While driving at night the entire electrical system went out for a few seconds. Headlights out, dash full out, then after a few seconds it came back on. Just like this issue: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Hyundai Kona headlights problems
21 of the 816 owner complaints about the Hyundai Kona describe headlights failing or too dim, most of them for the 2024 model year.
- owner complaints
- 21
- worst model year
- 2024
- typical mileage
- 7,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
While I was driving, my car turned off and on again while the car was in motion. I wasn't in an accident, but I did notice the headlights turn off, my dashboard turn off, and a red light appear on the dashboard before the car turned itself back on.
- While driving, everything electrical turned off (engine stayed on) for approximately 3 seconds including headlights, navigation, dashboard containing speed, music, etc. - This occurrence happened during the daytime, so there was no danger; however this has also happened to me at night a year ago, causing me to lose all vision at 40 MPH which was a major safety risk. - This problem has occurred with others [XXX] ) and Hyundai has not acknowledged it or been able to reproduce it, simply returning the vehicle to people who bring it in. - My vehicle has not been inspected, as from others' experiences it sounds like this issue does not register as an error code and would be a waste of time with no action from Hyundai. - There are no other issues with my vehicle in terms of warning lights or messages. I have frequent oil changes and have only driven this car 6,000 miles. It was bought brand new in 2024. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
the headlights in this model Kona keep burning out after 9 months or so. I have replaced them multiple times in the last 5 years on both left and right sides. I use glove to put in the bulbs and are very careful not to let my hands touch the bulb. I have never had this happen with any other car I have owned. I suspect an electrical system issue, or perhaps wiring, but that is speculation. I have not had this inspected by the dealership. The latest date of failure is listed below.
5 minutes into my drive my the whole dashboard (speedometer and music screen) all went black, & my headlights went out. this lasted for about 3 seconds. not sure what happened or why but not something that should happen with such a new car.
On February 3rd 2025, directly after putting my Kona in park, I felt it pulsing, saw the RPM dial bouncing repeatedly up and down, and the overhead lights flickering in rhythm with the vibrating/pulsing and RPM dial bounces. I recorded this incident, then turned my car off and on again at which point these observations could not be repeated - in other words, the car was acting fine. There were no other observable issues until March 1st, 2025, when these exact symptoms emerged under different circumstances. I came to an idle at a red light (with the auto-start/stop feature turned off for this drive) when the RPM bouncing, car pulsing back and forth, and lights flickering happened again. My car felt as though it was about to stall this time until, thankfully, the light turned green and I could accelerate. The issues dissipated with acceleration. I have this incident on video as well. I have a little over 63K miles on this car. I drive all day for my job, so it's used often for short trips throughout the city.
While driving the vehicle the digital dashboard for the RPM's and Speedometer, infotainment center, accent lighting and all exterior lighting including tail lamps, head lights, turn signals and marker lights all powered off for approximately 2-3 seconds. During this time, the engine continued to run as if nothing had occurred. After the 2-3 seconds all affected systems that shut down turned back on and continued as if nothing had occurred. Even Apple carplay had no signal reconnection time, almost like it was never disconnected in the first place. This issue appears to just shut down all outward lighting/indicator lamps and then power back up. This issue has repeated itself on 5 separate occasions over the course of the last 3 days. Took it to a dealer on the 4th day (today, March 6th), and they could not get the issue to replicate despite driving for 30 miles and having it for 3 or so hours under their care. No codes were logged, no indicator lamps showed an issue and no erratic driving or lasting effects of the power blip. Outside of the dealership this issue has not been inspected further. A contact was made with Hyundai USA in attempt to address this safety issue. No reply has been received since submitting yesterday afternoon. This issue has happened during the day as well but given the lighting conditions is not as dangerous as losing all head lamps or tail lamps at night where the driver or other drivers may be affected as they travel about the roadways in the case of merging on and off of a highway or being able to see any animals that run into the roadway.
I was stopped at a stoplight about to get on the highway to go to work when my headlights turned off, music turned off, infotainment & cluster screen turned off, & all the backlit buttons went dark. Approximately 2-3 seconds later, everything turned back on as if nothing happened. The engine did not stop running. It was like all electrical to the car got turned off for a couple seconds. I was so glad that it didn’t happen while I was on the highway going 70mph. There are so many other people who have a 2024 Kona & have experienced the same thing per Reddit forums & Facebook groups. Luckily I have only had the one occurrence & it was within the first 500 miles (less than a month!) of owning my car. I now have 14k miles on it, but so many other people are having the same issues & it’s terrifying. What if this issue were to happen at night with poor lighting in a construction zone? Hyundai doesn’t seem to know what the issue is & has no fix for it. I have not taken my car in to be looked at because it’s a total waste of time with the many reports of others who have taken the car back to the dealership for them to run diagnostics & there be nothing found wrong with it.
Headlights do not project far enough in front of vehicle to safely drive at dark or low light conditions. Hyundai told us there is nothing they can do to fix it as it is a defect in how the headlight housing is placed on the body of the car.
When operating the vehicle, all the electrical systems will just cut power for 1-2 seconds. The infotainment, gauges, and headlights will all go completely black, speakers will stop, everything. All electrical power cuts. This happens when driving the car, day or night and happened now 6 times in the last few months. Hyundai dealers say nothing is wrong. If driving at night, it will cause no visibility of the road since the headlights and taillights turn off when this happens. Numerous people are experiencing this issue with the same model and getting told nothing is wrong. Safety is HUGELY at risk as this can cause an accident very quickly with no visibility with the car going dark. The vehicle has been taken to the dealer several times with no luck of tracking down the problem. No warning lights, fault codes, or messages are associated with this issue with the vehicle either.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Hyundai Kona headlights
Which Hyundai Kona years have headlights failing or too dim problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2024 (8 complaints), 2018 (5 complaints) and 2022 (3 complaints).
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used Hyundai Kona?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history