Brakes Failed problems of the 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe

I drive a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe 3. 5l v6. On Thursday, March 2, 2006, I was driving slowly down a steep, snowy hill in my neighborhood. When I applied the brakes to slow the car in order to maintain control in the snow, the brake pedal kicked back and the brakes would not engage completely. They felt as though there was a mass of something solid blocking the pedal from depressing all the way. I pressed harder on the brake pedal, released the pedal, pressed it again, but nothing I did kept my car from continuing to propel itself downhill. I nearly sides wiped a parked car because, as my speed increased, the Santa Fe slid out of control on the snow. Only by some miracle was the rest of this busy neighborhood street empty. I finally regained control at the bottom of the hill. After that incident, the brakes worked fine. But this was not the first time this dangerous failure had occurred. And that seems to be the pattern of this problem: one or more incidents on a wet or snowy day followed by normal operation. In April of 2004, the original problem developed. Any time I tried to stop on a wet or snowy street, the brakes would slow the car, but not stop it completely. At that time, Hyundai did find a problem. My service receipt says the abs actuator was bad, the ecu was reprogrammed, and the hydraulic unit failed and was replaced. However, this time, on March 3, 2006, even though the Santa Fe brakes had failed in the exact same way as 2 years ago, Hyundai found no problem in the diagnostic it ran and did not attempt to make any repair. They actually told me that this is the way that the abs is supposed to work. I am certain that my brakes will fail again, but until my Hyundai dealer says there is a problem, they'd like me to believe there isn't one. I'll try to remember that the next time I roll down a snow-covered hill.

Since the purchase of my vehicle, I have experience problems with the abs system, similar to those included in the recall of the 3. 5l Santa Fe's. I know that recalls are VIN specific, but I feel that Hyundai and NHTSA should look into recalling the 2. 7l lx Santa Fe also. My concern is that when stopping the abs will intermittently activate causing the braking distance to increase. When it activates, there is a rumbling noise and vibration and the vehicle will not stop at a safe distance. At many times, I have run through stop signs or entered too far into intersections at red lights due to the brake failure. Sometimes I have to hit a bump or ice for this to occur, but more times than not, I am on a smooth, dry surface when it happens. I have mentioned this to the dealer on more than one occasion and they expect me to believe that this is normal abs function.

While driving the brakes failed. Upon applying the brakes, the vehicle continued to coast, the first time this happened. The second time this happened, it resulted in an accident. The consumer contacted the dealer, and was told that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. A third time resulted in an accident, and the air bag did not deploy. The consumer was injured, and the vehicle was totaled.

While driving the brakes failed. Upon applying the brakes vehicle continued to coast. However, it happened again, and an accident occurred. Contacted the dealer, and was told there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. It happened a third time which led to another accident, and the air bags did not deploy. Consumer was injured, and the vehicle was totaled.