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Hyundai

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Hyundai • Brakes • Stalling • Transmission • "Just Everything" • Airbags • Engine Failure • Fires • Sludge Problems --- News • Feds Step Up Rusting Hyundai Investigation • Feds Study Hyundai Airbag Failures • Feds Investigate Suspension Failure in Hyundai Santa Fe • Rusting Hyundai Sonatas Prompt Federal Probe • NHTSA Probes Hyundai Air Bag Failure • Hyundai to Tap U.S. Sport Sedan Market • Hyundai Drops Back Into Minivan Market • Hyundai Drops Out of Minivan Market • Airbag Problems Plague New Hyundais • Hyundai Offers $85 Million to Settle Horsepower Suit • Hyundai Aces J.D. Powers Survey • Horsepower Overstated

Hyundai got a lot of good press when it extended its drivetrain warranty to 10 years or 100,000 miles. But those who owns these troublesome little rattletraps have many tales of woe about the warranty, not to mention the transmission, the engine and just about everything else. On top of that, the company now admits that it overstated the horsepower on more than a million Hyundai and Kia models.

More recently, Hyundai and Kia raised eyebrows when they finished unexpectedly high in the J.D. Powers Initial Quality Survey. The Powers Survey is highly regarded but perhaps "initial" quality isn't the problem? Check the complaints listed to the right and judge for yourself.

Here are a few recent arrivals:

donna of turnersville, NJ September 11, 2009

As a follow up to my earlier complaint. I purchased my Hyundai 2009 Sonata 6 months ago and on August 2009, the navigation stereo unit failed. It took 25 days for the unit to be replaced so I was paying for a high end car but driving a base model. No one in the Hyundai industry, corporate, service, or regional consumer affairs would provide a portable navigation unit in the 3 weeks i waited. The part was replaced and now it is September 11 and the new unit is broken and the unit once again is on back order so I am going to pay another month for a high end car without the high end features i paid for. Hyundai has not compensated or stood by their customer satisfaction that they say they stand for in the media.

marvin of deerfield beach, FL September 3, 2009

The car is great. The Hyundai Finance people are the biggest bunch of morons on the planet. We returned a leased car on the date due, Aug. 30, 2009 (we have all the papers to prove it) and bought a new Sonata. They keep hounding me and threatening me with a lawsuit about returning the already returned car. We went to the dealer and seemingly straightened everything out. Got another threatening letter today.

This has been a constant headache. Threats, though our payments on the leases ( 2 of them) were up to date. up to date. If this goes on our credit report, I'll sue. The Sonata is good but do not deal with Hyundai Finance unless you desire an ulcer.

Erica of el paso, TX August 31, 2009

My 2005 Hyundai has been in the shop six times this year. All visits for the SAME ISSUE. The car won't start. They have replaced the fuel pump twice, tied down a piece on the fuel pump so that it wouldn't go loose with vibrations. The car will start at the dealership, but days after taking it home it won't start again. The dealership keeps saying that nothing comes up on the computer, it does not show anything wrong with my car, yet they have personally seen the car not start at different times! The car had about 42,000 miles when this issue started, it now has 52,000 miles. That particlur part of the warranty will expire at 60,000 miles. I can't help but to think that Hyundai is waiting for my warranty to expire.

Carl of Baltimore, MD August 31, 2009

I have a 2007 Hyundai Veracruz. After only 22000 miles, the brake rotors became warped. I was charged 170.00 to machine these rotors. I was told it wasn't covered by warrenty because it was caused by heat. Well duh, rotors get hot when the brakes are applied. This is called friction. In my opinion, the rotors are too small for this vehicle, or made of an inferior metal.

Linnea of McHenry, IL August 30, 2009

My Hyundai Sante Fe had 61,000 mi when I called to see if I could fit the car in for some work. The clock broke and the rear door hatch broke. They quoted 175 for clock and 275 for the hatch. Refused to honor 60K because I was 1k over warranty. Since I live out in the sticks, they didn't care that was the soonest I could get in. Also, from moment of purchase car has fizzled out twice. The second time, an independent repair shop said it registered TWO fatal errors but they could not figure out what it was and it was fine after that. DIED in traffic just 20 feet from a railroad crossing. They think it could have been the transaxle sensor and quoted a fix price of 650. Hyundai refuses to replace free of charge even though this problem is listed at a 50/50 failure rate in service bulletins. NO recall either. Don't trust dealership to give the honest truth so I go to independent shops. Car also judders from the beginning of purchase and dealership tried to tell me they couldn't feel anything. So bad now I have to take it in and see if we can actually determine what it is. I have had new tires at 35k, brake inspects/service, tuneups, etc. TO NO AVAIL. I will never ever buy another Hyundai again!

Rob of Somerset, NJ August 27, 2009

We own a 2003 Hyundai Elantra, which we took on vacation in August, 2009. The car has 109000 miles on the odometer, and has been quite reliable. At one point, coming back to our lodgings from a day trip in the Catskills, I had to brake suddenly to avoid a car that had pulled out in front of me. When I did, the brakes felt like they "locked." The car went into a slide, but I managed to avoid any collison. Upon outside inspection, everything appeared OK, so we proceeded on. A few miles later we arrived safely at our destination. However, in the morning when I tried to drive the Elantra, I heard a grinding sound after which the car would not move. Upon inspection of the right front wheel, I found that the control arm had rusted through, and the wheel had nearly torn away from the chassis.

Michelle of Baltimore, MD August 26, 2009

Hyundai will not honor their warranty if you have an fluid exchange made at another reputable auto repair shop. My husband's car was jerking and you had to gun the engine to get it to move. My husband had been told in the past that he needed a transmission flush and when the car started jerking, he took it for a transmission flush at Sears. He had the flush done and the car continued to jerk so we had it towed to Thompson Hyundai in Dundalk, MD.

The company took some time deciphering what was wrong and then they said that the transmission was shot and they would not honor the warranty because he had a flush done at Sears. I spoke with the technician and I got the number for Hyundai and called and started a case with Kristy. I then called back to speak with the manager. I explained to the manager, Gary, that the car was doing that before the car was brought to them. He still insisted that Sears caused the problem.

We called Sears and they explained how they did the flush and what the customer's complaint was when we brought the car in. Gary still stuck to his decision to not cover the car but he said he would go to hyundai to see what needed to be done. I waited a month and a half to be told that they will not cover the car. I then called Hyundai myself and Kathy said that she would see what she could do.

I called them back 8/26 and was told that the District Parts Service Manager denied the claim and there was nothing they could do. I asked how to get in touch with the District Parts Service Manager and Hyundai told me they do not have the phone number and I would have to get it from the dealership. I then called Thompson Hyundai and was told that they were not authorized to give the phone number. After fussing a bit, the technician offered to set up an appointment with the DPSM but they do not know when she will be in, so I have to wait until 36 hours before she comes in before I will know when she will be in.

I called Hyundai back and spoke with Matt and he said that he will put in a message to the DPSM to let her know that I am hoping for a call from her. I have been looking into how to make a complaint and I have noticed that there is a website that have complaints by hyundai owners and their complaints are the same as mine. The other problem is that the warranty will not cover a rental car if the the warranty will not cover the services being rendered. This will cost us for a new transmission or a new car.

Michelle of Oakwood, ON August 25, 2009

I purchased a 2007 Santa Fe from a Hyundai Dealership in Nov./07. The car was fine for the first 4 months and then the air bag light came on and the dealer replaced the sensor. A month later the air bag light came on again and again they replaced the sensor. They also replaced the grill on the front of my car as the paint was peeling off of it. Two weeks later my air conditioning was not working so they did a core charge and they also replaced another sensor relating to the outside temperature gauge.

Three months later the air bag light was on again so they replaced another sensor. At the same time the car was shaking when the brakes were applied and the dealer said that there was abnormal wear so they replaced the pads and discs. Three months after that the front end was banging and the dealer replaced both link assemblies as they were failing.

One month after that the air bag light was on again and once more they replaced the sensor. The next week in got in my car and the windshiels was crack along the bottom from one side to the other. Two months later the air bag light was on again and I could not lock my car as the alarm would keep going off so this time they replaced the fuse box and wiring harness.

They also discovered that my air conditioning was leaking in the ceiling of the truck so they had to run all new lines in the ceiling of the vechicle. They also replaced the gear shift as the vechicle was clunking when it was put into gear. They also replaced my temperature control unit in the dash of the vechicle.

I found a lot of complaints on the american NHTSA complaints page about 2007 Santa Fe's. There are a lot of other people having the same problems that I am. From air bags to front suspension to broken windshields and faulty rear brakes. The scariest complaint was that a 2007 Santa Fe was involved in a rollover crash and none of the air bags deployed. I have wondered if the air bags would function properly with so many electrical issues on these vechicles. I am also upset that the chemical in the air conditioning has been leaking into the passenger compartment of my vechicle, these chemicals can be harmful to people.

I have contacted Hyundai consumer complaints and the refused to even extend my warranty, they said just keep taking it to the dealer until it is fixed. I don't have the time to continue dealing with this car and I also have no confidence in the reliability of this vechicle any longer. My warranty work sheets all say that all of the parts are faulty, well are they not still putting the same parts back on the car.

As far as I am concerned this is a poorly built vechicle and Hyundai has no standard of quality control. I am going to sell this car (I feel bad for who ever buys it) and I will never, ever buy a Hyundai product again. In the last 14 months I have been at the dealer on a regular basis and I don't have the time to wait around for my car all of the time.

Joanne of Lindenhurst , NY August 25, 2009

My 2002 Hyundai Sonata was recalled for possible internal corrosion of the subframe. I brought to dealer on Monday, August 24th, and they confirmed that evening that the subframe had to be replaced as it was too dangerous to drive my car until it was repaired. Parts were ordered, but will not arrive until Wednesday - the earliest, and work will take at least a day. So, best case scenario is that I will have my car back by Friday. All week without a vehicle to take my 3 yr old to school, and myself to work all week. The dealer has no loaners available at this time.

Called the Hyundai Consumer Affairs phone # and was told they cannot force the dealer to give me a loaner, and that Hyundai will not reimburse for car rental. I called again next morning, reiterating that I believe Hyundai is responsible for car rental. It's not the dealer's fault, this is a Hyundai problem. Result from 2nd phone call is that I'm waiting for supervisor to call me back (although rep told me the supervisor would give me the same response). But, I should expect a return call within 24 hours - 24 hours! they have an entire day to call me back. Wonder how they would have responded if my car would have fallen apart while driving on the highway with my 3 yr old daughter in the car, causing an accident and bodily harm - or worse. I'm going to say that to the supervisor if I get the push back again - if they ever call.

I loved my car, but now, I won't buy another Hyundai - ever. other companies pay for rental or provide loaners when there is a recall. Why am I having to pay out of pocket for poor engineering? I'm not at fault here - I didn't neglect maintenance of my vehicle - just happen to live in the 'Salt Belt". I hope no one has gotten seriously hurt from any accidents that were caused due to subframe corrosion.

Ellen of Cranston, RI August 18, 2009

I'm shocked to see no references in this thread to what is a growing national scandal for the Sonata's Navigation system. I have a 2009 Sonata Limited with 2500 miles on it.

A few weeks ago my nav screen began to act strangely. The screen would stay on the blue 'Hyundai' for a long time before going over to Navigation or Sound system, or would stay on for as long as I drove the car.

A week ago, the blue screen didn't show up at all. Instead, there was only a gray screen that flickered. Within another few days, that was replaced by wild flashes of blue screen, gray screen and video-gone-wild -- like a TV that's gone nuts. And there's no way to shut it off without shutting off the car. It's now completely undriveable at night -- and not much better during the day. I'm worried it might set off an epileptic fit. Seriously.

Here are the steps I took to address the problem:

1: I googled the flickering screen. Nothing.

2: I called Hyundai Net and spoke to a technician, Charlie. Didn't get two words into describing it when he stopped me. Turns out Hyundai has known about this problem for some time. The original units had bad chip sets. Charlie said the chip sets were fixed, the bad units recalled from the distribution centers, and new units sent out.

3: Naively, I called my dealer to arrange to bring the car in to have the bad unit pulled and a new one put in, only to discover that there are NO units. Anywhere in the country. They are on back order for months, if not the foreseeable future.

This is simply unacceptable. I paid a premium price for the car, and an extra 1200 for the navigation unit. That it should not only break after 2500 miles -- bad enough -- but that it should render the car extremely difficult to drive and never mind the fact that I also can't use either the nav system itself or even the radio is outrageous in the extreme.

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