Hyundai Tucson reliability by year
36 recall campaigns and 6,309 owner complaints across 22 model years. Best year to buy: 2026. Year to avoid: 2016.
Worst model years to avoid → — the single year to avoid for every model line we track, ranked side by side.
Years to avoid — and why 8 flagged on the NHTSA record
Cleaner on the data: 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026 and others. Still verify the specific vehicle.
At-a-glance: every year color-coded
Each cell shows the last two digits of the model year and its 0–10 reliability score from NHTSA data. Click any year to see the full record. ★ best year · ✕ year to avoid.
Year-by-year reliability 22 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 70, more than the 36 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the Tucson aggregated across 22 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a Hyundai Tucson?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2026 Hyundai Tucson scores 9.0/10 — the strongest in the 2005–2026 range. 55 complaints on file, 5 active recalls. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which Hyundai Tucson year should I avoid?
The 2016 Hyundai Tucson scores 5.4/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 1,625 owner complaints with NHTSA, 5 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2016 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the Hyundai Tucson should I avoid?
On the NHTSA complaint and recall record, the model years to be most careful with are 2021 (avoid — the engine — engine: 33 complaints, classified severe, failures cluster 28,944–89,000 mi); 2018 (avoid — the brakes — 5 fire-related complaints on the engine); 2017 (avoid — the electrical system — 11 fire-related complaints and 1 crash-related complaint on the engine); 2016 (avoid — the electrical system — 9 fire-related complaints on the engine); 2013 (avoid — the engine — 7 fire-related complaints and 2 crash-related complaints on the engine); 2012 (avoid — the engine — 8 fire-related complaints and 1 crash-related complaint on the engine). The cleaner years on the data are 2009, 2008, 2026, 2024, 2023, 2022. This is our read of the federal data, not a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection of the specific vehicle.
How many years of the Hyundai Tucson are tracked?
22 model years (2005 through 2026) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 36 distinct recall campaigns and 6,309 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 70 model-year entries in total, because one campaign often covers several years at once — which is why per-year recall counts add up to more than the campaign count.
What's the most-reported problem on the Hyundai Tucson?
engine is the most-reported category — 1,713 complaints across 19 model years. Average shop repair runs about $3,100.