Hyundai Kona - Problems, Statistics, and Analysis

Hyundai Kona owners have reported a total of 1,063 problems for their cars built in the 9 model years listed in the chart below. The chart shows the number of problems reported across all service years for each given model year of the Hyundai Kona. The 2019 Hyundai Kona cars have the most problems reported (289 problems).

Table 1. Total number of problems by model year for Hyundai Kona

Model Year Number of Problems
  2026 Kona
6
  2025 Kona
33
  2024 Kona
56
  2023 Kona
91
  2022 Kona
136
  2021 Kona
143
  2020 Kona
207
  2019 Kona
289
  2018 Kona
102

🔍 Common problems of Hyundai Kona

The following chart shows the 23 most common problems for Hyundai Kona cars. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's engine and engine cooling (365 problems). The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's electrical system (183 problems).

Table 2. Common problems of Hyundai Kona

Problem Category Number of Problems
  Engine And Engine Cooling
365
  Electrical System
183
  Equipment
131
  Power Train
93
  Forward Collision Avoidance
58
  Other Fuel System
37
  Vehicle Speed Control
36
  Service Brakes
34
  Exterior Lighting
18
  Lane Departure
18
   
  Steering
15
  Air Bag
15
  Structure
14
  Visibility
10
  Wheel
8
  Seats
7
  Tire
5
  Suspension
4
  Seat Belt
4
  Back Over Prevention
3
  Electronic Stability Control
2
  Latches/locks/linkage
2
  Gasoline Fuel System
1

📉 Compare Reliability Across Model Years Using PPMY Index

It would not be fair to compare the Hyundai Kona of an older model year to newer model years since older vehicles have been in service longer and thus are expected to have more problems. In order to compare the reliability across Kona model years, we use the PPMY index which is defined as the problems reported per thousand vehicles per Year. A smaller PPMY index indicates greater reliability of the given model year cars.

    PPMY = P / S / Y * 1000,

where P = total problems reported during the life of a Hyundai Kona model year; S = total units sold of the model year; Y = years since the debut of the model year (the age of the vehicle).

The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Use PPMY Index to Compare Reliability Across Kona Model Years

Kona
Model Year
Problems Sales [1] Vehicle
Age
PPMY Index
  2022 13676,4604    
0.44
  2021 14369,4675    
0.41
  2020 20769,0606    
0.50
  2019 28984,6037    
0.49
  2018 10244,1268    
0.29

📊 Number of Problems Reported During the First Year

Another way to measure the reliability across the model years of the Hyundai Kona is to use the total number of problems reported during the vehicle's first year in service, as shown in the Table 4.

Table 4. Number of problems in vehicle's; first service year

Model YearProblems Reported
  2026 Kona
2
  2025 Kona
25
  2024 Kona
21
  2023 Kona
32
  2022 Kona
49
  2021 Kona
28
  2020 Kona
29
  2019 Kona
13
  2018 Kona
17


Kona Service Bulletins
Kona Defect Investigations
Compare Reliability: