general problems of the 2012 Hyundai Sonata - part 1

The driver side seat belt wont click and stay in almost half the time I drive my car… after reading other complaints its looking like this is a common thing. Within the past year ive noticed lots of times that when im going to lock my car with my fob, it wont lock and its because the passenger side lock button on the inside of door is in a stuck between lock/unlock position… resulting in me having to lean over to manually unlock the door even when I’ve unlocked my car with both the fob and inside button… all the sudden I noticed too that my speed control will not work at all and be completely unresponsive most times. It will randomly work when I try checking it on highway. Ive had so many issues with my taillights going/burning out constantly and now my headlights have gotten really dim. Im scared to drive at night now. They are much more dimmer than a cars should look like usually. Within the past week I just noticed a random big crack in the dashboard on the passenger side as well… noticed that seems to be a common thing and concern of safety with lots of others who own and drive this same vehicle… my first thought was “what if this crack will effect the airbag and make it deploy?” the crack is literally right over and above where the airbag is… plan on trying to take my car to place on okc that did the anti-theft system software update on my car… but my car has gotten so bad when driving ill be lucky if it makes it there in one piece. My car has started to shake so bad when im driving!!! almost “jumping” at times it feels like. This car has been a pretty good car but when there are multiple complaints of the same issues that continuously keep costing us money and its not because of our doing and in fact the manufacturers faulty equipment and parts that they used to make these cars… they should most definitely be doing recalls and fixing these problems at no cost!.

Daughter was driving her car on interstate, doing 75, in the middle of traffic when the car would jerk and then loose power. The gas petal stopped working and the check engine light would come on. She had to make her way over to the shoulder, without causing an accident. Once car gets shut off and you wait a few minutes, you can start it and drive it home. This has happened about 4 times now. We are lucky that this hasn't caused an accident! this last time (yesterday), the check engine light stayed on and we were able to hook up the dianostic reader and it read the code for the crankshaft positioning sensor a circut. It says online that this is a common problem with that car and is very dangerous. How is this not up for a recall? my daughter is scared to drive her car.

When I start the vehicle in the morning I leave the neighborhood going around 15mph and the car loses power. I have to let off the gas completely then reapply but it still continues to studder. I applied the slapstick sift mode and noticed it does this in first and fourth gear. In automatic you can’t see it.

Driving on a freeway when check brake warning appeared. Car speed dropped down to drastically. Alarm was chirping and brakes made a bad grinding noise.

The car starts alarming out of nowhere while driving at 70 mph on the interstate and the hybrid system warning - safely stop and do not drive along with the wrench, battery light and engine light all appearing on the dashboard to pull over and do not drive when this occurred I lost total control of the vehicle. The brake peddle goes all the way to the floor enabling me to stop and I lost the ability to steer the vehicle as the power steering went out as well while this was happening. I almost got killed as I was on the highway driving at 70 mph. I immediately put on my hazards lights to signal to other drivers that I was having mechanical problems. Thank god I was able to pull over without anyone hitting me from behind. I have had major major issues with this car since I purchased it the engine seized up on me in the same manner back in 2020 and the engine was replaced. Then there was an issue with the transmission and that was also replaced. Then the brake booster also failed and had to be replaced as well. Hyundai aught to be ashamed of the production of this vehicle as it is truly a severe risk to the lives of the consumers not just the person who is driving this vehicle but also to those who may be behind someone driving as this could cause a major accident and people could be killed. These cars need to be recalled and they need to get down to what is causing these issues in order to fix the problem. I pray that you all make Hyundai do a recall on this vehicle as I have googled and see that there has been many others that have encountered these same issues. I am filing this complaint in hopes of you all getting involved to do something about this. Any help with this will be greatly appreciated.

I purchased my 2012 Hyundai Sonata on 4-7-22. The car has had no mechanical work, no accidents and has less than 1000 miles. On 9-16-22 I was driving my car home and was less than five minutes away on the highway. My car began to decelerate, I attempted to stop at a red light but my car would not give me control and the brake was rock solid and would not push down. I also could not turn the car off via the start button as the car would not let me. My engine esc light came on the dashboard in red and the engine completely halted. To get to safety as I was on the highway with oncoming traffic I steered the car to the right on the ramp . I exited the vehicle as it began to smoke ,I thought it would catch fire so I moved far away and called my boyfriend for help and a tow truck to get the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to college park Hyundai 9500 baltimore Ave. , college park, MD 20740. I looked up my car and noticed there are recalls for this engine and a few other recalls as I told the dealership. The car is currently being inspected and the dealer said they would get back to me. Once the service department received the car they told me the recall most likely will not effect my vehicle. I don't believe that to be true and I was put in danger because of this engine issue with Hyundai.

Approx July 2022 my Sonata began to malfunction, first the steering wheel buttons stopped working intermittently off and on unable to turn on and set cruise control, unable to use hands free phone options as well as unable to navigate cluster features, as the time goes on the problem gets worse and eventually do not function ever. I replaced the steering wheel buttons which fixed the issue temporarily only now the vehicle will engage cruise control, accelerate dramatically and continue to gain speed. I am unable to disengage cruise control via the brake pedal, or cancel option or steering wheel. If I depress the brake pedal it will begin to decelerate but once I let off the brake pedal the engine will revv high and gain speed again. Buttons begin to function in a reverse order meaning press cancel, cruise turns on, press set button, cruise will set, press set button cruise will disengage etc. The only way to disengage cruise and rapid acceleration in this dangerous scenario is to press the on off cruise control button. Immediately stopped vehicle had it towed to dealership, they stated that they could not replicate the problem, however their diagnosis for the problem was due to incorrect brake fluid put in the vehicle and suggested to completely replace the entire brake system of the vehicle I declined as I felt that was not the problem in fact bizarre diagnosis. Only Hyundai dealership has ever put any brake fluid in my vehicle. . . This is completely dangerous as when vehicle suddenly accelerated I was unable to turn it off I almost rear ended a vehicle on the freeway going 70 mph. I no longer feel safe in the vehicle and it sits collecting dust while I make monthly payments.

B pillar separated from the frame during collision causing catastrophic intrusion into the cabin upon impact leading to death of the driver. No other occupants in the vehicle. Multiple investigators noted the b pillar failure upon inspection. Independent, certified crash reconstruction expert also noticed immediately that the b pillar had failed which caused cabin intrusion to an extraordinary degree considering the 2 vehicles involved were going less than 40mph. Vehicle is available for inspection. In addition, edr data reveals that although throttle was engaged, rpm's remained at idle up to the time of impact. Driver pushing on the gas and vehicle not responding.

After an oil change, my car started losing power at the gas and suddenly turned off on me while I was driving and never turned back on! when I tried turning my car back on my engine started smoking.

After the recent recall repairs, the car started to intermittently getting a message on the dashboard saying ‘hybrid system warning - safely stop and do not drive’ and ‘check brakes’ and the brake lights came on with a loud chiming beep, the car would stop accelerating and would not go beyond 10 mph, also the breaks would fail to apply correctly and made a loud screeching sound when applied. It used to do have this issue without any warning, while driving or stopped at the light, without any distinguishing pattern. However, it used to go away when the car was restarted multiple times. However now the message is on continuously and doesn’t go away with the restarting the car. After taking to the dealership, they said that the repairs would cost $3000 as the hydraulic power assembly unit has failed. After looking for the issue online, I have found that a lot of the 2011-14 Hyundai Sonata hybrid have this same issue and seems to be a manufacturing defect. This is a huge life risk for the owners of this car since it can happen while on the freeway and pose a life threatening risk to their life. It is also a huge financial burden for the owners for a manufacturing defect. I would like you to investigate these issues and provide us with a appropriate solution.

After driving one day, I noticed the brake lights on without anybody in the car, they would not turn off whatever I tried. The next symptom was the traction control turned off and would not function via dashboard button. The next symptom was, while driving, cruise control turned on without myself doing so, set it's speed and maintained, I was approaching a 4 way stop and depressed the brake expecting cruise control to disengage, it did not, I pressed the brake again this time holding it down while the car continued to revv, the engine continuing to attempt to speed up while pressing the brake. The only thing stopping the car was the on and off button on the steering wheel. I finally came to a screeching halt half way into the intersection, the brakes were locked up and vehicle would not move, the dealership claims no responsibility in anything and blames it in fact on myself putting the wrong brake fluid into the vehicle. I had not put anything into the vehicle, the dealership was the last to touch it when they did a complete engine replacement in Jan 2021. Vehicle is currently in their possession and available for inspection. No warning lights came on and vehicle began to function normally after, and I have not driven it since. I do not feel safe any longer in the vehicle. Dealership wants me to pay for all new brakes, rotors, brake light switch and brake flush, all which I feel is dancing around the real issue of the brakes and the cruise control. This is a real serious safety issue to anyone with this same vehicle and the potential for a serious possibly fatal accident, dealership doesn't seem to think it's a serious issue, and instructed me to drive the vehicle home, I did not!!!!!.

Driving in traffic in town and accelerator pedal quit working. Deceleration happened until I went from 40 mph to 2mph. Then able to accelerate back up to 30mph and happened again until I coasted to a stop. Traction control light came on after second incident. Car was in park and still on. Turned car off, took key outside vehicle and exited vehicle. Car locked itself and brake lights came on and stayed on. This is a danger!!! can cause an accident, driver has no control over vehicle at random times. Traumatic and scared to drive vehicle now.

When I learned my right brake light was out and upon further investigating I found that the socket for brake bulb was melted as well. I now need to replace the socket and wiring so the bulb will hopefully work properly. When I took my car in for an oil change recently, I was told the brake socket had melted the brake light assembly. Also which will now need to be replaced as well (quoted $150 plus labor). Next thing is a little hard to explain, but short time later I was driving on freeway and my car will suddenly stop accelerating and start slowing down. Then will kick back up again like nothing happened, car didn't lose power during this. All power was sill on radio, lights ect. . The first time this happened it was so quick I didn't know what to think. Not long after that my daughter was driving this time and it did it again repeatedly will stops accelerating (on off on off on off). To the point we were slowing down quite a bit and had to put the flashers on, as suddenly as it started it stopped. Again no loss of power or steering ect. The only light that came on was my traction control light and wouldn't go off even when pressing the button. Since there wasn't any check engine light showing on instrument panel I have no clue what could be the problem. Side note I have had issues with my cruise control not wanting to work or occasionally will work. Two days later after this incident my daughter told me that all my lights we're on and doors were unlock. Car wasn't dead at that point. Turned them all the way off just in case but another day or so later car is unlocked and completely dead took a very long time to get started back up. At this point I have to disconnect the battery so that the lights won't go on and kill the battery. Outside of these issues I've had no problems with the car absolutely love my car. But am very concerned.

Vehicle in motion, less than 40 mph on a city street with a slight incline, less than three miles from home. Vehicle started to operate sluggishly without warning, with lack of power when accelerating. The check engine light started flashing, acceleration severely decreased and was unable to go over 20 mph (car was placed in limp/engine protection mode). I slowly drove the car home and was able to troubleshoot the issue. Connected on obd2 scanner and immediately received a dtc p1326; indicating the knock sensor detection system placed the car in limp mode due to a detected knock/vibration in the motor. Further research proved service campaign 953 (TSB 19-01-002h-1) was already opened in late 2018 to help resolve the p1326 issue and many 2011-2018 Sonatas were recalled to get a software update for the ksds; as an early preventive measure for possible faulty bearings/rods in the motor. I had the vehicle towed to my local Hyundai dealership to get the ksds software update after receiving the p1326 dtc. The service tech said my VIN was not part of a recall or campaign and charged me $173 to update the software and clear limp mode. The Hyundai TSB clearly states this update is free to the customer and applies to all Sonatas from 2011-2018; regardless if the vehicle was not part of the original recall.

I'm concerned about this recall due to the fact that I can tell the difference in my car and I'm just trying to be safer while driving so if I can get any information about this that would be great.

I had a very scary incident Friday night, 12/18/20 about 8:30pm. I was about to merge onto the 5 fwy north to go home, and as I am coming out of the turn, and accelerating to anticipate the flow of traffic, I see a big rig in my rear view mirror in the distance. Naturally, I step on the gas to punch it, to give myself and the rig plenty of distance as to not collide. My car revved up and decelerates to about 2mph . I panicked and managed to coast the car to the shoulder as far right as I could and the rig barrels down past me. I was afraid to completely stop on the shoulder of the fwy, and the car lasted long enough to coast to the next exit. I am able to continue steering my car close to the shoulder at a crawling pace, and turned on my hazard lights. I had people mad behind me, but I could not speed up. I managed to coast to the nearest exit, come down the ramp, and stop briefly with just enough momentum to steer left onto telegraph in commerce, and my car completely dies in the first lane. This is the second time my car just dies on me while I am driving! first time was three years ago in December 2017 . The car had initially died while making a left turn. However, after turning the car off and waiting a few minutes, I was able to turn the car on and drive no more than 30 mph to the same downey Hyundai. The issue was under full warranty and repaired, but now a second time? worse yet, this happened while excelerating onto the freeway. I don't want to drive around in a car that has repeated recalls for various issues. I also don't want to worry of my car dying on me a third time. My Sonata is currently at downey Hyundai and they have started diagnostics and will have a better reading as to what happened. I have lost all confidence in this vehicle and worried for my safety and that of any passengers I may have with me.

Sometimes when I press the gas, the car will basically take an extra second to speed up, and probably 70% of the times that I press the brakes to slow down or come to a stop, itll (also) take an extra second and itll stall/jerk 1 time, then finish slowing down or stopping. . . . Its gradually been getting worse as time passes. . . The engine needs some work definitely! (I'll feel much more safe after this engine recall is fixed!).

Brakes light stay on after ignition turned off. Car DE-accelerate while driving on expressway.

After having to have my engine replaced due to my crank shaft getting clogged with metal pieces on the highway and destroying the engine. I've been having issues with the replacement engine feeling like it's stalling out or losing throttle either during a turn or shortly after. It's never popped and error code and only happens now and then.

There is a knock in the in the steering wheel and when I hit a bump its sounds like something is lose the problem is getting worse. It happens when I drive or when im sitting still if you turn the steering wheel it knocks.

Break lights won't shut off when the car is off it drains my battery car has a hard time driving at a certain seed constantly jerks while driving and car speeds up when not going fast at times I've taken it to Hyundai they refused to look at the problem because they stated they've gone into the car to many times I have children I can not keep driving this car like this is there anyway I can exchange my car for something with the same value car had an engine recall the car started smoking I feel like someone tampered with my car at the dealership I've only had the car for a year in a half I shouldn't be having these issues at all.

Vehicle stalls/dies while driving. It stalled 2 times but when I pulled over, it would start right away. While trying to make it home, it stalled for a third time and while pulling over it started smoking so bad I thought the vehicle was going to catch on fire. Vehicle had to be towed. There is an engine recall for this vehicle but dealer is giving me the runaround. Very disappointed with how Hyundai has handled the incident that almost caused an accident that could off been deadly.

Driving at interstate speeds, will down shift and drastically lose speed while in blue mode. No warning lights of any kind. No apparent issue at lower speeds. Engine does not rev up high because of rev limits. Drops from 6 gear down to 4 gear quickly loosing speed. Leading to impedance of traffic flow. A couple of time this happened when merging on to interstate. Had to ride on side to next exit. I have learned if I go into sport shift mode I do not experience this issue. I have taken to dealership, but unable to repeat issue on test drive. They did a diagnosis and cleared some history codes but it did not help. Again this happens unexpectedly.

In July 2019 I noticed that the brake lights came on in the middle of the night, although there is nobody in the car at that time. For the next few days the brake light were tuning on even when I was not pressing the brake pedal. In the same time the electronic stability control started to take over and it refused to accelerate when I pressed the gas pedal. The only way I was able to make it work was to depress the gas pedal and then press it again. I took the car to the mechanic because it was behaving very strange. The mechanic told me that the problem is a rubber stopper that kept the break pedal in place. When it is worn, it behaves as if somebody tried to hit the break. After the problem was resolved I discovered that there is recall 136 the accurately describes my problem for my car model. I contacted Hyundai about a possible recall but I got no response.

Engine failure: I own a 2012 Hyundai Sonata. On Jul 2, 2019, I was driving home from work on the highway in the far left lane, driving approximately 60 miles an hour when suddenly the engine stalled and the car would no longer accelerate. It then started making a knocking noise. This was a very scary occurrence especially to happen on the highway. But fortunately, I was able to slowly cross over, safely get off at the nearest exit, and pull over to the side of the road. Several warning indicator lights were flashing on the car (including the engine light) and I detected a slight burning odor (but no fire). I was able to restart the vehicle but it stalled again and eventually was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed a complete engine failure. The vehicle wasn't repaired but towed to the closest official Hyundai dealership (256 north franklin st, hempstead, NY) for assistance. The following recalls are associated with my vehicle: recall# 17v226000 (engine), and #15v568000 (engine). At the time of occurrence the vehicle had oil in the tank and had approximately 88,000 miles on it which should not have affected the engine at all. I sincerely hope that by reporting this incident, it will assist the Hyundai dealership in repairing or replacing the engine in my vehicle as stated in the recall and thereby preventing this from ever happening again. This is a very dangerous incident and wouldn't want to ever subject myself or my family (who also ride in this vehicle) to a terrible incident such as this or worse.

Last night after parking, my break lights remained lit. My father and I both checked either anything inside was depressing the brake pedal, and the emergency break was not engaged. I drove about 20 miles to work the next morning (lights still on). Parked at work, lights stayed on. I was driving on highway and tried to accelerate around 50 mph. Car braked/decelerated instead of accelerating. I exited highway immediately and pulled into a neighborhood. I am able to pull the lever to change into r/n/d without pressing the brake down (you should have to press break first before switching). I know this was a recall issue for elantras and Sonatas at some point, but I don't believe it included my cars year. There have been so many recall things, it seems maybe Hyundai just makes faulty products. 2012 Hyundai Sonata. 78,000 miles. Traction light also illuminated while driving this am, but perhaps unrelated as it was foggy and so maybe slippery?.

My car's check engine light came on and I took it to the shop for diagnosing. The code p1326 came up and nobody can figure out the problem. My car doesn't accelerate properly and take a minute to shift gears and drive properly. There has been open communication on the issue by other people.

While driving and pressing the accelerator it acts as if its not getting any gas, so when I remove my foot and repress it, it moves right along. It has happened 2 times in the last 24 hours. Now, I exited the car and went into the house and the brake lights are still on.

Tl the contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Sonata. When the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle would not accelerate. In order to get the vehicle to drive, the contact had to release and depress the accelerator pedal quickly. In addition, the traction control warning indicator illuminated. Victorville Hyundai (14821 palmadale rd a, victorville, CA 92392) stated that the vehicle was not included in an unknown recall regarding the brakes. The manufacturer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 180,000.

At any speed the engine will return to idle without moving the gas pedal. It will do the same thing when using cruise. Pushing the gas pedal will re-engage the engine. It acts as if you take your foot off the gas. There are no warning lights and everything acts normal (lights, power steering etc). This started in mid March 2019. It is becoming a daily issue. . My wife is scared to drive it. I took it to my Hyundai dealer and they could find nothing wrong. It did not do it for them. They said it showed no codes. I keep very good care of my Sonata. It has 180,000. My dealer is noller Hyundai topeka KS.

Had motor replaced from a previous recall, 4days after this fix I noticed a rough idle. Went to numerous shops incld dealership was told by dealership that recall was done and any other repairs would be out of pocket. Problem has progressed from rough idle and engine noise to poor acceleration and mistimed boosts. As in when entering highway car doesnt accelerate very fast very long delay before boost intiates. Once at desired speed when slowing down car boosts without pressure to accelertator!!! now that winter has arrived, sporadically on cold start car idles even rougher and sounds as if it with shut off. When driving in traffic car idles rough then shuts off!! no power steering! no lights ! no power! this happened whilst car is in drive and in motion! I try to avoid hwys and night time driving when I can as im scared to death of this car. I purchased it used in dec2017 11 days later intial issues began with car loosing power. Now after issue was "fixed" by replacement motor same intermediate lost of power issues again but with the added boosting issue as well now.

The contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving at 45 mph, the the passengers side tail light failed. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the tail light needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however the failure reoccurred and was taken back to the independent mechanic where they stated the harness had melted and advised that he go to the dealer. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was confirmed that the passenger's side tail light harness was charred and deformed. The vehicle was repaired but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer for a second time where it was informed that the harness or housing had been scorched and the tail light socket melted. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated while driving 45 mph, the accelerator had been depressed but the vehicle was slowing down. The contact managed to drive home safely. The following day the vehicle did not start. The vehicle was towed to the independent mechanic where it was confirmed that the battery failed due to the tail light being illuminated all night. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 78,000.

After driving for a few minutes on highway, my 2012 Sonata hybrid will start to jump and buck. It slowly loses power and when it reaches lower speeds (under 40 mph) as I try to accelerate it will feel like it's trying to catch the next gear but won't. I will continue to lose power so I have to try to leave highway or pull over, which can be dangerous on a high speed road. It has happened three times since August 2018. Just took back to dealership but first two times they said they could not replicate problem while test driving it and all diagnosis indicated the car is fine. I see in some web sites that other users nation-wide have had the very same problem but with no resolution at hand. This is a very concerning safety issue as the last time it happened the car behind me almost run into me as my car lost power and speed rapidly and started to buck/stutter.

I scanned and I got this c1202 and also p0087.

Speed control intermittently not working. Now doesn't work at all. Have had it checked multiple times but because it's intermittent they said nothing could be done.