1999 Hyundai Sonata GLS: ball joint or control arm failure

Filed Oct 18, 2010 · Body, Suspension · 135,150 miles · NE

Vehicle had developed a front end alignment problem, and I scheduled an alignment. The morning before the scheduled alignment, I was pulling out of my driveway to go to work when the right inner cv joint disintegrated. Investigation revealed severe subframe corrosion resulting in the control arm mount separating from the subframe, causing the cv joint to fail and the vehicle to become inoperable. The federal safety agency and hyundai issued a recall in 2009, campaign id number: 09v124000. However, the state I reside in (nebraska) is not listed as a "salt belt" state and is not covered by the recall. Nebraska does indeed use salt on the roads, and the description of the fault and potential results matches exactly with the rust and corrosion on my vehicle's subframe and the results. I believe it likely that there are other motorists in the state of nebraska who are driving these vehicles with this hidden and potentially very dangerous fault. The hyundai dealer has been unable to help me so far with a fault resolution per the recall.

Filed Oct 5, 2010 · Body, Suspension · 129,500 miles · FL

I have a defective subframe on a 1999 sonata purchased new in iowa and driven there for 4 years. It has completely rusted out on the passenger front side causing steering control arms and drive axle to break loose from vehicle and making vehicle inoperable. This should be covered under hyundai recall campaign 089. The federal safety agency campaign id no. 09v124000. I am getting no response as to if they will cover this damage and replace subframe from the local dealer tamiami hyundai in naples, fl and have also contacted the hyundai customer assistance center 3 times to no avail. I was told by a mechanic that if this would have happened at highway speeds I would have probably lost control of vehicle and it would have rolled. Never since I owned the vehicle was told of this recall and they currently state the VIN of the vehicle is not being shown in the recall list, but it was purchased new in iowa so it should be included.

Filed Feb 9, 2009 · Suspension · 72,000 miles · WI

I noticed my left front suspension on my 1999 hyundai sonata gls squeaking loudly while driving city speeds. My mechanic noticed rusty area around suspension control arm, etc. Labeled it as a priority repair for safety reasons. I previously had the complete rear wheel hub replaced because of corrosion a few years ago, too. I have not gone to a hyundai dealer yet so I'm not sure how to proceed from here.

Filed Aug 11, 2008 · Body · 112,500 miles · NJ

Corrosion of front sub-frame let to separation of lower control arm from sub frame. This caused right front wheel to collapse and loss of steering.

Filed Aug 5, 2008 · Body · 100,600 miles · MO

I was driving and slowing down for a stoplight. The car made a loud band and was disabled. The right front tire was bent. After getting home and jacking the car up the lower control arm had broken away from the rusty frame. I think this cause a cvc joint failure.

Filed Aug 4, 2008 · Body · 103,000 miles · NJ

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 hyundai sonata gls. The contact stated that the frame has rotted out by the control arm on her vehicle. She feels that this is a safety issue because the tire has fallen off due to the rotted out frame and a serious crash could have occurred. The current and failure mileages were 103,000.

Filed May 8, 2008 · Body · 120,000 miles · OH

One night about 10 days ago I heard a crunching sound when I drove my 1999 hyundai sonata over a small bump where is a couple hundred feet away from home. Then the next day the steeling wheel suddenly tilted 45 degree left while I was trying to keep the car going straight. When I stop the car and check, both the front tires were out of position, especially the right front one whose bottom is pulled outward and upper inward. I brought the car to a mechanic and when they lift the car to check the control arms we were all shocked to see a huge rusting hole on the right front subframe under engine cradle, while the left side subframe seemed intact. It was almost broken and the mechanics told me that they never seen anything like that in 20+ years of service and even the body shops is doubtfully can fix that. So I called local hyundai dealer in centerville, oh for an appointment. These was all happened before I searched and found many postings on line and aware of the investigation of the federal safety agency (pe08029) for this specific car failure. The mileage of my car was around 120,000 when it occurred.

Filed Apr 30, 2008 · Body · 90,000 miles · IN

I own a 1999 hyundai sonata. I like many others in the 99-2000 my have experienced the right side sub frame rust defect/safety issue. My daughter was driving the car on a winding road, coming home from work. She called me and said car was disabled. She stated car began to pull to the right on a curve, made a loud noise....and became disabled. Fortunately a couple people had stopped and helped her get it to the side of the road. When I got there the right wheel was angled in at the top. It was clearly damaged. The subframe had rusted out and wheel shaft pulled out of the engine. The upper control arm too was damaged. Clearly a safety issue let alone a defect.............I thank god she was not injured and that so far it appears that many that have reported same problem have not been injured.

Filed Aug 19, 2007 · Body · 84,000 miles · PA

Approaching a stop sign at an intersection near work, the car made a loud kind of crunching noise and came to a sudden stop. I noticed that my car was leaning down a little in the front on the right side. From inside it looked like I had a flat, but when I got out of the car to check I noticed that the right front tire was leaning out towards the curb and appeared to have broken off. I tried to move the car to the side of the street, but it wouldn't move. I eventually had my car towed to a local mechanic. I was informed by the mechanic that the lower control arm had rotted away from the subframe. Since I had an extended warranty, bumper-to-bumper, I called the company, universal underwriters service corporation. They later informed my mechanic that they wouldn't cover anything because the subframe was not included as a covered part and also because the damage was caused by corrosion and corrosion voids all coverage. I then contacted the hyundai dealer who also told me the same thing. It cost me $2000 to get the car fixed. When I went to pick up the car, the mechanic showed me the old subframe and where it had rotted out and I couldn't believe what I was looking at. You couldn't even see where the two holes that the lower control arm bolts into were. There were just two big gaping holes surrounded by rusted metal. He told me that the new subframe had three drain holes on both sides of the subframe that would allow water to drain out. Because the old subframe didn't have any drain holes, he felt that this meant that hyundai made the changes for some reason. He also mentioned that I was lucky that this didn't happen to me while I was driving faster on a major highway. I have found other sonata owners on this site with the same problem. I am concerned for other sonata owners who may be driving a product with a clear manufacture flaw. This looks like a safety concern for the owner and for others on the road. I currently have the part in my garage.