2017 Hyundai Sonata
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 764 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 6th highest complaint count among 26 Sonata model years with reports.
Of the 2017 reports, 28 involved a crash and 11 involved a fire. 12 people were injured and 1 person died.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Exterior lighting, turn signalSep 24, 2021
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Sonata, 2016-2017 Sonata Hybrid, and Sonata Plug-In Hybrid vehicles. The Smart Junction Box (SJB) software logic may not properly interpret the signals received from the multifunction switch, which could cause the turn signal to activate in the opposite direction of what the driver intended.
A turn signal that activates in the opposite direction of what was intended by the driver increases the risk of a crash.
Dealers will update the SJB software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 19, 2021. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 210.
Campaign 21V749000 on NHTSA.gov
Latches/locks/linkages, trunk lid, latchAug 6, 2021
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Sonata, 2016-2018 Sonata Hybrid, 2018-2020 Accent, and 2016-2017 Azera vehicles. The trunk latch may become damaged, preventing the opening of the trunk from the inside. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 401, "Internal Trunk Release."
A person inside the trunk compartment may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury.
Dealers will replace the trunk latch base, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 4, 2021. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 208.
Campaign 21V619000 on NHTSA.gov
Air bags, frontal, driver side, inflator moduleDec 30, 2016
Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai) is recalling certain model year 2017 Hyundai Elantra vehicles manufactured April 15, 2016, to September 13, 2016, and Sonata vehicles manufactured May 27, 2016 to September 16, 2016. In these vehicles, the end seal for the driver's frontal air bag inflator may not have been properly installed, possibly resulting in reduced inflation of the frontal air bag in the event of a crash.
In the event of a crash, an air bag that does not inflate fully increases the risk of injury.
Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag module, free of charge. The recall began February 13, 2017. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 156.
Campaign 16V956000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: steering
173 reports, newest first. Show all
Steering, Jul 9, 2022
My power steering stopped working while driving my car I can’t turn car left or right and no way to know how to fix it unless I spend 1000 at a dealership and it’s a dangerous situation
Steering, Jul 9, 2022
The power steering on my 2017 Sonata went out all the sudden while I was making a turn in a parking lot on 7/03/2022. The red power steering warning light and the yellow traction control warning light came on and the steering wheel locked up, please see attached picture. I almost hit a parked car because I was not able I complete my turn. This is the 2nd time happened to this 2017 Sonata in 5 weeks and it was as scary as the 1st time (05/28/2022) because there was no warning before malfunction happened. The power steering would restore and warning lights would turn off after the engine restarted. I contacted my local Hyundai service department in Fremont, CA, they told me they can’t inspect my Sonata until early December because they don’t have any available appointment for diagnostic until December. I told the service advisor that this is a series safety issue, but no further assistance was provided. Please investigate this safety issue because clearly there is something wrong with the electric power steering system and it will put other drivers and pedestrians in danger.
Steering, Jul 8, 2022, crash
While driving my 2017 Sonata on a winding backroad my power steering suddenly locked up without warning, and I was unable to turn the vehicle left or right. Prior to this incident there were no warning or check engine lights lit indicating any type of issue with my car, and my power steering was operating normally. I hit, and jumped a curb striking a rock wall attempting to turn slightly left to keep myself in my lane, and on the road damaging the right passenger side rim and fender. After coming to a stop I noticed there were two warning lights that had activated. I immediately called my local Hyundai dealer (Imperial Hyundai of Milford Massachusetts) informing them of what had happened, and scheduled a service appointment to have this issue diagnosed. I was informed by the dealership that Hyundai is having issues with their electric assist steering motor, and computer module which controls the steering assist motor. Had this been my wife or son this would have definitely turned out differently, because I'm over 240lbs and could barely get the steering wheel to turn at all prior to hitting the curb. After shutting off the car, and then restarting it repeatedly for approx 30 minutes suddenly the service lights went out, and the vehicle started operating normally again. My appointment at the Hyundai dealer is on July 13, 2022. I was told Hyundai has extended the warranty on parts associated with the steering system, but they wouldn't tell me which parts are covered or not covered. That is the least of my concerns, because like I said had I not been the driver, or if this had happened at highway speed this could have been tragic. It's a serious safety issue
Steering, Jun 29, 2022
THIS LOCKED UP THE SECOND TIME IN ONE DAY WHILE WE WAS COMING HOME AND IT LOCKED UP WHEN WE MADE A TURN INTO OUR DRIVEWAY I HAD TO PARK AND TURN THE CAR OFF AND BACK ON AGAIN THIS IS NOT SAFE
Steering, Jun 29, 2022
STEERING WHELL LOCKED ON ME AND THE FAMILY WHILE WE WERE ON OUR WAY TO THE STORE HAD TO TURN IT OFF AND TURN BACK ON
Steering, Jun 29, 2022
Pulled into my driveway and the steering wheel locked up
Steering, Jun 29, 2022
was coming home and the car just locked up on me making a turn
Steering, Jun 29, 2022
Steering wheel locked twice in one day up in my neighborhood while I was driving back to the house had to turn the car off and turn back on for steering wheel because unstuck the second time was on the highway going 65 mph had to pull over to the side of the road turn the car off and back on so steering wheel could go back to normal all fluid is top off.
Steering, Jun 29, 2022
Steering wheel locked twice in one day up in my neighborhood while I was driving back to the house had to turn the car off and turn back on for steering wheel because unstuck the second time was on the highway going 65 mph had to pull over to the side of the road turn the car off and back on so steering wheel could go back to normal all fluid is top off.
Steering, Jun 22, 2022
Electronic Power Steering failed in the 2017 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid SE. As I was turning left the dashboard showed the EPS warning light, and EPS completely failed. Power steering locked, and I was unable to steer the car. I immediately put my hazard lights on to avoid any accident. I turned the vehicle off, waited a few seconds, and turned it back on. Steering was still extremely tight; I forced the steering wheel to turn slowly and gradually moved the car out of traffic. This was an extremely scary experience. My 3-year-old daughter was in the back in her car seat, and I consider ourselves to be very lucky on this date.
Steering, Jun 21, 2022
Steering wheel locks in place and will not unlock until the vehicle is completely stopped and turned off. Turing the vehicle back on will unlock the wheel. This happens at speeds between 10-65 mph and is extremely dangerous. This is an intermittent issue and happens on slight turn, sharp turns, low and high speed. It also happens in forward and reverse.
Steering, Jun 6, 2022
My power steering went out while I was driving - twice this week. Fortunately, I was still in my driveway when it happened. Vehicle has only has 23,00 miles on it. The dealers stated a new Power Steering Control Module was needed. Cost to repair: $1800.
Steering, May 31, 2022
My wife was driving the car on her way back from the grocery and the car locked up on her. She had to go off the side of the road to turn it off and back on so she could have the steering wheel controlled.
Steering, May 31, 2022
I just dropped my daughter off at her friend's house and was returning home whereas I was coming around the curve the steering locked up and I almost hit a car that was on the opposite side of the road. This needs to be fixed.
Steering, May 29, 2022
On 5/28/2022 at 6:26pm PST, I was driving about 15 MPH on a local street in my neighborhood in Hayward, CA. All of the sudden, my power steering wheel locked up and without power steering. I can’t turn or steer my vehicle in any direction and both the red electronic power steering light and the traction control warning light were light up on the dashboard. I stopped my car in the middle of the road because it was extremely scary and dangerous that I didn’t have any steering control of my car at all. I didn’t know what to do, so I turned off the engine and I restarted my vehicle just to see what happen and both the electronic power steering light and traction control warning light disappeared. And the power steering is back to normal. I contacted Hyundai dealership and reported my dangerous incident. The representative of Hyundai dealer said they can’t replicate the problem and there is no opened power steering recall for my 2017 Hyundai Sonata. My incident happened without any warning and the power steering failure is extremely dangerous to the driver and other drivers on the road, please take this power steering issue seriously before anyone is seriously hurt or killed. If you have any questions and need more information, please contact me. I also have a short video of the entire incident recorded by my dash-cam, so it can be provided if it is helpful.
Steering, May 20, 2022
I was taking my daughter to her STARR Testing site on the street and the steering wheel locked up on me while my daughter was in the car and traffic was around us, I made it to a red light and where I was able to turn the car off and turn it back on to get the power sterling of the house
Steering, May 20, 2022
I was getting over into the turning lane going about 35mph on a public road and the power steering locked up the wheel I had to pull over to the side and turn the car off and turn back on me and my daughter was in the car as we were going to see the progress of our home being built.
Steering, May 14, 2022
Lost Steering power sitting at the ATM machine as I was pulling from the machine the steering wheel locked up, I had to pull into an empty parking spot and turn the car off and turn the car back on to have the steering wheel work proper again good thing it was at 8am when no one was really out.
Steering, May 12, 2022
Roughly 6 months ago the problem first occurred while backing up in a parking lot a steering wheel lit up on the dash as well as a traction control light in which then the steering wheel became hard to turn or loss of power steering. about 4 months ago the same thing occurred while driving the vehicle making a right turn power steering got tough and I had to slam on the brakes or I would have hit a another vehicle. And today the same thing happened while pulling into a parking lot I do have video and pictures of the situation The vehicle was taken to the Hyundai dealer last week where they had the vehicle for 3 days just to tell me the issue is not present or can't be duplicated so nothing was fixed. I got this vehicle from my wife and kids and now I don't want them around it. Don't understand how Hyundai has not put out a recall on this one search of the internet shows thousands of complaints about the same situation with the power steering
Steering, May 6, 2022
When I was coming home from my parents' house the steering wheel locked up two times on the way back from there. Both times I had to pull off to the side of road and turn the car off and then back on for the steering wheel to go back to normal this has not happened in 6 months I've called Hyundai and told them about it and they are not willing to do a recall.
Steering, May 6, 2022
I was driving into work in the parking lot and the steering wheel locked as I was pulling into parking lot going around the building. I had to turn the car off and then back on for the steering wheel could go back to normal.
Steering, May 6, 2022
I was coming home with my family from the grocery store as we were coming around the turn the car steering wheel locked up on the road Luckly i was the only car on the road at the time, so I had to pull over turn the car of and turn it back on and it went back to normal. This has been happing now for the past 2 week after 6 months when it first started.
Steering, May 6, 2022
Car steering will has locked up while driving as I was making a turn the steering wheel has locked to where it is hard to steer. This happened 6 months ago the same thing happened and then it went away I took the car to Hyundia and left it there for 2 weeks, but it didn't lock up there is no diagnostic code for it. I was on the highway driving straight and it locked up as well. The car has been doing this now on and off for about 3 weeks now. This needs to be recalled but Hyundia is not trying to do nothing until someone is hurt.
Steering, May 3, 2022
I own a 2017 Hyundai Sonata. About a year ago I was driving it and suddenly the steering wheel froze and I lost control of my car. Two warning lights went on. I pulled off the road to a safe place, struggling to turn the steering wheel in the direction I needed to go. I turned the car off. When I turned the car back on, everything seemed normal. The next day I took it to the Hyundai Dealer in Renton, WA. They ran it through a $180 diagnostic but couldn’t come up with a problem. Fast forward to May 1, 2022. As I was leaving a parking lot the steering froze up and it was hard to control just like the first incident. Two lights came on, the stabilizing and a triangle with an ! indicator lights. Again, I turned the engine off and back on and it worked normally. 30 miles later while maneuvering a turn, the car froze up again in heavy traffic. Turning the car off and back on fixed it. Today I took the car back to the same Renton Car Pro Hyundai. They determined this time that the steering column needed to be replaced for a cost of $2005 and it wasn’t under warranty. (the mechanic said that it expired 12000 miles earlier---about a year ago). I have since researched the internet on this problem, and it is widely known that this is a problem has affected many Sonata drivers. https://www.carproblemzoo.com/hyundai/sonata/steering-problems2.php This problem causes extreme safety issues. It causes the driver to lose control of the vehicle. It appears to happen at unknown or predictable times and gives the feeling of being in a very unsafe auto. This car has 73k miles and has not been in any accidents. I am the original owner and have had regular servicing on the vehicle. I believe it is important for the auto makers to be held accountable for having so many vehicles with this problem. It is an expense that should not fall onto the owner of the car. I hope you will research the documented reports of many, many incidents where the steering has froze up during operation.
Steering, Vehicle speed control, Engine, Apr 3, 2022, fire
Vehicle’s engine began to emit a knocking sound that would increase in volume and speed as engine progressed in speed. Engine suddenly lost power, check engine light began to flash and traction control disabled itself. Vehicle was pulled over and turned off when it immediately began to rapidly self immolate over the course of minutes while the power to the engine was completely disabled.