I was unknowingly driving around without any working brake lights for who knows how long! (Thank God a friend was behind us yesterday and called!) After checking and finding no problems with the fuses, I thought that maybe it was some wire-related issue considering NONE of my brake lights were working--so I took to the web and found that there had been a recall on certain models (Elantra included) from 2005-2008. I called my local dealership and they confirmed that there had been a recall and to bring it in the next day and they could replace the faulty equipment.

Well, after sitting in the waiting room for over an hour, the service consultant came out and showed me that, indeed, the lights weren't working and they needed to replace the brake lamp switch. He showed me the price for it and I asked him about the recall that we had talked about and pulled up the webpage on my cell phone to show him what I had originally seen. He went on to explain that there were only certain cars which were affected during those years and my VIN wasn't on the list of those affected. He told me that I could call some Hyundai Consumer Affairs number (800-633-5151) and talk to them about getting the costs covered--he had seen that happen before. Well, obviously I had them fix the brake lamp switch because I need brake lights, which cost only $6.22 for the part and $84 for the labor!!!! Had I known that this would not be covered by the recall I would have NEVER paid somebody that kind of money for such an easy fix and had my husband do it!

When I got home, I called this number and spoke to two different men. The first one was helpful and really tried to see if he could do anything for me. Then, he ended up transferring me to his superior who had more authority than he did to make any changes. Well, this new guy, John, wasn't much help. He was initially interrupting me and repeating himself over and over and at one point, (I felt) insulted my intelligence (explaining that Hyundai wouldn't just pick and choose a few cars here and there to check on the problem, but would look at every car within that time frame) which only infuriated me. He mentioned that although cars from 2005-2008 were on the recall list, my VIN wasn't on the list and, therefore, would not be covered. I mentioned how I thought that perhaps they should look a bit deeper into this problem because obviously more cars from that time period than just those on that current list of affected cars according to VIN were experiencing IDENTICAL problems and were made in that time frame! Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how these bits of information aren't as plain as day to them! He went on to say that the best he could do would be to make note of my call/complain/concern and that I could call back down the road to check on the status. I asked him to give me some sort of timeline to call back to see if these "higher-ups" had looked at my case and made any notes. He could do no such thing and spoke of this mystery department as though they may or may not look at my case--may or may not do anything.

I AM WRITING THIS TO LOOK FOR ANYBODY ELSE WHO MAY HAVE HAD A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE. I truly believe that my car is affected by the recall on the brake lamp switch and they need to extend the current recall to cover more cars within that same time frame that are experiencing the same issue. There has to be more people out there who have the same problem as me! Call in, file a complaint and let's try to get something done about this! (Because, as we all know, my one complaint is a grain of sand on the beach to Hyundai and nothing will ever be done without a large group of us.) Thanks!