Hyundai Tucson

Which Hyundai Tucson years should you avoid?

Going by 6,328 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Hyundai Tucson years to avoid are 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2019.

• 20161,626 complaints, 8.8× a typical Tucson year, most often about the transmission.
• 20171,095 complaints, 5.9× a typical Tucson year, most often about the engine.
• 2018399 complaints, 2.2× a typical Tucson year, most often about the engine.
• 2022389 complaints, 2.1× a typical Tucson year, most often about the fuel and propulsion system.
• 2019385 complaints, 2.1× a typical Tucson year, most often about the engine.

Better bets: among years old enough for a low count to mean something, the 2011 drew the fewest complaints without an unusual share of serious ones.

Too new to judge: 2025 and 2026. Complaints take a few years to arrive, so a new model year looks better than it is.

How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →