Owners have filed 1,216 complaints on the Hyundai Veloster, covering 2012–2021. The system named most often is Engine (355 reports). Worst years by volume: 2013, 2012, 2016; cleanest: 2021, 2020, 2019. 35 reports describe a crash, 55 a fire. On average the car was 5.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Hyundai Veloster
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 1,216 Veloster complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 355 Read
The contact 's son owned a 2016 hyundai veloster. The contact purchased the vehicle used on 06/02/20. A month later the vehicle stalled, while the contact's son was driving home. The vehicle was towed to the dealer (maus nissan of crystal river 937 s suncoast blvd, homosassa, fl 34448 (352) 592-6287). They found three…
I took my 2016 Veloster in because my car was included in the rod bearing shavings possibly going back into engine and cause fire. I have since taken my car proven they didn’t pull the filters out or the oil pan to look for shavings as it’s should be check that way to ensure no findings of metal In oil. My car was in…
The engine overheated with no lights on the dash and the engine block cracked
Electrical System 179 Read
When you put the car in DRIVE it will go in REVERSE. Happened several times and on the last time caused us to back into a pole and mess up the back bumper. We were trying to go forward but went in reverse. We have video proof but I can't load the video in this document
Vehicle stalls when taking foot off the brake. Won't properly drive
The vehicle has been in and out of the shop for the last year. The car has significant vibration when turning on my AC and lights. The gas mileage has dropped from 30mpg to 17 MPG. The car lunges forward when taking of and starting. I was involved in a collision where the issues partially caused me to rear end…
Power Train 123 Read
Driving at slow speeds and foot off of gas, engine screams but the car does not move even though it is in drive. Slowly going up a hill in drive echo, engine dies as I press down on gas pedal
My car hesitated from a stop sign, then launched forward causing it to uncontrollably jump forward very fast. When I went to hit the brakes they failed to active, and had to pull the e brake. The car has had a software update for the TCM on my dct transmission but the problem seems to not be able to be fixed. This is…
I purchased my 2014 Hyundai Veloster as a CPO back in January of 2018 with approximately 37k miles. Currently it has 95,637 miles. Within the first couple months of ownership, I noticed that the vehicle was sporadically acting up during acceleration (specifically when shifting between 2nd and 3rd gear). During this…
Steering 121 Read
I purchased a new 2017 veloster in may 2018. Beginning in mid august I started to have problems with the car not stopping and the steering wheel locking when attempting to stop. It happened on 3 different occasions. Escalating each time. The first time it happened I almost hit someone in the back. The second time I…
The contact owns a 2016 hyundai veloster. While driving 45 mph, the vehicle became uncontrollable, crashed into the median, and crossed the highway. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The contact sustained head, neck, and back injuries, which required…
The contact owns a 2013 hyundai veloster. The contact experienced a failure with the power steering and steering column bushing. While driving 70 mph, the steering wheel vibrated uncontrollably and jerked to the left. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact attempted to correct the failure, but lost…
Visibility 80 Read
The contact owns a 2016 hyundai veloster. While driving approximately 65 mph, the panoramic sun roof exploded and the shattered glass pieces damaged the body of the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer but the cause of the failure was unknown. The manufacturer was…
I was driving ~60 mph on a new/smooth highway (I-60 in mesa) that was empty (no cars were in front of me for at least 2 miles). The sunroof/panoramic-roof suddenly shattered (exploded) and the glass flew everywhere. Glass fell on my head, everywhere in the car and even damaged the car antenna and spoiler (on the…
The contact owns a 2016 hyundai veloster. While driving approximately 35 mph, the sun roof suddenly shattered and glass fell into the vehicle. There were no injuries. Prior to the failure, the sun roof was in the tilted position. The vehicle was taken to camelback hyundai (1500 east camel back rd, phoenix, az) to be…
Service Brakes 49 Read
At approximately 37,000 miles currently and proper documented maintenance and check requests on vehicle, this car appears to not stop as it should while in motion whether at high speeds or low speeds and "surges" and requires a longer stopping distance which is apparent in any driving weather conditions. No obvious…
The contact's god-daughter owns a 2013 Hyundai Veloster. The contact stated that the ABS warning light and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the recall repair of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000(Service Brakes, Hydraulic) was performed; however, the failure…
The brakes on the 2012 hyundai veloster will work fine one minute and then go to the floor suddenly with no braking action. You will have to pump the brakes to get them to work. At one point, the brakes went to the floor and pumping the brakes failed to work and I went over a curb in a parking lot. I took the car into…
Structure 45 Read
The car was repaired at a Hyundai dealership less than a month prior to the incident. I was driving down a road with no one around besides me and my passenger when all of a sudden Orange sparks start flying out the sides of the car, I slow down and pull over as fast as I could, then I noticed fire on the passenger…
Glass roof spontaneously shattered. Car was sitting in direct California sun. Nothing touched the roof but heat, the entire panel shattered and the car is undriveable.Thankfully my car was unoccupied at the time. I have heard there had been class action lawsuits in the past regarding this vehicle make and model…
The rear hatch window shattered suddenly when closing the driver's door. Vehicle was stationary in driveway. There was no previous damage to the rear hatch window
Air Bags 34 Read
My airbags did not deploy when the vehicle was hit in the front end. The car was a total loss (21 thousand in damage to the front end)
My accident the air bag did not deploy hitting another vehicle it deployed after hitting a curb which would have been 2 nd impact to deploy it should have come out then, the bar in the head rest came out which cut my head and I received staples in my head. What the other metal things that flew out of the steering I…
[xxx] was in a car crash and his air bags did not deploy. The crash report number is [xxx], completed by the florida highway patrol. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)
Veloster 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2020 | Electrical System,structure,unknown Or Other | — | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 13 | 4 | |
| 2015 | Electrical System | — | 7 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | — | 5 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 5 | 31 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 12 | 8 |
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 | 173 |
| Average complaints per series | 7 |
| Worst single series | 33 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.8 years |
A model average of 7 hides a worst series at 33. 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 Veloster?
By complaint volume, 2013, 2012, 2016 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 Veloster years are the cleanest?
2021, 2020, 2019 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Hyundai Veloster have?
1,216 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2012–2021. Of those, 35 describe a crash and 55 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.