NEWS:
Rusting Hyundai Sonatas Prompt Federal Probe
Corrosion can cause suspension
to fail, wheels to fall off
ConsumerAffairs.com -- April 29,
2008 -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
is investigating allegations that the subframe on the Hyundai
Sonata can corrode to the point of causing the suspension to
fail.
The Office of Defects
Investigation (ODI) at NHTSA has received 40 consumer complaints
about severe corrosion in the 1999 through 2002 model year
Sonatas.
Consumers have reported
fist-sized holes in the frame that can cause the suspension
control arm to detach from the vehicle, according to federal
safety investigators.
The result can be wheel collapse
or separation, half shaft detachment resulting in sudden vehicle
disablement and or steering anomalies," according to the NHTSA
Web site.
The federal agency has also
received reports of corrosion in the engine cradle and front
cross-member.
NHTSA said that there appears to
be an increasing trend in failures, with 10 reported so far in
2008, 19 in 2007, 11 in 2006 and 1 in 2005.
Most of the complaints come
from states where large amounts of salt are used on roads during
snowy months, according to NHTSA.
The salt belt states
according to NHTSA are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin
and the District of Columbia.
Some consumers report discovering
the severe corrosion during routine maintenance such as an oil
change but the majority of the complaints allege that the
corrosion was not detected until it resulted in suspension
failure or a wheel came off, according to NHTSA.
Sonata owners reported traveling
at speeds from 5 to 65 mph when they encountered the suspension
failure. Some of the incidents resulted in the vehicle becoming
disabled in the traffic lane at night with the driver and child
stuck in the car, according to the NHTSA Web sit. Passing
traffic swerved around the vehicle at high speeds, NHTSA said.
One consumer told federal safety
regulators that the Hyundai Sonata was stuck in the middle of a
dangerous intersection.
Another reported the sonata was
so badly rusted the vehicle was declared a total loss by the
insurance company after the lower control arm completely
separated from the vehicle causing the half-shaft to detach
from the transmission and resulting in damage to the wheel
housing and quarter panel from the detached wheel.
MORE RECALL
INFORMATION:
Hyundai Sonata
