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Hyundai Transmission Problems

Hyundai • Brakes • Stalling • Transmission • "Just Everything" • Airbags • Engine Failure • Fires • Sludge Problems --- News • Rusting Hyundai Sonatas Prompt Federal Probe • NHTSA Probes Hyundai Air Bag Failure • Hyundai to Tap U.S. Sport Sedan Market • Hyundai Drops Back Into Minivan Market • Hyundai Drops Out of Minivan Market • Airbag Problems Plague New Hyundais • Hyundai Offers $85 Million to Settle Horsepower Suit • Hyundai Aces J.D. Powers Survey • Horsepower Overstated

Maribel of Candor NY (3/21/04):
I took my 2000 Hyundai Accent into the dealership about 3 weeks ago to get my airflow sensor replaced and to get my overdrive button replaced as well because it wasn't clicking into gear. I told them that I took it to a friend's garage and he told me that there was something wrong with the transmission. They told me they checked it and found nothing wrong.

Now my car is bucking and the overdrive button still doesn't work properly. My car feels like it speeds up and slows down and the rpms shoot up when this happens, I am unable to drive my car right now and I live in an area where a car is necessary. I have only had this car for 2 years and my warranty had exspired at 60,000 miles we are at 70,000 miles.

We still owe nearly $5,000 on it and we are moving to Germany for 3 years because my husband is in the military. The people we have our car financed through won't allow us to ship it. It has to stay in the States. If I didn't have to put so much money into maintaining the vehicle i would have been able to make a settlement payment and would have been able to ship the car but now I have to try to get a loan which will probably be denied.

Tunisha of Old Bridge NJ (2/23/04):
My transmission is having problems working as far as shifting from first gear to second gear which may happen if the RPM's are high enough, at times the transmission will not shift and all the RPM's do is rev. The second thing I am having a problem with is the way the vehicle sometimes does not shift into reverse. Sometimes I have to hit the gas and then the vehicle bucks into reverse. At times the vehicle will not exceed 25mph and I'm forced to pull off the road, turn the car off and wait a few minutes to turn the car on again and then continue.

Heather of Altoona PA (9/4/02):
I bought my Hyundai Accent brand new in May of 2000. I have had nothing but problems with it. I just had a transmission put in last month and its still acting up. 90% of the time I turn the key to shut the car off and the gear shifter is in park, it won't shut off. Last week my hood hinge on the right side broke. Sometimes it stalls in the middle of the intersection.

The Hyundai motor company praises the 100,000 warranty but everytime something happens to the car and I go to the dealership to get it fixed I get the runaround.

Kim of Smithtown NY (6/3/02):
I bought a 1998 Hyundai Tiburon Fx at Neil Hyundai in Coram NY. It has been nothing but a problem to me. My transmission went, my radio has blown, my alarm hasn't worked since a week after I got it, the paint is chipping off all over the place and I was sold the car with the wrong tires and have had numerous blowouts and nearly killed myself. The center console has broken, I have had numerous problems with my gas tank, seat belts and ventillation system. My brakes have also been replaced numerous times and still squeak. I have taken it back to where I purchased it many times but, according to them it's "my problem".

I have missed classes, been stuck at home and so aggravated that I have cried on numerous occasions about this car. It is extremely frustrating to deal with these people.

Jewel of Greenwood SC writes (1/8/02):
In June of 2001, the transmission on my Hyundai Accent, stopped working. I live in a town that does not have a Hyundai dealership. One shop recommended Aamerico Transmissions. I did go there on my way home. I was told they could do repairs on this make. He tried to take the car for a test drive and it would not move. He came in and told me that he would have to take the transmission out to find the problem. I left the car there. I was asked if I had coverage under warranty.

I called the main office in California. Hyundai Motor America told me that I was under warranty and they would cover the repairs only if it was repaired by a Hyundai authorized service dealer. I told them that I did not have a dealer in my area. I was then to contact the closest dealer. The automated line told me a number for Tennessee and I then remembered I had a number for a dealership that sent me a part previous to this. I called Taylor Auto in Augusta, Georgia. The lady told me that they were the closest to me and I needed to bring in the car. I reiterated that I had the car at a transmission shop and ran down all the problems told to me by Aamerico. I said the car can't move so I can't drop it off. She recommended I get it towed.

I told the man at Aamerico that I had to have Hyundai fix the problem and could he tow it. I was referred to the towing service he used. I called for some prices and the cheapest was the guy Aamerico used. I then call Hyundai to find out how much they covered on towing fees. They did not know, and told me to call my warranty service. I called Western Nat'l and was told I was covered for towing up to I think $100 and my quote was more than that but I thought I would just cover that. I was told I could also have a rental car for up to $25 a day, and would be reimbursed once they were notified by the service dept. and I would need to send them receipts. I called the towing service which met me at the shop where I paid him to tow the car. I got home and called the Hyundai service dept. in Ga. and told the lady that the car and all the parts that needed to be replaced were boxed with the car and I put the list of problems in the glove compartment. I then was told that she had to get this approved by the service mgr. I was told that because the man in my town had looked at the car, it might be a problem with the warranty.

I asked why because I told her and Hyundai the trouble I was having and that the local transmission shop had given me the info on damages. She said that Blair (the service mgr.) would look at it when the car came in and that it would hopefully be okay. I asked them to call me once the car got there and noone did.I then called her to find out was it there. She said it was and they would let me know about the car once they looked at it, which would probably be the next day (June 28,2001). The car was towed there. I called to see if all was well that next week. I was told that they had not gotten to the car yet. I called again after the holiday,and they only had one transmission tech there. The lady who I had talked to no longer worked there, and I was told I would be called when they had looked at it.

Many calls later, I was told that my warranty was voided and I would have to cover the work to be done. I was upset because they knew from day one that I had the car checked in town and only after it was seen did anyone say, oh a Hyundai authorized tech had to do the work and I had to get it towed if I could not drive it. I then called the main office for Hyundai. I explained all the calls to verify warranty and charges. I could not be without my car because I am disabled and need to get to my doctor appts. The man called Taylor Hyundai who said that they could not do the work under the warranty because another technician had removed the transmission and they could not hook the transmission up to the diagnostic machine.

I explained that my car was needed, I told everyone what had happened,and my manual even said that if it was unreasonable to have the car serviced by an authorized service dealer that I could do the service myself or have it serviced by a technician and I would be reimbursed for the charges according to the parts and service charges that a Hyundai service center would charge, and I had to mail the replaced parts to Hyundai Motor America. I was told that was for emergencies and I did not have the power to say it was an emergency situation. I said that it wasn't written as such. I was told that was the decision. I called Blair back at Taylor Hyundai who said send him a copy of what I had quoted to him and he would see what he could do. He finally called me in to say that the regional was coming and would look at it.

He then called to say that my warranty was voided when the man touched the transmission and that they could not diagnose the problem themselves and how would they know that the parts were even Hyundai's. I was then told that out of a gesture of good faith, they would do a 50/50 with me on the charges. I called to find out how much they would charge and was told they'd get back to me. In August 2001, I was told the cost and I paid half. After that, my car never seemed to be ready. I called after the date given that the car would be ready. It was not. I called my attorney after waiting a week after they said the part they were waiting for came in. The next day my attorney faxed a letter to the dealership's mgr. who within 5 minutes of the fax, called my attorney to say my car was ready.

I have had nothing but problems since the car's return on August 24, 2001. (Remember they got the car June 28,2001!) It shifts gears on any little incline. I took it back 1/7/02 and was told it was not a transmission problem and they cleaned a hose for the accelerater which could cause my problem. I was charged $55 for that unwarranteed problem. Now the car is worse. It jerks, feels like it will cut off after revving on its own, and changing gears on flat roads. I am afraid to drive it out of town and do not know why I can't have someone local to do my car since I don't like driving long distance and need my car.

Jonathan of Owings Mills MD (6/16/01):
In October of 1999 I bought a Hyundai Elantra GLS station wagon. Since I bought the car I have had many problems with it. The first time that I noticed it was about 9 months after I got it. The car would not shift from third to fourth gear, it was an automatic four gear transmission. The problem with this is that I would be going 55 mph on the highway and the car would be redlining.

What can you do when all the cars are honking at you for going 45 mph in a 65 mph speed zone but pull over. I would do this on a very busy highway with cars zipping by me at unsafe speeds. When I would restart my car it would not happen again for awhile. I finally took my car and got it fixed. Or so I thought. About four months later the car started to act up again. It would not shift from third to fourth gear.

This time when I brought the car in they could not find out what was wrong with it. They told me that the next time my car was acting up to bring it right in. That would be nice if my car broke down at their convenience wouldn't it? But it never turned out that way. It would be late at night when I was driving home from school or I had just gooten off work and heading home when my car would fail. It was a very unsafe experience stopping on the highway, or getting on the highway and trying to accelerate and finding out that you can't.

Finally my car broke down again about three weeks ago when I was able to bring it in. They told me to continue driving it until the part came in the mail that they needed. Again I was in my unsafe car. I did not feel comfortable driving this car at all. The part came in and thay called me. I took the car in and it was ready the next day. I was surprised that it was ready so soon for all the months that it was giving me trouble with no clue what was wrong.

I drove my car off the lot only to have it stall out. I spent the next two hours in the dealership waiting for them to fix it again. It has been two days that I've had it off the lot and already I feel that there is something wrong with the car again. I have talked with the Hyundai Head Office. They said that all they can do is open a file on the car.

Djuana of Catonsville MD (6/2/01):
In 1995, my husband purchased a brand new Hyundai Elantra 4 door. The transmission began to slip in 1997 and we took it back to the dealer. At the time, it had 30K miles on it. They quietly replaced the transmission with a new one (so we thought according to the initial estimate). The car drove fine from 1997 until 1999 when the transmission completely died in December. This time, we were told that the 2nd transmission is out of warrantee (factory re-manufactured). It had a 12 month 12,000K mile warrantee on it.

The dealer told me he would contact the manufacturer's rep since this would be the third transmission and the car only has $60K miles on it. The manufacturer's rep denied the claim due to the 2nd transmission being out of warrantee. So here we are putting a 3rd transmission in a car that is only 6 years old and only has 60K miles on it.

We had to take our children out of daycare in order to come up with the money we need to fix the car. I don't think it's really worth it to fix the car since we'll probably be putting in yet another transmission in another 2 years, but the resale value on it is very poor, not to mention it isn't running.

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