2002 Hyundai Elantra steering problems

Filed Nov 7, 2016 · Steering · 126,650 miles · CO

On october 28th, 2016 the lower, driver's side, front control arm disintegrated while my wife was driving her elantra in a parking lot. She was making a right turn to leave the lot when she lost control of the car as it made a "terrible grinding noise." the next day I removed the wheel and discovered the control arm was torn in two sections and badly corroded. I went to two hyundai dealers to track down a new part. Neither dealer mentioned the fact that this model hyundai had been recalled for precisely this problem. When I learned of this problem I contacted hyundai motors. They informed me that the recall only applied to vehicles purchased or registered in the so-called "salt belt" states. My wife bought this car new in colorado and has never driven it in the "salt belt." yet it suffered the same corrosion and failure as described in the recall bulletin. This is a very dangerous failure because the corrosion is inside the control arm and cannot be detected by a normal visual inspection. I suspect that the failure that showed up years ago in the "salt belt" cars is now appearing in older cars in other parts of the country. Hyundai apparently does not give a [xxx]. I suggest the nhsta impose a nationwide mandatory recall of these vehicles. If it occurred at highway speeds this failure would result in immediate loss of control, resulting in severe injury or death for passengers in the car. This vehicle is a one owner car that was garaged all its life. It was regularly serviced by a hyundai dealer. It shows no signs of excessive corrosion in any other area or part. I am outraged that hyundai chose to limit the recall of these vehicles to select states. This incident clearly demonstrates the problem is not limited to vehicles exposed to corrosive chemicals. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Jan 20, 2015 · Steering · 101,966 miles · TX

As I exited a freeway ramp I was coming to a stop to make a turn. My front lower control arm on the driver side broke and it popped my driver side cv axle. My whole tire castered in against the wheel well and cambered outward. My car was barely movable. My control arm had completely corroded through.

Filed Aug 21, 2014 · Steering · 110,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 hyundai elantra. The contact stated that while driving at 25 MPH, there was an abnormal noise as the vehicle veered from left to right. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

Filed Mar 14, 2013 · Steering, Suspension · PA

I am an owner of a 2002 hyundai elantra. In 2009 the passenger side lower control arm of my car rusted and broke in half, which I had repaired at my expense. Shortly afterward, I received a recall notice about the lower control arms and took my car in to have it serviced. Instead of replacing the defective parts, hyundai drilled a hole for water to escape and put a wax coating on the control arms, which would later wear off. After receiving my car back, I was under the assumption that there would no longer be an issue with the lower control arms, as I do not recall being told in person nor in writing that I should continue to monitor the status of said parts. Additionally, after reviewing my receipt, it does not state anything about further maintenance of the lower control arms. On march 5, 2013 while traveling on the pennsylvania turnpike, a major highway, my driver side lower control arm broke in half, almost causing me to get into an accident. I was lucky enough to get off to the side of the highway without an accident. After having my car towed to my mechanic, he diagnosed the problem with the control arm and recommended that I have it towed to the hyundai dealership to be repaired. In my conversations with hyundai employees, hyundai dealership employees, and my own mechanic, I have discovered that this is not an isolated incident. Thus it is very disconcerting as a consumer and a human being to know that hyundai has known about the defect and the fact that the recall was not a complete fix, and has done nothing to rectify the situation, whereby putting many peoples' lives in danger.I think it is imperative that all owners of these cars be contacted to warn them about the safety hazards they possess.

Filed Feb 17, 2013 · Steering · 94,829 miles · IL

I was traveling at 35 MPH on a secondary road when all of a sudden I heard a snap and I lost my steering. Luckily I was able to safely navigate my car to the side of the road without further incident. My vehicle was towed to my mechanic, who said the right front lower control arm and ball joint were completely rusted and collapsed. Hyundai had issued a recall (#09v125000) for my vehicle due to reported complaints about this same condition, and I took my vehicle to a hyundai dealer in july 2009. After inspection, the only action they took was to install a plug kit and apply rust preventative and undercoating. Obviously this did not work in the long term. This is an extremely dangerous condition and if I had been on the highway or making a turn, this design and mechanical defect could have caused an accident resulting in serious injury or death. My repairs cost $590. I will contact hyundai directly to request reimbursement. I feel they should have been proactive in july 2009 and replaced the parts at that time.

Filed Dec 28, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 180,000 miles · KY

The front lower control arm on my vehicle is rusted out, and is cracked on both sides. Local mechanic says it doesn't have long before it will fail. Researched price on internet and found there was a recall for that part. Dealer says that my VIN isn't included in the recall, even though my car was sold and driven in the "snow belt" states that are listed, and kentucky also salts the roads during winter. My vehicle is obviously affected, but the dealer tells me to call hyundai, and hyundai tells me to go to the dealer. There are several other complaints about similar treatment, and there is little recourse offered. I was told that the federal safety agency decided the details of the recall, but it was insufficient. This is a priority, my car could have a catastrophic failure any day (and thousands of other people too). The recall is campaign 091 front lower control arm corrosion.

Filed Mar 24, 2010 · Steering, Tires · 55,253 miles · MA

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 hyundai elantra. While driving at approximate speeds of 35 MPH, the contact noticed that the wheels were abnormally shaking. Upon further inspection, she found one of the drivers side tires was destroyed. The contact contributed the failure to an improper alignment performed on the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for repairs. The current and failure mileages were 55,253. Updated 05/11/10.

Filed Feb 8, 2010 · Steering · 94,000 miles · PA

On jan16th,2010 my car became disabled while driving. Luckily, I was only driving about 5 miles an hour when I suddenly lost control of steering my car. After stopping on the road, I tried to drive to the side of the road and was unable to get the car to move. At that point, I called a local towing company and they towed my car to a local auto shop. When the shop opened on monday january 18th they called me to inform me that the part that failed on my car, the lower control arm, was actually under a manufacturer recall from april 2009 (hyundai recall #091).they then gave me a copy of the recall notice from alldatapro.com. I was never informed of this recall. I am the original owner of this car and have lived at my current address since april 2000. I have been notified of other recalls in the past by mail. At this point, the shop did a full safety inspection of the car and I had the car towed to the dealership at which I purchased the car in 2002, mike kelly hyundai, butler pa. Since the parts where on backorder, I waited almost 2 weeks for my car to be repaired. Had I been informed of the recall, I would have been able to schedule this repair at a mutually convenient time, and before the worst of winter, which seemed to be a contributing factor to the corrosion that LED to the failure of the control arm and only by luck was I not hurt or killed. The car was repaired by hyundai free of charge , as it was a recall. I am awaiting reimbursement for the towing charges.

Filed Jan 9, 2010 · Steering · 197,000 miles · NH

I've owned my current 2002 hyundai elantra since 2002 (I'm the original owner) and my previous car was also a hyundai. I've told many people what good cars they are. Last week I noticed some "play" in my wheel and planned to get an alignment done this week. On thursday night on my way home from work my car spun out of control and my wheels went in different directions. Luckily I was turning down a road very close to my home so I was only going about 15 MPH, my 6 and 3 yr olds weren't with me, and no other cars were coming in the opposite direction or this could have been extremely dangerous. I had my car towed to the local guy who informed me that my lower control arms were bad (one rusted and broken, the other with holes) and that this was likely a recall item and I should contact my dealership rather than pay him for repairs that might be covered (very nice guy). I found out this is a recall item. Both hyundai consumer affairs and grappone hyundai let me know I was responsible for paying for the tow (it was $125) to get my car there, and for a rental vehicle while my car was out of commission. I had the car towed there on friday as quickly as I could. I called this morning at 9am to find out how long I need to get a rental for and after waiting for about 20 rings someone finally picked up the phone and let me know that nobody would even look at my car until monday and that I should plan on paying for a rental for at least a week. This will be the last hyundai I own and I'm very unhappy with the fact that a defect that could have killed me (I take the highway home most nights and just lost a sister in a car accident in june) now is going go cost me hundreds of dollars. I no longer feel safe in my hyundai and am very disappointed that a defect is costing me so much time and money.

Filed Dec 7, 2009 · Brakes, Steering · 72,000 miles · PA

My husband and I are the owners of a 2002 hyundai elantra gt, and are the only owners of record and have maintained the vehicle in a reasonable manner. On friday, december 4 2009, I was driving the vehicle at approximately 30 MPH approaching a left turn light, when I needed to stop suddenly to avoid hitting a car that stopped abruptly in front of me. When I applied the brakes, I heard a loud noise and the car began to pull to the left, placing my vehicle into the on-coming traffic lane. Fortunately, my vehicle did not hit any other vehicles or roadside obstacles. After coming to a full stop, I managed to negotiate the left turn, in order to move the vehicle out of a 5-point intersection and into a safer area. Once the vehicle was engaged in the turn, I heard metal grinding against metal. I pulled the car off of the road immediately into the first available turn off, which happened to be a church parking lot. Upon inspection of the vehicle, it became apparent that the vehicle was no longer in a serviceable condition and would need to be towed. The lower control arm on the passenger side of the car was significantly torn between the shock mount and the ball joint. The corrosion damage is significant on the interior of the arm. It looks as if it blew up. There is still a small portion that is still attached but it is completely immobile. The tire is pushed up against the wheel well. We are very concerned about the lack of cooperation that we have received from hyundai corporate office recall division. They have not agreed to fix any damage to the car as a result or reimburse expenses incurred due to the incident. To make matters worse, they claim the reason we didn't get a notice about the recall is because they didn't want everyone to come in at the same time so they are spacing it out! It's completely irresponsible of them to not notify the consumer of this defective product! I am 6 months pregnant and often drive my 2 yr old!