1999 HYUNDAI ACCENT Complaints

THE VEHICLE IS A 1999 HYUNDAI ACCENT AND I PURCHASED IT NEW. ON JULY 2, 2004 I GOT IN MY CAR AND TURNED IT ON. WHEN I TRIED TO PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE IT WOULD NOT MOVE. THE GEAR SHIFT IS STUCK IN 'PARK' AND WILL NOT MOVE UNLESS THE OVERRIDE SWITCH IS DEPRESSED. A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN WAS ISSUED BY HYUNDAI FOR THIS EXACT ISSUE (#99-40-017), SO THEY ALREADY KNOW THAT THE PROBLEM EXISTS. BUT, THE DEALERSHIPS I CONTACTED IN MY AREA WILL NOT FIX THE PROBLEM BECAUSE MY CAR HAS A LITTLE OVER 80,000 MILES AND IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY. I CONTACTED HYUNDAI CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND THEY ALSO SAID I WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING FOR THE REPAIRS EVEN THOUGH I NEVER CAUSED THE PROBLEM. *NM

HAD CAR SERVICED FOR FUEL LINE LEAK, 2 MONTHS LATER CAR CAUGHT ON FIRE. ENTIRE FRONT END DESTROYED. *AK

WHEN PUTTING GAS IN MY 1999 HYUNDAI ACCENT IT WILL ONLY ALLOW A FEW CENTS TO BE PUT IN AT ONE TIME MAKING THE GAS PUMP CONSTANTLY SHUT OFF. IT TAKES 10- 15 MINUTES TO FILL UP THE TANK. HYUNDAI MANUFACTURER SAYS THIS IS NOT A DEFECT EVEN THOUGH THE PROBLEM CAN NOT BE CORRECTED AFTER 5 ATTEMPTS.*AK

WHEN ACCELERATING AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS AND TIMES, THE GAS PEDAL STICKS TO THE FLOOR, WHICH MEANS THE CAR CONTINUES TO ACCELERATE. IT DOES NOT STOP UNTIL THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED AND THEN THE GAS PEDAL RELEASES. THIS HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE PAST THREE MONTHS. HAVE HAD THE DEALER CHECK IT BUT THEY SAY THEY CAN'T FIND THE PROBLEM, SO NO ACTION IS TAKEN. IT CONTINUES TO OCCUR, HOWEVER. *LA

CAR HAS BEEN IN HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP IN THOUSAND OAKS, CA 4 TIMES THIS YEAR WITH EXACT SAME PROBLEM. IT FEELS LIKE TRANSMISSION TO ME. (I HAVE AUTOMATIC) WHEN ON INTERSTATE, RPM'S WILL GO HIGH AND CAR WON'T SHIFT. AT STOP LIGHT, CAR WILL SIT WITHOUT MY FOOT ON BRAKE OR GAS AND NOT MOVE. EXTREME PUSHING ON GAS PEDAL TO GET CAR TO ACCELERATE IS NEEDED. EVERYTIME IN DEALERSHIP THEY SAY IT WAS SOME SORT OF SENSOR. THIS LAST TIME 12/4/03 THEY SAID THEY WON'T REPLACE MY TRANSMISSION YET AND WILL CHANGE SOME COMPUTER CHIP IN TRANSMISSION. THEY SAID "YOUR CAR IS SAFE TO DRIVE." I TOOK MY CAR HOME WITH IT DOING THE SAME PROBLEM. ON MY WAY TO WORK THAT NIGHT MY ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND CAR DOING SAME PROBLEM. LEFT WORK IN AM STRAIGHT TO DEALERSHIP (WITHIN 4 MI) AND TOLD THE HEAD GUY. HE SAID HE KNEW ME AND MY CAR AND DIDN'T WANT TO HELP. "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?" HE SAID. I SAID "I'M NOT DRIVING MY CAR." HE SAID "DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE IT HEAR?" I SAID "YES." I TOLD HIM MY ENGINE LIGHT HAS NEVER COME ON BEFORE AND NOW IT IS ON. HE SAID "YOU HAVE DRIVEN YOU CAR WITH THE ENGINE LIGHT ON BEFORE." I SAID "NEVER, MY LIGHT HAS NEVER COME ON BEFORE." I LEFT WITH A LOANER CAR WHICH HE WAS RELUCTANT TO GIVE ME BECAUSE I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GET THAT UNTIL 12/9/03 WHEN I WAS TO BRING IN MY CAR TO HAVE THE CHIP REPLACED (THEY HAD TO ORDER IT). MY CAR CLEARLY UNSAFE TO DRIVE, THEY WON'T LISTEN TO ME. I KNOW OF A RECALL #99V178000. THEY HAVEN'T LOOKED INTO THIS. IT CAME JULY 06/ 1999. I BOUGHT MY CAR AROUND 7/13/99. NO WRITTEN OR PHONE CALL TO ME REGARDING THIS RECALL. I TOOK MY CAR IN FOR THE RECALL #V03 MANIFOLD AND THERE WASN'T A PROBLEM WITH THIS. *LA

FUEL VALVE WAS REPLACED TWICE. ALSO, ALTERNATOR WAS REPLACED TWICE. WARRANTY EXPIRED, AND ANY OTHER REPAIRS WOULD BE PAID BY THE CONSUMER. *AK

CONSUMER CALLED COMPLAINING ABOUT HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE ENGINES CHECK LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD. THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER WAS REPLACED TWICE AND THE O2 SENSORS WERE REPLACED 13 TIMES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND URGED THE CONSUMER TO CALL NHTSA'S HOTLINE. DEALER HAD BEEN WORKING WITH CONSUMER, BUT SHE DID NOT FEEL THAT THIS VEHICLE WAS SAFE AT ALL. *AK *PH *NLM

I HAVE A 1999 HYUNDAI ACCENT. THE DRIVER'S SIDE REAR SEAT BELT IS MALFUNCTIONING. IT WILL EITHER PULL OUT AND NOT RETRACT, OR IT WILL RETRACT ALL THE WAY AND NOT COME OUT. I CALLED A DEALER TO SEE IF THERE WERE ANY RECALLS FOR THIS, BEING A SAFETY ISSUE AND ALL, THEY TOLD ME NO. I HAD MY DAUGHTER'S CAR SEAT BELTED IN THAT SEAT IN THE MORNING WITH NO PROBLEM, TOOK IT OUT AND WHEN WE TRIED TO PUT IT BACK IN, THE SEAT BELT WAS RETRACTED ALL THE WAY AND WOULDN'T PULL OUT AT ALL. FOR THE TIME BEING THE CAR SEAT IS IN THE MIDDLE POSITION, BUT NOW MY OLDEST CHILD'S BOOSTER SEAT WILL NOT FIT. IF THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE WITH THIS PROBLEM, MAYBE A RECALL COULD BE ISSUED OR SOMETHING.

CONSUMER'S VEHICLE WAS INVOLVED IN FRONTAL COLLISION AND AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY, AND BROKE FOUR TOP TEETH. DEALER NOTIFIED. *AK

ON JANUARY 17, 2003 THE AIR BAG LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE VEHICLE WHEN IT TRAVELED OVER A MINOR BUMP IN A PAVED ROAD. THE VEHICLE IS UNDER WARRANTY. I STARTED AND DROVE THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER 1-22-03. THE DEALER STATED THE BATTERY WAS DEFECTIVE AND I DECLINED TO BUY THEIR BATTERY BUT BOUGHT A NEW BATTERY FOR THE CAR WHICH EXCEEDED THE SPECIFICATIONS OF THE OEM BATTERY. THE BATTERY WAS INSTALLED. UPON TRAVELING BACK TO OREILLY'S AUTO PARTS TO RETURN THE OLD BATTERY FOR A CORE EXCHANGE, I HIT A MINOR BUMP IN THE PAVEMENT AND THE AIR BAG LIGHT HAS ILLUMINATED AGAIN. THE PROBLEM OCCURRED WITH THE NEW BATTERY AND RECURRED FOR A SECOND TIME WHEN THE CAR HIT A MINOR BUMP. I NOTE THAT OTHER 1999 HYUNDAI'S HAVE BEEN RECALLED FOR A DEFECT IN THE WIRING HARNESS THAT CAUSES THIS LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE. I DO NOT KNOW IF ALL ACCENTS HAVE THIS PROBLEM BUT THIS ONE DEFINETLY DOES AND IT CAN BE RECREATED. DON CAVENAUGH MOTORS IS DISCOURAGING REPAIRS BY ALLEGING AN OLD BATTERY CAN CAUSE THE LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE WHICH IS FALSE, AND BY NOT FIXING THE PROBLEM. NOW I MUST TAKE THE CAR BACK FOR A SECOND REPAIR MEANWHILE I AM HAVING TO DRIVE IT WITH THE AIR BAG LIGHT ON. I BELIEVE THAT HYUNDAI AND THEIR DEALING ARE FALSIFYING SERVICE RECORDS SO THAT THEY DO NOT REFLECT A PROBLEM WITH THE AIR BAG LIGHT AS THIS IS A SAFETY DEFECT. MY REPAIR TICKET SAYS "AIR BAG LIGHT" AND STATES CUSTOMER DECLINED RECOMMENDED REPAIRS AND STATED HE WOULD GET A BATTERY FROM WAL-MART. THIS REPAIR TICKET MISS STATES THE FACT THAT THERE IS A DEFINITE PROBLEM WITH THE AIR BAG. ALSO, WHEN HYUNDAI CUSTOMER SERVICE WAS CONTACTED THEY MADE A BLANKET DENIAL THAT THERE WERE OTHER CUSTOMERS WITH THIS PROBLEM. EVEN WITH GOOD QUALITY, IT WOULD BE NORMAL FOR A FEW CARS TO MALFUNCTION. I BELIEVE OTHER HYUNDAI ACCENTS HAVE DEFECTIVE AIR BAG WIRING HARNESSES JUST AS THE OTHER 1999 HYUNDAI MODELS ALREADY RECALLED AND THIS DEFECT POSES A SIGNIFICANT RISK OF INCREASED BODILY INJURY SHOULD AN ACCIDENT OCCUR.