general problems of the 2006 Hyundai Sonata - part 2

"air bag" srs warning light on continuously. Per owners manual, this indicates this system "is not working properly" and "should be inspected by an authorized Hyundai dealer". Concerned that the air bag/srs system is unsafe and could cause injury or not properly protect occupants from injury or death in case of accident, brought car to local Hyundai dealer. Instructed that they would have to inspect the problem and charge us $105. 00. Dealer performed inspection and diagnosis was faulty "belt assy restence high in buckle assy front pass side" for additional charge of $470. 00. Repair was not performed. We called Hyundai corp customer service and spoke with manager, but Hyundai stated that since no recall noted and past warranty period, they would not fix defect at no charge. Why should we pay for a defective air bag/srs part/system that should not fail under normal life and use of a car? this is a fundamental internal safety system and should not stop working properly. This is a manufacturer defect for design, components and/or workmanship and should be recalled. Hyundai is not taking responsibility for it's faulty product to save themselves money at the expense of consumers and placing my family's safety at risk. We now paid $105 to confirm the car is unsafe to drive and are forced to spend an additional $470 to "correct" a defective srs system, which may or may not "fix" problem, in order to confidently continue using car. Ridiculous.

The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the seat belt buckle needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 168,000.

Car was taken to Hyundai dealership for OCS right front passenger seat recall. A few hours later dealer called to advise that there was no problem with the OCS air bag. I was told the code associated with the light being on indicating "passenger air bag off" related to the seat belt tensioner not working, not the OCS. Since the seat belt is a safety issue, I asked the dealer to take care of it at no charge to me. The dealer (rick case Hyundai in davie, FL) refused to do so saying that it was not covered in the OCS recall and the car was out of warranty. I then called Hyundai customer service and requested that Hyundai repair the seat belt tensioner at no charge to me. They read me a prepared statement stating that this was not covered under the OCS recall and would not take care of it because the car was out of warranty. After I spoke to a case manager at Hyundai, they agreed to call the dealership and see if they could work something out with the dealership for the seat belt repair. Hyundai was supposed to call me back within a week to tell me what was worked out. They did not. When I called back a couple of weeks later, Hyundai again read me the prepared statement saying this problem was not covered under the recall. I reiterated that the seat belt tensioner was a safety issue and I expected them to repair it. They continued to refuse to take responsibility for the repair. I advised I was going to report this safety issue to NHTSA. Hyundai was unconcerned. As NHTSA should see, several Hyundai Sonata owners have reported this same seat belt problem to NHTSA. My passenger seat is rarely used, so this seems to be a Hyundai safety defect for which the dealers and Hyundai should be required to make a recall and repair at their expense. I am also concerned that the passenger seat was not removed and sent to Hyundai for analysis as noted in the OCS recall.

Air bag light has been on for six months. Got the recall notice about passenger occupant system which indicated that if the light stays on to bring the car to the dealership. I took the car to the dealership and was told that the system checked out okay. I told the service rep that the light was still on. He indicated that was a problem with the seat belt buckle. He also indicated that the air bag may or may not deploy in the case of an accident. This is a major safety issue. Hyundai should issue a recall on this apparent defect.

While driving on a busy street it felt like my gas pedal was not responding then without warning it suddenly lurched forward enough to screech my front tires. I do not have a floor mat on the driver's side. Thank god no one was in front of me, surely there would have been an accident. I have also had the air bag light on since the car was new. During Hyundai new car service one of the service men noticed and mentioned it, but did nothing to correct the problem and today I got a recall on the air bag system stating I missed the 1st recall. My front passenger seat belt light goes on and off sometimes it is on when someone is in the seat buckled up and sometimes it is on when no one is sitting in the seat. I am taking my car in to Hyundai for the recall I am going to mention the lurching and let them know about all these complaints! I believe they are ultimately responsible for these problems!!.

The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the air bag light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was found that the passenger front seat belt buckle needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 88,000. The VIN was unavailable.

The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the air bag warning light continuously illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the seat belt buckle pretensioners needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 71,000. Updated 6/11/cn updated 6/18/cn the consumer stated the vehicle was repaired on 4/17/2015 at mileage 74,985. Updated 7/16/2015.

2006 Sonata GLS very well maintained (for life of vehicle) by top notch local dealer + no accident history - reports driver side seat belt buckle err code, airbag light on/airbag system not activated. Dealer attempted oc3 test-passenger seat voluntary recall issue - could not complete test-buckle error. Replaced buckle assy: same code + light. Dash opened, console removed, driver seat removed: airbag system harness inspection, reseat connections - new code appears: drivers belt retractor assy. Replaced belt retractor assy. No code! and airbag system still not working/airbag light indicator on. Dealer advised this expensive problem is well-known to 06, 07 Sonata owners: sole viable solution=replace air bag system wiring harness. Ordered part # on harness - wrong harness delivered (connectors in wrong location on harness/don't meet up with car connectors. Ordered again, same result (dealership noted - these harnesses arrive with bag torn open (not first mechanic to order it for same problem and outcome) local Hyundai territory engineer (troubleshooter for large problems) asked to visit for discussions - right part # / wrong part. Solution = I've dealt with this 3x recently and in this area - order this part #. Guess what, new part is $750 / double old part cost. New harness reaches into back seat area as well and causes double the labor costs >$1,000. $1k already invested in parts and labor plus facing another $2k in harness parts & labor. Dealer can't provide any guarantee this will solve it short term let alone long term - contacted Hyundai USA for financial assistance - denied due to out of warranty + 2nd owner/not original (how convenient for them) as mentioned, 3x '06 Sonata owners in this territory recently experienced identical issues and after getting tough with Hyundai USA, received buy-backs of their cars. Try to guess my next move.

Around 70000 miles the air bag light on the cluster has came on and has remained there. The dealer said it may be the ground and like other I have not found any other information on the problem.

The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the front passenger side seat belt light illuminated indicating that the air bag system was disabled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the front passenger side seat belt sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.

I turned the car on and the dashboard lights indicated all affected parts listed above went on. Drove the car for 3 miles and shut it off for 2 hours. Turned the car back on and had the same problem. I've read many owners with the same issue, but haven't seen a resolution this this problem. This is a very serious issues god forbid the air bags don't eject in a accident. What do I do??.

Passenger seat belt light is on dashboard. It doesn't matter if there is someone in the seat or not. Sun visor on driver doesn't stay up. Had it replaced due to not being able to stay up. Now the passenger side visor is doing the same thing. Visor shouldn't be having issues. As for seatblet light. Hopefully a recall will take care of this.

In 2013, my airbag light came on and would not go off. I learned that a recall had been issued so I took the car to the dealership. The front passenger's seat was removed and sent away for repair. However, after this repair was made, the air bag light came on again and would not go off. I took the car back to the dealership and was told that the seat belt pretension/buckle was defective and would need to be replaced at a cost to me of over $400. Since that time, I have done extensive research and have found that this is a very common problem with Hyundai Sonatas. As of yet, I understand that no recall has been issued but that this matter is under investigation. This is a serious safety concern as the air bags may not deploy in an accident. I was specifically told this at the dealership. I urge you to take action and issue a recall on this. I, like most others in this situation, cannot afford to spend $400+ dollars to have this repaired. However, I also cannot in good conscience allow passengers to sit in the front seat knowing the air bags may not deploy. Of course, I also am concerned for my own safety as a driver and the air bag on the driver's side as well. It seems as though Hyundai knows that this is a problem, but obviously, unless the NHTSA issues a recall, no action will be taken and those of us in this situation will continue to put ourselves and our passengers at risk. Thank you for your attention to this serious matter!.

The airbag light remains code b1706. The passenger seat belt buckle tensioner failed and now the airbags will not work. Dealer cost is $400 to diagnose and fix with no guarantee.

My air bag light stays on all the time. In a crash my air bag may not deploy, this is a safety issue. Looking into the computer I'm not the only one with this problem. This should be a recall matter.

The air bag light on dashboard stayed on while driving. The front passenger seat belt light blinked on and off. The only way to make it stop was to fasten the passenger side seat belt. I took the car to dealership and was told that the OCS (occupant classification system) sensor in front passenger seat had "burnt" itself out. Failure to replace sensor would cause airbags to fail. Did some investigating and found that a recall had been issued for this sensor back in 2008. The dealership informed me that my car was "not" part of the recall. My VIN number was not "on the list". Same make, same model--not part of recall???? the repair cost $1000 for a new seat. How many other owners of Hyundai vehicles are "not" part of recalls?.

The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was constantly illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the buckle assembly pre tensioner needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 82,897.

I just had to get the driver side seat belt buckle replaced because the check air bag light was on. I've seen many other reports similar to the one I'm reporting here. A year and a half ago I had to get the passenger seat belt buckle replaced for the same issue. I was told that without getting these replaced when I did the air bag would not deploy, which is a huge safety issue. Searching NHTSA found quite a few similar reports, and searching the internet found a ton more. This appears to be a defect impacting the safety of at least this car's make and model as the air bags would not deploy, and potentially other makes or models (I only checked my own). I urge the NHTSA to investigate the issue due to the frequency of complaints and the impact to the passengers' safety.

Brought my vehicle to dealer due to 'air bag' warning light remaining on continuously. Dealer states that it is the passenger seat belt tensioner that needs to be replaced for approximately $350. 00+. They did not have the part in stock. Came home and googled problem and found that this is a very common safety issue with this vehicle. I do not see any recall listed for this issue yet. It is a safety issue that is discovered quite often with this year, make, model car in that with this problem the air bags will not deploy. Is there any research going on now related to this problem and will a recall be issued in the near future?.

My airbag light has been on for approximately 8 months. I had it to the dealer and they said it was a loose connection. They "re-connected" and the light went off. Now it has been back on for about 2 months. Also I have a hard time connecting my driver seat belt, one time I had to drive without it at all since I could not get it to snap in at all. Also the passenger seat belt display light flashes even when there is no one sitting in the seat. I called and apparently I am not a part of the recall for the airbag. My sister has the same car, same year and has the same issues. I find this hard to believe that this is an isolated problem.

My airbag warning light has been illuminated for a few years now. I have brought it to a few Hyundai dealerships and they tell me it is because of a problem with a sensor in my seat belts. They also tell me there is no recall and it will cost between 500-700 to fix it. While advising me that is it a serious safety risk and may cause my airbag to not deploy in the event of a crash. I don't understand how there is no recall on this yet. As the dealership has also informed me this is a common problem with the 2006 Sonata's.

The dummy airbag light in my 2006 Sonata has been on for a few years. The last time I brought it in to service, in July 2012- I was told that my passenger seat may need to be sent out, but that I would also need 2 new seat belts. I was told the air bags wouldn't deploy if I was in an accident. The mechanic was able to turn the dummy light off but only for a day or two. This November 2013, the seat was sent out to CA under a recall notice I was sent by Hyundai, and I paid to have my seat belts replaced, but I feel the whole thing is related and should have been a recall. Everyone I have spoken to about it feels the same way. The seat belt replacement cost $350 per seat excluding tax. Hyundai has known of this problem (through my dealer) since July 2012 and the problem had been ongoing for months prior to me taking it in for servicing, not realizing it was a dangerous situation. I missed the 5 year 60k warranty probably by 10k miles or less. I would like to know how many other Sonata owners have had to replace their seat belts and whether or not we should be suing Hyundai to have them cover this "repair". I could get no statistics from Hyundai when I called them regarding how many people have complained about this problem. The explanation provided to me is that they are separate problems, not inter-related and that the seat belt issue is an electrical issue and the service center was given a code to diagnose the issue.

On November of 2011, the "airbag" light in my Sonata came on and stayed on. Upon investigation by the Hyundai dealership, I was told that it was a problem with my seat belt. I had it repaired at a cost of $325. 79. At that time I made a formal complaint to you. Nhtsa id number: 10436650 now I have the same problem again! my airbag light came on the week of 4/7/13 (odometer 112,660) and again I have been told it is the seat belt. Again it will cost upwards of $300. 00. And this is just 19,250 miles since I had it repaired it seems to me that this is an indication of either a defective part or a defective design. I have been told that the airbag will not work when the airbag light is on so I see this as a critical defect that needs to be investigated by the NHTSA. If a vehicle's airbags shut down every 20,000 miles or so, in my opinion the vehicle is a danger to consumers. Judging from a cursory search on the internet, I see that there are many other Hyundai Sonatas with the same issue. Please investigate.

The "airbag" light came on and the vehicle was brought to the dealership for service. It was reported back to me that the seat belt sensor had failed, causing the airbag light to come on (and it was not covered on my extended warranty). From researching on the internet, it appears that this is a common problem with the Hyundai Sonata 2006. Hyundai refuses to do anything about it even though it is potentially a very dangerous malfunction.

A part on the driver's side seatbelt buckle has failed once per year for the last three years. The failure of this part causes the airbag light to go on, rendering the airbag ineffective in the event of a crash. We have taken the car in as soon as this happens, but are concerned about the frequency of the failures. We also don't understand why this repair was covered twice, but not the third time since this is clearly a problem with this same part and the time period in between part failures was almost identical.

The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the passenger side air bag light and the seat belt light would illuminate on the instrument panel only when the passenger seat was occupied. The air bag light and seat belt would not illuminate when the seat was empty. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that the air bag sensor and seat belt sensors needed to be replaced. The dealer also informed the contact that the components would possibly fail again due to a defect with the sensor. The failure mileage was 102,000 and the current mileage was 112,000.

I have a 2006 Hyundai Sonata that had my airbag and right seat belt light come on at the exact time. Researching this online I see I am not the first person to mention this defect with the 2006 Sonata and feel this problem should be addressed. This is a major issue leaving the driver with no airbags in the case of an accident. The cost to get this fixed is around $400. 00 and I am told by the dealerships they know it is an issue with this model and that many customers have filed complaints regarding it. It's a defect having to do with the passenger seat/seat belt. This can result in someones death if not addressed and needs to not be ignored, but corrected before it does.

Airbag light remained on took it to the dealer 2 years ago (estimate), they reset the sensor and fiddled with the cable under the seat. In August of 2011 the light came back on and remained on. Took it it the dealer who scanned the codes which read "b1701" and "b1706" airbag resistance too high from the seat buckles. The dealer replaced the driver and passenger buckle at my cost. Mileage 62,966 there seems to be a high incidence of this occurring and should be investigated. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was constantly illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed that the seat belt module on the front passenger side needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 46,000.

Previously reported suspension failure caused accident. Air bag light did not deploy but came on and stayed on giving error code. Today the auto body shop doing the repairs to my car stated that the seat belt pre-tensioner's in both driver and passenger seats are not working and both need replaced as well as the air bag sensors on the driver and passenger side.

The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated the air bag sensor within the seat belt buckle failed. There was an electrical fault within the seat belt buckle that was causing the air bag light to illuminate constantly. There was no problem with the seat belt only the air bags. The dealer stated that in order to repair the failure, they would have to replace the entire seat belt assembly. The manufacturer was contacted who offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 62,878.

I have a 2006 Hyundai Sonata. The air bag on the dash board came on. Brought the car to the dealership and they scanned it and told me that the OCS sensor went bad. This is covered by a recall. They also informed me that the righ front buckle sensor is failed. The dealership has already replaced the buckle once. They informed me that this is out of warranty and there are no recalls listed for it. I called Hyundai consumer affairs to report this asking if there should be a recall on this and there is none. I had the seat buckle replaced about 1 1/2 years before.

Hyundai Sonata 2006 <80,000 miles, airbag light comes on due to short in passenger side seat belt. Seat belt is still functionable. If the light is on the airbags are disable- safety issue. This is a safety issue that must be addressed by Hyundai. Call Hyundai consumer relations at 1-800-633-5151 and file a formal complaint so that this can be escalated. If consumers choose not to fix the seat belt for $400 this become a safety hazard!.

Took to dealer to check on air bag indicator light on dash. Told by dealer that sensor in passenger side seat belt needs to be replaced for $375. 00. And that all airbags were inoperable until sensor is replaced. Car is 8k miles past warranty. Called Hyundai consumer affairs hotline to file complaint but was told nothing could be done by Hyundai at this time. B&*l s&%t. My car has never been in an accident & the passenger side seat has been occupied 10% of the time. After reading all of the other Sonata owner complaints of this nature, a moron can discern that this is a system design flaw & Hyundai should step up & claim responsibly and make this right b-4 people die & this problem turns real ugly.

On my 2006 Sonata the sensor in the drivers side seat belt breaks, turning on air bag notification light. I took the car into crain Hyundai of north little rock and they stated this is a common issue with this model and it wasn't covered under warranty according to the mechanic at crain this will stop the seatbelt from working properly and it will turn off the air bag. This is two major safety violations. 1 seat belt not functioning properly, 2 the air bag is now turned off. This makes the car worthless as far as resale value and a major safety issue.