NHTSA Complaint #10790536 — 2012 HYUNDAI SONATA

THE PROBLEM STARTED WHEN MY STEERING WHEEL BEGAN TO RATTLE A WEEK AGO CAUSING A HARSH SHAKE AT THE HANDS AND A LOUD NOISE IN THE STEERING COLUMN. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY INFORMED ME IT'S A DEFECTIVE BUSHING THAT MALFUNCTIONS AND A LARGE MAJORITY OF SONATAS ARE HAVING THIS ISSUE. HE SAID IT'S HAPPENING SO MUCH THAT THE MANUFACTURER CAN'T KEEP UP WITH PRODUCING THE PART SO THERE IS A SLIGHT DELAY ON FIXING IT. I ASKED IF THE VEHICLE IS SAFE TO DRIVE AND HE INFORMED ME THE MANUFACTURER SAID IT'S SAFE. I SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT FOR A WEEK AND A HALF OUT, DUE TO THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF THE PART. DURING THIS PERIOD I CONTINUED TO DRIVE THE CAR AND IT WOULD OCCUR EVERY TIME THE CAR WAS IN MOTION. WHILE DRIVING TO WORK ON A HIGHWAY THE STEERING DETERIORATED SO QUICKLY NOT ONLY DID THE STEERING WHEEL START TO SHAKE VIOLENTLY BUT THE ENTIRE VEHICLE WOULD COMPLETELY SHUDDER WHILE DRIVING IT. IT FELT LIKE I WAS DRIVING ON AN UNGRADED DIRT ROAD AND THE RATTLE WAS INCREASING LOUD OUT OF THE STEERING COLUMN. THE VEHICLE BECAME EXTREMELY UNSAFE AND HARD TO HANDLE AS THE STEERING WOULD SWAY. THIS MADE THE VEHICLE LOOSE AND UNCONTROLLABLE TO DRIVE. THERE WAS NO SAFE OPTIONS TO CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE UNTIL IT WAS FIXED. THERE ARE VERY FEW VEHICLE ISSUES MORE DANGEROUS AND DEVASTATING THAN LOSS OF STEERING WHILE DRIVING A VEHICLE. THIS IS ROUGHLY A $5 DOLLAR BUSHING THAT TAKES AROUND 2 HOURS TO FIX. A DEFECT THAT IS THIS SIMPLE TO FIX BUT IS EXTREMELY DEADLY GIVES PLENTY OF CAUSE FOR A RECALL. ON TOP OF THAT, THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT A RECALL IS NECESSARY BECAUSE OF THE WIDESPREAD OCCURRENCES. HOPEFULLY THIS DOESN'T CONTINUE TO UNANNOUNCED UNTIL MAJOR ACCIDENTS HAPPEN BEFORE THEY FIX THIS MAJOR DEFECT. PLEASE REFER TO THE SAFETY RECALL COMPENDIUM WHERE THIS FITS THE CRITERIA FOR THE NHTSA. HTTP://WWW-ODI.NHTSA.DOT.GOV/RECALLS/DOCUMENTS/RECOMPENDIUM.PDF