Jeep Cherokee vs Hyundai Kona: which is more reliable?
The Hyundai Kona is clearly ahead of the Jeep Cherokee on the federal record: 83/100 against 66/100 across every model year we score.
The record, side by side
Jeep Cherokee
- 6 model years scored
- 2,801 owner complaints on record
- about 68 complaints per year on the road
- 29 recall campaigns, 11 safety-critical
- best year 2023 (92/100) · worst 2019 (25/100)
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)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Cherokee against Kona
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
Jeep Cherokee
- Power Train — 1,357 complaints
- Engine — 680 complaints
- Electrical System — 591 complaints
Hyundai Kona
- Engine — 396 complaints
- Electrical System — 135 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 133 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Cherokee's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the Kona's in Engine. 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
Jeep Cherokee — avoid: 2018, 2019.
Hyundai Kona: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 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 Jeep Cherokee prices at about $27,900 and a Hyundai Kona at about $30,500 — the Jeep Cherokee is roughly $2,600 less, and they return 24.0 against 27.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Jeep Cherokee or the Hyundai Kona more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Hyundai Kona scores 83/100 against the Jeep Cherokee's 66/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Hyundai Kona carries about 23 complaints per year on the road against 68 for the Jeep Cherokee.
Which Jeep Cherokee and Hyundai Kona years should I avoid?
Jeep Cherokee: 2018, 2019. Hyundai Kona: 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 Jeep Cherokee and the Hyundai Kona?
The largest complaint group on the Jeep Cherokee is Power Train (1,357 complaints); on the Hyundai Kona it is Engine (396).
Is the Jeep Cherokee or the Hyundai Kona cheaper to own?
A recent used Jeep Cherokee prices at about $27,900 and a Hyundai Kona at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.