Hyundai Accent vs KIA Sportage

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Hyundai Accent	KIA Sportage
Complaints on file	2,762	6,818
Model years covered	1991–2022	1995–2026
Worst model year	2013	2017
Best model year	2021	1995
Crashes reported	367	467
Fires reported	124	317
Injuries reported	261	306
Deaths reported	8	3
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	27.5%	16%

Hyundai Accent by year

2 1 197 142 82 72 66 115 148 163 45 40 76 49 113 135 128 119 53 219 207 99 100 161 98 23 38 17 22 32

91 93 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Airbags 445 16.1%

Engine & Cooling 350 12.7%

Brakes 279 10.1%

Electrical System 228 8.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 223 8.1%

Suspension 166 6.0%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 159 5.8%

Other & Unspecified 143 5.2%

KIA Sportage by year

88 98 299 558 493 462 354 321 4 93 169 113 138 120 28 264 454 449 154 195 185 561 229 103 206 62 68 316 101 90 43

95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 2,028 29.7%

Electrical System 656 9.6%

Brakes 632 9.3%

Fuel & Propulsion 486 7.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 484 7.1%

Other & Unspecified 482 7.1%

Airbags 297 4.4%

Body & Structure 286 4.2%