Hyundai Kona vs Toyota Corolla Cross: which is more reliable?
The Hyundai Kona is clearly ahead of the Toyota Corolla Cross on the federal record: 83/100 against 72/100 across every model year we score.
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)
Toyota Corolla Cross
- 4 model years scored
- 282 owner complaints on record
- about 28 complaints per year on the road
- 6 recall campaigns, 6 safety-critical
- best year 2022 (86/100) · worst 2023 (35/100)
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 Corolla Cross
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
Toyota Corolla Cross
- Engine — 123 complaints
- Electrical System — 88 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 53 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….
Toyota Corolla Cross — avoid: 2023.
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 Toyota Corolla Cross at about $30,500 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 27.0 against 32.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Hyundai Kona or the Toyota Corolla Cross more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Hyundai Kona scores 83/100 against the Toyota Corolla Cross's 72/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Hyundai Kona carries about 23 complaints per year on the road against 28 for the Toyota Corolla Cross.
Which Hyundai Kona and Toyota Corolla Cross years should I avoid?
Hyundai Kona: no year scores below 45. Toyota Corolla Cross: 2023. 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 Toyota Corolla Cross?
The largest complaint group on the Hyundai Kona is Engine (396 complaints); on the Toyota Corolla Cross it is Engine (123).
Is the Hyundai Kona or the Toyota Corolla Cross cheaper to own?
A recent used Hyundai Kona prices at about $30,500 and a Toyota Corolla Cross at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.