Hyundai Kona vs Nissan Rogue Sport: which is more reliable?
The Hyundai Kona and the Nissan Rogue Sport are level on the federal record — 83/100 against 82/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Hyundai Kona
- 8 model years scored
- 769 owner complaints on record
- about 23 complaints per year on the road
- 10 recall campaigns, 4 safety-critical
- best year 2018 (93/100) · worst 2024 (74/100)
Nissan Rogue Sport
- 6 model years scored
- 370 owner complaints on record
- about 9 complaints per year on the road
- 8 recall campaigns, 6 safety-critical
- best year 2022 (90/100) · worst 2019 (70/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Kona against Rogue Sport
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Hyundai Kona
- Engine — 396 complaints
- Electrical System — 135 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 133 complaints
Nissan Rogue Sport
- Engine — 85 complaints
- Electrical System — 75 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 72 complaints
Both nameplates have Engine as their largest complaint group, so the choice between them is about how often, not about what.
Years to avoid on each
Hyundai Kona: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023….
Nissan Rogue Sport: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Hyundai Kona prices at about $30,500 and a Nissan Rogue Sport at about $23,700 — the Nissan Rogue Sport is roughly $6,800 less, and they return 27.0 against 28.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Hyundai Kona or the Nissan Rogue Sport more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Hyundai Kona scores 83/100 against the Nissan Rogue Sport's 82/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Hyundai Kona and Nissan Rogue Sport years should I avoid?
Hyundai Kona: no year scores below 45. Nissan Rogue Sport: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Hyundai Kona and the Nissan Rogue Sport?
The largest complaint group on the Hyundai Kona is Engine (396 complaints); on the Nissan Rogue Sport it is Engine (85).
Is the Hyundai Kona or the Nissan Rogue Sport cheaper to own?
A recent used Hyundai Kona prices at about $30,500 and a Nissan Rogue Sport at about $23,700, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.