2007 Hyundai ACCENT: complaints, problems and recalls

I PURCHASED A 2007 HYUNDAI ACCENT ON MAY 12, 2007. ON THE DAY I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE I REALIZED THAT THE PASSENGER AIR BAG WOULD NOT ACTIVATE WHEN MY FIANCE SAT IN THE SEAT. WE POINTED THIS ISSUE OUT TO THE SALESMAN , AND HE SUGGESTED I BRING THE CAR IN ON MONDAY TO GET THE SENSOR CHECKED OUT. I BROUGHT THE CAR IN TO THE DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENT ON MAY 14, 2007. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT COULD NOT FIND ANY PROBLEM WITH THE SENSOR. LATER THAT DAY I HAD MY FIANCE SIT IN THE PASSENGER SEAT AGAIN THE SENSOR STILL DID NOT RECOGNIZED HER AS…

Owner-reported narrative. Look up ODI 10193563 at NHTSA ↗

THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON IN MY 2007 HYUNDAI ACCENT THE FIRST TIME WAS ON JUNE 4, 2007 I TOOK MY CAR TO THE HYUNDAI DEALER THEY KEPT IT OVER NIGHT THEY SAID WHEN THEY FIRST HOOKED IT TO THE MACHINES THE CAR WOULD NOT START SO HYUNDAI SAID LET THE CAR SIT OVER NIGHT AND AFTER DIAGNOSTIC TEST THAT MORNING THEY JUST NEEDED TO REPLACE THE SPARK PLUGS, I RECEIVED MY CAR ON TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2007. I TOOK MY CAR BACK ON MONDAY, JULY 23, 2007 FOR THE SAME PROBLEM THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, THEY SAID THEY HOOKED IT UP TO DIAGNOSTIC MACHINES AN…

Owner-reported narrative. 2,526 miles reported. Look up ODI 10199271 at NHTSA ↗

I PURCHASED A NEW HYUNDAI ACCENT ON 07/17/07 AND DISCOVERED ON 07/18/07 THAT THE AIRBAG SENSOR FOR THE FRONT SEAT PASSENGER WILL NOT ACTIVATE FOR A PASSENGER THAT IS 5'7" TALL AND 115 LBS. THE AIRBAGS (FRONT & SIDE) WILL NOT DEPLOY IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH BECAUSE THE SENSORS INSTALLED IN THE SEAT DO NOT RECOGNIZE A PERSON OF THIS STATURE. THE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT IN FOR SERVICE 3 TIMES FOR THE SAME PROBLEM AND IN AN INDEPENDENT STUDY DONE BY DEALERSHIP MANAGEMENT, 3 OUT OF 10 TIMES THE SENSOR DID NOT DETECT A PERSON OF THIS STATURE. THIS WAS …

Owner-reported narrative. 80 miles reported. Look up ODI 10201275 at NHTSA ↗

I RENTED A HYUNDAI ACCENT, BRAND NEW ON 1/13/08 IN SINT MAARTEN,NA FOR 4 WEEKS FROM ACE[PANORAMIC] RENT A CAR CONTRACT NUMBER 589ZBB971. ON 2/7/08 I ARRIVED AT MY TIMESHARE, THE ATRIUM ON BILLY FOLEY ROAD AT APPROXIMATELY 9:45 PM AND STOPPED THE CAR TO GET OUT AND USE A KEY TO OPEN THE GARAGE CROSSBAR BEFORE ENTERING. I GOT BACK IN THE CAR AND PUT THE CAR IN THE DRIVE GEAR AND WITH MY FOOT STILL ON THE BRAKE, THE CAR TOOK OFF SPEEDING UP EVEN AS I CONTINUED TO PRESS THE BRAKE DOWN TO THE FLOOR. I MADE A QUICK TURN AND HIT A CEMENT ABUTMENT IN…

Owner-reported narrative. Look up ODI 10217576 at NHTSA ↗

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 HYUNDAI ACCENT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE AIR BAG LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED ON THE DRIVER SIDE. SHE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, BUT THEY DID NOT RECOGNIZE THE ERROR CODES AND JUST TURNED OFF THE AIR BAG LIGHT. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS SAFE TO DRIVE. IN DECEMBER OF 2007, THE LIGHT ILLUMINATED AGAIN. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT CLEANED THE CONNECTION AND CLEARED THE CODES. ON JANUARY 14, 2008, THE FAILURE RECURRED A THIRD TIME. THE DEALER CLEARED THE ERROR CODES AND ORDERED PARTS FOR THE SEAT BE…

Owner-reported narrative. 3,452 miles reported. Look up ODI 10224961 at NHTSA ↗

AT MY 15,000 M SERVICE FOR MY '07 HYUNDAI ACCENT 3DR HATCHBACK I WAS INFORMED IT NEEDED A COMPLETE ALIGNMENT AND FOUR NEW TIRES. I WAS TOLD LATER THAT THIS CAR CANNOT BE ALIGNED IN THE REAR AS THERE ARE "NO ADJUSTMENTS" TO DO IT. I WAS SHOCKED AS I HAD NO ACCIDENT AND AM A CAREFUL DRIVER. I ASKED WHAT COULD BE DONE AND THE DEALERSHIP SUGGESTED A "CAM KIT". MANY WEEKS LATER HYUNDAI'S DISTRICT PARTS AND SERVICE MANAGER SENT A MESSAGE THAT I SHOULD TAKE MY CAR TO A BODYSHOP I AM STILL TRYING TO GET HYUNDAI TO HELP WITH THIS PROBLEM AND AM CONCE…

Owner-reported narrative. 16,921 miles reported. Look up ODI 10229122 at NHTSA ↗

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 HYUNDAI ACCENT. WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED, THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG ICON INDICATES THAT NO ONE IS SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT, EVEN WHEN IT IS OCCUPIED. AS A RESULT, THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG IS DISABLED. PRIOR TO THE FAILURE, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE INDICATOR LIGHT WOULD TURN OFF AND ON WHENEVER THE VEHICLE WAS STARTED. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN TO THE DEALER SEVERAL DIFFERENT TIMES, BUT THE FAILURE STILL PERSISTS. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 34,500.

Owner-reported narrative. 34,500 miles reported. Look up ODI 10232899 at NHTSA ↗

2007 HYUNDAI ACCENT THAT I PURCHASED NEW AT DAHL AUTOMOTIVE IN ONALASKA WI. HAS BEEN IN THE GARAGE 2 TIMES IN 2007, AND 2 TIMES IN 2008, FOR THE SAME PROBLEM. MY CAR HAS A WOBBLE AND THEY CAN-NOT FIX ITS, EVEN HAD AN ENGINNER TEST DRIVE THE CAR. THEY ALL SAID THAT IT IS A NORMAL CHARACTERISTIC OF VEHICLE. WHICH THEY TEST ROAD A NEW 2008 MODEL SAID IT IS THE SAME AS MINE...WE DO NOT LIKE THE WOBBLE AND NEED TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM SOLVED... *TR

Owner-reported narrative. 17,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10233472 at NHTSA ↗

Reported: 2009-04-15 (April 15, 2009)

HYUNDAI IS RECALLING 532,633 MY 2006-2007 ACCENT, ENTOURAGE, SONATA, MY 2007 AZERA, ELANTRA AND SANTA FE, MY 2005-2007 TUCSON AND MY 2007-2008 VERACRUZ VEHICLES. THE STOP LAMP SWITCH IN THE AFFECTED VEHICLES MAY MALFUNCTION. A MALFUNCTIONING STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED OR MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS RELEASED. A STOP LAMP SWITCH MALFUNCTION MAY ALSO AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE BRAKE-TRANSMISSION SHIFT INTERLOCK FEATURE SO THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE SHIFTED OUT OF THE PARK POSITION. IT MAY ALSO CAUSE THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) MALFUNCTION LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE, AND IT MAY NOT DEACTIVATE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED.

Consequence: ANY OF THESE MALFUNCTIONS, ALONE OR IN COMBINATION, MAY LEAD TO A CRASH.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JUNE 29, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT THE HYUNDAI CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-633-5151.

Reported: 2009-07-21 (July 21, 2009)

HYUNDAI IS RECALLING 3,011 MODEL YEAR 2005-2007 ELANTRA, TUCSON, SONATA, AZERA AND ACCENT VEHICLES. A MALFUNCTIONING STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO FAIL TO ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED OR MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS RELEASED. A DEFECTIVE STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY ALSO AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE BRAKE-TRANSMISSION SHIFT INTERLOCK FEATURE SO THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE SHIFT OUT OF THE "PARK" POSITION. IT MAY ALSO CAUSE THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) MALFUNCTION LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE, AND IT MAY NOT DEACTIVATE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED.

Consequence: ANY OF THESE MALFUNCTIONS COULD LEAD TO A CRASH.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI OF PUERTO RICO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-787-999-4310.

Reported: 2013-04-01 (April 1, 2013)

Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai) is recalling certain model year 2006-2009 Accent, model year 2007-2011 Azera, Sonata and Sante Fe,2006-2011 Tucson, 2009-2011 Elantra Touring, 2007-2010 Elantra, 2008-2011 Veracruz, 2009-2011 Genesis, 2010-2011 Genesis Coupe, 2007-2008 Entourage, and 2006-2008 Tiburon vehicles. Originally, in April 2013, Hyundai recalled 1,059,824 model year 2007-2009 Accent and Tucson, model year 2007-2010 Elantra, model year 2007-2011 Santa Fe, model year 2008-2009 Veracruz, model year 2010-2011 Genesis Coupe, and model year 2011 Sonata vehicles. In September 2013, Hyundai informed the agency that it was adding more vehicles to this campaign, representing an additional 652,512 units. The total number of vehicles being recalled is now 1,712,336. In the affected vehicles, the stop lamp switch may malfunction. A malfunctioning stop lamp switch may cause the brake lights to not illuminate when the brake pedal is depressed or may cause an inability to deactivate the cruise control by depressing the brake pedal. Additionally, a malfunctioning stop lamp switch may also result in intermittent operation of the push-button start feature, affect the operation of the brake transmission shift interlock feature, preventing the shifter from being moved out of the PARK position and cause the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) malfunction light to illuminate.

Consequence: Failure to illuminate the stop lamps during braking or inability to disengage the cruise control could increase the risk of a crash. Additionally, when the ignition is in the 'ON' position, the transmission shifter may be able to be moved out of Park without first applying the brake. This may lead to unintentional movement of the car which may increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will replace the stop lamp switch, free of charge. The safety recall began on April 22, 2013. Owners may contact Hyundai at 1-800-633-5151. Hyundai's recall campaign number is 110.