NHTSA Complaint #11244667 — 2009 HYUNDAI ELANTRA

WHEN DRIVING THE VEHICLE, THE EPS LIGHT WOULD ARBITRARILY TURN ON AND GO AWAY WHEN THE IGNITION KEY IS CYCLED OFF AND BACK ON. WHEN THE LIGHT COMES ON, IT IMMEDIATELY BECOMES DIFFICULT TO STEER. THE CAR REVERTS TO MANUAL STEERING MODE AND REQUIRES SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF EFFORT TO CONTROL. WE HAVE HAD THE EPS LIGHT TURN ON MULTIPLE TIMES WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING AND PUTTING US IN DANGEROUS, UNSAFE CONDITIONS ON THE ROAD. RECENTLY, THE EPS LIGHT IS STAYING ON AND NOT GOING AWAY. WE VISITED THE LOCAL DEALER TO REPORT THIS ISSUE AND THEIR DIAGNOSIS RESULTED IN ERROR CODES RELATED TO THE STEERING ANGLE SENSOR-ELECTRICAL, TORQUE SENSOR MAIN SIGNAL FAULT, ECU (BRAKE SYSTEM) HARDWARE ERROR, CAN TIME-OUT EMS, AND MOTOR. WHEN ASKED, THEY WERE NOT WILLING TO PERFORM AN EVALUATION AS PER THE TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN. THEY RECALIBRATED THE STEERING ANGLE SENSOR AND STATED THAT IF THE PROBLEM REOCCURS, WE WOULD NEED TO RETURN TO THE DEALERSHIP TO REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN (PART NUMBER 56310-2H250 AS1) AND PAY FULL COST OF REPAIR (PART AND LABOR). THIS PART NUMBER IS LISTED AS A REPLACEABLE ITEM PER THE TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DEALERSHIP PERFORMED AN EPS S/W CHK/ECU UPGRADE IN 2015 WHEN NO ISSUES WERE PRESENT AND REFUSE TO FURTHER ASSIST WHEN THE ISSUE IS PRESENT WHEN THE RECALL CAMPAIGN INFORMATION LETTER IN MARCH 2015 CLEARLY STATES THAT THE FINAL REMEDY HAS NOT BEEN DEVELOPED AT THIS TIME. THE DIAGNOSIS SHOWS THAT A FAULTY PART WAS INSTALLED BY THE CAR MANUFACTURER, AS STATED IN THE RECALL, AND THE DEALERSHIP IS REFUSING TO ADDRESS THE ACTUAL ISSUE. INSTEAD OF SOLVING THE PROBLEM, THEY INSIST THAT WE DRIVE THIS POTENTIALLY UNSAFE VEHICLE UNTIL THE ISSUE REOCCURS. THIS IS A SAFETY RELATED CONCERN AS THERE IS NO WARNING TO WHEN THIS ISSUE WILL OCCUR. THEIR RECALL NOTICE STATES THAT THE EPS PROBLEMS COULD RESULT IN AN INCREASED RISK OF A CRASH.