general problems of the 2008 Hyundai Sonata

Bought in 2023 @ 98k miles. Have had trouble with 1. It would only start in drive, then that seems to have self corrected. 2. In drive, car would not accelerate properly, and would slow as though I was braking, but no foot on brake. Had rear brake sensor replaced, seemed better for a while. 3. Developed oil leak at 120 miles which valvoline characterized as "not serious. . . Just keep checking it and topping it off. " so, have been doing that. Today after oil change, it began running rough, lots of vibration, then the shifting problem, sluggishness, and new. . Smoke from under hood on driver's side. No check engine lights at all. Nothing registered as hot or overheating. Turned off car, checked oil and trans fluid, both in proper range for warm engine. Let car sit and cool for an hour. Decided I had parked too close to the propane tanks for a smoking car, so I decided to start car just to back it into a space across the lot. Car had no issues- no smoke, no jerking or vibration, no sluggishness, no phantom braking. This car has done this same thing about once every 6 months since I've had it. Changed a tire sensor, that seemed to fix it once. Stopped using cruise control altogether, that seemed to help once. My brother is an ase certified high school auto mechanics teacher who ran his own shop for 20 years and worked on trucks for vdot for another 7 years and he cannot diagnose it. I know it has something to do with not being in the correct gear, but it's not reliable, and I have a hard time believing it's just my vehicle.

Just about 2 months ago I exit my vehicle after parking up. As I exit I smelled a burning smell and heard sparks so I stepped away from vehicle ASAP and then the horn start honking and lights flashing on own. Then the car started up by itself and started to run without me in car and keys in my hand. Police came from noise distubing and took the battery off to stop. After that I couldnt start car so had towed in shop for 5 weeks. Hot out of shop and can start now but now my a. C. And windows doesnt work because mechanic said that something keep blowing those fuses out and if he puts yhem back in then the car will go back to not starting. I am guessing this is part of the recall.

I put the car in reverse while parked in a parking lot, when I put the car in reverse, the car took off at a high rate of speed striking one vehicle and continued at a high speed in reverse about 20 or 30 feet also hitting a return cart station, knocking it over and the car still proceeded to crash into a large parked pickup truck causing significant damage to the truck and also my vehicle. The brakes would not stop the car. The car finally stopped after the hard impact with the truck. My car has been deemed a total by my insurance.

Manufacturer has refused to return my calls. Dragged me down there for an appointment, made me wait. Just to tell me they didn't order the specific part even though I made the appointment months in advanced. . . . And to call back in a week. That was September (6 months ago). I called, multiple times. Either I get no answer, voice mail, hung up on, laughed at or told that they will urgently call me right back. All to no call back . I've reached out on social media, email, called managers, no one has followed up, horne Hyundai az is a joke! and so is the surrounding certified dealers. No one has reached out and I've tried all outlets to dealers (somewhat) near me. No one finds this serious so if I get injured on the campus much longer and I will regret it.

First there was a knocking sound and the car would drag to accelerate. This lasted 3 days each day it gradually getting worse. By the third day I was driving the knocking sound grew louder, something fell off the bottom of the car the check engine light came on, the car completely stopped driving, then up under the hood it was a fire and under the front part of the car.

Car will not start. It's not battery related. I've found several complaints from Sonata owners of model years 2006-08. People have come to find out that it's ignition switch related. My car was parked, it has a brand new battery in it.

Car made a popping noise going down the highway then lost acceleration. The car then burst into flames.

Visors drooping down will not stay up, broken unable to drive visualy.

Sun visor droops down will not stay up blocking visual field.

Sun visors fall down while driiving, blocks vision.

I am a owner of a 2008 Hyundai Sonata, I have been having this issue of when the car is in motion the driver side visor will fall down blocking my view. I dont know what the problem is but the visor wont just stay up and doing that while driving 70 mph is a very dangerous situation. They come down all the time once the car is in motion and does not matter the speed and it blocks your view suddenly. I tried to fix it but nothing seems to help,so I took to the internet to research this problem and I was surprised to find out that many Hyundai owners have the same problems. It seems like more on the older models say 2001 up to 2008 or so. Hyundai needs to do something about this issue before sadly someone dies or gets hurt. It is a matter of time before something bad happens, it is not safe at all to have the visor block your view while driving. You have customers replacing these visors and guess what down the road they have the same problem come back. I love my Hyundai but with this happening without any warning I dont feel safe being on the road. There should be a recall to fix this visor problems, that is not something that customers have to deal with since it is not something that is in use all the time. This is unsafe and very dangerous, don't wait to a life perishes or someone gets maimed by this defect.

The passenger sun visor will not stay up, at all. The driver side will suddenly fall and it's very unpleasant to suddenly not be able to see while driving. They are ridiculously expensive to replace ($200. 00) and my understanding is that this is quite common with Hyundai vehicles. This has happened to me while driving on city streets. I have had the vehicle approx. 6 months and it has happened about 5 times. It really is startling. I'm really glad I wasn't on a freeway.

On July 19, 2016 at or about 1500 hours, I was driving to the store to get some food, on the way out my apartment complex, I believe my Hyundai Sonata 2008 allowed me to go about two blocks down from where I live to shut off in the street right before I approached the stop sign. I also remember hearing two weeks prior to my vehicle shut off, while driving I heard this knocking sound in my engine, I thought it was the new starter that was replaced but then a day or two later it stop making that knocking noise. I called around to find answers no one had a clue to what was going on with this vehicle. Everything was working just fine until July 16, 2016. I had this vehicle since April 17, 2009 and I can't not believe this vehicle has a major issue like this at point and time. I could deal with regular maintenance services but on this flip sided coin; not having a vehicle to crank or one that just shuts off with out any engine lights or warning is a complete mystery for me, but I think it is time Hyundai give me some answers to this problem. . . Lets also be clear there was oil and gas in the vehicle at this time of vehicle in motion shut off.

Sun visors do not stay up. This happens while driving, parked, all the time. Very un.

Passenger side sun visor wont stay up. I heard , there may have been a recall on some models. Thought I would check. Thanks.

I read your recall today the same make/model of car that I own. My hyndai Sonata is a 2008. I am experiencing exactly the same issues listed in the recall since the beginning of 2015. I have spent more money than I have trying to fix this car (which I am financing currently). The engine light has been on, there is a knocking noise coming from the engine and the car will not "get up and go" and feels as if it may stall out upon taking off forward after coming to a stop. Loud knocking noise coming from under the hood when you step on the gas. They only way to get rid of the noise is to let off of the gas.

When vehicle is started from a cold start, there is a noticeable rattle coming from engine that lasts about 3-7 seconds. Also while accelerating, the rattle is persistent with throttle input. I was told that the problem is the timing chain tensioner and that the Hyundai Sonatas have defective timing chain tensioners. I went to the Hyundai dealership and they quoted me $1,100 to fix the problem and made me aware that there was a TSB but not a recall on the part even though there is a revised tensioner. This is a ongoing issue and a hazard because the chain could have to much slack and cause the the timing to be off and future damage for the engine.

Driving while using cruise control at approximately 65 mph the check engine, air bag, and e. S. C light illuminated. Also, a simultaneous internal engine explosion resulted in an instant fire as well as a rod thrown from the vehicle damaging block and setting the car on fire from a resulting massive oil leak. There was no prior damage leading up to the incident nor any indication to my knowledge that there were any concerns with my car till it was too late unfortunately.

The contact owns a 2008 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while at a stop sign, the contact smelled and saw smoke. The contact exited the vehicle and discovered that the vehicle was on fire starting from the rear. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The cause of the fire was not determined. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure mileage was 90,000.

Was driving to martinez and heard a slight clicking sound by the time we exited freeway at martinez exit the sound became very loud. When we stopped at light car died and wouldn't restart. Had car towed to wheel works and the told us that the engine had oil everywhere and no oil in the engine. The mechanic discovered a hole in the back part of the engine. Mechanics can't figure out why or how it happened. It sounds like to me that there was a mechanical defect in the engine.

The sunvisor clip to hold it up failed. It seems like this is happening to a lot of owners as there is much info on this in the internet. They already have put a recall in for the 2006 and 2007 models for the same thing but didn't include this year.

Both sun visors no longer stay in the up ( against the headliner ) position, one is at a 45 degree angle the other hangs down at 90 degree angle. This is a problem with many Hyundai's from about 2005 and up, I believe there is a recall on 2006 or 2007, or voluntary action by Hyundai, but they refuse to fix 2008 and it is the identical part. There are numerous complaints on many message boards about this problem. Living in arizona with constant sun glare makes driving these vehicles dangerous.

The sun visors on my 2008 Hyundai Sonata (68,865 current miles) are each (passenger and driver sides) defective. We have lived with this manufacturing defect on the passenger side for the past year, and now, within the past few months, the visor on the driver side also gave way, hanging limply, obstructing the vision of the driver and creating a serious safety issue that needs resolution. This is a safety defect in the manufacture of these visors (obstruction of vision while driving).

Tried to open driverside door handle come off in my hand 3 months after warrenty was up never heard of plastic door handle breaking.

Sun visor on both pass and drive side will not stay in the up position causing a hazard as the visor is in the line of sight and will come down unexpectedly.

My driver's side visor has also had problems for several years -- it got stuck and very hard to move and when I tried moving it to the down position one time it "clicked" and since then it constantly falls -- usually when I hit a bump -- then it is directly at my forehead. If I were to ever get in an accident I believe the visor would fall to this position (due to the bump) and cause serious injury to my head or possible death. I've been told it would be $155 to fix this. The passenger side visor is also not working properly in that the plastic piece has broken and it doesn't fit in the holder well.

2008 Hyundai Sonata both sun visors won't stay up. While driving they both fall down causing obstruction for driving. This is very dangerous. Hyundai has released a technical bulliton for replacing this to dealers. But they are doing it only under warrenty. This is an issue and can cause lot of fatality depending on driving conditions as this will blind the driver. Information is found here. . Read more...