general problems of the 2015 Hyundai Sonata - part 1

I was driving on the highway and the engine shut off but everything else remained on. I drifted to the breakdown lane and turned the car off. It would not start again and the car began acting up by turning lights on and off, telling me to check the tire pressure, and not unlocking the doors. I then saw some very light smoke from the engine compartment. I popped the hood and looked and saw a glow on the bottom side of the engine area. Then the car just went up in flames.

My 2015 Hyundai Sonata has a defective engine. The motor failed unexpectedly even though the car has low usage and has always been maintained properly. I was informed that many Hyundai engines from these years came with manufacturing issues, and mine appears to be one of them.

While I was driving at approximately 55mph, a loud clank happened and the car stalled, and smoke started pouring out of the hood and through the vents into the cabin, and I was leaving burning pieces behind on the road. I pulled over, ran to the back to get my dogs out of their crash tested kennels in the backseat, and both rear doors & passenger front door were locked. I ran up front to unlock them, and the unlock button did not work. I tried the unlock on the keys and it did not work. Due to having a recommended crash safe kennel set up it was not possible to crawl into the back to open it from the inside. My dogs were trapped in a car that was filled with smoke and on fire for over 2 minutes while I debated breaking the windows. I managed to fish a wire into the back to unlock and pull the door open from the inside of the back doors. The car stopped burning but was still smoking for several minutes after & I was able to clear the smoke to make it safe for my dogs to wait for a tow. When the mechanic looked at it he said the engine blew up due to the rod shattering into the block, destroying the entire engine and spilling oil which lit on fire. Mechanic recommended I contact Hyundai for engine replacement as this was a known issue with other 2015 Hyundai Sonatas which were recalled due to risk of a defect rod knock causing the rod to shatter causing high speed stalling. Hyundai says my engine was not included in that specific recall. I included photo of the shattered rod which fell out when the mechanic lifted the vehicle.

The rubber stopper for the brake light switch on the brake pedal deteriorated and fell apart. This resulted in the brake lights remaining on constantly, cruise control being disabled, and low battery voltage.

We pulled up at hillgreen circle cockysville MD to drop my boyfriend off at his apartment. I went to pull in the parking spot. I went to put the car into park and it had no brakes. I was slamming them and pumping them. It excellerated and took off. Jumped the curb,went down the hill and into the apartment building. A red light had came on the dash, right before it took off. Seemed like it was changing to gas or the electric mode,or the other way around. The airbag on the passenger side came out deflated,and filled with smoke going into the car. He was the belted front passenger and his elbow went in to the front window. You can tell by looking at it,the hole and spidered around it. He broke his right elbow. It is available anytime at the moment. It's at Hyundaii in glen burnie. I need to get it to state farms lot,to get the kelly blue book value. We look forward to hearing from you.

I have contacted the guy that sold me the car he refused to fix the recall which is my motor I need something done , Hyundai won’t honor their recall .

The engine light started to come on and go off and when I got the codes ran, it said something along the line of misfire. I had the spark plugs changed and I kept regular maintenance done on oil changes and tune ups. Now my engine is knocking and the vehicle is in limp mode.

On may 28, 2025, my 2015 Hyundai Sonata experienced a sudden and complete loss of power while driving at highway speed on I-75 in sarasota, FL. There were no warning lights, error messages, or abnormal performance indicators prior to the failure. Within minutes of losing power, smoke began to enter the cabin, followed by visible flames from the engine compartment. I pulled over, exited the vehicle, and called 911. The fire fully engulfed the vehicle and destroyed personal property inside, including my late father’s ashes. The incident caused significant emotional distress and has resulted in a ptsd diagnosis. The sudden nature of the failure and rapid spread of the fire suggest a critical defect in the vehicle’s engine or related components. I believe this represents a serious safety hazard to other Hyundai owners and the public. Documentation, photographs, and insurance/fire reports are available.

My steering rack had to be replaced at less than 55,000 miles. I asked the dealer if this was covered under warranty and they said no. I was charged $4,800 for this repair. I contacted Hyundai USA and they refused to cover the repair. I then realized that I had received a letter from Hyundai stating my car had the extended warranty of 15 years/150m miles for this exact repair. I am on the phone with Hyundai now and they are still refusing to cover this repair, even though they sent me the letter stating my car has this extended warranty. My car is available for inspection upon request. Yes, my safety and the safety of others was put at risk, my power steering would intermittently go out while turning. Yes, my car was inspected twice, once in 2023 and again in may of 2025. Repairs were done in may. I was told this was not covered under warranty but I have an extended warranty from Hyundai for this exact problem. That extended warranty is for 15 years/150m miles. Yes, the occurrence in 2025 threw a code of c168708 - can time out vsm (mdps) and c1814 - can message failure sas.

Mi auto no enciende y no detecta la llave simplemem nte no funciona nada no puedo arrancarlo.

I was driving and when turning into a parking lot, I accelerated and the vehicle stalled. It did not go suddenly when accelerating. A couple days later, I use a code reader and have a code listed as p1326. So I take it for a diagnostic at a local shop and I am told it is the knock sensor detection system (ksds). I was advised to take it to a Hyundai dealer because often these vehicles have manufacture warranty since there’s recalls. There have been some vehicles under this recall Hyundai put out as service campaign 966 or 982. They have had vehicles deal with this sensor issue before. Hence why there is a campaign issued. I review to see if there are any recalls on my vehicle and tare none but there are other models listed for this particular issue for Hyundai vehicles. My vehicle was driving fine and it’s fairly new. Low miles then suddenly this happened without warning. I believe it is a recall issue for this model as well.

On 03/14 I was driving down the road the with the sunroof open the wind flap suddenly went to flying making a loud sound I pulled over and saw that it was loose and hanging I went to press the button to attempt to close it and it semi closed. I went and had it looked at and was told that it was broken and could not be closed and needed to be replaced I was told it was a common issue with Hyundais and to contact the company.

For about a month now the power steering was going in and out and then just the other day, the power steering went completely out, I am now having it towed to the dealership today 02/11/2025. I've also had oil consumption problems to the point where there is only 1 quart of oil left in the engine when getting the oil changed, had the combustion cleaning done and no help. Hyundai said no to a new engine, car only has 102,000 miles on it, only 10 years old and Hyundai hasn't helped a bit, said that I would have to come out of pocket but I ended up having to spend $600 on the cleaning, which is absurd.

Power steering failed, car diagnosed with code c2412 & Hyundai refuses to take accountability.

The charging system malfunctioned twice. The car is available for inspection upon request. I am not sure if it may put me at risk but it does give the directive to stop the car. I have taken the car to Hyundai the first day it malfunctioned and explained the charging system malfunction. Hyundai only completed any known recalls. My car has never had any warning lights to come on until the charging system began to malfunction.

I've had my 2015 Hyundai Sonata now for a year. I took it to the Hyundai place to have recalls on the security fixed. And told them about the valve cover gasket leaking. They said they fixed it. However every since I took it to the dealership I have had nothing but problems. My car makes a rattling noise when I accelerate, I smell a strong gas smell occasionally at random times but always while driving. My driver brake light has never worked, my driver headlight keeps blowing, my airbag light is now coming on randomly, my car has a bag vibration while going down the road, when I let off the gas it stops and I have replaced tires and still it won't go away no matter what I have done to fix it , and there has been many times after I return home the smell of something burning as off something is on fire is coming from my car. I have even been in panick thinking something today home was on fire but the smell was coming from my car. And others have even stated they smelled it as well. I've already taken out two loans to fix the valve cover gasket and the fuel pump filter, I can not keep taking out loans to fix problems that appears to be problems from the manufacturer and same problems others have had due to malfunctioning issues. I have children that ride in my car, I would hate for someone to get hurt or worse bc of manufacturing problems. Then Hyundai would have a bigger problem on their hands.

Unknown I pulled up to a gas station filled up my car coming back frome work like usual I finish I take off not even 1 mile and it started lacking the batteries got drained and it turned off I try to turn it back on and all it does is give me a message telling me to check charging system.

They try to use a fob key 3-4 time and it won’t sink in and my door is having problems locking without it.

Engine sputters, no power. Warning light comes on that there’s a malfunction pull over and do not drive. We had the dealer look at it and he couldn’t find anything wrong.

I was driving down the street I went to show down by hitting my brakes they wouldn't slow down the vehicle then the car caught fire.

I have been driving at night about 3 times now and my headlights have gone off on their own and come back on after about 10 seconds. This has happened on countless other Hyundai drivers vehicles and needs to be investigated.

I was driving on the highway and my engine violently started to shake and I pulled onto the shoulder and the engine shut off. I’ve had oil leak and engine problems with this car for 2 and a half out of 3 years! I’ve had to buy countless gallons of oil. Multiple spark plugs, coil packs, etc. You can’t drive the car for one whole minute without it stalling in traffic and almost causing accidents. So I can’t drive it!.

At 40,000 miles the transmission is already jerking, shifting hard into gear and downshifting hard .

On June 30, 2024 I was driving a 2015 Hyundai Sonata and the car caught on fire. There were no warning lights/ dash indicators/ no check engine lights or other warnings present. I had just exited the highway and while sitting at a light, smoke began emanating from the hood and within seconds the smoke turned dark brown at the vents near the windshield. I immediately exited out of the vehicle. I did not have time to pull over out of traffic. The car was engulfed in flames within a very short period of time. I had only seconds to exit the car. I would have struggled to get any passengers out of the backseat safely (I. E. Kids in car seats) had I not been the only one in the car at the time. We had notified Hyundai of engine concerns that began in 2023, and they had given us the runaround for many months requiring us to submit paperwork for oil changes for the lifetime of the car and to keep returning to the dealership for "testing" after driving a certain # of miles. They required us to bring the car in to have pictures of the engine taken to ensure there wasn't "neglect" to the car on our part. This excessive and lengthy process by Hyundai took several months after initial concerns were brought up with the dealer. After being required to submit voluminous amount of paperwork and several trips to the dealership for "testing", Hyundai finally agreed to replace the faulty engine. We were told we could continue to drive it until a new engine was ordered. The new engine was scheduled to be replaced on July 11, 2024 however, the car burst into flames on June 30, 2024. Had Hyundai taken appropriate action when the issue was first brought to their attention, this incident would have likely been avoided and had not endangered my life and others helping. Thank you for your attention to this incident.

My headlight and break lights constantly go out and need repairs and malfunction each time a change the light bulbs. My engine does not hold oil and it leaks constantly after 20 days of driving I have to get oil change every 30 days. I have repaired this leak on several times by the professionals and it still leaks and locks up my engine due to low oil.

In April 2023, I purchased a 2015 Hyundai Sonata eco from carvana with 56,000 miles. By may 2023, the mileage was around 72,000. While driving from south houston to north houston on may 22nd, 2023, the car loudly popped as I exited the highway around 5:00 pm cst. I noticed smoke coming from the rear and parked in a construction zone near a convenience store. Upon inspection, the vehicle stopped working, and I saw a significant fluid leak underneath. A bystander alerted me to flames from the bottom and under the hood. I called 911, and the fire department arrived to extinguish the fire. Fortunately, there were no injuries or property damage. I later discovered that specific 2011–2015 Hyundai models had been recalled due to fire risk (NHTSA 23v-651000), but this did not include the Hyundai Sonata eco. The recall was due to the anti-lock brake system (abs) module leaking brake fluid internally, potentially causing an electrical short and leading to a fire. I have photos and videos documenting the incident. Following the incident, I filed a claim with travelers insurance, and on may 28th, 2023, the vehicle was declared a total loss. While I appreciate their offer of ~$13,000, it is insufficient to cover the remaining loan balance of approximately $17,300. I am worried about the financial impact and potential danger I face due to this malfunction. The lack of information highlights the need for better consumer education. I am now looking into options to cover the remaining loan balance, acquire a new vehicle, and, most importantly, advocate for improved driver education regarding this defect.

My 2015 Hyundai Sonata sport with 63k miles does not show any open recalls relating to fires however, my car was parked, went to turn it on, smelled an electrical smell and white smoke began billowing out of the engine. Within minutes the vehical engine compartment was engulfed in flames. I was able to remove my family from the vehicle and fire department came out to extinguish the vehicle. Thankfully everyone movedthere vehicles and no other vehicles were impacted but insurance has inspected the vehicle and determined it's a total loss as the whole engine compartment is melted. If not for me thinking and the action of others, many others cars could have been burned and my family burned and injured as they are still shook up about. Hyundai offered me a low settlement but there is know recall on the specific VIN for electrical or engine issues. The following weekend I met a guy who just purchased a pre-owned Hyundai and after leaving he stopped at a red light and the vehicle engine compartment went up in flames while parked. There is a larger issue at hand here and please help us investigate this so no one else has to go through this nightmare.

Hybrid system failure leading to complete power loss while driving.

While driving our vehicle (Hyundai 2015 Sonata hybrid) around 25 mph speed in city road. . . The vehicle stopped completely by itself in few seconds. Got the message "hybrid system warning! safely stop and do not drive" in dashboard and beep beep sounds. Thank god, no accident, the vehicles behand able to stop and avoid the collision. This is serious safety issue, as this could cause accidents if vehicle stops by itself while driving. This is 3rd time in last few years with this vehicles. The recent incident happened was on 5/1/2024 morning around 8. 00 am. We went to the Hyundai service center and they did looked at the codes and ran some scans and they found nothing wrong. And they said it could be some wrong system warning and can be ignored, as they can't reproduce the issue. And told us to report if this happens, but the worry is that, if this happens it could be serious life threating accident or injuries. They said they also got similar other Sonata hybrid got same issue reported same day, but they can't find root cause. Same issue was happened last on 9/30/2022 and one before in that same year. They can't find the root cause that time too. They just updated software that time. . . And hoped that will fix. But the issue repeated again. While searching on the internet, found many people reporting this same error message and suddenly stopping the vehicle by itself. Very scary safety concern. So that's why we are reporting this to NHTSA. To take action on this with the Hyundai and investigate more. Now worried when we drive this vehicle. I have all pictures taken when this issues happened on 5/1/24 and also 9/30/22. I will share those here. Let me know if you need more information on this.

The air bag sensor located in the front passenger seat does not function. It is available for inspection upon request. Because the sensor doesn't engage, the passenger-side air bag will not deploy in the event of an accident, leaving my passenger at risk of serious injury or death. The Hyundai of cool springs dealership in franklin, TN, has inspected the car and confirmed that the sensor is not functioning. The sensor, if properly working, will show a glowing red light on the dashboard that goes on when a passenger sits in the passenger seat, and goes off after a few seconds. In the case of my car, however, the dashboard light goes on when a passenger sits and stays on (glowing red) the entire time the passenger is seated. This defective dashboard light, according to the Hyundai service technician, indicates that the sensor needs to be replaced. The cost the technician quoted is prohibitive at $3,500.

Engine light comes on and alarm stating hybrid sytem failure unsafe to drive. Car loses power and can't be driven. Had this fixed twice. This time it only was fixed for two days.

Car was going approximately 50 miles an hour on a side street when warning lights went on, brakes stopped working, and the engine smoked and appeared to catch on fire. Car was steered into a parking lot and abruptly placed in park. Occupant grabbed valuables and quickly exited the vehicle. At that point, the front of the vehicle, under the hood went up in flames.

My 2015 Sonata will stall out dropping speeds to 12-24 when I slightly merge, when I turn ect. Then it won’t accelerate for what seems like 10 minutes realistically 2 minutes maybe 3 then will slowly regain speed. I’ve almost wrecked twice share care with daughter and she’s been victim to it way way more. This is scary and Hyundai won’t stay behind their product local dealership won’t fix recalls so we have to go over 120 miles for repairs. The recall isn’t even for transmission engine.

The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the abs and traction control warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the abs module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted, who opened a case, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 84,107.

My break went out while trying to make a stop.