NHTSA Complaint #11063869 — 2012 HYUNDAI AZERA

THIS 2012 AZERA ONLY HAS 8,700 MILES. MOVING THE STEERING WHEEL LEFT OR RIGHT PRODUCES A CLICKING SOUND. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE OF A WORN RUBBER FLEX COUPLING IN THE STEERING MOTOR. HYUNDAI PAYS FOR REPLACING THE PART ON SONATA AND ELANTRA MODELS EVEN AFTER THE STANDARD FIVE YEAR WARRANTY. THE AZERA USES THE EXACT SAME PART NUMBER (563152K000FFF) BUT THEY WILL NOT PAY FOR REPAIR AFTER THE 5 YEAR WARRANTY. THIS IS PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY ONLY SOLD LOW NUMBERS OF AZERA MODELS WHICH WOULD OF COURSE MEAN LOWER NUMBERS OF COMPLAINTS COMPARED TO THE HIGH VOLUME MODELS. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A STEERING SAFETY ISSUE OT HUYNDAI WOULD NOT PAY FOR REPAIRS ON ANY MODEL OUT OF WARRANTY. MY LOCAL DEALER QUOTED $270 (FLORIDA, ZIP CODE 33331) TO REPLACE THE FLEX COUPLER. I BELIEVE HYUNDAI SHOULD PAY FOR THE REPAIR. I AM FEARFUL THAT I WILL LOSE STEERING CONTROL AS THE RUBBER COUPLING ARMS BREAK APART FURTHER.