How many miles will a 2002 Hyundai Sonata last?
Half of the 226 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata that list mileage came after 88,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 167,000 miles. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 320 complaints on this model year; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 226 complaints on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata that list mileage, the middle half came between 53,000 and 130,000 miles; 92 (41%) came after 100,000 miles, 39 (17%) after 150,000 and 8 (4%) after 200,000.
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How many miles will a 2002 Sonata last?
The 226 mileages owners gave run from 5 to 260,000 miles. A quarter are at or under 53,283 miles, half at or under 88,850, three quarters at or under 130,000 and nine in ten at or under 168,000; 92 (41%) came after 100,000 miles, 39 (17%) after 150,000 and 8 (4%) after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2002 Sonata wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 5 miles |
| 25th percentile | 53,283 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 88,850 miles |
| 75th percentile | 130,000 miles |
| 90th percentile | 168,000 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 260,000 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 92 (41%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 39 (17%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | 8 (4%) |
Every model year together: Half of the 10,415 NHTSA owner complaints on the Hyundai Sonata that list mileage came after 70,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Hyundai Sonata last? →
Common problems with the 2002 Sonata
NHTSA's file holds 320 owner complaints on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata. Owners named the body structure most often: 88 complaints, and half of the 77 that list a mileage came after 104,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structure | 88 | 77 | 105,000 |
| Suspension | 63 | 53 | 129,000 |
| Air Bags | 51 | 30 | 65,000 |
| Steering | 24 | 22 | 104,000 |
| Electrical System | 23 | 18 | 74,000 |
Of the 320 complaints, 31 report a crash, 4 report a fire and 35 report an injury (54 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2002 Sonata a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2002 is a good or a bad Sonata: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2002 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 320 complaints, the 2002 ranks 14th of the 36 Hyundai Sonata model years from 1989 to 2025 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2011 (3,476). The fewest: the 1989 (11).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 Sonata | 11 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1990 Sonata | 16 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1991 Sonata | 29 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1992 Sonata | 22 | 1 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1993 Sonata | 26 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1995 Sonata | 66 | 3 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1996 Sonata | 23 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1997 Sonata | 49 | 13 | 72,000 |
| 1998 Sonata | 49 | 17 | 80,000 |
| 1999 Sonata | 124 | 73 | 98,723 |
| 2000 Sonata | 276 | 176 | 104,391 |
| 2001 Sonata | 205 | 137 | 86,000 |
| 2002 (this page) | 320 | 226 | 88,850 |
| 2003 Sonata | 199 | 148 | 65,000 |
| 2004 Sonata | 202 | 154 | 85,000 |
| 2005 Sonata | 165 | 127 | 80,000 |
| 2006 Sonata | 1,047 | 867 | 70,000 |
| 2007 Sonata | 696 | 567 | 64,000 |
| 2008 Sonata | 425 | 343 | 62,000 |
| 2009 Sonata | 460 | 374 | 68,000 |
| 2010 Sonata | 345 | 279 | 65,000 |
| 2011 Sonata | 3,476 | 2,575 | 75,000 |
| 2012 Sonata | 1,714 | 1,128 | 80,000 |
| 2013 Sonata | 2,029 | 1,195 | 77,688 |
| 2014 Sonata | 778 | 410 | 70,000 |
| 2015 Sonata | 1,211 | 641 | 55,300 |
| 2016 Sonata | 889 | 359 | 60,500 |
| 2017 Sonata | 882 | 286 | 53,900 |
| 2018 Sonata | 384 | 145 | 20,000 |
| 2019 Sonata | 172 | 49 | 23,000 |
| 2020 Sonata | 199 | 56 | 2,700 |
| 2021 Sonata | 190 | 27 | 35,000 |
| 2022 Sonata | 117 | 18 | 31,000 |
| 2023 Sonata | 103 | 12 | 18,500 |
| 2024 Sonata | 58 | 7 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2025 Sonata | 28 | 2 | Under 10 mileages |
The linked 2015–2022 pages show NHTSA's September 15, 2026 collection, so their counts can differ from this table's.
Every Sonata year compared on NHTSA’s complaints and recalls: Hyundai Sonata years to avoid →
2002 Hyundai Sonata recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 7 recall campaigns that name the 2002 Hyundai Sonata. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 09V317000 | Aug 7, 2009 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH |
| 09V171000 | May 21, 2009 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH |
| 09V124000 | Apr 16, 2009 | SUSPENSION |
| 04V369000 | Jul 26, 2004 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE |
| 04V178000 | Apr 9, 2004 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:TANK ASSEMBLY |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2002 Sonata lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2002 Sonata.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 94 of the 320 complaints on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA names counted: SONATA, SONATA HYBRID and SONATA PLUG-IN HYBRID. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only these.
- Recall-file names matched: SONATA, SONATA HYBRID and SONATA PLUG-IN HYBRID.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2002 Hyundai Sonata questions
How many miles will a 2002 Hyundai Sonata last?
Half of the 226 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata that list mileage came after 88,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 167,000 miles. Of the 226 complaints on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata that list mileage, the middle half came between 53,000 and 130,000 miles; 92 (41%) came after 100,000 miles, 39 (17%) after 150,000 and 8 (4%) after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 2002 Sonata that never had one.
What are the most common 2002 Hyundai Sonata problems?
NHTSA's file holds 320 owner complaints on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata. Owners named the body structure most often: 88 complaints, and half of the 77 that list a mileage came after 104,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 320 complaints, 31 report a crash, 4 report a fire and 35 report an injury (54 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2002 Hyundai Sonata a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2002 is a good or a bad Sonata: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2002 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 320 complaints, the 2002 ranks 14th of the 36 Hyundai Sonata model years from 1989 to 2025 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2011 (3,476). The fewest: the 1989 (11).
How many recalls does the 2002 Hyundai Sonata have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 7 recall campaigns that name the 2002 Hyundai Sonata. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2002 Hyundai Sonata before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2002 Hyundai Sonata.