NHTSA Complaint #11701621 — 2022 HYUNDAI TUCSON

While driving our 2022 Hyundai Tucson Limited with the 2.5L engine and about 39,000 miles, the check engine light suddenly came on. Right away the car started behaving strangely. The throttle response became jerky and uneven, and when idling the engine ran at a higher RPM than normal and sounded off. The vehicle also struggled to accelerate, which made it feel unsafe to drive. Thankfully this happened while we were not on the highway, but if it had occurred while merging or keeping up with traffic, it could have been dangerous. Even in city driving, the jerky response and slower acceleration created risk. What would normally be a safe turn across or into traffic could easily have turned into a slower, delayed turn and a potential accident. When we got home, I checked the code and it said it was a cylinder misfire on cylinder 3. The car had been regularly serviced at the dealer and had never shown signs of this issue before. Based on the symptoms, I suspect it may be related to the fuel injectors, but we haven’t been able to get the vehicle in for inspection because local dealers are backed up. One dealer even told us it was fine to keep driving as long as the check engine light wasn’t blinking, which feels concerning given the way the car is performing.