NHTSA Complaint #10633736 — 2007 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 30TH, 2014, I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY IN MY 2007 HYUNDAI SANTA FE WITH MY FAMILY AND CHILDREN ON BOARD AT 60 MPH WHEN ALL OF THE WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD FLASHED ON AT THE SAME TIME. THE VEHICLE STARTED TO SHAKE, THE ENGINE STALLED AND BOTH THE STEERING AND BRAKES SUDDENLY BECAME VERY HEAVY TO OPERATE. LUCKILY I MANAGED TO VEER OFF THE FREEWAY BEFORE IT COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN ON A LIVE HIGH SPEED LANE AND ORDERED A TOW TRUCK FROM MY AUTO CLUB. THE HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP TECHNICIAN ADVISE THAT THE CAUSE OF THIS BREAKDOWN WAS AN OIL LEAK FROM A VALVE COVER GASKET ONTO THE ALTERNATOR, CAUSING IT TO FAIL. THE BATTERY WAS ALSO AFFECTED BY CHAIN OF EVENT. THIS CASCADING CHAIN OF BREAKDOWN IS A SYSTEMIC FAILURE AND THIS DEFECT IS NOT PARTICULAR TO ONLY MY CAR BUT IS RAMPANT WITH THE HYUNDAI SANTA FE OWNERS. ANY INTERNET SEARCH WITH " SANTA FE 2007 LEAKING VALVE COVER GASKET " WILL TURN UP COUNTLESS RESULTS. IT IS ALSO THE SAME TYPE OF FAILURE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN RECALLED FROM ANOTHER HYUNDAI SUV, THE VERACRUZ AS IT WAS BUILT ON A HYUNDAI SANTA FE PLATFORM. I WAS LUCKY THAT I DIDN'T COME TO A COMPLETE DEAD STOP WITHOUT WARNING ON A LIVE FREEWAY LANE AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED AS THE RESULT WOULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC FOR ALL INVOLVED. LINK TO HYUNDAI VERACRUZ RECALL WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. HTTP://WWW-ODI.NHTSA.DOT.GOV/ACMS/CS/JAXRS/DOWNLOAD/DOC/UCM459247/RCDNN-14V415-5243P.PDF KIND REGARDS, *TR