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2022 Hyundai Kona

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2022 Hyundai Kona do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 74.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 11 of 97 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Engine. Review the 32 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 22 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 17 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

3 crash reports0 fire reports1 injury reports

Forward Collision Avoidance complaints

14 reports
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Mileage unknown · Nov 1, 2024
Forward Collision AvoidanceService Brakes

On four separate occasions now, I have been driving on the highway at roughly 60 mph, no cars in front of or beside me, and nothing else obstructing the roadway, when completely out of nowhere the emergency braking activates for 3-5 seconds. Thankfully there was only a car behind me on one occasion, and they were far enough behi…

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On four separate occasions now, I have been driving on the highway at roughly 60 mph, no cars in front of or beside me, and nothing else obstructing the roadway, when completely out of nowhere the emergency braking activates for 3-5 seconds. Thankfully there was only a car behind me on one occasion, and they were far enough behind to not collide after my sudden braking.

NHTSA ODI #11623209

Mileage unknown · Aug 14, 2023
Forward Collision AvoidancePower Train

I was driving up an incline when I overheated, causing smoke to come out of the transmission case. The vehicle suddenly stopped in the middle of the road, which could have caused an accident or fire. Regarding the transmission, I opened the hood to let the vehicle cool down for an hour.

NHTSA ODI #11538359

Mileage unknown · Jan 13, 2023
Forward Collision Avoidance

Emergency braking system stopped the car suddenly. There weren't any cars in front of me or next to me. Thankfully I was driving slow through a road in our parking lot and there were no cars behind me. It has only happened once so far. Obviously it startled me and made me wonder how safe the car is to drive. I haven't said …

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Emergency braking system stopped the car suddenly. There weren't any cars in front of me or next to me. Thankfully I was driving slow through a road in our parking lot and there were no cars behind me. It has only happened once so far. Obviously it startled me and made me wonder how safe the car is to drive. I haven't said anything to the dealer, but plan to when I go in for yearly maintenance in a week. There were no warning lights or symptoms prior to this happening.

NHTSA ODI #11501691

Mileage unknown · Dec 17, 2022
Forward Collision AvoidanceService Brakes

Two times on a highway, the car engaged the automatic emergency brakes when the driver was driving straight forward. We were not turning, breaking, or accelerating and there were no cars close to our car

NHTSA ODI #11497879

Mileage unknown · Dec 14, 2022
Forward Collision AvoidanceVehicle Speed Control

Cruise control on the 2022 Kona is not viable. In the standard cruising gears the cruise control is unresponsive for a long duration resulting in reductions of speed of up to 11 MPH at highway speeds, in traffic. The response of the cruise control to following a car can take up to 1 minute to actually try and recover speed.

NHTSA ODI #11497386

Mileage unknown · Oct 25, 2022
Forward Collision AvoidanceService BrakesVehicle Speed Control

This is my 2nd report on the same issue. There is another report from me on the first and I will be discussing this with my Hyundai dealer today. On a 250 mile road trip, on the expressway, two separate times, the car suddenly braked hard and the emergency warning flashed on the speedometer. Each time it was about 3-5 second…

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This is my 2nd report on the same issue. There is another report from me on the first and I will be discussing this with my Hyundai dealer today. On a 250 mile road trip, on the expressway, two separate times, the car suddenly braked hard and the emergency warning flashed on the speedometer. Each time it was about 3-5 seconds. On the second incident, my passenger thinks she noticed it happening in conjunction with a car appearing on my side. She said the side mirror warning lit up at the same time the car started braking. It could just be a coincidence though. Thankfully, neither time did the brakes fully stop the car, but DAMN, it is very scary when it happens on the expressway and I am very nervous to drive with the feature on.

NHTSA ODI #11490731

Mileage unknown · Oct 10, 2022
Forward Collision AvoidanceLane Departure

Incident #1: Auto Emergency Breaking System sensed false situation and auto braked nearly causing high speed accident. Caused while exiting I-80 West Bound off ramp with two lanes Ramp that exits. I was in the inside lane and there was another vehicle in the outside lane. Assuming the system thought I was going to turn int…

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Incident #1: Auto Emergency Breaking System sensed false situation and auto braked nearly causing high speed accident. Caused while exiting I-80 West Bound off ramp with two lanes Ramp that exits. I was in the inside lane and there was another vehicle in the outside lane. Assuming the system thought I was going to turn into the outer car and braked suddenly. Incident #2: Lane keeping system, constantly fights me for no known reason. While in Las Vegas on Flamingo Road on Oct. 10, 2022 the system suddenly jerked the car to the left and nearly into a head-on crash. My family is very lucky to be okay. Car has problems when road markings are not consistent or when using reflectors (vs painted lines) or when there are exits. It's safer to leave the system off in my experience.

NHTSA ODI #11488652

Mileage unknown · Sep 21, 2022
Forward Collision Avoidance

On 9/20/2022 I was driving on the expressway at approximately 60 mph when my car suddenly applied brakes and slowed considerably without reason and started flashing the emergency braking notification with alert noises. The notifications stopped after about 6 seconds and the car did not come to a complete stop, as I probably woul…

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On 9/20/2022 I was driving on the expressway at approximately 60 mph when my car suddenly applied brakes and slowed considerably without reason and started flashing the emergency braking notification with alert noises. The notifications stopped after about 6 seconds and the car did not come to a complete stop, as I probably would not be here today, but it rattled me and now I have lost confidence in my car and feel this can cause a serious accident. The car has 1,322 miles and I have noticed one other incident at speed under 10 mph approaching traffic light.. I called my dealer to let them know. They made a note in my profile because they didn’t think they would be able to do anything. I searched Google and found others have discussed the exact same issue with the same model. This should be addressed! I will be turning this feature off.

NHTSA ODI #11485593

Mileage unknown · Jul 11, 2022
Forward Collision Avoidance

I was driving on the freeway at about speed limit. I was at a safe distance (3 car lengths away) from the car in front of me. The emergency brake activated. It did not stop the car, but I felt a pause in the drive. The message on my dashboard stated "emergency brake activated". A few minutes later, the emergency brake activated…

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I was driving on the freeway at about speed limit. I was at a safe distance (3 car lengths away) from the car in front of me. The emergency brake activated. It did not stop the car, but I felt a pause in the drive. The message on my dashboard stated "emergency brake activated". A few minutes later, the emergency brake activated again. Again, it did not stop the car, but I felt another pause in the drive. The message "emergency brake activated" also came on the dashboard. I had a passenger in the car.

NHTSA ODI #11473339

Mileage unknown · Jul 6, 2022
Forward Collision AvoidanceVehicle Speed Control

There are multiple issues with the Adaptive Cruise Control: -When setting the cruise control speed, it can drop 10-15 mph until it kicks in. -When a car pulls in front of you with the Adaptive Cruise Control on, it takes to long to recognize it has to slow down and has to abruptly decrease speed when it finally does. -If the A…

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There are multiple issues with the Adaptive Cruise Control: -When setting the cruise control speed, it can drop 10-15 mph until it kicks in. -When a car pulls in front of you with the Adaptive Cruise Control on, it takes to long to recognize it has to slow down and has to abruptly decrease speed when it finally does. -If the Adaptive Cruise Control does slow down because of a driver in front of you and that driver changes lanes, the Adaptive Cruise Control can again take 10-mph drop until it kicks in. https://www.konaissues.com/ https://www.hyundai-forums.com/threads/2022-kona-cruise-control-unusable.680949/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Hyundai/comments/q80vhz/cruise_control_in_2022_kona_limited_is_whack/ https://www.carproblemzoo.com/hyundai/kona/2022/adaptive-cruise-control-problems.php

NHTSA ODI #11472535

Official recalls

0

No recalls in this snapshot.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

2

DP22005 · Pedestrian Alert Sounds

Opened Jan 27, 2023 · Closed Aug 7, 2023

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Electrical System:propulsion System

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.

DP22003 · Loss Of Motive Power

Opened Sep 12, 2022 · Closed Dec 12, 2023

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Engine

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received a letter dated July 13, 2022, petitioning the Agency to initiate a safety defect investigation into loss of motive power allegations attributed to oil drain pan assembly failures on certain Hyundai Motor America, Inc. and Kia America, Inc. vehicles spanning Model Years (MY) 2005-2021. The Petitioners cited examples of complaints indicating that the subject vehicles were experiencing rapid loss of engine oil due to oil drain plug back outs, resulting in loss of motive power and/or catastrophic engine damage. Additional complaints were provided which alleged that the oil drain pans lack sufficient structural integrity and are susceptible to cracking. The petition itself can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI number 11481745. On September 12, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Defect Petition (DP22-003) to evaluate the Petitioners’ request. The Petitioners have provided additional complaints within four supplemental letters dated January 31, 2023, March 21, 2023, May 23, 2023, and August 4, 2023. ODI’s evaluation included the review and analysis of the complaints and supporting information submitted by the Petitioners, as well as additional complaints submitted directly to NHTSA which referenced either the oil drain plug or a crack in the oil pan. After reviewing the available data, ODI has not identified evidence that would support opening a defect investigation into the oil drain pan assemblies of the subject vehicles. Based on a review of the available information, a loss of motive power resulting from an oil drain plug back out has not occurred between the initial sale of a vehicle and the completion of its first oil change. If during an oil change service, a technician fails to remove the existing drain plug gasket before installing a new gasket, it is likely that a proper seal between the drain plug and the oil pan will not be made. An improper seal between the drain plug and oil pan could lead to the backing out on the drain plug, resulting in the sudden loss of oil while driving. Additionally, the provided examples of oil pan cracks were localized to the immediate vicinity of the oil drain plug and/or appeared to be the result of direct-contact with a tool during servicing.  There is no information to support that a vehicle-based defect exists relating to the oil pan assembly, and instead the documented incidents are related to the failure to follow the proper maintenance procedures during oil change service. In October 2023, Hyundai published a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) that provided detailed instructions for oil change service on its gasoline powered vehicles, specifically highlighting the need to remove and replace the existing drain plug gasket prior to reinstalling the drain plug. After a thorough review of the material submitted by the petitioner, the information already in NHTSA's possession, and the potential risks to motor vehicle safety implicated by the petitioners' allegations, NHTSA does not believe that a formal investigation is warranted. Therefore, the petition is denied. A Federal Register Notice (FRN) further detailing NHTSA’s reasons for denial of the petition will be published. The reference numbers for the complaints to NHTSA cited by the petitioner can be found in the petition submission documents in the public file for DP22-003. To review those complaints and the additional complaints ODI added to its evaluation which are cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.