AutoUtility currently tracks 840 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2017 Hyundai Sonata. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 420 complaints (50% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 29 filings cite a crash, 15 cite a fire, 9 report one or more injuries, 1 reports one or more fatalities.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 840 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (420 reports • 50% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Steering System (181), Electrical System (83)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 29 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 15 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 9 injury filings • 1 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
840
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
29
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
15
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
9
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
1
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2017 Hyundai Sonata

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 50% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

420 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 6 crash reports 🔥 10 fire reports
#2 Problem Area 21.5% of complaints

Steering System

181 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 5 crash reports 🔥 1 fire report 🩹 1 injury report entry
#3 Problem Area 9.9% of complaints

Electrical System

83 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 4 crash reports 🩹 2 injury report entries
#4 Problem Area 7.7% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

65 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports
#5 Problem Area 6.7% of complaints

Body & Structure

56 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 1 crash report 🔥 2 fire reports 🩹 1 injury report entry
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Hyundai Sonata

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.

Powertrain & Transmission 7.1% of complaints

Loss of Motive Power While Driving

60 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Engine & Cooling 3.7% of complaints

Engine Coolant Intrusion / Oil Leak

31 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Hyundai Sonata

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11752878
Filed: 07/26/2026

"We had a recall done, Campaign 92C, and every since then the car drives horrible. It's worse when cool, it sputters, and hesitates especially when excellerating. Even after warmed up it seems to slam in and out of gear at low speeds, even when foot is not on the gas. The drive is choppy. The..."

Incident Date: 06/11/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Steering System NHTSA ODI ID: #11752817
Filed: 07/25/2026

"I was driving and all of a sudden the traction lights turned on and the sterring wheel is hard to turn. Almost go in a car accident. The windows just stopped working and the brakes light constantly keep getting burned out."

Incident Date: 06/01/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEATS
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA ODI ID: #11751813
Filed: 07/21/2026

"I am writing to report a direct violation of the Theta II Class Action Settlement terms by Hyundai Motor America. This morning , I emailed an Executive Case Manager explicitly explaining that my 2017 Sonata has an active P1326 code, has the 2019 KSDS update, and requires a mandatory diagnostic..."

Incident Date: 07/11/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11748628
Filed: 07/06/2026

"My engine seemed to be consuming oil way to much I had to do a oil change at 61,000 recommend by tire plus but at 58,000 is when I had to change my oil I also noticed there is a buring smell and its also been leaking oil at times I went to get it checked out by a mechanic at tireplus but they also..."

Incident Date: 06/25/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11747509
Filed: 06/30/2026

"Driving home from work on [XXX] (not a safe location)when my car lost power and engine light began to flash. I pulled off to the side of road and called my dad. He came with a code reader and said there was a code P1326. He cleared the code and car drove normally again. 2 days later it began to run..."

Incident Date: 06/19/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Hyundai Sonata

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Hyundai Sonata 1192 38 12 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Hyundai Sonata 850 23 8 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Hyundai Sonata Current Page 840 29 4 Current
2018 Hyundai Sonata 378 18 1 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Hyundai Sonata 163 9 0 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Hyundai Sonata 189 5 4 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Hyundai Sonata 182 8 4 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Hyundai Sonata 110 8 3 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Hyundai Sonata 100 8 2 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Hyundai Sonata 54 1 1 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Hyundai Sonata 27 1 0 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Hyundai Sonata 0 0 1 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2017 Hyundai Sonata

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 104 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 296 2 7 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 148 3 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 54 1 3 0 1
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 23 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 18 1 0 0 0
Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 17 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 15 5 0 6 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 15 0 0 0 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 14 0 1 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 13 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 12 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 11 1 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 11 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 9 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 9 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 8 2 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 7 3 0 2 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 6 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ENGINE 6 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5 1 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 5 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,ENGINE 4 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 3 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 3 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 0 0 0 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 3 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 3 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 2 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 2 0 0 0 0
SEAT BELTS,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 2 0 0 0 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 2 0 1 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 2 2 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 2 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS 1 1 0 2 0
AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,STRUCTURE 1 1 0 1 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SEAT BELTS,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS 1 1 0 1 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,STRUCTURE,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 1 0 0 0
STEERING,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 1 0 0
STRUCTURE,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 1 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (840). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (5)

1 OPEN 4 CLOSED

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
OPEN Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA25005
Opened: 2025-10-21 • Currently Active

DTN Air Bag Inflator Rupture

Affected Component: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has become aware of eight vehicle crashes in which a rupture of a Jilin Province Detiannuo Automobile Safety System Co., Ltd. (DTN) air bag inflator occurred during the deployment of the driver side air bag. All eight drivers in these crashes sustained serious or fatal injuries that appear linked to the ruptures. Six of those drivers sustained fatal injuries and two sustained severe injuries. In all eight...

Active federal investigation. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Defect Petition (DP) ODI Action #DP22005
Opened: 2023-01-27 • Closed: 2023-08-07

Pedestrian alert sounds

Affected Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight ra...

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 22V063000 Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Defect Petition (DP) ODI Action #DP22003
Opened: 2022-09-12 • Closed: 2023-12-12

Loss of Motive Power

Affected Component: ENGINE

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...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA21003
Opened: 2021-12-22 • Closed: 2024-02-05

Engine Fires

Affected Component: ENGINE

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.  During the PE investigations, Hyundai and Kia issued several recalls to address vehicle fires, including those due to engine failures involving variou...

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 23V877 Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA19001
Opened: 2019-04-19 • Closed: 2024-09-19

Electrical overstress

Affected Component: AIR BAGS: AIR BAG/RESTRAINT CONTROL MODULE

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. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (AC...

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 20V024 Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

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.