Complete transmission failure on the 2001 Hyundai Sonata
Only 3 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When complete transmission failure gets reported
There are 6 reports of complete transmission failure on the 2001 Hyundai Sonata, 3 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 13th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 20,000 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $2,800–$8,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 8 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2001, at a median of 20,000 miles, and latest on the 2006 at 150,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 12; the 2001 has 6. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
As I was driving down the road at apprx 30 MPH. The car would de celerate. I would have to take my foot off the gas and then put back on to get the car to move. Also at the same time the car would bang into gear from park and into reverse. I was told it needed a new transmission. The car was purchased new out of the showroom with 10 miles on it and 6 months later a new transmission. ( well we were told at the time it was brand new, I have since learned that it was a rebuilt) shame on the dealer for lying to customers. The car did ok till about 3 months ago. The car will decelerate and I have to do what I stated above. Then cant get out of park and the traction control light comes on. This has happened numerous times. A new brake switch was put in and the car was fine for 7 full days and on the 8th day same thing. So back we go to the dealers and they are really rude and not happy to see me at all . ( I don't' want to see them either) I was told same problem and another switch has been put in this is the third one. The other issue is we are not being notified of recalls. And the dealership is so rude. Will never own another one. *tr
As I was driving down the road at apprx 30 MPH. The car would de celerate. I would have to take my foot off the gas and then put back on to get the car to move. Also at the same time the car would bang into gear from park and into reverse. I was told it needed a new transmission. The car was purchased new out of the showroom with 10 miles on it and 6 months later a new transmission. ( well we were told at the time it was brand new, I have since learned that it was a rebuilt) shame on the dealer for lying to customers. The car did ok till about 3 months ago. The car will decelerate and I have to do what I stated above. Then cant get out of park and the traction control light comes on. This has happened numerous times. A new brake switch was put in and the car was fine for 7 full days and on the 8th day same thing. So back we go to the dealers and they are really rude and not happy to see me at all . ( I don't' want to see them either) I was told same problem and another switch has been put in this is the third one. The other issue is we are not being notified of recalls. And the dealership is so rude. Will never own another one. *tr
Also reported on the 2001 Hyundai Sonata
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other body or interior problem
Rust or structural corrosion
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure
Other engine problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 6 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 6 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does complete transmission failure happen on the 2001 Hyundai Sonata?
Across 3 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 20,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is complete transmission failure on the 2001 Hyundai Sonata?
6 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed