Owners have filed 94 complaints on the Hyundai Equus, covering 2011–2016. The system named most often is Suspension (21 reports). Worst years by volume: 2014, 2011, 2013; cleanest: 2012, 2015, 2016. 4 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 6.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Hyundai Equus
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 94 Equus complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Suspension 21 Read
While we were driving the car, the car's front suspension suddenly failed, the front collapsed and the body of the car nearly touched the ground on flat grounds and dragged against the ground on inclines and declines. The wheels rubbed against the body of the car on turns and the car became very unstable and started…
While we were driving the car, the car's front suspension suddenly failed, the front collapsed and the body of the car nearly touched the ground on flat grounds and dragged against the ground on inclines and declines. The wheels rubbed against the body of the car on turns and the car became very unstable and started…
Suspension air Block and airbags failing, even after being replaced by dealership 2 months ago. Most recently happened on the interstate at 70 mph. Fixed by dealership only to happen again!! Known problem by Hyundai dealership yet keep replacing with same defective part number. Twice have had new parts fail during…
Service Brakes 13 Read
The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Equus. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked in the garage, there was an unknown liquid leaking from under the hood. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Services Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet…
The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Equus. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer…
The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Equus. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer…
Exterior Lighting 8 Read
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Equus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the headlights and both turn signals became inoperable and failed to illuminate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was informed that the failure could not…
There are actually 3 problems that my dealer has not been able to fix/diagnose. The first is the headlights, when set to the auto position, they will often turn off and on while driving at night. Service says that they were unable to duplicate the problem, but it keeps happening. The second is the Navigation system…
Within last two years I've been dealing with random and intermittent headlight flickering/turning off when the light stalk switch is in AUTO mode. Also, the cabin lights flicker and turn off at the same time when headlights do. It is very dangerous when it happens during night driving. Luckily problem can be…
Electrical System 8 Read
Driving at 75 mph and went to pass someone. The engine kicked down a few years and the entire car shut off. No power brakes and no steering and steering locked up for about a second or two. During the time it was off the vehicle jerked hard like if the tires had locked up. After the couple seconds the vehicle turned…
Whenever it gets hot in this area, my vehicle malfunctions. First the dash bubbled and had to be replaced. The leather on the driver door bubbles up and has been replaced.. It is bubbling again on the driver door but is not covered by the extended warranty. Both headrests have popped open. One happen while at the car…
On November 2014, purchased Hyundai Equus from Bob King Hyundai located in Winston-Salem, NC. Within a month, our headlights flashed on and off for a brief second. Occurred more often after that and the dealer checked the car to resolve problem. Nothing found. Months later, problem got more severe and once again…
Steering 7 Read
Steering locks up while making a complete turn
May 4th 2019 vehicle found dead and would not start. No signs of any battery issues in the past few days. The vehicle was towed directly to the service department at empire hyundai located in fall river, ma. Vehicle confirmed by service department to turn over, however no lights or clock and no power. Then all went…
Car is equipped with an air bag suspension system. There was a failure with the airbags around 18 months ( in 2016) of the car being put in service. I was driving on a hway at 70 mph w/grandkids in the car when the airgbags failed and the nose of the car immediately went down and the car started to veer. Luckily there…
Seats 7 Read
On August, 2nd around noon, I was driving alone, west on a rural road called 1869 in Liberty Hill, TX. I believe the speed limit on this winding rural road is 55mph, and I was about 1 mile west of 183. While my car was in motion, my active headrest activated (exploded) into the back of my head, throwing me forward…
The front passenger headrest split open spontaneously. There was no external impact or crash. There was no pushing/pulling or other preceding incident to cause this. It appears that the internal plastic part of the headrest failed
The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Equus. The contact stated that while his wife was outside on a hot day, upon opening the door, the front headrest air bag deployed without impact. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was possibly caused due to the heat. The contact called the…
Power Train 6 Read
The problem is with the Accelerator pedal. It malfunctions, and is also known as a 'Dead pedal' at different times without warning and could cause an accident if it happens at the wrong time, like making a turn and the car will not accelerate, or move, just getting the car to move . I checked with a dealer if they…
Car unresponsive to inputs from the accelerator pedal. Multiple dashboard warning lights - vsm off, dsc, epb, psb, airbag, and check engine lights; vehicle still running. The first instance occurred on a freeway feeder road while going 45mph; car was unresponsive to any inputs from the accelerator for approximately 10…
The contact owns a 2012 hyundai equus. While driving at various speeds, the vehicle jolted continuously and shifted independently into another gear. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 41,000
Air Bags 5 Read
The contact owned a 2013 hyundai equus. The contact stated while at a stop, a unknown toyota crashed into the front of the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained injuries to the spleen and medical attention was provided. A police report was filed. The…
Following a slip on the road I am the victim of an accident on the edge of a hyundai santa fe. The car struck the mountain, but the airbags failed to activate in the accident resulting in a frontal impact, which caused me serious injury. Why the airbags are not triggered ?? The car made several rotations and suffered…
Active headrest on front passenger side inadvertently deployed while driving on a smooth toll road at normal speed. Any passenger could have been severely injured and there could be risk of driver side deployment that could not only cause severe injury but also collision. There were no warning indicators and the…
Equus years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Electrical System,service Brakes,engine | — | — | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2014 | Air Bags,unknown Or Other | — | — | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 2 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 45 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.1 |
| Worst single series | 6 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.4 years |
A model average of 2.1 hides a worst series at 6. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Equus?
By complaint volume, 2014, 2011, 2013 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Equus years are the cleanest?
2012, 2015, 2016 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Hyundai Equus have?
94 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2011–2016. Of those, 4 describe a crash and 0 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.