NHTSA Complaint #10783667 — 2016 HYUNDAI ELANTRA

WHEN ENTERING A FAIRLY SEVERE CURVE, LIKE A 270 DEGREE FREEWAY ON-RAMP OR OFF-RAMP TO AN OVERPASS, OR 90 DEGREE CURVES ON MOUNTAIN ROADS, AT NORMAL SPEEDS, THE ESC APPEARS TO SPORADICALLY TURN ON AND OFF AGGRESSIVELY. THE BEHAVIOR IS SEVERE. THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED, HARD, ABOUT TWICE PER SECOND. HARD ENOUGH TO FEEL LIKE YOU HIT A POTHOLE. THE THROTTLE SEEMS TO BE CUT AS WELL. PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR DOES NOTHING WHILE IN THIS STATE, AS IF ITS BEEN DISCONNECTED. AFTER STRAIGHTENING OUT OF THE CURVE, THE BEHAVIOR STOPS. DISABLING VIA THE ESC BUTTON HAS NO EFFECT, THE PROBLEM PERSISTS. A TRIP TO THE DEALER (10/2015) RESULTED IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF A BAD 'LATERAL SENSOR' - THAT IT WASN'T COMMUNICATING TO THE ESC. HOWEVER THE PROBLEM APPARENTLY WAS MORE INVOLVED: THEY KEPT THE CAR FOR 17 DAYS AND HAD TWO OTHER 2016 ELANTRA GT MODELS IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT WITH THE SAME ISSUE. ULTIMATELY THEY COULD NOT FIND A FIX FOR THE PROBLEM AND RETURNED THE CAR, STATING THAT THE PROBLEM WAS NOT A "SAFETY CONCERN". HOWEVER THEY INTENDED TO CONTINUE TROUBLESHOOTING THE ISSUE WITH ONE OF THE PROBLEM CARS BEING USED AS A "TEST MULE". THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT STATED THAT THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE LIMITED TO THE 2016 ELANTRA GT. I AM NOT ENTIRELY CONVINCED OF THE "SAFETY" VERDICT. WHILE I AGREE THAT ITS FAIRLY SAFE FOR "ME", SINCE I'M AWARE OF THE BEHAVIOR AND ITS CONSISTENT, IT MIGHT BE A SURPRISE FOR ANOTHER ELANTRA GT OWNER WHOSE FIRST EXPERIENCE MIGHT BE IN THE RAIN OR SNOW. WINTER IS COMING, AND WHILE I'M AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND THEREFORE WILL TAKE CURVES SLOWER AS TO NOT ANTAGONIZE THE CAR - WHAT ABOUT OTHERS?