2003 HYUNDAI SONATA Power Trainautomatic Transmission Problems

CAR SEEMS TO LOSE POWER AND THEN JERKS BACK ON. ONLY LASTS ABOUT 1 SECOND. I PURCHASED THIS CAR USED WITH AROUND 13000 MILES. THIS HAS HAPPENED ABOUT 10 TIMES DURING THE 8 MONTHS I HAVE OWNED THE CAR. DEALER SAYS WITHOUT A TROUBLE LIGHT/ERROR CODE THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. *NM

WHILE DRIVING AT STEADY HIGHWAY SPEEDS, CAR EXPERIENCES QUICK POWER SURGES. VISITED DEALERSHIP ON TWO OCCASIONS NOW THEY TELL ME THAT THEY CAN NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, THAT THEIR COMPUTERS FIND NO PROBLEM. MECHANIC SAYS " PERHAPS THERE IS A PART TRYING TO GO BAD, BUT HASN'T COMMITTED ITSELF YET" WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN? IF YOU ARE JUST BROWSING THIS SITE, DO NOT BUY HYUNDAI! *JB

MY CAR IS 8 MONTHS OLD WITH 9300 MILES, AND I HAD TO PUT ANOTHER TRANSMISSION IN..THE HYUNDAI SERVICE MANAGER CLAIMED HE PUT A NEW TRANSMISSION IN, WHEN IN FACT HE PUT A REBUILT TRANSMISSION IN. THIS HAPPENED 2 WEEKS AGO. THEN YESTERDAY (04-13-04) MY SPEEDOMETER STOPPED WORKING, BROUGHT IT INTO THE SHOP AGAIN, AND WAS TOLD THEY HAD TO ORDER A NEW SPEED SENSOR. WHAT GIVES? DON'T THEY KEEP PARTS IN STOCK. I PHONED THE PARTS DEPARTMENT AND ASKED IF THEY HAD THIS SENSOR IN STOCK AND THEY SAID YES. I ALSO CALLED ANOTHER DEALER IN THE NEXT TOWN AND WAS TOLD THEY ALSO HAD THE PART. SO WHY DID MY DEALER LIE TO ME..

ABOUT ONCE A MONTH I WILL BE DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY AND THE CAR JERKS LIKE IT COMES OUT OF GEAR FOR A SPLIT SECOND FOR NO APPARENT REASON.. IT ONLY HAPPENS ABOVE 55 MPH OR MORE.*AK

I HAVE A 2003 SONATA BOUGHT NEW IN JULY 2003, NOW HAS 11000 MILES. 3 WEEKS AGO TEXACO DISCOVERED A LEAK AROUND THE RT. CV JOINT. I TOOK IT TO KEY HYUNDAI WHO SAID THEY FIXED IT. IT WAS STILL LEAKING AS OF YESTERDAY. YESTERDAY I WAS DRIVING HOME FROM WORK WHEN I HEARD A RATTLE FROM THE REAR. MY ENGINE STARTED TICKING. SUDDENLY THE CAR SHOT FORWARD AND SOUNDED LIKE SOMETHING FELL OUT FROM THE BACK. I WAS ABOUT 100 FT FROM MY DRIVEWAY (THANK GOODNESS THIS DID NOT HAPPEN ON THE INTERSTATE) SO I PULLED IN WITH A TRAIL OF RED FLUID FOLLOWING ME. MY DRIVEWAY IS NOW COVERED WITH THIS FLUID. THE KEY HYUNDAI OF JACKSONVILLE HAD SOMEONE BRING ME A LOANER CAR AND SAID THEY'D CLEAN UP THE SPILL. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THEM. NO WORD YET. I TRAVEL THE INTERSTATE BEFORE DAWN DAILY...

TRANSMISSION CONTINUALLY SLIPS BETWEEN 2ND AND 3RD GEARS. HAD VEHICLE INTO DEALER NUMEROUS TIMES. TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED AT 11,000 MILES AND WITHIN 8,000 MILES SECOND (REBUILT -BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HYUNDAI REPLACES NEW TRANSMISSIONS WITH) TRANSMISSION ALSO BEGAN SLIPPING. SLIPPAGE IS MORE PRONOUNCED IN THE COLDER TEMPS. ON ONE OCCASION, REGIONAL SERVICE MANAGER DROVE VEHICLE AND ACKNOWLEDGED SLIP. HE THEN SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT TO FURTHER DIAGNOSE VEHICLE INCLUDING ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, BUT THIS WAS CANCELLED THE DAY BEFORE APPOINTMENT WHEN THEY REALIZED THAT I HAD FILED A LEMON LAW COMPLAINT. FROM THAT DAY ON, HYUNDAI HAS REFUSED TO SERVICE THE TRANSMISSION AND I AM NOW AWAITING LEMON LAW HEARING. MOST RECENTLY, IN THE COLD WEATHER, TRANSMISSION NOT ONLY SLIPS BUT MAKES LOUD METALLIC POPPING NOISE WHEN IT SHIFTS INTO 3RD GEAR.*AK

TRANSMISSION MADE LOUD CLUNKING NOISES, BROUGHT INTO DEALER, "COULDN'T DUPLICATE" (TYPICAL RESPONSE), THEN I FOUND THE TRANSMISSION TO BE LEAKING, TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED AT 1500 MILES, STILL HAD BAD SHIFT PATTERNS AND HANG UPS IN GEARS, MORE SO AFTER THE TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED. ALSO HAD ALL SORTS OF FRONT END NOISE THAT NATURALLY GOT WORSE AFTER THEY TORE HALF OF THE FRONT END OUT TO CHANGE THE TRANSMISSION. *JB