NHTSA Complaint #10473151 — 2011 HYUNDAI SONATA

I HAVE A 2011 HYUNDAI SONATA. I HAD MY BRAKE PEDAL STOPLIGHT SWITCH REPLACED A FEW DAYS AGO BY A HYUNDAI DEALER, WHICH WAS COVERED UNDER THE MANUFACTURER'S WARRANTY. HOWEVER, IN DOING RESEARCH ON THIS REPLACEMENT, I HAVE FOUND THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM OF HYUNDAI SONATA OWNERS AND IT WOULD SEEM THAT HYUNDAI HAS NOT CORRECTED THIS ISSUE OTHER THEN TO REPLACE THE OEM SWITCH WHEN IT FAILS. BASED UPON WHAT I HAVE READ, I THEREFORE EXPECT THAT THIS REPLACEMENT WILL FAIL AGAIN SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE AND PROBABLY AT AN INOPPORTUNE TIME. SINCE IT TAKES ONLY A FEW MOMENTS TO REPLACE THE SWITCH, SOME HYUNDAI OWNERS THAT HAVE HAD MULTIPLE FAILURES HAVE GONE AS FAR AS CARRYING A SPARE SWITCH IN THEIR GLOVE COMPARTMENT IN CASE THE SWITCH FAILS AGAIN AND THEY ARE EITHER OUT OF WARRANTY OR NOT NEAR A DEALER. THE SAFETY ISSUE REVOLVES AROUND THE FAILURE OF THIS SWITCH WHICH RESULTS IN THE BRAKE LIGHTS NOT BEING OPERABLE AND THE POSSIBILITY OF OTHER SAFETY SYSTEMS BEING AFFECTED TOO, I.E. TRACTION CONTROL AND ABS. IF THIS SWITCH FAILURE OCCURS WITH THE VEHICLE IN PARK, THE GEARSHIFT LEVER CANNOT BE MOVED. IF THIS FAILURE WAS A "ONCE IN A LIFETIME" FAILURE, IT WOULD NOT BE THAT MUCH OF AN ISSUE. BUT AGAIN, THAT DOES NOT SEEM TO BE THE CASE AND RESEARCH OF HYUNDAI'S REPAIR RECORDS OR STATEMENTS MADE BY OWNERS OF THESE CARS SHOULD BARE THAT OUT. THE ORIGINAL OEM SWITCH PART IS #93810-3S000. AN ALLEGED UPDATE MAY BE PART # 93810-3K000 BUT THIS PART CAN NOT BE INSTALLED IN THE VEHICLES HAVING THE ORIGINAL PART AND HYUNDAI HAS NOT MADE A RETRO INSTALLATION POSSIBLE IF THIS "K" SWITCH IS INDEED AN UPDATED REPLACEMENT. I FEEL THAT HYUNDAI SHOULD ADDRESS THIS ISSUE AND PRODUCE A RETRO FIT FOR THIS SAFETY RELATED BRAKE SWITCH SINCE IT SEEMS TO BE A CONSTANT ISSUE THAT NEEDS ATTENTION DUE TO THE FAILURE OF THE SWITCH WHICH THEN CAUSES, AT THE VERY LEAST, INOPERABLE BRAKE LIGHTS. *TR