Hyundai Kona Review & Prices

You may not find family cars particularly interesting, but the Hyundai Kona is a properly striking small SUV with loads of space inside which is well suited to long trips. The alternatives are more comfortable, though, and offer better hybrid engine choices.

Consider the Kona as one of those newfangled, LED-backed, super-flatscreen TVs which project colours onto the wall as you’re watching a movie. Sure, it’s pretty much the same basic item as the other, simpler choices, but it’s a bit sleeker and comes with some very funky lights.

Choosing a family SUV these days really does feel like wandering the aisles of your local Currys, because there are so many options that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. The Kia Niro, Ford Puma, Renault Captur and Toyota Yaris Cross are all vying for your attention, while the Jaecoo 5, BYD Atto 2 and cut-price Chery Tiggo 4 are worth a look at if value for money is a heavy consideration for you.

None of the aforementioned look as futuristic as the Kona, that being said. The Captur is more handsome and the Ford appears sportier, but the Hyundai really does look like it’s been plucked from the set of a sci-fi movie. With its ruler-straight LED running light bars front and rear, atop big wheel arches - which house the main lights - Hyundai has given the Kona more character than a boring SUV has any right to have.

It’s not quite as exciting inside, but it’s still easy on the eye when you plonk yourself into the driver’s seat. The low, set-back dashboard helps the cabin feel even more spacious inside than it already is, while the two-in-one infotainment and driver display perched on top feature crisp, hi-def graphics.

More impressive than the Kona’s screens are its physical climate controls, which are joyous to use compared to the touchscreen-only setups found in the Volkswagen T-Roc and Cupra Formentor, plus the Omoda 5.

Space is the real highlight of the Kona’s interior, and not only up front where it’s easy to get into a good driving position thanks to the highly adjustable seats and steering wheel. The back seats offer tons of room, too, as the tall roofline offers lots of space. A 466-litre boot means there’s plenty of cargo capacity, which is handy for family road trips.

You’re spoilt for choice in terms of propulsion, with the engine range being 1.0-litre (you can have this as a manual) and 1.6-litre petrol items, as well as a pair of 1.6-litre hybrid choices. The 1.6-litre engines are automatic-only.

The Kona feels at home in town, with its light steering, great forward visibility and quiet engines (if you opt for a hybrid, especially). It could do with softer suspension, however, because while the chunky tyres do take the sting off of potholes and other road imperfections, you get jostled about over bumpy sections of road.

Once you reach the motorway the Kona becomes a very comfortable companion on a cruise, but again, the worst ruts do thud through the cabin at high speeds. Around town the Kona feels surprisingly agile - the silver lining of its suspension - but it’s not as fun as a Renault Captur or Ford Puma.

Verdict

As a sensible all-rounder the Hyundai Kona is definitely worth considering for your next family car. It’s spacious and head-turning, plus Hyundai’s five-year warranty is enticing, but the Kona isn’t as chic as a Renault Captur, and the cabin isn’t as plush as a Peugeot 2008.

Check out the latest Hyundai Kona deals on Carwow, as well as Kona lease deals and a multitude of used Konas, available through our trusted dealer network. Other used Hyundais are available, too, and we can help you sell your current car when it’s time to switch.

Starting at just over £27,000, the Kona is priced well compared to alternatives. It’s more expensive than the Skoda Kamiq and Volkswagen T-Cross, which aren’t quite as well-equipped as standard. It’s similarly priced to the posher, more stylish Peugeot 2008 and the sportier Ford Puma.

Prices climb as you go up the trim levels, with the entry-level Advance model coming equipped with 17-inch alloy wheels, LED lights and parking sensors both front and rear. The N-Line is around £1,500 more expensive but features body-coloured wheel arches, 18-inch wheels, sportier bumpers and heated seats front and back.

The N-Line S adds ventilation to the front seats, a full suite of blind spot monitors and 360-degree parking cameras, BOSE sound system and sportier interior trim - at just under £32,000. For those of you not interested in sport-ifying your family SUV, the Ultimate trim costs the same but features leather upholstery and the two-tone wheel arches.

The Hyundai Kona is a refined motorway cruiser, but it’s a bit jiggly over bumps

In town

Because of the commanding driving position, visibility is pretty good so the Hyundai Kona is easy to place in busy traffic. You also get front and rear parking sensors with a rear-view camera as standard, which is helpful.

Comfort is generally fine, because the suspension doesn’t thwack into sharp bumps in the road. However, the car does jiggle about a bit and can feel like it’s never quite settled over particularly poor roads, which means it can’t match the Skoda Kamiq for comfort.

The hybrid is at its best in town, where the electric motor means you get good response from the throttle pedal and can dart in and out of junctions with ease. Economy is better around town where the electric motors can be used more, but the petrol engine chimes in earlier than you expect, which can be frustrating and means it’s not as economical as it could be.

Speaking of frustrating things, the driver assistance systems can be really annoying. While some are more useful than others, the constant binging and bonging can actually be quite distracting, especially when you can’t figure out what you’re being warned about. You can create a menu shortcut to turn them off quickly, because they all reactivate every time you start the car, but that sort of defeats the purpose of having them.

On the motorway

While the hybrid’s petrol engine can be a bit noisy when you accelerate, it settles down quietly at a cruise. Couple this with the fact that there’s little wind and road noise, and it’s a comfortable place to roll the odometer on. It’s not perfect though, as some bumps in the road will make a noticeable thud sound, even if it doesn’t actually unsettle the car.

Of the two non-hybrid petrol engines, you will want the more powerful option if you do a lot of motorway driving. The basic engine isn’t particularly powerful and won’t be as adept at getting up to speed.

Despite the annoying assistance alerts, the standard-fit lane-keeping assistant – which keeps you between the lines – is pretty good and only interferes if you really stray too far. Smart cruise control is also fitted to all models – except manual transmissions – which isn’t a given among alternatives at this price.

On a twisty road

Point the Hyundai Kona down a twisty road and it’s perfectly capable, if not the last word in fun. The steering is light, so you don’t get much confidence in how much grip your tyres have, but it’s fairly direct and doesn’t feel like it’s about to fall over. A Ford Puma is more agile here, but you have to accept it’s less comfortable the rest of the time.

And sorry to sound like a broken record, but the assistance systems raise their ugly heads again here. The lane assist that works so well on the motorway where the lanes are well-defined is annoyingly intrusive on countryside roads. From time to time it will tug at the wheel to keep you away from the grass verge, which isn’t ideal on narrow roads with poor visibility around corners ahead, or if you’re trying to leave more space for oncoming traffic.

There’s loads of space and storage wherever you sit in the Kona, and the boot’s really big, but small items can rattle in the door bins

While the driving experience of the Hyundai Kona is a touch hit and miss, there can be absolutely no complaints about the space and practicality of the cabin. The driving position is good with lots of adjustability so you can get a good view of the road ahead, and there’s little issue with space for taller drivers.

Storage is ample, with a long area between the passengers to store bits and bobs, as well as being home to the retractable cupholders, so you can have more space when you don’t need to keep a cup secure. The armrest cubby hole is usefully large, there’s an area for your phone beneath the dashboard, and the door bins are big – though it’s a bit of a shame they’re not felt-lined to stop items rattling around on the move.

Space in the back seats

Space in the back is impressive, too. Even taller passengers will find they have plenty of legroom and headroom, and because it’s fairly wide it’s not too cramped for three people side-by-side, either.

The door bin is less impressive in the back, but it’s big enough to hold a typical fizzy drink bottle, and there’s another small storage compartment between the seats in front, where you will also find a couple of USB-C slots.

Because of all that space it’s really easy to fit a child seat inside without having to move the seats in front forward. And to make things even better the doors open to around 90 degrees, making access a breeze. The ISOFIX mounting points are easy to get to, but aren’t quite flush with the seat cushion so it can be a bit fiddly to line things up. Far from a deal breaker, though.

Boot space

There’s more good news in the boot: the capacity is 466 litres, which makes the Kona one of the most spacious small SUVs you can buy. The Ford Puma isn’t far behind with 456 litres, while you can get up to 455 litres in the Volkswagen T-Cross if you push the rear seats forward. But then you can’t put people in them.

Again, the Citroen C5 Aircross feels like an outlier as a bigger car, but it’s worth considering because it’s such good value. And it’s practical, with a 580-litre boot as standard, or up to 720 litres with the rear bench forward. That’s massive by any measure.

Making a further case for the Kona’s practical boot is the fact that it’s also really easy to get things in and out, because the bumper sits quite low and there’s no lip to slide items over. You also get loads of space under the floor if you want to keep things out of sight or just need to maximise capacity.

It is a bit of a shame that you have to reach in to fold the rear seats down, though, rather than having a lever in the boot. But at least the boot isn’t so deep as to make this impossible. Do this, and you get 1,300 litres of space, which is beaten only by the Skoda Kamiq and, you guessed it, the Citroen C5 Aircross.

The Hyundai Kona has a fresh, fuss-free interior design, but there are cheap plastics to be found

Most modern cars have big touchscreen displays that you have to use for everything from choosing radio stations to adjusting the cabin temperature. For some things, that can be annoyingly fiddly and distracting, but fortunately, the Hyundai Kona suffers no such issue.

The dashboard is festooned with buttons that make it quick and easy to navigate through menus, or tweak the temperature quickly on the move. The result is a curious mix of the old and new school with the twin-screen setup above, but it has a pleasingly retro feel rather than looking dull and dated.

When you do need to use the screens, they’re sharp and responsive, with intuitive menus that mean you’re not digging around for hours to change a simple setting. The instrument display is a 12.3-inch unit, while the infotainment screen is 10.25 inches, and you can use Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for quick integration with your playlists and maps.

The pleasingly responsive infotainment tech is matched by a general feeling of quality in the cabin. Particularly in higher-spec trims, everything you touch feels upmarket and built to last, though there are some cheaper plastics if you go looking for them.

On-board technology is impressive whichever trim you go for, with the only features that aren’t standard-fit being the Bose sound system (N Line S and above) and wireless charging pad (N Line and above).

There are three engine options for the Hyundai Kona, in the form of two petrols and a petrol-electric hybrid, plus the all-electric Hyundai Kona Electric.

The first engine is a 1.0-litre unit with 120hp, which is available with a six-speed manual transmission and a seven-speed automatic. Both options are pretty sluggish, taking more than 11 seconds to hit 62mph from a standstill, though economy of up to 47.9mpg makes the smaller engine more efficient than the more powerful option.

That would be a 1.6-litre engine that makes a healthier 198hp. It will go from 0-62mph in 8.7 seconds with the manual, or 7.8 seconds with the auto, so both are more sprightly – useful for darting out of junctions or getting up to speed on the motorway. The trade off is that you use more fuel, at up to 44.1mpg.

Want maximum economy? The hybrid is your best bet. Although official figures put it at 60.1mpg, we saw around 50mpg during our time with the car, though this is still better than you will see with the non-hybrid engines. With 141hp it’s got enough get up and go when you need it, but it’s far from exciting.

For road tax and company car drivers, the hybrid is your best option, because it will cost the least. The price difference between the petrols and hybrid isn’t huge, but the latter will provide savings for both road tax and company car tax.

Hyundai Kona Euro NCAP Score (2023): 4/5

Adult occupant: 80%
Child occupant: 83%
Vulnerable road users: 64%
Safety assist: 60%

When tested by Euro NCAP the Hyundai Kona scored a not-quite-perfect four stars. Though Adult and Child Occupant protection scores were good, it suffered from low marks for protecting vulnerable road users and in the safety assist category.

Standard safety kit is good, with forward collision avoidance, lane-keeping assistance and adaptive cruise control fitted to all cars – though Konas with a manual transmission only get the regular cruise control that doesn’t automatically adjust its speed to the traffic ahead.

You need to step up to N Line S to get the full suite of safety kit, though. This adds a blind spot monitor with collision avoidance, as well as a system to warn of traffic crossing the rear while reversing, a parking collision avoidance system, and a 360-degree parking camera.

We haven’t heard any horror stories about the Hyundai Kona, but Hyundai only came 20th out of 31 brands in the 2025 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey - which isn’t a confidence-inspiring result.

Still, Hyundai offers one of the best warranties in the business, at five years with unlimited mileage. Only MG and Kia’s seven-year offerings, and Toyota’s 10-year warranty, can beat it.