10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 6 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 8 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 79,792 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Air bag light stays on. Dealer unsure of cause. Suspects sensor in seatbelt. May prevent airbag from deployment.
- Clinton, MA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the air bag indicator would illuminate each time the vehicle was started. The dealer stated that the front seat belt receivers needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 90,400. The vehicle was repaired at a cost of $ $365.35.
- Fords, NJ, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the front passenger side seat belt light illuminated indicating that the air bag system was disabled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the front passenger side seat belt sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000. Updated 10/10/14 the consumer stated the manufacturer would not assist with the cost of the repair for the faulty sensor. Updated 3/31/2015
- Oakland, CA, USA
Airbag light remains lit, suspected it had to do with passenger airbag recall. Dealer says not, that it is the passenger seat belt pretensioner and that in an accident the seat belt system would not work if not fixed and wants to charge $485 to do so. This is a safety issue and needs to be added to the recall because, based on the number of complaints I see, this is obviously a parts failure. Since the driver's side gets used far more often than the passenger, it is hasn't failed as a result of use.
- Cary, NC, USA
Second time air bag light.. first time right side at 72000 mi.. nor 840000 right side repair $300 plus not cover by any safety recall. Light stays on air bags disables..
- Tinley Park, IL, USA
"air bag" SRS warning light on continuously. Per owners manual, this indicates this system "is not working properly" and "should be inspected by an authorized Hyundai dealer". concerned that the air bag/SRS system is unsafe and could cause injury or not properly protect occupants from injury or death in case of accident, brought car to local Hyundai dealer. Instructed that they would have to inspect the problem and charge us $105. Dealer performed inspection and diagnosis was faulty "belt assy restence high in buckle assy front pass side" for additional charge of $470. Repair was not performed. We called Hyundai Corp customer service and spoke with manager, but Hyundai stated that since no recall noted and past warranty period, they would not fix defect at no charge. Why should we pay for a defective air bag/SRS part/system that should not fail under normal life and use of a car? this is a fundamental internal safety system and should not stop working properly. This is a manufacturer defect for design, components and/or workmanship and should be recalled. Hyundai is not taking responsibility for it's faulty product to save themselves money at the expense of consumers and placing my family's safety at risk. We now paid $105 to confirm the car is unsafe to drive and are forced to spend an additional $470 to "correct" a defective SRS system, which may or may not "fix" problem, in order to confidently continue using car. Ridiculous.
- San Diego, CA, USA
2006 Sonata gls very well maintained (for life of vehicle) by top notch local dealer + no accident history - reports driver side seat belt buckle err code, airbag light on/airbag system not activated. Dealer attempted OC3 test-passenger seat voluntary recall issue - could not complete test-buckle error...replaced buckle assy: Same code + light. Dash opened, console removed, driver seat removed: Airbag system harness inspection, reseat connections - new code appears: Drivers belt retractor assy. Replaced belt retractor assy. No code! and airbag system still not working/airbag light indicator on...dealer advised this expensive problem is well-known to 06, 07 Sonata owners: Sole viable solution=replace air bag system wiring harness. Ordered part # on harness - wrong harness delivered (connectors in wrong location on harness/don't meet up with car connectors. Ordered again, same result (dealership noted - these harnesses arrive with bag torn open (not first mechanic to order it for same problem and outcome).. local Hyundai territory engineer (troubleshooter for large problems) asked to visit for discussions - right part # / wrong part. Solution = I've dealt with this 3X recently and in this area - order this part #. guess what, new part is $750 / double old part cost. New harness reaches into back seat area as well and causes double the labor costs >$1,000...$1K already invested in parts and labor plus facing another $2K in harness parts & labor. Dealer can't provide any guarantee this will solve it short term let alone long term - contacted Hyundai usa for financial assistance - denied due to out of warranty + 2nd owner/not original (how convenient for them)..as mentioned, 3X '06 Sonata owners in this territory recently experienced identical issues and after getting tough with Hyundai usa, received buy-backs of their cars. Try to guess my next move...updated 08/14/14
- Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Air bag light comes on every other year. I am having this issued for three time air bag light comes on every time and then they put new seat belt buckle it goes away first time it happened in 2010 it was under warranty, second time it happened in 2012, and third time it happened in 2014.
- Bartlett, IL, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the seat belt buckle needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 168,000.
- Caster Valley , CA, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was constantly illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the buckle assembly pre tensioner needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 82,897.
- Mareitta, GA, USA
Car was taken to Hyundai dealership for OCS right front passenger seat recall. A few hours later dealer called to advise that there was no problem with the OCS air bag. I was told the code associated with the light being on indicating "passenger air bag off" related to the seat belt tensioner not working, not the OCS. Since the seat belt is a safety issue, I asked the dealer to take care of it at no charge to me. The dealer (rick case Hyundai in davie, fl) refused to do so saying that it was not covered in the OCS recall and the car was out of warranty. I then called Hyundai customer service and requested that Hyundai repair the seat belt tensioner at no charge to me. They read me a prepared statement stating that this was not covered under the OCS recall and would not take care of it because the car was out of warranty. After I spoke to a case manager at Hyundai, they agreed to call the dealership and see if they could work something out with the dealership for the seat belt repair. Hyundai was supposed to call me back within a week to tell me what was worked out. They did not. When I called back a couple of weeks later, Hyundai again read me the prepared statement saying this problem was not covered under the recall. I reiterated that the seat belt tensioner was a safety issue and I expected them to repair it. They continued to refuse to take responsibility for the repair. I advised I was going to report this safety issue to NHTSA. Hyundai was unconcerned. As NHTSA should see, several Hyundai Sonata owners have reported this same seat belt problem to NHTSA. My passenger seat is rarely used, so this seems to be a Hyundai safety defect for which the dealers and Hyundai should be required to make a recall and repair at their expense.I am also concerned that the passenger seat was not removed and sent to Hyundai for analysis as noted in the OCS recall.
- Cooper City, FL, USA
Air bag light has been on for six months. Got the recall notice about passenger occupant system which indicated that if the light stays on to bring the car to the dealership. I took the car to the dealership and was told that the system checked out okay. I told the service rep that the light was still on. He indicated that was a problem with the seat belt buckle. He also indicated that the air bag may or may not deploy in the case of an accident. This is a major safety issue. Hyundai should issue a recall on this apparent defect.
- Baldwinsville, NY, USA
The dummy airbag light in my 2006 Sonata has been on for a few years. The last time I brought it in to service, in July 2012- I was told that my passenger seat may need to be sent out, but that I would also need 2 new seat belts. I was told the air bags wouldn't deploy if I was in an accident.the mechanic was able to turn the dummy light off but only for a day or two. This November 2013, the seat was sent out to ca under a recall notice I was sent by Hyundai, and I paid to have my seat belts replaced, but I feel the whole thing is related and should have been a recall. Everyone I have spoken to about it feels the same way. The seat belt replacement cost $350 per seat excluding tax. Hyundai has known of this problem (through my dealer) since July 2012 and the problem had been ongoing for months prior to me taking it in for servicing, not realizing it was a dangerous situation. I missed the 5 year 60K warranty probably by 10K miles or less. I would like to know how many other Sonata owners have had to replace their seat belts and whether or not we should be suing Hyundai to have them cover this "repair". I could get no statistics from Hyundai when I called them regarding how many people have complained about this problem. The explanation provided to me is that they are separate problems, not inter-related and that the seat belt issue is an electrical issue and the service center was given a code to diagnose the issue.
- Norwich, CT, USA
The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the air bag light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was found that the passenger front seat belt buckle needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 88,000. The VIN was unavailable.
- Henrietta, NY, USA
While driving on a busy street it felt like my gas pedal was not responding then without warning it suddenly lurched forward enough to screech my front tires. I do not have a floor mat on the driver's side. Thank god no one was in front of me, surely there would have been an accident. I have also had the air bag light on since the car was new. During Hyundai new car service one of the service men noticed and mentioned it, but did nothing to correct the problem and today I got a recall on the air bag system stating I missed the 1st recall. My front passenger seat belt light goes on and off sometimes it is on when someone is in the seat buckled up and sometimes it is on when no one is sitting in the seat. I am taking my car in to Hyundai for the recall I am going to mention the lurching and let them know about all these complaints! I believe they are ultimately responsible for these problems!!
- Reno, NV, USA
My air bag light stays on all the time. In a crash my air bag may not deploy, this is a safety issue. Looking into the computer I'm not the only one with this problem. This should be a recall matter.
- Burgettstown, PA, USA
A part on the driver's side seatbelt buckle has failed once per year for the last three years. The failure of this part causes the airbag light to go on, rendering the airbag ineffective in the event of a crash. We have taken the car in as soon as this happens, but are concerned about the frequency of the failures. We also don't understand why this repair was covered twice, but not the third time since this is clearly a problem with this same part and the time period in between part failures was almost identical.
- Santa Clarita, CA, USA
I turned the car on and the dashboard lights indicated all affected parts listed above went on. Drove the car for 3 miles and shut it off for 2 hours. Turned the car back on and had the same problem. I've read many owners with the same issue, but haven't seen a resolution this problem. This is a very serious issues god forbid the air bags don't eject in a accident. What do I do??
- Patchogue, NY, USA
On November of 2011, the "airbag" light in my Sonata came on and stayed on. Upon investigation by the Hyundai dealership, I was told that it was a problem with my seat belt. I had it repaired at a cost of $325.79. At that time I made a formal complaint to you. NHTSA id number: 10436650 now I have the same problem again! my airbag light came on the week of 4/7/13 (odometer 112,660) and again I have been told it is the seat belt. Again it will cost upwards of $300. And this is just 19,250 miles since I had it repaired it seems to me that this is an indication of either a defective part or a defective design. I have been told that the airbag will not work when the airbag light is on so I see this as a critical defect that needs to be investigated by the NHTSA. If a vehicle's airbags shut down every 20,000 miles or so, in my opinion the vehicle is a danger to consumers. Judging from a cursory search on the internet, I see that there are many other Hyundai Sonatas with the same issue. Please investigate.
- Rockford, MI, USA
- Newberry, FL, USA