2012 HYUNDAI SONATA HYBRID Complaints

ELECTRICAL SMELL LIKE MELTING PLASTIC WIRING: FIRST INCIDENT AS NOTED ABOVE; 2ND INCIDENT ON 1/29/2013, MILEAGE 9227-ON VEHICLE START UP (ENGINE WARM AS IT WAS AFTER EARLIER DRIVING) SAME HOT, MELTING WIRE TYPE SMELL COMING THROUGH CLIMATE CONTROL DASH VENTS; 3RD INCIDENT ON 4/12/2013-MILEAGE 12,353-HOT BURNING SMELL THROUGH HEATER VENTS OCCURRING ON/AFTER CLIMBING STEEP HILL FOR A MILE OR SO; 4TH INCIDENT-4/16/2013, MILEAGE 12538, LOCATION OF INCIDENT SAME AS 3RD INCIDENT, SAME HILL CLIMB, SAME SMELL OCCURRING DURING DRIVE. REPORTED TO DEALER. COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED DURING SERVICE APPT. NO FURTHER INCIDENTS OF BURNING SMELL TO CURRENT DATE: 01/13/2014. CRUISE CONTROL AND TRANSMISSION GEAR SELECTION ISSUES: FIRST INCIDENT: AROUND 1/20/2013; SUBSEQUENT INCIDENTS PERIODICALLY SINCE THEN TO CURRENT DATE OF 01/14/2013: WHEN ON CRUISE CONTROL, SPEEDS SET AT ANYWHERE (40-60 MPG FOR THESE INCIDENTS), ON COASTING DOWN OR FLAT TERRAIN TRANSMISSION WILL SHIFT FROM 6TH (HIGH) GEAR DOWN TO 3RD OR 4TH AND HOLD THAT GEAR WITH ENGINE REV VING ACCORDINGLY, UNTIL I EITHER MANU-SHIFT IT BACK UP TO 6TH, OR, PERHAPS AFTER 10 OR MORE SECONDS IT MIGHT SHIFT INTO HIGHER GEAR ON ITS OWN. I HAVE DELIBERATELY NOT DISENGAGED CRUISE CONTROL DURING THESE INCIDENTS TO CONTINUE TO ASSESS THE CONDITION. RELATED TO THIS IS OCCASIONAL EXCESSIVE ACCELERATION AS CAR CAN DROP (ON CRUISE) TO BELOW SET SPEED AS IN A DIP IN THE ROAD, AND THEN APPLYING SPEED TO GET BACK TO SET SPEED, BUT, IT WILL ACCELERATE AGGRESSIVELY TO AS MUCH AS 10 MPH ABOVE SET SPEED BEFORE CRUISE CONTROL MODE 'BACK' OFF THE ACCELERATION ACTION, MAKING THE CAR FEEL LIKE IT IS 'TAKING OFF'. THIS CAN HAPPEN OFTEN ON CERTAIN ROADS AT SAME TRANSITION POINTS FROM COASTING DOWNWARD INTO A DIP IN THE ROAD, THEN (CRUISE CONTROL) REAPPLYING POWER TO GET THE CAR BACKUP TO SPEED. REST WILL BE SENT IN A SECOND SUBMISSION FOLLOWING THIS. *TR

GLASS PARTITION LOCATED BETWEEN WINDSHIELD AND SUNROOF SHATTERED AFTER BEING HIT BY A SMALL PEBBLE WHILE DRIVING ON INTERSTATE. *TR

PURCHASED NEW IN MAR. 2013, NOT OUR FIRST HYBRID. CAR BEGAN TO HAVE SHUDDER/JERKY/ROUGH TAKE OFF FROM MORNING START AND FIRST STOP SIGN AT END OF STREET. THIS BECAME MORE OFTEN AND WORSENED. ONE MORNING LEFT CURB AS USUAL, BRAKES LOCKED UP AT STOP SIGN AND WARNING LIGHT ON DASH FOR BRAKE PROBLEM. WAS ABLE TO BACK CAR BACK INTO CURB SPOT AND HAD TOWED TO DEALERSHIP. DATE GIVEN WAS ABOUT THE TOWING DATE. CAR WAS IN SHOP AROUND THREE WEEKS DUE TO NEEDING NEW BRAKE MODULE OR SOMETHING THAT WAS LEAKING INTERNALLY INSIDE BRAKE UNIT FROM FACTORY. CAR ALSO HAD ISSUE TO WERE THE BATTERY WOULD NOT CHARGE PROPERLY. WORKED CORRECTLY WHEN PURCHASED BUT THEN WOULD NOT CHARGE PAST 50% AND USUALLY LESS THAN. REPAIRS MADE AND LOTS OF UPDATES AND SENSOR ADJUSTMENTS AND WE WERE GIVEN CAR BACK. SADLY IT ONLY LASTED A FEW MONTHS AND HAD TO BE TOWED AGAIN. LATE AUG, EARLY SEPT, THE CAR STARTED TO JERK AT TAKE OFF AGAIN. I TRIED JUST SITTING AT CURB FOR AWHILE AFTER STARTING CAR TO LET SENSORS WARM UP. THIS SEEMED TO HELP FOR SHORT TIME. PROBLEM WORSENED AGAIN UNTIL WIFE COMPLAINED. I DROVE FULL TIME AND IT HAD GOTTEN WORSE TO BAD AND ALL THE TIME. BAD ACCELERATION, LIKE BRAKES NOT LETTING OFF. LAST STRAW! NOV 1ST 2013, CAR JERKED AND SHUDDERED AT TAKE OFF, BRAKES LOCKED UP SOLID AT STOP SIGN, LOCKED UP AGAIN AT SECOND STOP SIGN, ENTERING TRAFFIC TO GET BACK HOME ... CAR STOPPED DEAD IN MIDDLE OF LEFT HAND TURN IN MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY!! FULLY LOADED LOG TRUCK COMING AT ME PASSENGER SIDE. TOOK 2-3 HARD STOMPS ON ACCELERATOR PEDDLE TO GET CAR MOVING, GAS ENGINE FINALLY REVVED HIGH BUT CAR JUST CRAWLED FORWARD!!! THANKFULLY THE TRUCK HAD STARTED BRAKING AS SOON AS HE SAW CAR HESITATE IN STREET AND CAR CRAWLED FORWARD ENOUGH THAT I DID NOT GET HIT. BUT THAT GRILL FILLED THE ENTIRE PASSENGER WINDOW. CAR TOWED TO SHOP AGAIN ON MON 4TH AM. CALLED ON 5TH, HUGE SOFTWARE UPDATE, BUT NO GUARANTY !?!?? *TR

VEHICLE WILL NOT START. FLASHING "CHECK BRAKES" .NO FOOT BRAKE PRESSURE. WITH THE HOOD UP CAN DETECT A MOTOR PUMPING INTERMITTENTLY WHICH I THINK IS THE BRAKE POWER UNIT. CAR HAS NOT BEEN DRIVEN FOR ABOUT A MONTH. NO FLUIDS ON THE GROUND. *TR

MY 2012 HYUNDAI SONATA HYBRID LIMITED IS COMING UP WITH A WARNING SIGNAL "HYBRID SAFETY WARNING DO NOT DRIVE". THIS HAS HAPPENED ON THREE SEPARATE OCCASIONS. THE COMMON FACTOR HAS BEEN THAT I WAS DRIVING THE CAR ON A 95+ DEGREE DAY AND IT HAPPENS WHEN I PULL IN TO PARK AFTER DRIVING FOR APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES. THE CAR SOUNDS AN ALARM AND THE MESSAGE COMES UP ON THE DASH ABOVE THE STEERING WHEEL. THE CAR GETS STUCK IN PARK. I TURN IT OFF AND RESTART IT 30 MINUTES LATER AFTER A COOL OFF PERIOD. THE LOCAL HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP AND HYUNDAI CUSTOMER CARE LINE CANNOT PROVIDE AN EXPLANATION NOR FIX. HYUNDAI SEEMS UNWILLING AND UNABLE TO RUN THIS ISSUE UP TO THEIR DESIGN ENGINEERS TO FIND OUT WHAT THE LIGHT IS DESIGNED TO ALERT OWNERS AND MECHANICS ABOUT. I AM CONCERNED THAT THE LITHIUM BATTERY MAY BE A PART OF THIS "HYBRID SAFETY" PROBLEM. SINCE HYUNDAI DOES NOT KNOW WHAT THE ALERT MEANS, THEY CANNOT ASSURE ME THAT IT IS NOT THE LITHIUM BATTERY CAUSING THIS ALERT. THEY SIMPLY CANNOT DIAGNOSE IT SINCE THEY CANNOT MAKE IT REPLICATE AT THE DEALERSHIP. *JS

FRONT SECTION OF PANORAMIC GLASS ROOF EXPLODED WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY. IMMEDIATELY PULLED OVER AND LOOKED AT ROOF, AFTER RECOVERING FROM THE SHOCK OF THE SOUND FROM EXPLOSION, AND FOUND THAT THE GLASS HAD A HOLE IN THE CENTER, APPROXIMATELY 8" X 8". GLASS APPEARS TO HAVE BLOWN UP, INSTEAD OF DOWNWARD. REMAINDER OF THE GLASS WAS CAUGHT BY THE INTERIOR SHADE, WHICH, LUCKILY, WAS CLOSED AT THE TIME. AT THE TIME OF THE EXPLOSION NO VEHICLES WERE DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF MY VEHICLE. VEHICLE WAS BEING PASSED, IN THE LEFT LANE OF A 4-LANE MAJOR HIGHWAY, BY A NEW PASSENGER CAR, WHICH WAS APPROXIMATELY 1 CAR-LENGTH AHEAD. ANOTHER VEHICLE WAS IN THE LEFT LANE, APPROXIMATELY 6 CARS BEHIND THAT CAR. UNSURE IF ANY GLASS WAS BLOWN ON THE VEHICLE TRAILING US, IN THE LEFT LANE. I AM THANKFUL THAT THIS OCCURRED WHILE I WAS DRIVING AS I AM NOT SURE THAT MY WIFE WOULD HAVE REACTED AS CALMLY AS I DID. *TR

PROCEEDED TO BACK OUT OF PARKING SPACE. BRAKES BEGAN MAKING LOUD GRINDING NOISE. PULLED BACK INTO PARKING SPACE WHEN BRAKES FAILED. BRAKE FAILURE LIGHT AND CHIME WAS ACTIVATED. VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP AND HIT THE CONCRETE HANDICAP SIGN STOPPING THE CAR. PREVIOUSLY HAD PROBLEM WITH NAVIGATION UNIT WHICH WAS REPLACED ONCE AND READY FOR SECOND REPLACEMENT. TOLD SERVICE MANAGER WE THOUGHT IT MAY BE ELECTRICAL RELATED, NOT DEFECTIVE UNITS. BELIEVE THE PROBLEM WITH NAVIGATION UNIT IS RELATED TO THE BRAKE FAILURE. AFTER ACCIDENT, HYUNDAI HAD AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS EXAMINE CAR. HYUNDAI SAID THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG. HOWEVER, SERVICE MANAGER AT DEALER SAID THE CAR HAD MAIN HYDRAULIC FAILURE AND NEW PART WAS ORDERED. IF NOTHING WAS WRONG, WHY WAS HYDRAULIC UNIT REPLACED. HYUNDAI REFUSED TO DO ANYTHING. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 HYUNDAI SONATA HYBRID. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 10 MPH, THE HYBRID BRAKE SYSTEM FAILED WARNING LAMP ILLUMINATED AND WHEN HE ATTEMPTED TO ENGAGE THE BRAKES, THE PEDAL WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE BUT DID NOT OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 1,300...UPDATED 03-13-13 *BF THE DEALER WAS ABLE TO PULLED A BRAKE BOOSTER CODE, BUT SINCE THE CODE WAS NO LONGER ACTIVE, NO REPAIRS WERE MADE.

THE MOVING PORTION OF THE PANORAMIC SUNROOF SCATTERED RAINING GLASS SHARDS ONTO THE DRIVER AND OVER THE EXTERIOR OF THE CAR. *TR

WHILE SLOWLY MOVING DOWNHILL, ON THE FREEWAY, DURING RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC, I ATTEMPTED TO CHANGE LANES AND ACCELERATED QUICKLY. THE SWITCH FROM HYBRID TO GAS ENGINE INTERFACE ONLY CAUSED THE ENGINE TO REV (INCREASE RPM) WITHOUT ANY GEAR BEING ENGAGED. I QUICKLY LET OFF THE PEDDLE AND DEPRESSED IT AGAIN. IT THEN ENGAGED THE TRANSMISSION, NARROWLY AVERTING AN ACCIDENT. THIS HAS HAPPENED 5-6 TIMES SINCE PURCHASING THIS CAR WHEN TRAVELING SLOWLY AND THEN TRYING TO GET A BURST FROM THE GAS ENGINE. I SPOKE WITH THE DEALERSHIP, AND TOOK IT IN FOR A CHECK PER THEIR RECOMMENDATION. THEY FOUND NOTHING AND COULD NOT REPRODUCE IT, ALTHOUGH THEY DID NOT TRY THE SAME CIRCUMSTANCE. THEY ONLY ATTEMPTED TO STOP AND ACCELERATE AT WHICH I SAID THEY WOULDN'T GET IT TO HAPPEN THAT WAY.