longhaul747
New member
I am curious if anyone here has owned or owns a recent Hyundai model and would be willing to share experiences with the vehicle? Hyundai has seen an incredible boost in popularity and many automotive critics seem to rave about Hyundai. This surprises me because I feel they no longer the value they wants were but perhaps deep incentives keeps product moving.
I currently drive an 06 Hyundai Sonata LX. Its one of the first products Hyundai came out with that really showed they can match the Japanese in quality. For the first 3 years it was a very good car and often bragged about it. However over the past 3 months the car is starting to have some very odd problems. The dealer attitude has been average but very few of the problems have been resolved. They seem to fear mother Hyundai. Now known faults they are good but if its something odd they don't seem all that interested.
First issue happened last year. One day the dashboard cracked by the passenger airbag. This was no problem and a known issue with some 06 Sonata's. The dashpad was replaced and all was well for about 6 months. After 6 months the dashpad started to bubble up by the radio. Since my dashpad was replaced once Hyundai will not replace it again claiming its past the 3 year part of the 36,000 mile initial waranty. Its not real noticable so I have been living with it but it still kind of gives me a headache on occasion.
Also at about the 3 year mark I started getting a strange clunking noise from the rear. This is a common issue and one that Hyundai has not stepped up and fixed. Some people managed to get new struts and it turns out the new struts have a revised part number but for whatever reason Hyundai won't fix it. After really getting on my dealers case they said they can only replace them within the 1st year of ownership. After spending all the time I had to fight it and trying 2 different dealers I got nowhere. So I am just waiting for a good after market strut to come out on the market. The factory shocks and struts ride like crap regardless of part number.
All was well until about a month ago. I was getting on the freeway and entering the carpool lane in bumper to bumper traffic. When I had my chance to enter the carpool lane I would have to give it a lot of gas to get up to speed but I have confidence in my 3.3L 235HP V6 engine. As I see an opening I enter the car pool lane and floor it. As I look in my rear view mirror I see a white van coming at me. I hit about 40 mph in what I believe is still 1st gear on the automatic transmission. Instead of up shifting it stayed in gear and rather quickly I went deep into the red zone and bounced off the rev limiter. I backed off on the gas and it still would not upshift. Finely after slowing way down and having that white van damn near rear end me it upshifted but not smoothly. It was kind of a harsh shift. I contacted the dealer and brought it in. As far as they can tell its opperating normally and no codes however they do see ridiculously high rpm reading in the history. So they don't deny its a problem but nothing appears to be wrong. They installed the latest firmware for the transmission and reset the factory computer. It has not happened since this incident but something does seem a bit wierd with the transmission. Its not as smooth as it used to be thats for sure.
All was well for about 2 weeks when my VSC OFF light was eluminated after starting the car. I drove for about 5 miles this way when I stopped at a store. When I went out to the store the light was not eluminated as it should be. I did not give it much thought until it happened again a week later. This time it happened again and I got pulled over for my brake lights not working. Luckily I was only a few blocks away from home. I only got a warning to get it fixed and even got an escort back to my house because it was a safety issue. I tell you some cops can be really cool.
Now being more concerned I researched the problem. It turns out this is what can happen if the brake stop switch by the brake pedal fails. Its such a big problem Hyundai issued a recall. What is interesting in my case is this switch was replaced on my Sonata last September under the recall terms. However it appears in my case the recall did not fix it. The dealer and Hyundai replaced it again no questions asked but it came on again yesterday. The brake lights don't work when the VSC OFF light is eluminated. Dealer says to bring it by next time the light is on so they can trouble shoot as the problem occurs. At least it seems to go away during a fresh start every time so far.
Getting a bit frustrated now with these odd problems I had yet another this morning. It was a very chilly morning at around freezing. All was well when I was taking my wife to work. On the freeway heading back home my air vents started to blow massive amounts of frigid air and my windows started to fog up instantly. After saying WTF I rolled down a window to help the windows defrost. My automatic climate control is set to AUTO and a temperature of 74F. Yet I was getting the coldest air I have ever felt coming out of the airvents. Since I took my jacket off I was not amused not to mention the safety issue at work here. After looking at things further I noticed that it says the outside temperature is 101F at climbing. As this temperature climbs its blowing even colder air. WTH I say its not 101F its like 34F outside at most. I took the system off auto and cranked the heat as far as it will go but it only helped a small amount. Luckily defrost mode works as long as you don't mind the frigid air. After stopping and restarting this problem did not go away. I have not called the dealership yet as I am getting sick of calling them but will tomorrow for sure.
I can honestly say the car has never left me stranded. So its not the worst experience I have ever had with a car however its quickly getting there. I can honestly say its starting to fall apart. In addition to these problems it has numorious rattles and just does not feel as tight as it used to be. Now if it had 90K miles fine but it only has 31K on it. I was a good car for the 1st 3years but I no longer trust it. So I am now passively in the market for something else. Might as well get something else while its still worth something. However funds are tight so I don't know what it will be. I like the 2010 Subaru Legacy Sedan but my wife is not a Subaru fan. Maybe a used Camry or Honda Accord. One things for sure I am done with Hyundai. I still think they are improving and perhaps one day they will be solid. They might already be there with some of the latest models recently released but not just yet back in 2006.
I currently drive an 06 Hyundai Sonata LX. Its one of the first products Hyundai came out with that really showed they can match the Japanese in quality. For the first 3 years it was a very good car and often bragged about it. However over the past 3 months the car is starting to have some very odd problems. The dealer attitude has been average but very few of the problems have been resolved. They seem to fear mother Hyundai. Now known faults they are good but if its something odd they don't seem all that interested.
First issue happened last year. One day the dashboard cracked by the passenger airbag. This was no problem and a known issue with some 06 Sonata's. The dashpad was replaced and all was well for about 6 months. After 6 months the dashpad started to bubble up by the radio. Since my dashpad was replaced once Hyundai will not replace it again claiming its past the 3 year part of the 36,000 mile initial waranty. Its not real noticable so I have been living with it but it still kind of gives me a headache on occasion.
Also at about the 3 year mark I started getting a strange clunking noise from the rear. This is a common issue and one that Hyundai has not stepped up and fixed. Some people managed to get new struts and it turns out the new struts have a revised part number but for whatever reason Hyundai won't fix it. After really getting on my dealers case they said they can only replace them within the 1st year of ownership. After spending all the time I had to fight it and trying 2 different dealers I got nowhere. So I am just waiting for a good after market strut to come out on the market. The factory shocks and struts ride like crap regardless of part number.
All was well until about a month ago. I was getting on the freeway and entering the carpool lane in bumper to bumper traffic. When I had my chance to enter the carpool lane I would have to give it a lot of gas to get up to speed but I have confidence in my 3.3L 235HP V6 engine. As I see an opening I enter the car pool lane and floor it. As I look in my rear view mirror I see a white van coming at me. I hit about 40 mph in what I believe is still 1st gear on the automatic transmission. Instead of up shifting it stayed in gear and rather quickly I went deep into the red zone and bounced off the rev limiter. I backed off on the gas and it still would not upshift. Finely after slowing way down and having that white van damn near rear end me it upshifted but not smoothly. It was kind of a harsh shift. I contacted the dealer and brought it in. As far as they can tell its opperating normally and no codes however they do see ridiculously high rpm reading in the history. So they don't deny its a problem but nothing appears to be wrong. They installed the latest firmware for the transmission and reset the factory computer. It has not happened since this incident but something does seem a bit wierd with the transmission. Its not as smooth as it used to be thats for sure.
All was well for about 2 weeks when my VSC OFF light was eluminated after starting the car. I drove for about 5 miles this way when I stopped at a store. When I went out to the store the light was not eluminated as it should be. I did not give it much thought until it happened again a week later. This time it happened again and I got pulled over for my brake lights not working. Luckily I was only a few blocks away from home. I only got a warning to get it fixed and even got an escort back to my house because it was a safety issue. I tell you some cops can be really cool.
Now being more concerned I researched the problem. It turns out this is what can happen if the brake stop switch by the brake pedal fails. Its such a big problem Hyundai issued a recall. What is interesting in my case is this switch was replaced on my Sonata last September under the recall terms. However it appears in my case the recall did not fix it. The dealer and Hyundai replaced it again no questions asked but it came on again yesterday. The brake lights don't work when the VSC OFF light is eluminated. Dealer says to bring it by next time the light is on so they can trouble shoot as the problem occurs. At least it seems to go away during a fresh start every time so far.
Getting a bit frustrated now with these odd problems I had yet another this morning. It was a very chilly morning at around freezing. All was well when I was taking my wife to work. On the freeway heading back home my air vents started to blow massive amounts of frigid air and my windows started to fog up instantly. After saying WTF I rolled down a window to help the windows defrost. My automatic climate control is set to AUTO and a temperature of 74F. Yet I was getting the coldest air I have ever felt coming out of the airvents. Since I took my jacket off I was not amused not to mention the safety issue at work here. After looking at things further I noticed that it says the outside temperature is 101F at climbing. As this temperature climbs its blowing even colder air. WTH I say its not 101F its like 34F outside at most. I took the system off auto and cranked the heat as far as it will go but it only helped a small amount. Luckily defrost mode works as long as you don't mind the frigid air. After stopping and restarting this problem did not go away. I have not called the dealership yet as I am getting sick of calling them but will tomorrow for sure.
I can honestly say the car has never left me stranded. So its not the worst experience I have ever had with a car however its quickly getting there. I can honestly say its starting to fall apart. In addition to these problems it has numorious rattles and just does not feel as tight as it used to be. Now if it had 90K miles fine but it only has 31K on it. I was a good car for the 1st 3years but I no longer trust it. So I am now passively in the market for something else. Might as well get something else while its still worth something. However funds are tight so I don't know what it will be. I like the 2010 Subaru Legacy Sedan but my wife is not a Subaru fan. Maybe a used Camry or Honda Accord. One things for sure I am done with Hyundai. I still think they are improving and perhaps one day they will be solid. They might already be there with some of the latest models recently released but not just yet back in 2006.
