Hyundai Kona vs Toyota RAV4 Hybrid: which is more reliable?
The Hyundai Kona and the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid 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)
Toyota RAV4 Hybrid
- 10 model years scored
- 408 owner complaints on record
- about 6 complaints per year on the road
- 16 recall campaigns, 5 safety-critical
- best year 2016 (93/100) · worst 2017 (48/100)
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 RAV4 Hybrid
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 RAV4 Hybrid
- Electrical System — 116 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 68 complaints
- Service Brakes — 51 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Kona's complaints concentrate in Engine, the RAV4 Hybrid's in Electrical System. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Hyundai Kona: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023….
Toyota RAV4 Hybrid — avoid: 2017.
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 RAV4 Hybrid 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 39.0 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 RAV4 Hybrid more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Hyundai Kona scores 83/100 against the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid'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 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid years should I avoid?
Hyundai Kona: no year scores below 45. Toyota RAV4 Hybrid: 2017. 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 RAV4 Hybrid?
The largest complaint group on the Hyundai Kona is Engine (396 complaints); on the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid it is Electrical System (116).
Is the Hyundai Kona or the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid cheaper to own?
A recent used Hyundai Kona prices at about $30,500 and a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.