AutoUtility currently tracks 74 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Hyundai Kona. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 39 complaints (52.7% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 9 filings cite a crash, 10 cite a fire, 8 report one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 74 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (39 reports • 52.7% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Powertrain & Transmission (11), Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (8)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 9 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 10 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 8 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2018 Hyundai Kona
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Engine & Cooling
Powertrain & Transmission
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
Electrical System
Fuel & Propulsion System
Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Hyundai Kona
Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis
AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.
Engine Stalling / Sudden Shutdown
Smoke, Burning Odor or Thermal Event
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Hyundai Kona
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"I purchased a 2018 Hyundai Kona, and it has had one major issue after another. It burns an excessive amount of oil, the engine misfires, and now the turbocharger is failing. I’ve already spent approximately $2,300 repairing the air conditioner and engine, and I can’t afford thousands more in..."
"The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 MPH, there was a loud clunking sound coming from the engine bay, followed by grinding gear sounds. The vehicle lost drive power, causing the driver to coast over to the side of the road, where the vehicle..."
"The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that while driving it began to smoke, a noise was hear, put in neutral to coast down a hill and had to pull the parking break to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with defective piston oil rings, and..."
"The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Koa. The contact stated that while the daughter was driving the vehicle began to sputter and jerk before stalling. During the failure the oil warning light flashed off and on. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine had failed due to..."
"The vehicle suddenly stalled while driving on the highway at normal speed without warning. The engine lost power completely, creating a dangerous situation and a risk of collision with surrounding traffic. The vehicle had to be towed to a repair shop, where the issue was diagnosed as engine..."
Complaint History for Hyundai Kona
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2018–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Hyundai Kona Current Page | 74 | 9 | 0 | Current |
| 2019 Hyundai Kona | 187 | 11 | 1 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Hyundai Kona | 154 | 8 | 2 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Hyundai Kona | 141 | 3 | 1 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 Hyundai Kona | 103 | 3 | 2 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Hyundai Kona | 67 | 4 | 2 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Hyundai Kona | 47 | 5 | 3 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Hyundai Kona | 28 | 2 | 0 | View 2025 Problems → |
| 2026 Hyundai Kona | 0 | 0 | 3 | View 2026 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2018 Hyundai Kona
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 28 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),VISIBILITY/WIPER,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tires NHTSA category: TIRES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
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. The Petitioners cited examples of complaints indicating that the subject vehicles were experienc...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.