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2018 Hyundai Accent Problems & Owner Complaints
Age-normalised, this year draws ~2.1 complaints per year on the road — ranking 12 of 13 Hyundai Accent years we track (1 = most complaints per year).
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What owners report
Engine is the most-reported problem area on the 2018 Hyundai Accent, cited in 8 of 19 filed complaints (42%).
Electrical System is next (3 complaints, 16%), followed by Service Brakes (2), Structure (2), Air Bags (1).
Across all complaints, 4 report a fire, 1 report injuries.
The most safety-critical cluster is Engine: 2 fire, 1 injury report(s).
Complaints by vehicle system
Owner complaints filed with the U.S. NHTSA for the 2018 Hyundai Accent, grouped by the vehicle system each cites. A single complaint can name more than one system, so the group totals can add up to more than 19.
Engine 8 2 fire 1 injury
“My 2018 Hyundai Accent had to recalls when purchased with a auto loan January 2021, In June 2021 the vehicle caught fire and exploded in the motion. Vehicle had been serviced for brake rear drums, 2 diagnostics before June. Fire department ruled fire as electrical.”
NHTSA complaint #11447954, 2021 · fire · 1 injury(ies)
“My 17 yr old son was driving his 2018 Hyundai Accent home from work, and was merging onto the freeway and when he realized the cars in front of him dead stopped he slammed his brakes but was unable to stop in time. Happens all the time right? It should just have a little front end damage, when the vehicle in front of him only had minor bumper damage. But, instead, within just moments, his vehicle burst into flames and he only had seconds to react. He grabbed his phone and wallet and had to exit through the passenger door because he was on the freeway and needed to get to safety. His car was co…”
NHTSA complaint #11452126, 2022 · fire
“This car burns through gas at an unbelievable rate. I have read that this is a common problem and Hyundai needs to address the problem - and REPAIR it - for all affected owners. I have about 75,000 miles and the problem has been ongoing for over a year. I have to add oil every week and if I forget, it is all burned up within 2 weeks.”
NHTSA complaint #11736028, 2025
Electrical System 3 2 fire
“My 2018 Hyundai Accent caught fire in motion on the way to get gas on June 21, 2021. The car had no recalls and no electrical issues prior to the explosion. Fire department ruled the accident as electrical, I had the vehicle for 6 months. A loud explosion sound came from the hood, it started smoking and we pulled the car off the road, moments later it caught fire and created an explosion spreading from the hood to the back of the car. Because i dont have a car, I had temporarily close my small online business, this has been a nightmare.”
NHTSA complaint #11450899, 2021 · fire
“The system that malfunctioned was the brake light(s) and/or electrical components which started a fire in the trunk of my car on 2 separate occasions. On one of the occasions, the top break light in my trunk apparently blew out without my knowledge, it wasn't until my two kids in the backseat started to smell smoke that I pulled over and tried to figure out where the smoke was coming from. When I opened my trunk, I noticed the top break light had burned through the encasement and the wiring was dangling in my trunk which caught a plastic bag on fire. On another occasion, it burned part of a…”
NHTSA complaint #11530141, 2020 · fire
“I'VE HAD MY CAR FOR LESS THAN 2 YEARS AND THE BATTERY COMPLETELY DRAINED/DEAD. HYUNDAI REFUSES TO COVER IT UNDER THE 3 YEAR WARRANTY DUE TO MY CAR HAVING OVER 36K MILES. THE CAR WAS BRAND NEW WHEN I PURCHASED IT AND I'VE NEVER HAD A CAR BATTERY DIED SO FAST EVER IN MY LIFE. ALSO, SOMETIMES THE BACKUP CAMERA WON'T TURN OFF AND WILL STAY ON EVEN AFTER DRIVING FROND FOR MORE THAN 10 MINUTES. IT WILL ONLY TURN BACK OFF IF I TURN THE CAR COMPLETELY OFF AND THEN BACK ON AGAIN.”
NHTSA complaint #11309994, 2019
Unknown Or Other 3
“El carro lo agarré en el dealer hace dos meses, regresé al día siguiente para que me arreglaran la alineación que me la dieron mala cada vez que conducía por el freeway el carro a alta velocidad se me jalaba hacia el lado izquierdo y es muy incómodo estar presionando con fuerza a la hora de manejar por largas horas por lo que estaba expuesta a tener un accidente aparte del check del motor apareció en mi tablero va y viene y no me dan respuesta de eso regresé al dealer y me dijeron que la alineación no iba ser 100 % posible ya que tenía malo los amortiguadores y que es necesario reemplazarlo y…”
NHTSA complaint #11616222, 2024
“TENGO UN AUTO HUYNDAI ACCENT 2018 CON APARENTE PROBLEMA DE ALINEAMIENTO. AL MANEJAR Y SOLTAR EL GUIA EL AUTO SE MUEVE HACIA EL LADO IZQUIERDO INMEDIATAMENTE. LO HE LLEVADO A ALINEAR A DOS TALLERES DIFERENTES Y HA PASADO LA PRUEBA PERO CONTINUA CON EL MISMO PROBLEMA. SE LE ROTARON LAS GOMAS Y TODAVA SIGUE CON EL MISMO PROBLEMA. QUIERO SABER CUAL SERIA EL PROBLEMA DEL VEHCULO PARA PODER ARREGLARLO.”
NHTSA complaint #11354157, 2020
“Oil consumption is bad and I keep getting an oil change every month and a half”
NHTSA complaint #11680729, 2019
Service Brakes 2 1 fire
“My 17 yr old son was driving his 2018 Hyundai Accent home from work, and was merging onto the freeway and when he realized the cars in front of him dead stopped he slammed his brakes but was unable to stop in time. Happens all the time right? It should just have a little front end damage, when the vehicle in front of him only had minor bumper damage. But, instead, within just moments, his vehicle burst into flames and he only had seconds to react. He grabbed his phone and wallet and had to exit through the passenger door because he was on the freeway and needed to get to safety. His car was co…”
NHTSA complaint #11452126, 2022 · fire
“The break light came on. The local garage says I need a new master cylinder, and the dealer I purchesed the car from will not verify an extended warantee item or silent recall. This master cylinder part is all over the the internet as defective on multiple years.”
NHTSA complaint #11736029, 2026
Structure 2
“RECIBI RECALL DE SEGURIDAD HYNDAI ACCENT 2018 INDICANDO QUE LA CERRADURA DEL BAUL NO FUNCIONE CORRECTAMENTE. This could cause the trunk to open on its own or not want to open when you need to open it. THE DEALER INDICATES THAT THE NOTIFICATION DOES NOT APPEAR IN THE SYSTEMS AND THAT THE TRUNK DOES NOT OPEN”
NHTSA complaint #11533601, 2023
“WATER GETTING INSIDE OF CAR DOORS DURING/AFTER LIGHT RAIN. CONSIDERABLE AMOUNTS OF WATER DRAIN OUT OF DOOR BOTTOM DRAIN HOLES WHEN CAR DOORS ARE FIRST OPENED AFTER RAIN STORM. SOME WATER APPARENTLY DOES NOT DRAIN UNTIL ALL 4 DOORS ARE OPENED. I HAVE WAITED AS MUCH AS 24 HOURS ON AN HOT DAY BEFORE OPENING CAR DOORS AND STILL HAVE WATER DRAINING OUT. CONCERNED ABOUT LONG TERM RUST OUT OF DOOR BOTTOMS.”
NHTSA complaint #11105004, 2018
Air Bags 1
“WHEN MY WIFE USES A SEAT PILLOW FOR BACK PAIN ON THE NEW CAR THE LIGHT THAT THE AIR BAG IS NOT ENABLED COMES ON. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE AND DID NOT HAPPEN WITH A PREVIOUS HYUNDAI. I WAS TOLD BY THE SELLER'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT THIS IS NORMAL. IT IS REPEATEDLY HAPPENING WHEN THE PILLOW IS IN USE.”
NHTSA complaint #11163525, 2018
Exterior Lighting 1 1 fire
“The system that malfunctioned was the brake light(s) and/or electrical components which started a fire in the trunk of my car on 2 separate occasions. On one of the occasions, the top break light in my trunk apparently blew out without my knowledge, it wasn't until my two kids in the backseat started to smell smoke that I pulled over and tried to figure out where the smoke was coming from. When I opened my trunk, I noticed the top break light had burned through the encasement and the wiring was dangling in my trunk which caught a plastic bag on fire. On another occasion, it burned part of a…”
NHTSA complaint #11530141, 2020 · fire
Fuel/Propulsion System 1 1 fire
“My 17 yr old son was driving his 2018 Hyundai Accent home from work, and was merging onto the freeway and when he realized the cars in front of him dead stopped he slammed his brakes but was unable to stop in time. Happens all the time right? It should just have a little front end damage, when the vehicle in front of him only had minor bumper damage. But, instead, within just moments, his vehicle burst into flames and he only had seconds to react. He grabbed his phone and wallet and had to exit through the passenger door because he was on the freeway and needed to get to safety. His car was co…”
NHTSA complaint #11452126, 2022 · fire
Latches/Locks/Linkages 1
“The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Accent. The contact stated the trunk failed to close. The contact stated that he tied a cord on the trunk ledger and added a hook to keep it closed however, the trunk was still slightly opened. The contact stated that he contacted the dealer several times to schedule an appointment for diagnostic testing, but the dealer had not returned his calls. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact received a recall notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V619000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages). The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The approximate fa…”
NHTSA complaint #11439712, 2021
Suspension 1
“El carro lo agarré en el dealer hace dos meses, regresé al día siguiente para que me arreglaran la alineación que me la dieron mala cada vez que conducía por el freeway el carro a alta velocidad se me jalaba hacia el lado izquierdo y es muy incómodo estar presionando con fuerza a la hora de manejar por largas horas por lo que estaba expuesta a tener un accidente aparte del check del motor apareció en mi tablero va y viene y no me dan respuesta de eso regresé al dealer y me dijeron que la alineación no iba ser 100 % posible ya que tenía malo los amortiguadores y que es necesario reemplazarlo y…”
NHTSA complaint #11616222, 2024
How we read this (methodology)
How to read this: raw complaint totals are not a clean reliability score — a model year with more cars sold, or simply more years on the road, accumulates more complaints regardless of how good it is. So this page leans on two signals that are not distorted by sales volume: the share of complaints falling on each vehicle system (the breakdown above) and NHTSA's own crash / fire / injury / death flags. When we compare model years of the same model, we normalise by years on the road (complaints ÷ vehicle age) rather than comparing raw totals. Age-normalised, the 2018 Hyundai Accent draws about 2.1 complaints per year on the road, ranking 12 of 13 among the Hyundai Accent model years we have ingested (1 = most complaints per year on road).
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Related
Data source: U.S. NHTSA (nhtsa.gov). SaveVIN surfaces public recall data and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NHTSA.