Frame Rust problems of the 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe

I had been driving the vehicle home and noticed the car was rubbing against the car. The subframe has rusted so much that I can't drive it. Had taken the vehicle to firestone. They said not to drive it and you should have it towed to our house. They said the tire would fall off or worse. They wouldn't touch it. So I had it towed to the Hyundai dealership. They told me that to replace the sub frame in the front on the driver's side, it would cost $2000. When I towed the vehicle to Hyundai, they said it could cost up to $5000. I couldn't afford to fix it. I then towed it home and it is sitting in my garage. I wish I would have know about this problem before I bought.

After turning a corner @ 15 mph I had to leave the steering wheel at the 9 o-clock position in order to drive straight. I noticed the vehicle pulling to the right. I thought I had an alignment problem so I schedule an appointment at the local tire repair shop. Once they lifted the vehicle up for inspection they noticed that the subframe had rusted through and broke. After speaking with the mechanic I fell very fortunate that I was not driving on the highway at the time of the failure. After further investigation on the internet I found that the 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe is currently being investigated for this exact problem so I called the local dealership. The dealership stated I was the 3rd vehicle they have repaired for this problem. The dealership is making the necessary repairs with no cost to me. I fell that all 2001 Santa Fe's should be recalled for an inspection at the least. We should not be waiting for a severe accident before the necessary steps are taken. There are only 30,000 people living in the town where I had my vehicle taken for service, 3 repairs would indicate to me that over the entire USA there are a lot more vehicles with the same problem.

After driving over a pot hole the vehicle continued to pull to the right as it was driven. The next day I took it to a repair shop for wheel alignment. The shop said they could not repair it as there was a fist size hole in the frame where it had rusted through where the control attaches to the frame. While researching the internet I learned of many similar defects reported to NHTSA I believe some Hyundai models share the frame.