NHTSA Complaint #11299357 — 2008 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

WITH ONLY A LITTLE OVER 113,000 MILES ON THE VEHICLE, THE TRANSMISSION BEGAN, WITHOUT WARNING, MAKING A JET ENGINE TYPE WHINING NOISE WHEN ACCELERATING, AND A NOTICEABLE WHIRRING NOISE WITH A FAIRLY ROUGH "WIND DOWN" OF THE TRANSMISSION WHEN DECELERATING. NO INDICATIONS OF A AN IMPENDING FAILURE WERE NOTED PRIOR TO THE TRANSMISSION SYMPTOMS BEING NOTED. ONLINE RESEARCH INDICATED THAT THESE WERE THE SAME EXACT SYMPTOMS NOTED AS A RESULT OF A RECALL OF NEARLY 6000 2010 HYUNDAI VEHICLES, WHICH REQUIRED A RECALL OF THESE VEHICLES. THE 2008 SANTA FE IN THIS CASE HAS THE SAME OR VERY SIMILAR TRANSMISSION AND ENGINE CONFIGURATION, AND AT LEAST ONE OTHER 2008 OWNER HAS COMPLAINED OF THIS SITUATION. IN ADDITION, IN DISCUSSING THIS WITH THE HYUNDAI DEALER SERVICE MANAGER, HE STATED THAT THERE ARE PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND THAT THERE ARE VERY FEW, IF ANY, IN STOCK AND HAVE TO COME FROM THE MANUFACTURER IN ATLANTA DUE TO THE DEMAND FOR REPLACEMENTS (LATEST ESTIMATE IS 10 DAYS TO 2 WEEKS JUST TO GET THE PARTS!). NOW, HYUNDAI HAS BEEN "GRACIOUS" IN AGREEING TO PAY FOR HALF OF THE COST (SO NICE, CONSIDERING IT ONLY HAS 113K MILES ON IT BEFORE IT FAILED), BUT I BELIEVE STRONGLY THAT THE CAMPAIGN 102 RECALL ACTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE 2010 SANTA FE VEHICLES NEEDS TO BE FURTHER EXAMINED, AND I BELIEVE STRONGLY THAT IT WILL BE FOUND THAT THE SAME CONDITIONS, NEED FOR RECALL AND KIT INSTALLATION, ETC. FORGET THE YEAR MODELS WHICH SEEMS TO BE THE FOCAL POINT - FOCUS ON THE TRANSMISSION PARTS AND MODEL NUMBERS, AND SIMILAR CONFIGURATIONS, PLEASE! THE HYUNDAI DEALER HAS PROVIDED HYUNDAI WITH PART NUMBERS, DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION, TECHNICIAN OBSERVATIONS, ETC. NO VISIBLE DAMAGE (HENCE NO PHOTOS) WAS DISCERNIBLE ON MY (THE OWNER'S) PART. TRANSMISSION FAILURE OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING IN COLORADO SPRINGS (PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN BROKEN ARROW, OK).