NHTSA Complaint #11360060 — 2013 HYUNDAI VELOSTER

MY 2013 HYUNDAI VELOSTER WAS UNDER A RECALL IN JUNE LAST YEAR FOR AN ENGINE PROBLEM THAT COULD RESULT, IF NOT FIXED, IN SERIOUS ENGINE FAILURE AND DAMAGE WHILE OPERATING. I TOOK THE CAR TO MY LOCAL HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP TO FIX THE PROBLEM, BUT ON 9/10/20 WHILE DRIVING ON INTERSTATE 26 NEAR COLUMBIA, SC, THE CAR'S SPEED SUDDENLY DROPPED TO NO MORE THAN ABOUT 40 MPH AND WOULDN'T GO ANY FASTER. THAT PUT ME IN EXTREME DANGER OF GETTING STRUCK FROM THE REAR BY OTHER FASTER-MOVING VEHICLES, SO I RODE THE NEXT APPROXIMATELY 5 MILES ON INTERSTATE SHOULDERS TO AVOID DANGER. I WAS EVENTUALLY ABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR THAT DAY TO A REPAIR SHOP IN COLUMBIA, WHICH DETERMINED THAT MY CAR SUSTAINED SERIOUS ENGINE FAILURE AND DAMAGE, AND BELIEVED IT WAS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE 2019 RECALL, ATTACHING A RECALL NOTICE TO THE REPAIR INVOICE. I CALLED MY LOCAL HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP BUT WAS INFORMED MY CAR WAS NOT PRESENTLY UNDER RECALL. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THE DEALERSHIP EITHER DIDN'T DO THE 2019 REPAIR AT ALL OR IMPROPERLY DID IT, OR MORE SERIOUSLY FOR THE THOUSANDS OF OTHER DRIVERS NATIONWIDE OF SIMILAR HYUNDAI VELOSTERS, THE SOFTWARE FIX OFFERED BY HYUNDAI WAS NOT ADEQUATE, PUTTING THEIR LIVES IN DANGER IF THEIR ENGINES SUFFER SERIOUS ENGINE FAILURE AND DAMAGE WHILE TRAVELING AT HIGH SPEEDS. IN MY CASE, BECAUSE THE ENGINE WAS RUINED, I SOLD THE CAR TO A LOCAL JUNKYARD. I'VE ATTACHED DOCUMENTATION VERIFYING EVERYTHING I'VE WRITTEN. THE 2019 DOCUMENTATION IS UNDER MY WIFE'S NAME; MY NAME IS ON THE LATEST RECORDS. *TR