The Airbag light came on in the car about a year after purchase while the vehicle was under warranty. We have taken it to several dealers who diagnose it as a faulty seat belt connection with the sensor unit. We are told the air bags are inoperable and will not deploy. This is extremely unsafe and we know of many, many other Sonatas that have the same problem. It is irresponsible for the manufacturer not to take responsibility for a recall when lives are in danger.
Out of regular warranty, I replaced seat-belt pre-tensioner at my cost for about $400, to extinguish 'Air Bag' warning light. Light came on several months later. Dealership wouldn't warranty part, so I complained to Transport Canada. Got quick response from Hyundai Canada! They covered cost to re-replace preytensioner, plus reimbursed me for original replacement. Soon after was notified of extended 15 year warranty on this part. Light came on again, got another replacement part. Light came on again, this time they found a much cheaper solution. They tightly wrapped part with zip-tie in order to maintain internal electrical contact. Has been fine now for three years. Good thing as extended warranty in effect for two more years only..
I complained to Transport Canada on a Friday evening, by Tues morning Hyundai Canada called. They covered this issue promptly. Within three weeks I got a letter from them offering and extended warranty for this part for fifteen years!
- Victor V.,
Langley, BC, Canada
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OK, a year ago our car air bag passenger light came on while we were traveling on a 500km trip. We took it to our dealership when we got home and they told us there was no recall on this. We then took it to our local licensed shop to have it looked at. They reset the sensor at a cost of $67.62cdn. Then it came back on while we were traveling again.
We took it to the dealership and they said there was no recall again. So, we took it back to our local shop and they got the information from Hyundai Canada how to fix it. Replace the seat cushion. So we had them get all the information from Hyundai Canada and for $1.958.58cdn we got a complete new seat with a sensor that works.
Then we get a letter saying there is a recall on this sensor. 81B012. Great, so we can get reimbursed for all this. Our local Hyundai dealership asked for all the receipts we had and sent it in to Hyundai. On April 30th, Hyundai Canada sent an email to our dealership that this needed to be reviewed. It seems they send the seat in to Toronto to be re-calibrated but we did not know this and the information our shop got was to replace it and all the details of how to do it. This reimbursement was denied twice as we have been trying to get them to own up to this problem. In September we sent a letter to them to review this again as we, as consumers, do not have a lot of options when it comes to safety. I asked what we were supposed to do, Get it fixed, leave it and drive an unsafe car or just not use our front passenger seat?
We just got a very terse reply from their customer service representative denying our claim again, stating they "...would not send repair information to a non-Hyundai shop; the information your repair shop received is not from our office." That is a total lie. We are now persons non-grata with Hyundai and VERY UPSET.
As far as we are concerned, Hyundai Canada should have owned up to their errors and reimbursed us for the repairs, but now they are sending us false information and denying us compensation.
I informed Hyundai Canada that unless we got some help from them we would complain to the world. Here it is. Thanks.
Fourth time my air bag light has come on, never had an accident, and stayed on since I bought the car used in 2011. Reset twice , replaced passenger seat buckle once, now dealer says I need a passenger seat back seat bottom and seat buckle replaced at a cost of $3,600. No coverage under warranty or recall and if I spend $300-$500 on a used seat no guaranty that will work. Meanwhile I'm driving an unsafe car with emissions due in 2 months, which I believe will fail with airbag light on and no repairs which I will not do at dealers price, with repairs worth more KBB private party value. This stinks Hyundai !!!
Took vehicle to dealer for repair Jan 2105. Cost (me) $741Cdn. Asked about any extended warranty or special service offers. Told there were none. Also told that the problem was a serious and imminent safety hazard because air bags would not deploy in an accident situation.
Just learned from this site and NHSTA complaints that lead to 'agreement' PE14023 that there had been 700+ prior notices of this complaint and that Hyundai were offering full reimbursement to owners (like me) and extended warranty up to 15 Years. Seems that news doesn't cross the border. Or that Hyundai Canada thinks Canadians are stupid. Wrong on both counts.
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 70,000.
The air bag warning light came on for no apparent reason. Took the car into the Hyundai dealer and they ran a diagnostic check for ONLY $100.00 dollar, but it did take them almost 5 minutes for the entire check. They told me that it showed a low voltage and to replace the battery for another $120.00 dollars. End result was I was out of $220.00 dollars and the air bag warning light was still on. I have noticed that the headlights flicker upon acceleration and a hard or prolonged shift from 1st to 2nd gear before the car is warmed up. The car has 75,000 miles on it now and I don't trust it to go to work and back (30 minutes each way). A $25,000 dollar mistake, if Hyundai don't step up they can have their junk car, and all the negative feedback I can produce for them.
I have bought two cars from the manufacturer I should bought the 2007 Toyota Camry instead; at the time the sonata was a good deal but the problem of the passenger seat mat cost nearly $1,400 to fix I refused because that is too much money for six year car especially an airbag problem if it was $500 bucks I would have done the repair. Hyundai knows my car is under recall but wants me foot the bill at the dealership. No Hyundai or Kia for me, ever. Consumers I recommend that you spend the extra money on a Japanese car or American cars because Hyundai's are very expensive to fix if something goes wrong and they are gonna treat you like your garbage. You get what you pay for.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The Airbag light came on in the car about a year after purchase while the vehicle was under warranty. We have taken it to several dealers who diagnose it as a faulty seat belt connection with the sensor unit. We are told the air bags are inoperable and will not deploy. This is extremely unsafe and we know of many, many other Sonatas that have the same problem. It is irresponsible for the manufacturer not to take responsibility for a recall when lives are in danger.
- Joel B., Duluth, MN, US