Problems · by component

2012 Hyundai Sonata service brakes problems

151 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2012 Hyundai Sonata cite service brakes, 10% of all 1,559 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
151
10% of all complaints
Crashes
10
Reported by owners
Fires
9
Reported by owners
Injuries
8
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the service brakes

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“Based on what I experienced, the fire appears to have resulted from an internal mechanical or electrical failure that occurred without warning while the vehicle was in motion. No prior issues or dashboard alerts were present at the time, and there was no external impact or damage that could explain the fire.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Nov 29, 2025Steering, Electrical system, Service brakesFire reportedODI 11701989
“Driving came to a stop ,light turned green made a U-turn to go to the gas station heard a pop noise smoke came from inside the car tried stopping it but the brake pedal sunk into the ground pressed my emergency brake it was seized wouldn’t go down (never had that issue my brakes always work ) I smelled brake fluid and seen the abs light on the dash then the power started to go out and my girlfriend almost got trapped in the car”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 5, 2025Service brakes, EngineFire reportedODI 11691470
“The part of hand break assembly that’s inside the disk break (the drum assembly) fell off when the dealer ( [XXX] Hyundai, Schaumburg, IL) tried to adjusted. I went to the dealer because the hand break stop to function. I suspect very bad design of the whole assembly disk and drum break. Also the dealer stated that all assembly was rusted.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 26, 2025Service brakesODI 11690018
“With no warning my car left me sit on the side of the road and when started the engine made an awful knocking noise. Hyundai denied to replace the engine despite there being at least 2 engine recalls. When I asked why they said it was due to no maintenance records so I provided them with maintenance records like they requested and then they deny it again and say they aren’t replacing the engine because the problem with my engine had nothing to do with the 2 engine recalls my vehicle IS affected by.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 5, 2025Air bags, Service brakes, EngineODI 11685368
“I was driving I seen smoke then full flames on my windshield and I tried to stop and put my car in park to get out but my brakes stopped working and I couldn’t get the gear in park so I opened the driver door and had to jump out of the car .I had an engine replacement a year before for it being recalled and police and firefighters were on scene after incident”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 15, 2025Electrical system, Service brakes, EngineFire reportedODI 11680813
“I started the car, put it into gear and then the breaks wouldn’t work. The car dash said something like check breaks hybrid system failure do not drive. There is not recall on my car but the Hyundai service department doesn’t know how to fix it. This is the second time it’s happened. I’m scared to drive it. Please investigate!”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 12, 2025Electrical system, Unknown or other, Service brakesODI 11673042

Showing 6 of 151 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 9, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.