exited the vehicle. The contact stated that fire came from under the hood, and the vehicle was consumed in the fire. The fire department arrived and extinguished the fire. …
Steering all 342 →
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35-65 MPH, the vehicle decelerated unintendedly. In addition, while turning the steering wheel to the left or the right, there was an abnormal clicking noise coming from the steering column. Most recently, while driving at unknown speeds, the brake pedal required excessive force to bring the vehicle to a stop. The contact stated that it was discovered that an unknown liquid was leaking underneath the front of the vehicle with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that all the drive belts had fractured, and there was a fracture in the oil line and the radiator. The brakes had failed due to the calipers sticking and failed choppers and readers. …
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while driving approximately 50-60 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to continue to drive the vehicle however, extra effort was needed to steer the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving and turning. The dealer was notified of the failure and an appointment was scheduled. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 84,000.
Electrical system all 261 →
The contact owned a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving 45 MPH, she saw flames coming from under the instrument panel on the passenger's side. The contact stated that his daughter pulled over immediately and exited the vehicle. The contact stated that soon after his daughter went away from the vehicle, the vehicle caught on fire. The contact stated that no warning light was illuminated. The fire department was able to extinguish the flames. The contact stated that a police report was filed. There was no injury. The contact stated that the insurance company deemed the vehicle totaled. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 155,000.
I bought my car used from a private party in March of 2022 with around 132,000miles. In a year's time I have replaced the rear passenger side tail light bulbs 3 to 4 times, the whole light assembly, and the wiring harness twice due to the bulb getting to hot and the plastic caught on fire the first time and melting the second. Noticed the smoke when I pulled into a gas station that day and opened the trunk quickly and beat the small flame with a small blanket I had in the trunk. My kids sit in the back seat. So I'm constantly worrying while driving when they are in the back. The headlight bulbs go out quicker in this vehicle as well. I've had to replace the headlight bulbs 3 times already. This is also too close to the fuel pump for this sort of thing to happen in my opinion. This needs to be resolved A. S. A. P.
2013 Hyundai Sonata engines & fuel economy
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | MPG city / hwy / combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.4L 4-cyl hybrid | 6-speed dual-clutch | FWD | 35 / 38 / 37 |
| 2.4L 4-cyl | 6-speed automatic | FWD | 24 / 34 / 27 |
| 2.4L 4-cyl | 6-speed manual | FWD | 24 / 34 / 27 |
| 2.0L 4-cyl turbo | 6-speed automatic | FWD | 22 / 33 / 26 |
EPA ratings. Class: Midsize car.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2013 Hyundai Sonata a good car?
Based on 1,916 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2013 Sonata rates avoid: 5.4× as many complaints as a typical year of the Sonata at the same age. It is one of the Sonata years we suggest avoiding. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 2013 Hyundai Sonata?
The engine & cooling — 775 complaints, 40% of all complaints for this model year, most often about exhaust system › manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe. Next are the steering (342) and electrical system (261).
How many recalls does the 2013 Hyundai Sonata have?
There are 9 recalls for the 2013 Hyundai Sonata, the most recent from May 6, 2022 (hoses, lines/piping, and fittings). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Hyundai Sonata?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2025, 2019 and 2020. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 2011, 2013, 2012, 2015 and 2017. See the full Hyundai Sonata years comparison.
At what mileage do 2013 Hyundai Sonata problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 78,000 miles; 30% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.