Hyundai Tucson review - Reliability & safety

The Hyundai Tucson itself didn’t feature in the Driver Power customer satisfaction survey in the most recent 2024 list of the top 50 models, but in our 2023 results, the Hyundai brand came in 17th place, with drivers rating value for money and infotainment systems highly.

Hyundai Tucson reliability

Hyundai has built itself a good reputation for reliability – in the most recent Driver Power brand survey just 21% of owners reported an issue in the first year, which is lower than average. Most of these issues were related to the electronics or fell into the ‘other’ category, and we suspect they may have been minor niggles as we haven’t heard any horror stories.

Safety

Hyundai didn't used to be overly generous with safety kit, reserving features for higher trim levels. That seems to be a thing of the past because the Tucson now has a mind-boggling array of kit – no doubt encouraged by ever-tightening Euro NCAP safety standards. The car achieved a five-star rating when it was tested in late 2021, scoring 86% and 87% in the adult and child occupant categories respectively.

The Tucson gets Highway Drive Assist semi-autonomous driving for the first time, which can brake, accelerate and gently steer the SUV within its lane, with one button on the steering wheel to turn it on and off. Autonomous emergency braking has been joined by Junction Turning, which monitors cars approaching from the opposite side as you indicated to turn out of a junction, activating the brakes if an unseen car approaches. Another new feature sounds an alert if the car ahead pulls away and you fail to react.

Parking has also been made more convenient and safer with features like Remote Smart Parking Assist, which can 'summon' a car from its parking spot via a button on the key. That's especially useful if a car has parked too close or if the Tucson is parked in a narrow garage.