Hyundai Kona - Problems, Statistics, and Analysis

Hyundai Kona owners have reported a total of 1,232 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 (319 problems).

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

Model Year Number of Problems
  2026 Kona
15
  2025 Kona
48
  2024 Kona
84
  2023 Kona
99
  2022 Kona
151
  2021 Kona
166
  2020 Kona
234
  2019 Kona
319
  2018 Kona
116

🔍 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 (434 problems). The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's electrical system (201 problems).

Table 2. Common problems of Hyundai Kona

Problem Category Number of Problems
  Engine And Engine Cooling
434
  Electrical System
201
  Equipment
147
  Power Train
108
  Forward Collision Avoidance
67
  Vehicle Speed Control
46
  Other Fuel System
43
  Service Brakes
42
  Steering
20
  Exterior Lighting
19
   
  Lane Departure
19
  Structure
17
  Air Bag
16
  Visibility
13
  Wheel
8
  Seats
7
  Tire
6
  Suspension
6
  Seat Belt
5
  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 15176,4604    
0.49
  2021 16669,4675    
0.48
  2020 23469,0606    
0.56
  2019 31984,6037    
0.54
  2018 11644,1268    
0.33

📊 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
11
  2025 Kona
25
  2024 Kona
22
  2023 Kona
32
  2022 Kona
49
  2021 Kona
28
  2020 Kona
29
  2019 Kona
13
  2018 Kona
17


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