All generations and engines together · 48,687 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 100k
Better than most family hatchbacks for its age, and one of the best per mile driven. Watch brakes and lights & electrics. A solid used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating brakes advisories.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Because the hybrid system does most of the slowing down through regen, the actual brake pads and discs barely get worked at low speed. Owners report a loud groan or creak as the car rolls to a stop, especially at parking speeds, and at least one dealer told an owner it was normal. The measured MOT data flags brakes on this car too, but the one detailed owner report we found had pads at 90% life left at 40,000 miles, so the real story looks more like disc corrosion and pad glazing than genuine wear. Usually cheap to sort with a clean-up, but worth checking rather than assuming it is a wear item.
The small 12V battery that runs the locks, lights and infotainment can go flat with no warning, in one case within a day of a plug-in hybrid being delivered, and it can keep recurring even after Hyundai replace the battery. Dealers have suggested using a hibernation mode setting or fitting a trickle charger as a workaround rather than a fix. US complaint data logs the same fault independently, typically surfacing by around 69,000 miles, and it is not limited to one model year.
One well-documented case: a 2021 Ioniq Electric lost air con entirely and needed four dealer visits and an escalation to Hyundai's technical team before anyone would commit to a cause, with a seized compressor or dried-out seals suspected. We could not confirm this is a wider pattern rather than a one-off, so treat it as a possibility to check for rather than a known weak spot. Leaving the AC unused over winter is itself flagged as a risk factor for the seals drying out.
US complaint data logs a worn steering gear fault appearing from as little as 15,000 miles on the Ioniq, which is early for a part that should easily see out a warranty period. We found no UK forum threads echoing this specifically, so it may be more of a US-market pattern, or just under-reported here. Worth a quick lock-to-lock check on a test drive either way, since a rack replacement is not a cheap job.
Hyundai covers the hybrid battery for 8 years or 100,000 miles, and owner experience so far suggests it tends to outlast that cover, especially on cars used for steady motorway miles rather than stop-start town driving. We found no documented pattern of early failures. It still sits on the list because it is one of the few components on this car that could mean a genuinely large bill if it does fail once the warranty has run out, so check the battery health readout on any car near the mileage or age cut-off.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 19,303 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (Family hatchbacks), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.