Used 2018 Hyundai Sonata Plug-in Hybrid Consumer Reviews
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We have a limited number of reviews for the 2018 Sonata Plug-in Hybrid, so we've included reviews for other years of the Sonata Plug-in Hybrid since its last redesign.
Smooth, quiet, spacious -- love it!
Barry in Phoenix , 07/31/2019
updated 08/29/2023
2017 Hyundai Sonata Plug-in Hybrid Limited 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid 6A)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
This is chronological. My opinion of the car has changed somewhat over time -- you might want to read the first paragraph here, then jump to the end! I have the 2017 Limited, and I've driven it for about 4 years in Phoenix. I typically get 21 electric miles (down from 27 initially!), which mostly covers my daily commute. Everything functions well, including the AC (critical here). It's cool to have the 'driver-only' mode to make the AC a little more efficient. The car is so quiet and smooth on all types of pavement. The back seat is also large and comfortable. It drives very nicely. I have never noticed that the brakes are 'grabby' (as the Edmunds reviewer says). I have noticed an initial lag when demanding 'hard' acceleration -- it takes a second for the gas engine to kick in, then the acceleration is good. In most city driving, including busy freeway driving, the gas engine stays off. But to accelerate aggressively on the freeway, you need that gas engine. As a freeway cruiser, it's great. Just engage the adaptive cruise and keep it in the lane. Obvious complaint: The trunk is small, due to the battery pack. UPDATE Aug 2022: At the 4.5-year point (around 45K miles), the electric range has dropped to about 21 miles. The car still drives great, and I've had no major issues. There was an engine-wear monitoring recall in 2021 -- I don't think it was specific to the PHEV. They installed some software which apparently can more-closely monitor for engine vibration. I have noticed no specific problem, but it is at least a theoretical concern. On two extremely hot (115 F) days in the summer of 2019, when driven hard on the freeway, I had a couple of instances where the car warned me about the heat, and started the gas engine while the battery still had plenty of charge. I took it to the dealer to have it checked, and they found no issue -- it's just the electric-drive system protecting itself from the heat. In 2021 (before that recall), my daughter was driving on the interstate between cities and got an error message and briefly lost some power. She pulled over and restarted the car, and went on her way. I took it to the dealer, and they were unable to find a problem. It has only happened this once. I did have several months in 2019-2020 where I had a longer commute that drained the battery every day. I would then put it on a level-2 charger at work. I think that this pattern of twice-daily full recharges in the Phoenix heat likely led to the battery-range-degradation that I have seen. Update (Feb 2023): After three instances of hybrid-system errors that forced me to restart the car, I took it to the dealer again. They have determined that the drive battery (the big one) needs to be replaced. It is under warranty, so there will apparently be no cost to me. The dealer is paying for a rental car while they wait for the battery to arrive (could be a month or more). I am hopeful that this will restore the original electric range (27 mi). It was getting fairly close to the 70% capacity level that is guaranteed for 100k miles in the warranty. Update (Aug 2023): It took SIX MONTHS to get the replacement battery. Hyundai did provide a loaner or rental car for the entire time, although not one that is nearly so fuel-efficient. And they required us to return and replace the loaner each month. And because we moved about 800 miles in the interim, they had to ship the car to us (which they did without complaint). The car is basically back to normal, with 25 EV miles indicated (but we usually get slightly better than that). All of that cost me exactly $0, and I got six months of free miles (no mileage depreciation). I guess I would say: Be careful about buying an EV or PHEV that has a limited production run. It can be hard to get that one critical replacement part that is generally made specifically for your vehicle -- the big battery. My guess is that they have to do special-order manufacturing runs or maybe just refurbish batteries that come back.
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Lyft/Uber Driver Loves It
Tim Larson, 01/02/2019
2017 Hyundai Sonata Plug-in Hybrid Limited 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid 6A)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
I am a 3 day a week Lyft/Uber driver and have put 40,000 miles on my Sonata limited hpev. Everything about the car is exceptional except for some of the luxury electronics. Car is 🤫, so quiet when driving electric mode there’s actually a noise generating system in front end to alert pedestrians to the fact that a car is coming! As driver I cannot hear the noise maker or any other noise when starting, idling, or slow driving in a parking lot or driveway. Eerily quiet on the first couple of drives , is the best way to describe this car. Driving 8 hours straight each night with only one bathroom/coffee stop, I have never experienced a single moment of discomfort. Front seats are completely adjustable in about 10!000 positions, and provide comfortable support including a separate electronically adjustable lumbar support. Rear seats generate constant applause from passengers for both comfort and leg room. “I didn’t order a limo !” is a frequent customer comment when first entering the car and sitting down. I didn’t say this, my “paying passengers “ did and do! Car is a joy to drive, and when you need speed, a firm push on the accelerator rockets you to 70 mph immediately! The combination of the gas and electric motors combine to feel like far more than the 202hp advertised. Sound system is great, with a joystick like control that allows you to find your perfect position with the single movement of one finger. Volume and bass are powerful enough to elicit compliments from a carful of millennials! Recurring problems with the auto dimmed headlights, and with the Blind Spot Detection system have yet to be remedied. I am extremely unhappy with this failure, but cannot say enough about my dealers’ service department. They always listen, and have gone to great lengths to find a solution which is still eluding us. Smart and diligent as they are, the electric luxury items continued faults are annoying enough to reduce a perfect 100% rating of the Sonata Limited edition to 95%. If the rest of the car were not “perfect “, perhaps the annoying headlights wouldn’t bother me so much. All in all the car rates a definite “buy”! Far outpacing the rest of the class.
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Don, 08/12/2020
2017 Hyundai Sonata Plug-in Hybrid Limited 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid 6A)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I have averaged 70.5 miles per gallon over 36,000 miles. I’m glad that I installed a level 2 charger at my home but a regular plug will charge overnight.
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Awesome Car
Kevin Jay, 01/24/2018
2016 Hyundai Sonata Plug-in Hybrid 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid 6A)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I've had this car for a year and a half. When shopping, I compared it to the Chevy Volt, and the Ford Fusion Hybrid Plug In. I went with the Hyundai because it had more electric range than the Ford (just enough to finish my daily commute on all electric), and was more roomy and comfortable than the Volt. Overall, I think Hyundai hit it out of the ballpark. At work, one of my friends is always complaining about how much gas he puts into his SUV. I respond by complaining about how I just had to complete my "seasonal" fill up. It's not far from the truth. I drove from the first week of September until the last week of November on a single tank of gas. I commute about 25 miles rt, and I can complete the commute on just an overnight charge. I've got solar panels, so the charge costs nothing (I've reached break even on the panels themselves). I am leasing the car, and with the Federal and State rebates (and some negotiation), the monthly cost is two sixty five (I have the base model), which is not far off from a similarly equipped hybrid sedan. I think Hyundai's estimate of 27 miles to an electric charge is pretty accurate, but I live in the Northeast, and in the winter months the electric range drops slightly. I should say that my commute is fairly level, and YMMV if you drive on uneven terrain. When using the gas engine, the economy is still very good. I average between 42 and 44 mpg when using gas. Pure highway driving is slightly better. We took my daughter for a tour of prospective colleges, driving from Massachusetts to Virginia by way of Pennsylvania. The gas consumption was just over 50 mpg overall for that trip, even with quite a bit of mountain driving. I love the freedom the hybrid plug-in offers. My daily commute is all-electric, but I can go on a long trip without worrying about where to charge. That trip was a pleasure with this car. The roominess is excellent - better than my last car which was a Camry. I find the fit and finish of this car to be surprisingly good. I was not expecting that with a Hyundai. The cockpit and back seats are laid out with thought. There are plenty of cup holders and everything is easy to reach. In the front cabin, seat comfort and adjustability is excellent. I don't miss the leather seats that I have had on previous cars. The cloth seats come with heaters as standard equipment. My daughter reported the back seat was very comfortable too. Visibility is excellent, although at night, the headlights leave a bit to be desired. The dashboard is simple. Controls, including the Nav/Entertainment system, are logical and easy to use. This was a selling point over the Ford. Hyundai did an amazing job of cramming in the battery and hybrid technology without skimping on interior space. As to the cargo capacity, it is slightly less than you would find on a standard hybrid, but still quite good. We had no problem packing the trunk with enough luggage for three people on a seven day road trip. No need to take up space in the back seat. The sound system is very good, with the exception of satellite radio (see below). The Android Auto system works pretty well. We recently got Waze support, so that Waze can run on the dashboard screen, though it isn't fully functional. It will accept a destination, but then the map won't update once the car starts moving. I'm hoping a software update will resolve this. This car is not going to win any races, but it can cruise effortlessly at 80mph. Acceleration is adequate for passing, even on a grade, although there is a slight lag when you floor the pedal. The ride is very comfortable at any speed, and the car feels quite stable around turns. My car is white, and I think the exterior is very sharp. The car is not without problems. I've had the dealership look into a persistent check engine light 4 times so far, and it remains to be seen whether the dealership has fixed it for good. During the last visit, the technician suggested that it was a problem with my Level 2 charger. That seems unlikely. What's more likely is that the hybrid plug in system is quite complex, and Hyundai hasn't fully debugged it. Thankfully, I've never had the hybrid system problems some others have reported here. I've also had persistent problems with Sirius XM on the entertainment system. It takes a long time for it to find stations, particularly on cloudy days. For a long stretch of time, it wasn't working at all. Even so, I sometimes don't get reception until the end of my commute. The heating system is poor. The heated seats help a lot, and heat up quickly, but the climate control system is slow to heat the cabin, and it has trouble doing so when running in EV mode. The gas engine kicks in to help, and then it takes a good ten to fifteen minutes to get going. Even so, I don't have to fill the tank more than once a month during the winter. I really like this car - it's almost perfect and I'd buy it again.
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Do NOT buy the 2016 Plug-In
Danielle, 05/15/2018
2016 Hyundai Sonata Plug-in Hybrid Limited 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl gas/electric hybrid 6A)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
The 2016 Plug-Ins have a faulty hybrid battery. There was a recent recall regarding this. My car also cut off on me on the freeway. It was terrifying!! That was the 5 or 6th time my car was in service. Last year they had my car in service for over a month. Hyundai has agreed to do a repurchase of the vehicle. I absolutely loved the vehicle, too bad they are faulty.
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