NHTSA Complaint #11094163 — 2016 HYUNDAI TUCSON

MY CAR HAS DIFFICULTY ACCELERATING (7X), INABILITY TO REVERSE (2X), AND A TRANSMISSION ERROR THAT LIMITS MY SPEED (2X). TROUBLE ACCELERATING IS PRESENT IN ALL CASES. I BOUGHT THE CAR NEW IN OCTOBER 2015, AND A RECALL ON THE DUAL CLUTCH TRANSMISSION (DCT) WAS DONE IN FEBRUARY 2016. THE RECALL WAS TO FIX A KNOWN PROBLEM OF THE CAR'S INABILITY TO ACCELERATE AFTER REPEATEDLY PRESSING AND RELEASING THE ACCELERATOR. THE PROBLEMS STARTED IN MAY 2016 AFTER THE SOFTWARE UPDATE. I TOOK MY CAR TO HYUNDAI AND WAS TOLD IT WAS A NORMAL OPERATION OF DCT. IN DECEMBER 2016, THE SECOND PART OF THE DCT SOFTWARE UPDATE WAS DONE. ONCE THE WARMER WEATHER CAME, MY CAR HAD THE SAME ISSUES IN APRIL 2017, JUNE 2017 (TAKEN TO DEALER, UPDATE), SEPTEMBER 2017, THREE TIMES IN OCTOBER 2017 (TAKEN TO DEALER, NORMAL), AND TWICE IN MAY 2018. ALL OCCURRENCES WERE IN WARM WEATHER (77 DEGREES TO 82 DEGREES) AFTER THE CAR HAD BEEN SITTING OUTSIDE ALL DAY. PRIOR TO OCTOBER, ALL INCIDENCES WERE TROUBLE ACCELERATING AFTER STOPPING IN TRAFFIC ON THE HIGHWAY. HOWEVER, ONE INCIDENT IN OCTOBER IS ALSO WHEN MY CAR WOULDN'T REVERSE, AND THE OTHER HAD A TRANSMISSION ERROR THAT WOULD NOT ALLOW ME PAST 51MPH. FOR THE SECOND OCCURRENCE IN MAY, THE CAR WAS DRIVEN FOR ABOUT TWO MILES, STOPPED AT A STORE PARKING LOT WITH THE AC RUNNING FOR ABOUT FIVE MINUTES, THEN HAD DIFFICULTY ACCELERATING, THE TRANSMISSION ERROR APPEARED AGAIN AT 32MPH LIMITING MY SPEED, AND I COULD NOT REVERSE. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND DROVE THE CAR TO THEM. THE MECHANIC BELIEVED MY ISSUE AND DID NOT WANT TO DRIVE IT. MY CAR HAS BEEN INTO THE DEALER FIVE TIMES, AND I WAS JUST TOLD THAT MY CAR IS ACTING NORMALLY. THEY ARE READY TO RELEASE THE CAR TO ME; HOWEVER, I HAVE STRESSED THE SAFETY ISSUE AND REFUSE TO TAKE THE CAR BACK. THIS CAR IS NOT RELIABLE AND COULD CAUSE AN ACCIDENT WITH INJURY OR DEATH. I FILED A COMPLAINT WITH HYUNDAI CORPORATE.