person inside the trunk compartment may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury.
Remedy & full details
Dealers will replace the trunk latch base, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 4, 2021. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 208.
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Sonata, 2016-2018 Sonata Hybrid, 2018-2020 Accent, and 2016-2017 Azera vehicles. The trunk latch may become damaged, preventing the opening of the trunk from the inside. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 401, "Internal Trunk Release."
Complaint volume
Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.
What owners reported happened
3Crashes
1Fires
1Injuries
0Deaths
Across 19 complaints. Severity Index 0.68.
Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.
What owners report most
Air Bags — 3 reports
Steering — 3 reports
Electrical System — 2 reports
Unknown Or Other — 2 reports
Engine — 2 reports
Service Brakes — 1 reports
Vehicle Speed Control — 1 reports
Power Train — 1 reports
Structure:Body — 1 reports
Visibility/Wiper — 1 reports
What to do
Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.
Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.
Questions
Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?
Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.
Do I pay for recall repairs?
No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.
Why are there complaints but no recalls?
Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.
From the same data desk
Independent sites, same maintainer, same open-data standards.