Hyundai Accent: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Hyundai Accent: 12 model years scored from 657 NHTSA owner complaints and 15 recall campaigns. Worst year 2012, best year 2011.
Hyundai Accent: which years to avoid
Across 10 scored model years the Hyundai Accent ranges from 59/100 in 2012 to 94/100 in 2018 — a 35-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy an Accent at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Service Brakes (37 of them).
Safest years: 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
How the Accent changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 2 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2012–2014
Mean score 68/100, about 9 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Service Brakes more than anything else (105 complaints). 4 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2016–2021
Mean score 83/100, about 5 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Engine more than anything else (90 complaints). The record improves by 15 points against the years before it. 7 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2011 (score 93). Worst: 2012 (score 59, CAUTION).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | — | DATA PENDING | $2,650 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 80 | BUY | $3,000 | 16 | 4 |
| 2020 | 84 | BUY | $3,068 | 12 | 4 |
| 2019 | 90 | BUY | $3,554 | 31 | 1 |
| 2018 | 94 | BUY | $3,654 | 19 | 1 |
| 2017 | 81 | BUY | $3,843 | 68 | 0 |
| 2016 | 71 | BUY | $4,028 | 99 | 0 |
| 2015 | — | DATA PENDING | $3,980 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | 81 | BUY | $4,346 | 80 | 1 |
| 2013 | 63 | CAUTION | $4,516 | 141 | 1 |
| 2012 | 59 | CAUTION | $4,558 | 153 | 2 |
| 2011 | 93 | BUY | $4,638 | 38 | 1 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Accent, through the years →
Accent sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the Accent on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Hyundai Accent
Across every Accent model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Engine189 complaints across all Accent years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Service Brakes124 complaints across all Accent years · typical job: Pads, rotors and caliper service, both axles$580–$1,140
- Air Bags104 complaints across all Accent years · typical job: Airbag module, clockspring or sensor replacement$600–$1,700
- Electrical System94 complaints across all Accent years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Unknown Or Other79 complaints across all Accent years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Hydraulic36 complaints across all Accent years · typical job: Brake master cylinder or ABS module replacement$680–$1,520
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
What are the best Hyundai Accent years to buy?
2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2018 at 94/100, on 19 complaints and 1 recall campaigns.
Which Hyundai Accent years should I avoid?
The 2012 is the weakest year we score, at 59/100 (CAUTION), on 153 complaints and 2 recalls. Check the year-by-year table above before committing to any particular car.
What is the most common Hyundai Accent problem?
189 of the complaints filed against the Accent across all its model years sit in the Engine group — more than any other component.
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04