The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that it is ramping up its investigation of Hyundai’s Elantra sedan. The NHTSA has now received more than 500 complaints of air bag malfunctions in 2001-2002 Elantra models.
The NHTSA has discovered that the air bag malfunctions could be the result of poorly placed cup holders. According to Automotive News, the Elantra’s air bag sensor is close to the vehicle’s cup holders, which could be allowing liquids to spill into the module. However, the Elantra’s wiring is also being investigated.
Both Hyundai and the NHTSA have collected 22 crash complaints, 15 of which have resulted in injury. The NHTSA is also looking into two fatal crashes where air bag malfunctions are suspected.
Hyundai says it has received 9,100 warranty claims which could be related to the defect. If a recall is issued, 150,000 vehicles could be involved.
In a separate investigation, the NHTSA is also looking into engine stalling complaints on Hyundai’s 2007-2008 Elantra. The NHTSA has received four complaints, one of which resulted in a crash with injuries. A faulty fuel pump is believed to be the culprit. About 167,000 2007-2008 Elantras are on the road today.
07/21, 7:33 PM
posted by:
ktulu
Guity!
07/21, 8:36 PM
posted by:
JoshyLofty
Thats great they’re looking into such things but they’ve received FOUR complaints on the latter? they shouldn’t worry about that until MANY are reported.
07/21, 8:40 PM
posted by:
justinhk2000
It dosen’t matter, my uncle works for the NHTSA who has a colleague working on this case and they say that since they’re under investigation with the airbags they also need to look at the entire car so they pull up these accidents files to see what other mechanism has gave way, and on the plus side if they recall the cars now, one of those crashes won’t be fatal and the designated safety equipment will work properly to ensure a non fatal crash
07/21, 8:42 PM
posted by:
howsmydriving
What NHTSA should really investigate is why Hyundai decided to name this car “Elantra.”
07/21, 8:59 PM
posted by:
JoshyLofty
that makes sense justin… thanks.
07/21, 11:20 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Most people are smart enough to buy name brand appliances for their home. So why would you put your family in a knock-off appliance that travels on the freeway?
07/22, 2:40 AM
posted by:
Jordan
every company has to start somewhere, johnny. unfortunately, hyundai didn’t ramp up the quality until well after 2001-2002.
07/22, 9:07 AM
posted by:
xyunya
Jordan, that would make sense if there would be no problems after 2002 model year. NHTSA is investigating 2007-2008 fuel pump. My position is that quality begins on the top of corporate pyramid. Hyundai CEO was criminally indicted few months ago; I am sure his concerns were not quality of cars he manufactured.
07/22, 10:10 AM
posted by:
Z06ified
This is a perfect example of where Hyundai cuts corners. In places where the consumer won’t see or touch. They’ll put a great stereo in, blue LED’s, and every interior gizmo under the sun, while putting in poorly designed or inferior airbag sensors, suspension components, etc.
Those who know cars don’t buy Hyundais for that reason.
07/22, 1:12 PM
posted by:
LJ
.
I told people before that we had issues, with our Hyundai’s(Sonata and Tiburon) and they said’ oh, you wrecked the car”(bashed me, basically, on many website, and in person……people said that Hyundai was as good as Toyota, for example…just 2 months ago, on a few sites.. I told people..watch out for Hyundai..they bashed me..here’s the proof I wasn’t lying about problems caused by Hyundai’s cost cutting in production vehicles).
I’ll spare you the laundry list of issues(I posted them before, and was bashed…so..I’ll save myself the time of typing, again).
a
People act like Hyundai’s #1… they aren’t.
Raised prices, similar quality, for 10 years now.
Hyundai’s been around in USA since 1986…. by 1980(Toyota in USA since ‘57 or ‘58, right?..22 years later, was their quality like this?).
22 years to build a car that doesn’t break(in general) for 100K..and still can’t do it(or won’t).
Go look @ http://thehyundaiexchange.com
You might have to join to look @ their members list…. thousands.right… see how many post now. Maybe e-mail some, like I did, see why they quit posting. Some will make up an excuse, a few, honest people, will say”I dumped my Hyundai, and got a Toyota-Honda-Ford-Chevy”, etc….and tell you of their problems with the car, the dealerships(to get warranty issues fixed,The First Visit, etc… They might get 15-20 posts now, by 3-4 people. I had an e-mail, one guy asked me where have I been for the past year? I told him, I dumped the junk Sonata, for a Focus..so I don’t hang around Hyundai forums, due to the dealership/bad car experiences).
07/22, 1:13 PM
posted by:
LJ
This is a perfect example of where Hyundai cuts corners. In places where the consumer won’t see or touch. They’ll put a great stereo in, blue LED’s, and every interior gizmo under the sun, while putting in poorly designed or inferior airbag sensors, suspension components, etc.
Those who know cars don’t buy Hyundais for that reason.
Comment by Z06ified, posted on July22 at 10:10 am
_________________________
B-I-N-G-O! You got it.
Cheap parts. Nice interiors, quiet rides… but a year or three later.. things fail that on other manufacturers vehicles, 99% of the time, Don’t Fail early on in ownership.