If you are considering buying a used Hyundai Tucson, these are the common problems worth knowing about first. Our garage database tracks 4 known faults for this model, 2 of them rated high severity. Every one below is a repair bill a seller has good reason not to mention.
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Check a Hyundai Tucson advert (free) →The Hyundai Tucson has 4 known faults in our database, 2 of them rated high severity. The most serious are engine (timing chain tensioner failure causing the chain to jump teeth and damage the engine) and engine (turbocharger failure caused by blocked oil feed pipes/strainers due to carbon buildup). None of them makes the car a bad buy on its own; the risk is a seller who knows and says nothing.
That is a count of the faults we hold, not a reliability score. Popular cars get written about more, and a newer generation has had less time to show its faults.
No year is a write-off on its own. What matters is which serious faults a given year and engine can have, and whether the car in front of you has had them fixed.
Each one is set out in full below, with the symptoms, the typical mileage and a rough repair cost.
One owner each, in their own words rewritten as a line, and not counted in our risk scoring. A fault joins the list above once a second report or an editorial source backs it.
One owner each, in their own words rewritten as a line, and not counted in our risk scoring. A fault joins the list above once a second report or an editorial source backs it.
Sellers rarely admit these faults outright
We track 10 specific phrases sellers use in adverts to soft-pedal these exact issues. Paste any Hyundai Tucson advert and we check it in seconds.
Check an advert now (free) →Recall work is done by the manufacturer, and GOV.UK says you will not usually have to pay for it. These are the 11 DVSA recalls for the Tucson, newest first. They do not tell you whether this particular car has had the work: for that, put the registration into the free GOV.UK MOT history check, which shows a recall status where the manufacturer shares it, or ask a franchised dealer to check the VIN.
Some vehicles may face a concern where the instrument cluster panel may reboot during vehicle operation potentially resulting in a blank instrument cluster display screen.
Put right by: To correct this an 'Over the Air ' software update to the vehicles will be deployed remotely.
The subject vehicles may experience a loss of brake assistance and brake performance may be reduced. The foot brake will still operate but in a manner of a vehicle without a functioning brake booster (less assistance).
Put right by: Engine control unit software update
The side curtain airbag could potentially be assembled in a twisted condition
Put right by: Check the installation of the side curtain airbag installation and rectify or replace the curtain airbag as required.
Certain Tucson vehicles equipped with rear door power windows may experience a malfunction of the anti-pinch function during its operation.
Put right by: Both left-hand and right-hand rear door power window regulator motors will be replaced.
The vehicle immobiliser may not function correctly due to incorrect vehicle software.
Put right by: Apply a software update to the Hybrid Control Unit to correct the immobiliser operation.
A manufacturing defect may be present within the right-hand rear brake calliper which may result in impaired brake performance.
Put right by: Visually inspect and if the right-hand rear brake calliper is confirmed to be fitted with the affected batch code (1J24) it will be replaced.
The side curtain airbag could potentially be assembled in a twisted condition.
Put right by: Affected vehicles will be inspected to ascertain if the airbag is correctly installed. If the airbag is twisted it will be removed and reinstalled correctly.
The ABS/ESC control unit may short circuit.
Put right by: ABS/ESC control unit wiring to be reworked together with amended amp fuses. Depending on specification the control unit software may also be updated.
The vehicle VIN information may not be registered correctly within the eCall unit.
Put right by: Register the VIN information within the vehicle by resetting the E-call unit and updating.
If the bonnet is not shut correctly on the main bonnet catch and the bonnet then opens to the secondary catch the secondary bonnet catch is not strong enough to hold the bonnet in a closed position. At high motorway speeds the bonnet can then fly open and block the drivers view. There is also a warning light to inform the driver that the bonnet is not closed correctly which is not functioning as intended.
Put right by: Recall the vehicles that are likely to be affected and replace the secondary bonnet catch for a new stronger item. A new program will be downloaded into the cluster to make the bonnet open warning light work correctly.
The vehicles brake lights may intermittently malfunction due to carbonisation of the contacts within the brake light switch. This can also affect other systems on the vehicle including: ESC cruise control gear selection (autoboxes) engine check lamp.
Put right by: Recall the vehicle that are likely to be affected to replace the brake light switch.
Recall data published by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency under the Open Government Licence v3.0. A recall listed here may not apply to every car of this model: the build dates and the registration check are what decide it.
A timing chain has no change interval, which is not the same as lasting for ever. Listen for it on a used Tucson, and check the oil has been changed on time. These are the figures UK specialists work to.
The U2-series 1.6/1.7 CRDi diesels and the 1.6 GDi petrol are chain driven with no scheduled replacement. Chain stretch is rare but tensioner failure can occur if the oil is not changed frequently. The 2.0 and 2.2 CRDi are covered by a separate row because only the 2010-on R-series versions are chain driven.
Always confirm against the vehicle handbook. Intervals vary by engine, and several manufacturers revised theirs after failures in service.
Three stand out. Engine: timing chain tensioner failure causing the chain to jump teeth and damage the engine (typically 60000 to 100000 miles). Engine: turbocharger failure caused by blocked oil feed pipes/strainers due to carbon buildup (typically 70000 to 120000 miles). Gearbox: six owners of 2015 and 2016 Tucsons reported clutch trouble, mostly on the 1.7 CRDi manual (typically 1500 to 21000 miles). The full list above is grouped by generation, with typical mileage and a rough repair cost for each.
No Hyundai Tucson year is a write-off, but the 3rd Gen (2015 to 2020) carries the most serious faults: engine. Year matters less than whether the specific car has had the known fixes, so check the history for them.
Ask the seller about the engine and gearbox faults on this page and whether they have been fixed, with invoices. On the test drive watch for rattling noise on cold start, loud whining or 'siren' noise from turbo and judder through the pedal and floor when pulling away, sometimes worse from cold. Read the MOT history for repeat advisories, then paste the advert into the free check, which reads it against all 4 known faults before you travel. Check a Hyundai Tucson advert →
The DVSA lists 11 safety recalls for the Hyundai Tucson issued between 2013 and 2026. The most recent, from April 2026, is "Some vehicles may have an instrument cluster operational concern whilst driving the vehicle". Recall work is done by the manufacturer, and GOV.UK says you will not usually have to pay for it. This list is by model, so it cannot tell you whether one particular car has had the work: the free GOV.UK MOT history check shows a recall status from the registration where the manufacturer shares it, and a franchised dealer can check the VIN.
Owners report 39.0 mpg on average across the Hyundai Tucson engines with data, about 76% of the official combined figure. The gap between official and real-world economy varies a lot by engine, so the Real MPG page lists every engine and generation separately, from 969 owner submissions. Hyundai Tucson Real MPG by engine →
Looking at a Hyundai Tucson right now? Check the advert before you go and see it.
If you used to check the Honest John “Good & Bad” section before the site closed in 2026, this page is where that information now lives. We rebuilt the Hyundai Tucson owner-report history from the archived Honest John dataset, added our own research, specialist and owner-club sources and DVSA recall data, and we keep it free. Each fault above is badged with its source. The same data feeds our free advert check, which reads a listing against every known fault for the exact engine and year.
CarAdCheck is not affiliated with Honest John or Volkswagen Financial Services. What happened to Honest John, and where each feature lives now.
Knowing what a Hyundai Tucson goes wrong with is half of it. The rest is reading the advert and checking the car's history before you hand any money over.