Other body or interior problem on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata
2 crashes 14 injuries 16 of the 44 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other body or interior problem gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Hyundai Sonata report other body or interior problem at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 62,500 miles and a quarter after 132,500 miles, from 31 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 27,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 155,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 127,500 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
16% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27,500 miles | 61,500 miles | 100,000 miles | 132,500 miles | 155,000 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
Of these reports, 2 a crash and 14 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $200–$2,000 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.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 25 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2023, at a median of 100 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2010 carries the most reports, with 147; the 2002 has 44. 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.
On july 26th, 2005, I was meeting a co-worker for lunch when I noticed that the paint on the front facia covering the bumper on my 2002 hyundai sonata was bubbling and starting to peel. After work that same day, I attempted to contact the salesperson who sold me the vehicle at the dealership. I spoke the service manager and had him walk out to inspect the facia. His first question to me was whether I had the vehicle repainted. I told him I had not! He then asked me if I have ever brought my car to a touchless car wash, which I have for many, many years here in town. He then stated that because of the 7500 psi caused by the high pressure water that they were not at fault and that it was not a manufacturer defect. I asked why this was not occurring on the body of the car or on the rear facia, and he stated that he did not know. Dissatisfied with this response, I called hyundai motor america in fountain valley, ca at 800-633-5151 that evening (8/5/05) and spoke with a gentleman. After telling him of the situation, he then stated that I should try to get the car fixed at another dealership! On monday, august 8th, I received a phone…
Dt*: the consumer stated the interior material on the passenger's door handle of the vehicle caused minor injuries to a child. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where they replaced the door handles. The consumer is now having the same type of problem with the driver's side door. *jb updated 3/9/2006 - *nm
In a recent visit to hyundai dealer related to another matter I learned that my 2002 sonata was unsafe to drive due to a rusted out engine cradle on the passenger side. I have yet to get this fixed due to the price (est. $2500) and yet at the same time I realize the situation will only get worse. I have read on the internet where your agency is investigated this matter and also on the internet I learned of many other owners who have had accidents due engine cradle failure. The suspension gives way and wheels fall off, etc. In my opinion hyundai used inferior metal in their engine cradle and incorrectly designed the engine cradle system. I have been driving for more than 40 years and owned many makes and models of vehicles but never have I been faced with such a situation. I realize many parts have a limited life span but the engine cradle should have an extended life. My wife has a 1999 subaru with more miles than our sonata and which has been driven on the same road conditions with less care than we have given the sonata and yet her car does not have such an obvious and common safety issue. Thank you for considering this…
Also reported on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Rust or structural corrosion
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Other suspension problem
Other wheel or tire problem
Airbag failed to deploy in a crash
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 44 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 other body or interior problem happen on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata?
Across 31 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 62,500 miles and a quarter after 132,500 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other body or interior problem on the 2002 Hyundai Sonata?
44 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.0 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