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.

Loud knocking sound from under hood. Gets louder as engine heats. Unsafe to drive.

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.

Engine failure -lower rod bent no cause by operator car well maintained.

Esc light on along with check engine. . . . Need push button and turn off engine a couple of time.

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. While driving for approximately three hours, the contact noticed that the trunk ajar warning light was illuminated on the instrument panel. Another motorist alerted him that the rear of his vehicle was on fire. The contact pulled over and noticed that the wires in the trunk were on fire. He was able to safely extinguish the flames and resume driving. While driving 40 mph in third gear, the vehicle unexpectedly downshifted to first gear. In addition, the engine warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. He is in the process of having the vehicle inspected to determine the cause of the failures. The failure and current mileages were 43,000.