general problems of the 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe

The contact owns a 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that on separate occasions while driving at undisclosed speeds, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The vehicle was towed to marco’s body shop where it was diagnosed that both struts, new tires, front passenger side wheel cylinder, wheel mount, tie rod, and wheel bearings needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the mechanic noticed that the driver’s side cross member had fractured and needed to be replaced. Additionally, the contact stated that the subframe was corroded. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided an estimate for the repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided a case number and advised to take the vehicle to the dealer at a different location. The failure mileage was 140,000.

My 2001 sante fe was making " creaking" noise by the passenger side rear tire. I made an appointment for it, but before the appointment I heard a loud thud and lost control of the vehicle. Fortunately I was only going 35 mph and was able to skid into a driveway. The rear control arm snapped off due to an excessive amount of rust. The other side is almost rusted through. The repair shop had never seen anything like it before.

For a few days prior to the incident, I thought I needed to have the brakes replaced on this vehicle. Everytime I applied the brakes, the car would swerve a little; then there would be a "thump" at the rear of the car. On the day of the incident, there was a significant noise at the rear of the car, so I looked in the back storage area thinking something was rolling around-found nothing. I continued driving a few miles, hearing the thumping noise again, I stopped and looked underneath the the rear of the vehicle thinking the spare tire bracket was broken--saw nothing. Later in the day, as I turned right there was a loud noise at the rear. I told myself to drive slowly--and then the right rear tire broke causing me to lose control of the car. Fortunately for myself, other drivers and Hyundai I was driving slow. The car was flatbedded to the Hyundai dealer, who told me that the rear trailering arm "snapped" off due to an impact. The service manager stated that he had never seen anything like that and wanted to wait for the company rep before deciding what to do. The rep insisted that rust had nothing to do with the part breaking and that I needed to pay 1100. 00 for the repair (which included a new brake line and shock due to the faulty part) the dealership then did not want to give me the part because it was "too rusty" to put in the car. This seems to be the 4th vehicle reporting the same problem. I do have the part and will be going to the local news media to complain about the safety issue not being addressed by the company.

Vehicle rattles and shakes when driving in city. Noise appears to come under the carriage. Taken several times to the dealer and they are unable to locate the source of the problem. Have a written complain with Hyundai.