Hyundai Sonata (2020-2026) vs Toyota Camry (2025-2026): Which Should You Buy?

Close call that splits on track record versus component risk. The Camry scores higher on paper (reliabilityScore 8 vs the Sonata's 7), but its own file calls that score provisional, the XV80 is only a model year or two old, "too early to call a best year," while the Sonata has six model years of data and a clear best-years pick (2024-2025). On the powertrain itself, the Camry's fifth-gen hybrid system carries over a design that "routinely cleared 200,000 miles" with no belt-CVT wear, while the Sonata's 2.5L GDI has a documented, severe oil-consumption pattern that can run $7,000-$8,500 out of warranty on 2020-2022 builds. Both demand a clean recall printout before you buy, the Camry's list is longer and includes a fire-risk hybrid inverter bolt defect (25V-869), the Sonata's is a fuel-tank check-valve recall plus N Line-only DCT/fuel-pipe recalls. If you want a documented, closed-out mechanical history, take a 2024-2025 Sonata 2.5 (skip the N Line); if you're fine buying into a newer, thinner-tracked platform once the inverter fix is verified installed, the Camry's ceiling looks higher.

• •The Camry's engine/hybrid transaxle is a carryover from a combo its own file says "routinely cleared 200,000 miles," with no belt-CVT wear pattern (power-split eCVT). The Sonata's volume 2.5L GDI engine has no such record, it carries a severe, TSB-managed oil-consumption issue (23-EM-008H) that can cost up to $8,500 out of warranty.
• •Sonata risk concentrates by trim/year: oil consumption hits 2020-2022 2.5L cars, and the DCT/turbo recalls are N Line-only. The plain 2.5 SE/SEL with the conventional 8-speed automatic is the documented low-drama pick, same role the LE FWD plays on the Camry.
• •The two reliabilityScores aren't measuring equal maturity, Sonata's 7 reflects 6 model years of complaint/recall data, Camry's 8 is explicitly provisional off roughly one model year, per its own buyVerdict.