2022 Hyundai Kona Brakes Problems

When I purchased the car with in 2 weeks epb , auto hold and auto stop all 3 lights on dashboard came on orange. Took to dealership and they fixed the problem. 4 months later now the lights are back on. The vehicle does not feel safe at pulls to the right , I have problems with my ac as well as my transmission is slipping. The car loses power when I accelerate. I believe was sold a lemon car I purchased from carmax.

NHTSA ID

11681013

Incident

Aug 11, 2025

When I first brought the car for its first service appointment (6 months after purchase), I informed the service dept at the dealership that the car seemed to accelerate itself when I was driving. They said they hit a reset button and that I shouldn't have any more problems. What I found was that the car then drove sluggishly but it did not accelerate anymore. Recently however (2.5 years into the purchase), the car started "sliding" when I hit the break pad. I took the car in again for service a few months ahead of time and they said that my car mat was wedged under the break pad and that was what was causing the car to slide when I hit the break. The car slid but also accelerated by about 5 miles, however I was able to quickly break and stop it without incident. This last service was on Friday, August 1st, and on Sunday August 3, the car slid and accelerated again - without the floor mat being wedged under the break. On Monday morning (August 4th) I called Hyundai so many times that I lost count. I was never able to speak with a service employee but I was given an appointment for a week and half later. According to ChatGPT, it is a common issue with the 2022 Kona and it should be recalled.

NHTSA ID

11678662

Incident

Aug 3, 2025

On four separate occasions now, I have been driving on the highway at roughly 60 mph, no cars in front of or beside me, and nothing else obstructing the roadway, when completely out of nowhere the emergency braking activates for 3-5 seconds. Thankfully there was only a car behind me on one occasion, and they were far enough behind to not collide after my sudden braking.

NHTSA ID

11623209

Incident

Oct 20, 2024

The brakes began feeling less effective the day before because the car crept forward at a light but the driver thought they may have just eased off the brake pedal. The next day during a 45-minute drive to work the brakes felt more ineffective and a dash display warned "Low brake fluid". The Parking brake light was NOT on while driving. Drove the car from work to the local Hyundai dealer in Alexandria, VA a mile away. The dealer refused to look at car at all and said to come back in 18 days. The dealer said no loaner cars were available. Drove the car back to work. On the way home the Parking brake light came on. Got home and saw the Owners Manual says to park the car and not drive it when the Parking Brake light comes on while the parking brake is released. Checked the brake reservoir and it was completely empty. The brake pedal went to floor and the only way to stop the car was to use the Parking Brake. The reservoir was refilled but all fluid was gone in a few hours of driving. The car was towed ten days later to the same dealer after a manager at the dealership got involved. The tow truck driver had to use the parking brake to drive the car out of the parking garage. The dealer advised the problem was a faulty caliper. The Owners Manual claims the car has a "dual diagonal" braking system as required by law but somehow a single leaking caliper resulted in a COMPLETE loss of pedal braking and ALL brake fluid from the master cylinder reservoir in a short period of time. Had this happened on a highway instead of city streets this could have been a fatal. THE BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER RESERVOIR DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A "SPLIT" RESERVOIR. It has a separator but the "wall" does NOT go all the way to the top of the reservoir. I believe that when the brakes were used the fluid splashed from the "good" half to the leaking half because the reservoir is not 100% physically separate for the two sets of brakes.

NHTSA ID

11532542

Incident

Jan 13, 2022

Two times on a highway, the car engaged the automatic emergency brakes when the driver was driving straight forward. We were not turning, breaking, or accelerating and there were no cars close to our car

NHTSA ID

11497879

Incident

Dec 17, 2022

This is my 2nd report on the same issue. There is another report from me on the first and I will be discussing this with my Hyundai dealer today. On a 250 mile road trip, on the expressway, two separate times, the car suddenly braked hard and the emergency warning flashed on the speedometer. Each time it was about 3-5 seconds. On the second incident, my passenger thinks she noticed it happening in conjunction with a car appearing on my side. She said the side mirror warning lit up at the same time the car started braking. It could just be a coincidence though. Thankfully, neither time did the brakes fully stop the car, but DAMN, it is very scary when it happens on the expressway and I am very nervous to drive with the feature on.

NHTSA ID

11490731

Incident

Oct 23, 2022

When I pull up to my driveway, which is on a 45-degree angle from the street for approximately 100 feet, and stop the car with the vehicle brake, take my foot off the brake and leave the transmission in drive, the car sits for approximately 15 seconds and then, without any input, the car will climb the hill. I was curious, so I turn the car around and backed into the driveway, and it did the same thing in reverse. I hate to think that a small child would be sitting in the driveway and the diver didn't see them. My question is would the car keep going and run over the child?

NHTSA ID

11485854

Incident

Sep 22, 2022

During collision, airbags did not deploy. In attempt to avoid collision, automatic breaks failed and did not stop the vehicle, cruise control continued to attempt to drive the vehicle despite collision warning and did not stop- coupled with my manual breaking, the car did not stop. Car is currently at a tow lot waiting for insurance. My safety was put at risk due to airbags not deploying during serious collision, the breaks malfunctioned. At this time, the car is in the beginning stages of insurance. My car did not display any prior failure features.

NHTSA ID

11467487

Incident

Jun 1, 2022

I was driving on the freeway the car in front of me was at least 4 car lengths away. My car flashed emergency breaks and locked it’s breaks coming to a stop on the fast lane of the freeway. Nearly avoided an accident. This has happened twice- both with no reason and no issue in front of me to cause the car to think it needed to suddenly use emergency brakes.

NHTSA ID

11464596

Incident

May 12, 2022