Hyundai i20 hatchback - Reliability & safety
Hyundai has a good reputation for building trustworthy cars
Pros
- Spacious
- Good to drive
- Lots of standard tech
Cons
- Just one engine
- Some cheap interior materials
- No longer a bargain
Safety and reliability is another area where the Hyundai i20 scores strongly. Hyundai is establishing a very strong reputation for reliability bolstered by its impressive 5-year warranty. On the safety front, it's a similar story and we're hoping the i20 can top the four-star safety rating of its predecessor when it's tested by Euro NCAP.
Hyundai i20 reliability
The Hyundai i20 hasn’t featured in our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey of the top 75 cars, but Hyundai as a brand came a middling 17th out of 32 brands in 2023. 21% of owners reported an issue with their Hyundai in the first year, which is worse than in previous years for the company.
Safety
Hyundai has given the i20 one of the longest lists of active and passive safety equipment in the industry. Called Hyundai 'SmartSense', it includes intelligent speed-limit assistance, lane-keeping assist, autonomous emergency braking and automatic high-beam activation for the headlights. Lane-follow assist is added if you step up to Premium trim, while the Ultimate version adds blind-spot monitoring and cyclist detection.
When the pre-facelifted Hyundai i20 was tested by Euro NCAP in 2021 it received an overall rating of four stars out of five, on par with the Hyundai Bayon crossover with which it shares many parts. Occupant protection was rated at 76%, while child occupant protection was better at 82%. It also received a score of 76% for vulnerable road user protection and 67% in the Safety Assist category. If safety is a priority, then cars like the Volkswagen Polo, Skoda Fabia or SEAT Ibiza – which are all closely related to each other – achieved the full five-star rating, so could offer better peace of mind.
