Rusting Hyundai Sonatas Prompt Federal Probe
Corrosion can cause suspension to fail, wheels to fall off.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating allegations that the subframe on the
Hyundai Sonata can corrode to the point of causing the suspension to fail.

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) at NHTSA has received 40 consumer complaints about severe corrosion in the
1999 through 2002 model year Sonatas.

Consumers have reported “fist-sized holes in the frame” that can cause the suspension control arm to detach from the vehicle,
according to federal safety investigators.

The result can be “wheel collapse or separation, half shaft detachment resulting in sudden vehicle disablement and or
steering anomalies," according to the NHTSA Web site.

The federal agency has also received reports of corrosion in the engine cradle and front cross-member.

NHTSA said that “there appears to be an increasing trend in failures, with 10 reported so far in 2008, 19 in 2007,
11 in 2006 and 1 in 2005.”

Most of the complaints come from provinces and states where large amounts of salt are used on roads during snowy months:

Some consumers report discovering the severe corrosion during routine maintenance such as an oil change but the majority
of the complaints “allege that the corrosion was not detected until it resulted in suspension failure” or a wheel came off.

Sonata owners reported traveling at speeds from 5 to 65 mph when they encountered the suspension failure.

Some of the incidents “resulted in the vehicle becoming disabled in the traffic lane at night with the driver and child stuck in the
car,” according to the NHTSA Web sit. “Passing traffic swerved around the vehicle at high speeds,” NHTSA said.

One consumer told federal safety regulators that the Hyundai Sonata was “stuck in the middle of a dangerous intersection.”

Another reported the sonata was so badly rusted the vehicle was declared a total loss by the insurance company after the
lower control arm completely separated from the vehicle “causing the half-shaft to detach from the transmission and resulting
in damage to the wheel housing and quarter panel from the detached wheel.”