YearTell editorial · 2026-09-07
Hyundai Tucson Complaints and Recalls by Year
In plain English
People filed 6,350 problem reports on the Hyundai Tucson across 18 years (2005–2026). Owners named Engine more often than any other system.
2016 has the most reports (1,615). That is often age, not a ranking. Open the year you are buying.
Engine. Have a shop check for oil consumption, coolant leaks, rough idle and unusual engine noise. Then read that year-page for recalls and owner text.
Some Tucson years in this snapshot are engine-heavy. That is a reason to read the year-page and check the VIN, not a score. See also the Theta II guide.
NHTSA complaint counts are self-selected reports. They are not normalised for sales volume and they are not a reliability score. YearTell does not publish stars, “best year” lists or advice to avoid a vehicle.
This guide reports NHTSA owner-complaint and recall counts for the Hyundai Tucson from the 2026-09-07 snapshot. 6,350 owner reports are on file across 18 published model years (2005–2026). 2016 has the highest complaint count (1,615).
Older model years have had longer to accumulate reports, so a high lifetime total is not evidence that a year is worse to own. YearTell does not adjust these figures for how many vehicles were sold.
Where a system dominates the file, it is named below as a count, not as a diagnosis. Open the year-page for the component table, the recall list and a short set of owner narratives.
Years that appear most often in NHTSA complaints
| Model year | Owner complaints | Recall campaigns | System named most often |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 Hyundai Tucson | 180 | 8 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2006 Hyundai Tucson | 132 | 5 | Airbags (AIR BAGS) |
| 2008 Hyundai Tucson | 43 | 1 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2011 Hyundai Tucson | 120 | 5 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2012 Hyundai Tucson | 254 | 3 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2013 Hyundai Tucson | 263 | 3 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2014 Hyundai Tucson | 201 | 2 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2015 Hyundai Tucson | 224 | 2 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2016 Hyundai Tucson | 1,615 | 5 | Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN) |
| 2017 Hyundai Tucson | 1,079 | 3 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2018 Hyundai Tucson | 390 | 1 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2019 Hyundai Tucson | 375 | 1 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2020 Hyundai Tucson | 175 | 1 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2022 Hyundai Tucson | 492 | 3 | Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM) |
| 2023 Hyundai Tucson | 174 | 2 | Automatic braking / collision warning (FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE) |
| 2024 Hyundai Tucson | 139 | 4 | Automatic braking / collision warning (FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE) |
| 2025 Hyundai Tucson | 414 | 7 | Automatic braking / collision warning (FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE) |
| 2026 Hyundai Tucson | 80 | 5 | Automatic braking / collision warning (FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE) |
Recall campaigns are manufacturer safety actions filed with NHTSA. A year can have many complaints and few recalls, or the reverse. The two series answer different questions.
If you are comparing two adjacent years, use the equal-exposure comparison when one exists. That window holds age constant so the later year is not punished for having had less time on the road.
A practical read: open the year you are shopping, note the system named most often, read every recall campaign, then skim the owner filings for that system. Take that list to a mechanic. Do not turn the complaint total into a score.
Model-year records cited
- 2016 Hyundai Tucson
- 2017 Hyundai Tucson
- 2022 Hyundai Tucson
- 2025 Hyundai Tucson
- 2018 Hyundai Tucson
- 2019 Hyundai Tucson
- 2013 Hyundai Tucson
- 2012 Hyundai Tucson
- Hyundai Tucson
How YearTell builds these numbers
Counts are not a reliability score.
Frequently asked questions
Which Hyundai Tucson year has the most NHTSA complaints in this snapshot?
2016 has the highest owner-report count (1,615). That is a count, not advice to avoid the year.
Are these figures a reliability rating?
No. YearTell does not publish reliability scores. Read the methodology for what complaint counts cannot tell you.
Where does the data come from?
NHTSA owner complaints and safety recall campaigns, snapshot 2026-09-07. Each cited year-page links to the federal records.