Buyer Research

2016 Hyundai Veloster — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $6,500–$11,000. There are 3 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 9 Hyundai Veloster years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

Sixty-three percent of this year's 222 complaints are the engine. That is not a scattered record with an engine section in it — that is a car with one dominant problem and everything else in its shadow. Hyundai's own recall names the cause on 2015 and 2016 Velosters: connecting rod bearings wearing prematurely, which ends in a knock, a stall, or a fire. The remedy is an inspection and, if bearings are damaged, a free replacement engine, which makes the VIN lookup the single most valuable ten minutes of this purchase. Behind it, a fifth of the record is the transmission flaring between gears or refusing to move off. A 2016 with the recall inspection documented and a quiet cold start is a reasonable buy; one without that paperwork is a lottery ticket priced like a car.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 222 owner complaints for the 2016 Hyundai Veloster, and 1 recall campaign.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 63% of them are about one thing — the engine. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

One recall campaign covers this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2016 Hyundai Veloster

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Connecting rod bearings wear out — knock, then stall, then a new engine (recall 20V746)High — wallet impact

Recall 20V746 covers 2015–2016 Velosters: the connecting rod bearings can wear prematurely, damaging the engine, and Hyundai's own filing says the consequence is a fire risk or a stall. Dealers inspect and, where bearing damage is found, replace the engine free of charge, along with a software update that watches for the knock. The owner filings show what it feels like first — a knock on a cold morning after regular oil changes, a check-engine code that reads like a sensor fault until a shop finds damaged bearings on cylinders 3 and 4. Do not buy this car without pulling the VIN on NHTSA's free lookup and asking to see the inspection paperwork.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $4,500–$8,500 for an engine that falls outside it — around 97% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (140); 1 NHTSA recall campaign on this model year.

Oil disappears between changes, and the warning comes lateHigh — wallet impact

Separate from the bearings, though it often ends in the same place: owners report the car consuming oil heavily from around 70,000 to 80,000 miles, with the oil pressure light being the first real warning at 40 mph on a road. Several describe being turned down for warranty help after reporting it. An engine that runs low on oil repeatedly damages the same bearings the recall is about, so the two problems feed each other. The check is yours to do: pull the dipstick cold, ask the date and mileage of the last change, and work out whether the level matches the miles driven since it.

Repair cost (estimate): $200–$600 for a consumption test at a dealer; $4,500–$8,500 if it has already cost the engine — around 97% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (140).

Revs flare between gears, or the car will not move off at allHigh — wallet impact

Forty-three complaints, 19% of the record. The descriptions cluster tightly: the revs climb to 6,000 or 7,000 on a 1-2 or 2-3 shift without the car gathering speed, or the driver presses the accelerator at a stop sign and gets a humming noise as though it were in neutral. Several filers say it happened while merging, which is where it is genuinely dangerous. Test it properly rather than politely — accelerate hard from a stop onto a road, and creep through a car park at walking pace feeling for judder. If it hesitates, slips or flares once, that is once more than it should.

Repair cost (estimate): $2,000–$4,500 for a clutch pack and actuator or a rebuilt unit — around 51% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (43).

Fuel smell in the cabin and low fuel-rail pressure codesMedium

Twenty-three complaints, one involving a fire. Two things share this cluster: owners who smell fuel or exhaust inside the car both parked and moving, with mechanics unable to find the source, and owners who lose power on a motorway and scan a P0087 low-fuel-rail-pressure code afterwards. Neither is exotic and both are checkable before you buy — sit in the car with the windows up and the engine running and use your nose, then have any independent shop plug in a scan tool for stored and pending codes rather than trusting a dashboard with no light on.

Repair cost (estimate): $300–$1,200 for a high-pressure pump or a leaking line, more if the catalytic converter went with it

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the fuel system (23).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Knocking from low in the engine during the first thirty seconds of a cold start
✗Oil pressure light flickering at idle or on a roundabout
✗Revs rising between gears without the car gaining speed
✗A smell of fuel or exhaust inside the cabin with the windows up
✗White smoke from the exhaust under a hard pull

Good Signs

✓Recall 20V746 inspection on a Hyundai invoice, stating what the bearings measured
✓A replacement engine fitted under the recall, with its date and mileage on the paperwork
✓Oil at the full mark on a cold dipstick with a dated change sticker to match
✓Crisp 1-2 and 2-3 upshifts on a cold drive and a clean pull away from a stop
✓A clean scan for stored and pending codes from an independent shop