2016 Hyundai Elantra

THE BRAKES ON MY HYUNDAI ELANTRA FAILED TWICE WITHIN 10 MINUTES. I WAS DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY WITH STOPLIGHTS. I HAD AMPLE TIME TO STOP UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS, BUT WITH THE BRAKE PEDAL DOWN TO THE FLOOR, THE CAR WOULD NOT STOP IN TIME FOR A STOP LIGHT AND EVEN WENT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE INTERSECTION BEFORE STOPPING. IT WAS ALSO NOT HANDLING NORMALLY DURING THE MOMENTS WHEN THE BRAKES FAILED. FORTUNATELY THERE WAS NOT ANOTHER CAR OR PEDESTRIAN IN MY PATH. I STOPPED AND CHECKED TO SEE IF THE FLOOR MAT HAD BUNCHED UP UNDER THE PEDAL.IT HAD NOT. THINKING IT MIGHT JUST BE A FLUKE I PROCEEDED TO DRIVE HOME VERY CAUTIOUSLY. DRIVING UNDER 50 MPH, AND TESTING THE BRAKES, THEY SEEMED TO BE WORKING. WHEN I WAS APPROACHING ANOTHER STOP LIGHT I SLOWED DOWN TO MAYBE 35 WAY IN ADVANCE. THEN THE LIGHT CHANGED TO RED AND AGAIN THE CAR WAS EXTREMELY SLOW TO STOP. I WAS ABLE TO STOP IT JUST BEFORE THE LIGHT BUT ONLY BECAUSE I WAS ALREADY GOING VERY SLOW, ANTICIPATING A POSSIBLE PROBLEM. I HAVE NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A RECALL FOR A BRAKE PROBLEM FOR ELANTRAS A LITTLE NEWER THAN MINE. THAT WAS FOR A BRAKE BOOSTER. READING THE FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS OF THOSE FAILURES, IS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT I EXPERIENCED. SINCE ONLY THE RECALLED VINS HAD THE PART THAT WAS MANUFACTURED BY MANDO, AND MY BRAKE BOOSTER WAS EVIDENTLY MADE BY ANOTHER MANUFACTURER, BUT MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE BRAKES WAS SO SIMILAR TO THE RECALLED VEHICLE, I WORRY THAT THE PROBLEM WITH ALL THOSE CARS COULD ACTUALLY BE A DESIGN FLAW IN THE CAR OR ANOTHER PART THAT INTERACTS WITH THE BRAKE BOOSTER. MY CAR IS CURRENTLY AT A HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP. THEY ARE STILL WORKING ON DIAGNOSING THE PROBLEM. IT HAS BEEN THERE THREE DAYS. I AM VERY WORRIED ABOUT DRIVING THE CAR IN THE FUTURE AFTER IT IS FIXED.

I WAS DRIVING ABOUT 50 MPH AND WAS PREPARING TO COME TO A NORMAL STOP FOR A TRAFFIC LIGHT. WHEN I BRAKED, A LOG CRUNCHING SOUND CAME FROM THE FRONT OF THE CAR AND IT PULLED HARD TO THE LEFT. I RELEASED THE BRAKES SLIGHTLY AND BRAKED AGAIN. THE CAR CAME TO A SUCCESSFUL STOP. THE SOUND WAS SO LOUD AND VIOLENT, I THOUGHT THE BRAKE CALIPER OF WHEEL ITSELF HAD BROKEN LOOSE. WHEN THE LIGHT CHANGED, I MOVED THROUGH THE INTERSECTION AND PULLED OVER FOR A VISUAL INSPECTION. I COULD SEE NO SIGN OF ANY ISSUE AND THE CAR WAS BRAKING FINE. I HAD SEEN A PREVIOUS REPORT ABOUT A SIMILAR ISSUE WHEN ANOTHER DRIVER HAD FINISHED A 360 DEGREE HARD CORNERING EXIT FROM THE FREEWAY. I HAD DONE THE SAME THING BUT HAD DRIVEN ABOUT A MILE AFTER THE EXIT. THE CAR HAS ABOUT 34,000 MILES ON IT AND HAS REGULAR MAINTENANCE BY THE DEALERSHIP. I WILL BE FOLLOWING UP WITH A VISIT FOR A CHECKUP. THE TIRES ARE STILL ORIGINAL AND HAVE ABOUT 5K MILES WEAR LEFT ON THEM. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING FOR 3 DAYS SINCE AND HAVE HAD NO ISSUE.

THE OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE WAS 7 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. AFTER TAKING MY WIFE TO WORK, I RETURNED HOME AT APPROXIMATELY 8:45 AM. I MADE A LEFTHAND TURN INTO THE DRIVEWAY (IN MOTION) AT AROUND FIVE MPH. I PRESSED ALMOST HALFWAY DOWN ON THE BRAKE PEDAL, BUT THE CAR SEEMED TO ACCELERATE MOMENTARILY, SO I IMMEDIATELY TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE PEDAL. THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO MOVE FORWARD AT APPROXIMATE FIVE MPH, SO I PRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL EVEN HARDER. HOWEVER, INSTEAD OF STOPPING WITH THE BRAKE PEDAL FULLY DEPRESSED, THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED CAUSING ME TO RAM INTO THE LATE MODEL TRUCK PARKED IN FRONT OF ME. I TOOK MY FOOT COMPLETELY OFF THE BRAKE PEDAL, AND THE CAR EVENTUALLY ENDED UP HALTING NEARLY FOUR FEET FROM THE CONTACTED TRUCK. I PROMPTLY REPORTED THE EVENT TO MY INSURANCE COMPANY (ALLSTATE) TO START A CLAIM. THE ALLSTATE CLAIMS DIVISION DISPATCHED A LOCAL TOW SERVICE THAT PICKED UP AND DELIVERED THE VEHICLE TO THE NEAREST HYUNDAI SERVICE CENTER IN MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.

BRAKES: SKIPPING AND SEVERE VIBRATION WHEN BRAKES ARE APPLIED ON TIGHT RIGHT CURVATURES (HIGHWAY ON AND OFF RAMPS). TIRES: HANKOOK P215/45R17 87H - TIRE SIDEWALL FAILURE, BUBBLING ON SIDEWALL AT 8500 MILES THEN TWO MONTHS LATER AND APROX. 10000. NO ACCIDENTS, POTHOLES, OR ISSUES THAT SHOULD HAVE RESULTED IN SIDEWALL FAILURE.

WHEN ENTERING A FAIRLY SEVERE CURVE, LIKE A 270 DEGREE FREEWAY ON-RAMP OR OFF-RAMP TO AN OVERPASS, OR 90 DEGREE CURVES ON MOUNTAIN ROADS, AT NORMAL SPEEDS, THE ESC APPEARS TO SPORADICALLY TURN ON AND OFF AGGRESSIVELY. THE BEHAVIOR IS SEVERE. THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED, HARD, ABOUT TWICE PER SECOND. HARD ENOUGH TO FEEL LIKE YOU HIT A POTHOLE. THE THROTTLE SEEMS TO BE CUT AS WELL. PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR DOES NOTHING WHILE IN THIS STATE, AS IF ITS BEEN DISCONNECTED. AFTER STRAIGHTENING OUT OF THE CURVE, THE BEHAVIOR STOPS. DISABLING VIA THE ESC BUTTON HAS NO EFFECT, THE PROBLEM PERSISTS. A TRIP TO THE DEALER (10/2015) RESULTED IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF A BAD 'LATERAL SENSOR' - THAT IT WASN'T COMMUNICATING TO THE ESC. HOWEVER THE PROBLEM APPARENTLY WAS MORE INVOLVED: THEY KEPT THE CAR FOR 17 DAYS AND HAD TWO OTHER 2016 ELANTRA GT MODELS IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT WITH THE SAME ISSUE. ULTIMATELY THEY COULD NOT FIND A FIX FOR THE PROBLEM AND RETURNED THE CAR, STATING THAT THE PROBLEM WAS NOT A "SAFETY CONCERN". HOWEVER THEY INTENDED TO CONTINUE TROUBLESHOOTING THE ISSUE WITH ONE OF THE PROBLEM CARS BEING USED AS A "TEST MULE". THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT STATED THAT THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE LIMITED TO THE 2016 ELANTRA GT. I AM NOT ENTIRELY CONVINCED OF THE "SAFETY" VERDICT. WHILE I AGREE THAT ITS FAIRLY SAFE FOR "ME", SINCE I'M AWARE OF THE BEHAVIOR AND ITS CONSISTENT, IT MIGHT BE A SURPRISE FOR ANOTHER ELANTRA GT OWNER WHOSE FIRST EXPERIENCE MIGHT BE IN THE RAIN OR SNOW. WINTER IS COMING, AND WHILE I'M AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND THEREFORE WILL TAKE CURVES SLOWER AS TO NOT ANTAGONIZE THE CAR - WHAT ABOUT OTHERS?