Hyundai Issues Third Recall In One Week

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After recalling 889,000 Sonatas in late-July, Hyundai added another 420,000 vehicles to its recall list, including the Sonata again, for brake, electrical, and rust issues.

The South Korean maker is taking back 225,000 Santa Fe crossovers in twenty cold weather states. The 2001 to 2006 model year vehicles may have rusted coil springs that could fracture and puncture a tire. The springs impacted are in states that use salt on their roads in the winter.

This time, 133,000 2011 Sonatas may be leaking brake fluid, which could cause the car to take longer to stop and perhaps end up in a collision.

About 61,000 Veracruz crossovers from the 2007 to 2012 model years are coming back due to an oil leak that may damage the alternator and the vehicle’s charging system, which could result in a full loss of power, increasing the risk of a crash, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said. No injuries have been reported related to these problems.

On July 31, NHTSA reported that because of a potentially defective transmission-shift cable, about 883,000 Sonata sedans from model years 2011 to 2014 were recalled. Prior to that, it recalled 5,700 2015 Sonatas due to brake problems. In fact, it asked owners to park the vehicles until the repair can be made.

The rash of recalls are somewhat surprising given the company’s performance on recent quality surveys, such as the J.D. Power & Associates Initial Quality Survey (IQS) and Automotive Performance Execution and Layout (APEAL) survey. The maker is consistently ranked at or near the top of each category in which it has a vehicle.

In the IQS, Hyundai came in fourth overall, and was the highest-ranked of all mainstream makers, beating out such familiar quality leaders as Toyota and Honda. And the little Hyundai Accent, at the other end of the price spectrum from the most problem-free vehicle, the Porsche Panamera, was the second most problem-free vehicle, the Power study found.

In fact, the Sonata was second in the midsize car category this year behind the Chevrolet Malibu and ahead of the Camry. However, stellar results in these polls have repeatedly shown a disconnect between recalls, especially those handled well, from customer satisfaction and quality perceptions. 

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