2025 Hyundai Tucson
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Forward collision avoidance is the leading concern among 285 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 6th highest complaint count among 21 Tucson model years with reports.
Of the 2025 reports, 32 involved a crash and 1 involved a fire. 19 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Electrical system, instrument cluster/panelJun 24, 2026
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Tucson, Tucson Hybrid, Tucson Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV) vehicles. Due to a software error, the instrument panel display may fail. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 101, "Controls and Displays."
An instrument panel display that fails to show critical safety information, such as the speedometer or warning lights, increases the risk of a crash.
The instrument panel display software will be updated over-the-air (OTA) or by a dealer, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 22, 2026. Owners may contact Hyundai's customer service at 855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 304. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on June 25, 2026.
Campaign 26V400000 on NHTSA.gov
Forward collision avoidance, automatic emergency brakingMay 19, 2026
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Santa Cruz, Tucson, Tucson Hybrid, and Tucson Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV) vehicles. Software in the front cameras may cause the forward collision avoidance system to activate prematurely and unexpectedly apply the brakes.
Unexpected braking increases the risk of a crash.
Dealers will update the front camera software, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed July 17, 2026. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 302. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on May 20, 2026.
Campaign 26V316000 on NHTSA.gov
Air bags, side/window, curtainNov 21, 2025
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025 Tucson, 2025-2026 Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Hybrid, and 2026 Genesis GV70 vehicles. The side curtain air bags may not have been installed properly, which can cause the air bags not to deploy as intended.
Side curtain air bags that do not deploy as intended increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Dealers will reinstall the side curtain air bags, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed beginning December 29, 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's numbers for this recall are 289 and 029G. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on November 22, 2025.
Campaign 25V809000 on NHTSA.gov
Engine and engine cooling, critical fastenersAug 26, 2025
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Tucson and Santa Fe vehicles. The connecting rod bolts in the engine may have been improperly tightened, which can cause a loss of drive power and engine damage, possibly resulting in an oil leak.
A loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash. An oil leak in the presence of hot engine components can increase the risk of an engine compartment fire.
Dealers will replace the engine, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 23, 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 281.
Campaign 25V549000 on NHTSA.gov
Electrical system, wiringNov 20, 2024
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025 Tucson and Santa Cruz vehicles. The console extension wiring assembly may be routed improperly, allowing the transmission to be shifted out of Park without applying the brake pedal.
A transmission that can shift out of Park without applying the brake pedal can result in a vehicle roll away, increasing the risk of a crash.
Owners are advised to use the parking brake when parking the vehicle. Dealers will reroute the console extension wiring assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 17, 2024. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 273.
Campaign 24V877000 on NHTSA.gov
Equipment, other, labelsSep 13, 2024
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025 Tucson vehicles. The glove box air bag warning label may be missing. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
Without the glove box label, operators may be unaware of the increased risks that an air bag poses to an infant or child in the front seat, increasing the risk of injury to occupants.
Hyundai will mail owners the warning labels, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 4, 2024. Owners may contact Hyundai Customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 268.
Campaign 24V691000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: forward collision avoidance
148 reports, newest first. Show all
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, May 20, 2026
3 incidents of same braking component. Once while exiting a parking lot, the car slams breaks so hard while accelerating that car slams to hard stop with no warning. Once while driving through an intersection brakes engaged for no reason. Once after stopping at Red light, then when moving with traffic, car stops so hard with no warning that we were almost rear ended and seat belt left marks and bottom of car seemed to hit the ground. These violent automatic breaking events are scary because for no reason or cause and no warning the car suddenly hard brakes. Fear of being rear ended or car flipping from such sudden and hard breaking. This incident has not been inspected although the car is current on all maintenance and has been recently in to car dealer for oil change.
Electrical system, Forward collision avoidance, May 17, 2026
On 5/14/2026, while driving southbound on I-95 with my pregnant wife and young daughter, my 2025 Hyundai Tucson (approx. 7,500 miles, purchased new 10/2025) experienced multiple critical safety failures. Two days prior, the heads-up display (HUD) intermittently failed to activate. On 5/14, traveling at 65-70 mph near [XXX] , the brakes auto-applied without driver input. Simultaneously, the instrument cluster and HUD went completely black, eliminating all speed and vehicle status information. This recurred intermittently. Near [XXX] , the brakes auto-applied with full force, locking all four tires and bringing the vehicle from approx. 70 mph to a complete stop on the active interstate. Two trailing vehicles spun out and left the travel lane to avoid rear-ending us. A multi-car pileup was narrowly avoided. The vehicle was taken to Pearson Hyundai in Midlothian, VA. They diagnosed and replaced a faulty wiring harness. Immediately after the repair, driving northbound on I-95 back to [XXX] (5/16), the lane keep assist/lane departure system began pulling the steering wheel into the adjacent lane without driver input, repeatedly and unpredictably at highway speed. The dealer repair did not resolve the all defects. Within a three days this vehicle exhibited: (1) total instrument cluster/HUD failure, (2) uncommanded emergency braking at 70 mph causing two other vehicles to take evasive action (3) uncommanded steering input into an adjacent lane. These failures created immediate risk of serious injury or death. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Forward collision avoidance, May 15, 2026
There have been two instances now within about 4 months where my 2025 Hyundai Tucson's emergency braking/anti forward collision system has engaged completely unnecessarily, slamming on my brakes and almost causing the car behind me to hit me. In both cases there wasn't a car in front of me within at least 100 feet. In both cases I was going probably 30-40 miles per hour.
Forward collision avoidance, May 9, 2026
The forward emergency braking system on this vehicle is a hazard not a safety feature. I have almost been rear ended 3 times because of it and have had my neck and back hurt from the quick sudden stop! I was not even at risk of getting into an accident! This feature needs to be permanently disabled! I still owe 30 payments on this car but will be getting rid of it if i can't disable this permanently.
Forward collision avoidance, May 9, 2026
The FCA engages in situations that are not dangerous. There is a slamming of the breaks which causes items in the car to fly off the seat and nearly cause the cars behind me to rear end the car. This is a dangerous situation and has happened about 6 times since we purchased the car less than six months ago. There is not a way to permanently disable this supposed safety feature.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, May 7, 2026
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Automatic braking system brakes for no reason when I am not near any cars traveling at high speed or even when I am already at a complete stop or moving very slowly but not anywhere near hitting the car in front of me. This has happened multiple times since I leased this car in July 2025 and it seems to be getting worse. I had a 45 min drive home today and it happened about 7 times all for no reason. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? It slams on the brakes unnecessarily and the cars behind me almost rear end me. This has happened on residential roads and highways. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? I just called to take it in. They seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? not yet but I am taking it in asap Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? NONE
Electrical system, Engine, Forward collision avoidance, May 6, 2026
The cars speedometer screen and radio screen go black and sometimes flicker on and off. This makes it impossible to see the speed. Also the car stalls sometimes when this happens in traffic. The autonomous braking applies the brakes even when there is a large distance from other cars and objects to the point where it has almost caused me to get into an accident on numerous occasions. The driver attention alert comes on and off over and over again even though I’m fully focused on driving and well aware of what is going on and this sometimes happens in a sequence where all of the warning lights illuminate on dash. Sometimes all of the warning lights display on cluster after it goes black and then car says to shift to park when display goes back on causing safety concerns for me in traffic. In addition my sunroof glass is making a loud noise like it’s going to crack.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Apr 30, 2026
On at least three occasions, the forward collision system incorrectly determined there was an imminent collision when a car or truck was simply coming over into my lane. The Tucscon locked the brakes, bringing the car to a full stop in the middle of high-traffic roads even while the car in front was pulling away. I was unable to give the car gas to continue driving forward. On two occasions this was on an interstate, going from almost 70 mph to stop when there was no car or obstacle in front of the car. It created a very dangerous risk of being rear-ended. The car did display the message "Collision Warning" on the instrument panel, emit an audible alarm, and shook the steering wheel.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Apr 30, 2026
I was on the freeway about 2 minutes and the car flashed a red warning then slammed on the brakes and I flew forward. No cruise control and no buttons hit or anything automatic. Another time, I was merging to freeway on ramp (with 2 lanes merging and going to freeway). I was on the left right lane towards the on ramp and another car came speeding next to me on other the on ramp right lane. All of a sudden, my Tucson says emergency braking for about 1 to 3 seconds. slamps the brakes. I am not sure if the other speeding car made a sensor think I was going to merge into him,or him into me, or the sensors didn't detect the lane markings. It's my daily route to this ramp and it has not occurred in the past. These emergency braking incident has happened several times (4-5 times in a month) to me, usually during a highway drive similar to those above. I have to turn off the forward collsion to stop this happening and it comes back on everytime when the car starts from a off.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 27, 2026, crash
I forgot to mention that with my two accidents while slowing down for traffic or a turn, that phantom braking happens almost every day now (it happened about 7 times in 4 minutes while I was on the highway, that's not exageration) Curves on the highway with a car diagonal to you in the center lane while you're passing, weird light reflection, falling snow, dust in a construction zone, anything. I can't drive with it on as it alerts to nothing. It's very scary to drive with it on, so now I have a useless safety feature that is really more like a death trap in the right circumstances, which will come.... Someone will be doing 70 on the highway, and their Hyundai Tucson will slam it's brakes on full tilt and it will cause injury and/or death. It's only a matter of time.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 27, 2026, crash
Phantom Braking due to Forward collision detection has caused one front end collision in snow and one rear end collision in a construction zone while I was slowing down. In one instance it was snowing and in one instance it was in a dusty construction zone slowing for steel plates.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 27, 2026
The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle experienced intermittent phantom braking; the vehicle violently and suddenly slammed on the brakes with no obstructions present, causing the contact to sustain shoulder and back pain on several occasions. The contact did not seek medical assistance. The contact stated that the failure had progressively worsened. Additionally, the contact stated that the standard Smart Cruise Control (SCC) disengaged while driving. The contact stated that the failure had been intermittent, requiring the driver to manually re-engage the cruise control mode. There was no warning light illuminated. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 26, 2026
I was stopped behind another car in a through-lane in the parking lot at Marshall's. I was fully stopped about 1 car length behind another stopped car. I decided to make a left turn (from my stopped position) into a perpendicular through-lane in the same parking lot. Just after I drove my entire car to the left of the parked car, my Hyundai Tucson slammed on the breaks. There were no cars coming toward me in the oncoming through-lane. There were no cars in front of me or coming toward me in the perpendicular through-lane. The FCA was OFF. Again, I don't understand why the car is appying the brakes while I'm going forward if the FCA is off.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 26, 2026
This incident occured in The Woodlands, Texas, about a 45 min drive north of my home. I was headed south on [XXX] . I had pulled into a left turn lane at the intersection of [XXX] . After the oncoming traffic had cleared, I proceeded to make a left turn onto [XXX] . My Hyundai Tucson slammed on the brakes just as I entered the oncoming lane. The FCA was OFF. I was able to hit the gas and start moving forward again before any oncoming traffic got to this intersetion. There was no warning before the brakes were applied. Note, the FCA safety function was absolutely positively turned off. We have gotten into the habit of turning it off to avoid these unintended, unexpected sudden complete stops. Now I'm concerned the FCA system has more problems than just being overly senstive or malfunctioning causing numerous sudden braking issues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 25, 2026
I was turning right from [XXX] onto [XXX] . It was raining lightly, the car initiated emergency braking and no one was in front of me. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 25, 2026
The Automatic Emergency Braking and Forward Collision Warning systems activated while making a left turn after stopping for a red traffic light and locked the brakes of the vehicle in the middle of the intersection with no other car in front of me. Dash alerted that a collision was going to occur. This was the second time. The first time it happened the dealer said it can happen if there is a bug or dirt on the sensor in the bumper or dirty windshield by the camera, they even said it can happen with glare from the sun or light glare.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 24, 2026
On two occasions, the automatic emergency braking system engaged potentially causing an accident. The first occurred at an intersection where I was attempting to turn left from a stop. The system would not allow me to proceed until the bus attempting an opposite left turn left the intersection. The weather was clear and sunny. The second occurred while on a freeway onramp. There were no vehicles in front or to my side. The AEB detected a phantom threat and immediately braked to a stop. The car behind me was barely able to avoid rear ending my vehicle. My passenger was a witness to this jarring event. The weather was clear and sunny. Both incidents occurred with an odometer reading of <3500 miles. My local Hyundai dealer has attempted to recreate the phantom breaking, but were not able to recreate the circumstances and therefore not know what system required repair/replacement. The case #42211163 was assigned. Given the uncertainty of when the system will inadvertently break and the inability to permanently turn off AEB on this vehicle, I am very concerned about driving the vehicle.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 23, 2026
Subject: 2025 Hyundai Tucson - Persistent Phantom Braking Issue I am reporting a severe safety defect regarding the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) system on my 2025 Hyundai Tucson. Since purchasing the vehicle, I have experienced five separate "Phantom Braking" incidents where the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) engaged abruptly without any obstacles in the path. In the most recent incident, the vehicle suddenly braked from 30 mph to 20 mph] while driving on a highway. There were no cars or objects in front of me. This unpredictable behavior is extremely dangerous as it almost caused a rear-end collision with trailing vehicles. I believe this is a systemic software or sensor defect that misinterprets shadows or road signs as hazards. I request a formal investigation into this safety risk.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 22, 2026, crash
My wife was driving our Hyundai Tucson on the city street at about 35 mph. She signaled left to get into a turning lane. The turning lane has two lanes and is very long. She got into the turning lane and the traffic in front of her stopped. The car's collision avoidance system activated and slammed on the brakes even though the vehicle was not very close to the cars in front of her. As a result, a vehicle behind her rear ended her causing over $9,000 in damage. This car has done this before on the highway and city street. The collision sensitivity setting was on normal and had been since we got the car and until the accident. I had also been driving the car when the collision avoidance activated. The problem with this car is that it only knows to slam on the brakes and results in getting rear ended. It does not gradually apply the brakes even when the car in front is not very close and locking up the brakes is not necessary and is actually unsafe as shown when my wife was in a rear collision accident. This is a major safety problem and needs to be looked into.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 21, 2026
The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that the vehicle was stopped at a traffic light, while attempting to accelerate, the brakes engaged unexpectedly. On another occasion, while driving approximately 60 MPH, the brakes unexpectedly engaged without driver input and failed to properly respond for approximately 5 to 10 seconds. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle resumed normal operation afterwards. The Forward Collision Avoidance early detection sensor indicator was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer; however, the technician was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 14,946.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 20, 2026
The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that the Forward Attention Warning (FAW) system had failed to detect the driver's eyes while wearing sunglasses, causing the cruise control to disengage unintendedly. Several messages advising the driver to pay attention to the road were displayed. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while wearing prescription glasses and while the driver was not wearing glasses. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the contact was informed that the system could not be disabled because the manufacturer considered it a safety feature. The dealer informed the contact that a software update was previously performed over-the-air to correct the issue; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 800.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 20, 2026
On at least three occasions, the emergency braking system has engaged when there was no risk of a collision. The vehicle ahead was moving forward and was a safe distance ahead. This has occurred even when the forward collision system is set to "Late." When the emergency braking system engaged, it stopped the vehicle with such force that it threw items in the back seat forward into the foot well and was very jarring for me, the driver. This has made me anxious when driving the vehicle and is very frustrating.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Apr 19, 2026
I was driving on the highway in heavy traffic going about 65 mph. An unusual symbol appeared on the dash in red that I don't know what It was or what it meant but I thought it must be something serious. Then a warning came up saying for me to take a break. Then a different warning came up saying that I should take control of the car immediately, it was about to brake. The car immediately began to brake. Fortunately I was in the right hand lane of the three-lane highway and I was able to pull into the breakdown lane. I can't even imagine what would have happened if I was in the middle or far left lane. I was not unobservant and both of my hands were on the steering wheel when this happened. Once the vehicle stopped, the symbol on the dash disappeared and the brakes released. I was able to resume driving. Although there was no accident, injury or fire, and no police report needed, this does not discount the seriousness of this event. This could have been life-threatening if I had been in a different lane or had panicked, causing a multi car pileup in the heavy traffic. Serious enough that I feel the need to get rid of this car.
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 18, 2026
Sometimes in heavy rain, using the washer fluid or bright sunlight I get an alert that the Foward Collision Avoidance sensor disabled. Usually doesn’t last long unless there is heavy rain. This system shouldn’t be triggered by things that happen frequently. This isn’t an issue in my Santa Fe. The only time that sensor is inoperable is in very heavy snow that has covered the front of the vehicle
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Apr 10, 2026
Over the past four days, my vehicle has repeatedly applied braking unexpectedly without a valid obstacle or need to brake. This has occurred multiple times under normal driving conditions, including: Twice on the freeway in stop-and-go traffic with vehicles at a safe distance ahead Multiple times on regular city streets with vehicles ahead at approximately 15–20 feet Once while turning into my driveway as my garage door was opening In one instance on the freeway, a vehicle behind me nearly collided due to the sudden unexpected braking. The Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (Automatic Emergency Braking) system is set to “Late,” yet the vehicle still applies braking unnecessarily. This behavior did not occur previously and has started happening repeatedly within the past four days. This creates a significant safety risk, particularly in traffic where unexpected braking can cause rear-end collisions. The vehicle has approximately 1050 miles and has not been modified. The issue is currently being evaluated by a Hyundai dealership and has been reported to Hyundai Motor America under an open case.