Hyundai is making a name for itself by creating great SUVs for the American market. While the Hyundai Palisade may be the big SUV in Hyundai’s garage, Hyundai also has smaller SUVs that it’s offering to Americans. The Tucson is one of them, and here’s how reliable the Tucson is according to various sources. 

What J.D. Power and Associates has to say

Overall, despite some bad model years of the Tucson, J.D. Power and Associates says that the latest model years of the Tucson are pretty reliable. The 2019 and 2020 model years had a reliability rating of 85 out of 100, and in the 2018 model year, it had a reliability rating of 86 out of 100.

In fact, the 2018 model year was so reliable that J.D. Power and Associates gave the Tucson a “Quality Award” due to how few problems were reported by its owners in their first 100 days of ownership. The 2019 and 2020 model years didn’t win this award, though. 

U.S. News, which uses J.D. Power and Associates’s studies, also praised the Tucson’s reliability. U.S. News says that the 2020 Tucson gets 4 out of 5 stars for reliability. This rating means that the Tucson’s reliability is better than most cars.

What Consumer Reports has to say

Despite the mediocre 3 out of 5 predicted reliability rating for the 2019 Tucson, Consumer Reports actually only had positive things to say about the Hyundai SUV. This mediocre predicted reliability score is because the Tucson had a lot of issues in the 2016 and 2017 model years. These issues were severe, and they affected multiple areas of the Tucson, such as its transmission and its in-car electronics. 

However, the 2016 model year was also a redesign year for the Tucson, so these reliability issues were bound to happen. Afterward, however, Hyundai cleaned up the Tucson, and both Consumer Reports and owners of the Tucson only have positive things to say about the Tucson’s reliability. 

For example, Consumer Reports gave the Tucson’s transmission the worst reliability score in the 2016 and 2017 model year. But, for the 2019 model year, it currently has the best reliability score. This is the same story for every feature and part of the Tucson. In fact, in the 2019 Tucson, only one area had a reliability score below 5 out of 5, and that was in its brakes. There, the 2019 Tucson had a 4 out of 5 reliability rating. 

Because of this good recent track record, Consumer Reports actually says that the 2019 Tucson is the most reliable SUV in its segment. Its current reliability rating is 91%, and it beats out similar SUVs like the Toyota RAV4 or the Mazda CX-5.

What RepairPal has to say

Like Consumer Reports and J.D. Power and Associates, RepairPal praised the reliability of the latest Tucson. RepairPal gave the Tucson 4 out of 5 stars for reliability, and this made it the fifth most reliable SUV in its segment. 

The Tucson got this great score for three reasons. First, RepairPal says that the average annual cost for repairs and maintenance was very low for the Tucson. RepairPal says that it’ll cost about $426 a year for the Tucson, compared to the average of $652. 

Furthermore, Tucson owners won’t have to bring their SUV into the shop as often as other cars will. RepairPal says that the average Tucson owner brought their SUV into the shop about 0.26 times a year compared to the average of 0.4 times a year for other cars. 

Lastly, when the Tucson is brought into the shop, RepairPal says that it’s less likely to need major repairs. The Tucson had a 10% chance of having a major issue, while the average was 12% for other cars.