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Others have stated that some of the normal aspirated models drifted left as well.
It may well be the new electric steering.
The service manager originally was trying to say that it was normal for the turbo, due to his explanation, because of torque steer while accelerating.
The turbo has been tamed in gears one, two and three by not allowing it to spool up to maximum boost to prevent torque steer and protect the drivetrain.
And why he would even say such a thing when doing a sustained cruise is just such a total insult to someone's intelligence. They think we are all stupid and will 'buy' anything they're selling. I tell ya, that very thing is one of biggest annoyances at a dlrship. It absolutely infuriates me. I'd have to resist giving him a fat lip if he spewed much of that dribble in my direction...I'll tell ya..
Sorry to hear u are having this trouble with your new car tho. Takes some of the shine off They will likely sort it out of course, (Hyundai) hopefully sooner rather than later, but they need to FIRE dishonest, stupid, arrogant, condescending representatives of their company like what that guy was. I would write to the president and tell them about that guy. Nip stuff like that in the bud I say.
The thing w/service manager was that he said he could make the car go either way.
He's missing the boat.
I have to make the car go straight.
I drove over 200 miles today and I fought the steering the entire time.
It's as if I'm pushing on a wall to the left all the time.
Not much effort for a while, but after a bit you grow weary.
Oddly enough it tracked the best on old flat, no crown to speak of, two lane divided roads.
The rest of the day the steering wheel is steadily cocked to the left.
You can see the wheel isn't level and feel it pushing.
I called the Hyundai customer service and complained.
Perhaps if enough people call them to complain, they may
do something about the situation.
The number to call is:
800-633-5151
I'm not concerned with or addressing torque steer.
The faster you drive you more noticable it is and it's tiring because you're always applying a slight pressure to the right compensating for the pull/push/drift to the left.
Maybe this is amplified by the 225X18X45 low profile tires.
Regardless, most do not, so there has to be a reason for the others that want to seek a left path instead of a straight or neutral track.
Manipulating tire pressure at differing levels, dependant of the position on the car, is not the answer or an option.
Road surfaces vary, yet when you are constantly having to counteract the steering, when at speed in a straight path, the car, in essence, is defeating the advantages of power steering.
If this problem was connected to no power assist steering the masses and media would rally and heads would roll.
The electric assist allows you to drive w/o fighting tooth and nail requiring arms of Charles Atlas.
I suppose, since one finger steering is impossible to maintain, that this is part of Hyundai's safety program requiring you to maintain 10 and 2 at all times along with a firm grip on the wheel.
Used to do that on bias ply in the early 70s.
You're saying that the tires are the problem or appears to be in your instance.
http://www.hyundaiforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8267&page=17
Post #163
"Hyundai last Monday sent a team of 5 engineers (including 3 from Korea) to make a test case out my car along with several others in the area to try and resolve the issue. They had sent several batches of parts to the dealer one of which was a new strut assembly. I was told that they installed the new strut with an adjustable camber bolt and then re-aligned the car which seem to do the trick. The other two cars at the dealer were also done that day or next and that also seemed to resolve their problem."
Irritating considering I just bought the damn thing. Well if they dont fix it they are going to be seeing a lot of me in the service department filing warranty issues.
That being said it appears the left strut was from a bad batch and at that time the Alabama plant, where all 2.0T are assembled, was doing a run on mostly turbos.
The holes on those strut aren't lined up correctly, according to some posters on other forums, so while they are the correct space to fit the chassis they are causing an improper alignment.
As it stands no technical service bulletin, acknowledging the existance of this problem or outlining the solution from Hyundai, has been issued.
I don't know where you get your information, but it is very common to "X" the fronts when moving them to the back, and take the backs straight to the front. Bi-directional radials are rotated in this fashion every day, and the only effect is to balance the wear as front wheel drive vehicles have a higher incidence of "feathering" the outside of the tire. Right to left swapping to test/correct a pull is a time tested and true method of identifying radial pull.
Uni-directional radials are another animal entirely. They must always be installed in the correct rotational direction or severe handling and wet traction issues will occur.
All that being said, if a new vehicle is pulling from mile one, tires would be a quick check, then alignment, and assembly. But don't go looking for zebras when you hear hoof beats.
The old 92 Buick has 70 series sidewalls w/lots of flex and I always buy a budget tire.
I stand corrected for recalling information from the mid 70s to some time in the 80's.
Things are much better nowadays.
My dad called them radio tires...
Might be a strut/weight distribution problem as well with the Sonata. Just a thought.
I don't drive w/electronic stabilizer gizmo turned on & I might need to try it out in order to see if that makes a difference.
Others claimd w/car full of people that it didn't pull. I've only had one person in the passanger seat w/full tank of gas and it pulls.
It isn't tearing the wheel from my hands, but 98% of the time it's a constant tug to the left.
I'm afraid for my Mom to drive the car until it's fixed.
I urge everyone w/problem to contact Hyundai customer service & NHTSA until this issue is acknowledged and resolved by Hyundai.
I love the Sonata, it's a fine car, excellent bang for the buck, so fix it already...
Though some run differing pressures front to back one side of the front or back should be the same as the other side.
I routinely ran a couple of extra lbs in the front because of the motor weight.
http://www.hyundai-blog.com/index.php/2011/01/10/hyundai-veloster-2012-3-door-sp- ecs-engine-details/
If u ask me, Hyundai KNOWS which cars are affected by way of the VIN numbers/build dates. Hyundai SHOULD be taking a more proactive approach to this and CONTACT the owners, not wait for complaints to start flowing in.
But the MOST damage in the car co/customer relationship is by having representative dealers that LOWER the air pressure in the tires from one side of the car to the next, in order to compensate for the pull!!!!!! That is not only unconscionable and unsafe, but just so frig corrupt on so many levels, that THAT should be Hyundai's first main mission here. Exposing these corrupt and crooked representatives of their company and firing their crooked butts and kicking them to the curb. I have heard of some pretty elusive and sneaky nasty 'fixes' to appease a customer, but in reading this most recent example of deception, it really hit a nerve with me.
Ah! What if the Dealers are doing what Hyundai is instructing them to do. Then who's the corrupt and crooked SOB?
If it happens to be true, then of course buyer beware, but I find it hard to believe that a car company would instruct their dealers to try to mask a symptom such as this with that idea. That just opens up an entire host of new problems and word like that would spread like wildfire, so I think it is pretty safe to assume Hyundai is telling their dealers no such thing.
Not sure what you mean by conspiracy oriented. But almost, if not every poster on this forum stated that the Dealer claims his or hers is the first problem of pulling to the left they encountered and that it's normal. Even that service Rep guy from Hyundai claims he never heard of the problem. However a lot of people with all trim levels are experiencing this problem. :confuse:
So like the old saying of "If it looks like a duck, Walks like a duck and Sounds like a duck " chances are it's a duck. :shades:
I have to resist driving them one in the mouth when i hear that..maybe I should get a T shirt and wear it on those days to give them a fair heads-up. AAMOF, let's make it a multi-message T shirt. "No I don't want fries with that" on the back, and "If you tell me they all do that, I'm gonna punch you in the mouth" on the front.
But Hyundai is far from alone with this irritating recurring comment in the auto world. The problem though, is there are still too many mouse-like car owners who still buy that crap..so the mfgrs get away with it.
I get it now. "they all do that" EXCEPT Hyundai. Thanks for clearing that up for me.. :sick:
I am NOT defending Hyundai or any of the others. That is what "they all do that" means! The clue is in the word "ALL". Period ! :sick: is right
2. Playing with tire pressure is the fastest way for a dealer to get into serious trouble with Hyundai, or any vehicle manufacturer. Do you really think that ANY manufacturer would tell a dealer to inflate the tires to anything but the prescribed pressure after the Ford/Firestone Explorer debacle?
3. Tracking the strut lot number to the range of assembly dates/VIN series is easy. What is not easy is if the strut manufacturer wasn't building/drilling them all wrong, just some of them. Since this is not what would be considered a safety issue, Hyundai would incur a large cost to inspect every vehicle built during that time period to determine if the strut is drilled to the correct specification. Not trying to "play down" the pulling issue, but items such as the strut assembly are ordered 1000's at a time, and not every Sonata is pulling. It would actually be easier for Hyundai if they were! Make it much easier to track down the affected assemblies.
What I see from the comments above is that there are dealers out there who are not performing due diligence in the troubleshooting of the issue. This could be a skillset issue on the dealership level, or a management incompetance regarding the management of the shop. There are mechanics/technicians out there who will dig to find the root cause and shop foremen who will let them. Then there are shops where everything must keep moving without enough time allowed for the verification of problem resolution. And those sort of shops exist for all brands and products. These are the places where adjustments are made that "most likely" are causing the problem without taking the time to confirm the issue is corrected.
Your best course of action in these instances is to deal with the manufacturer in a calm but firm manner. I can promise you that the moment you mention lawyer all communication will stop. That's what the manufacturer trains the customer agent to do; when the lawyer card is thrown, shut up and do not say another word. The issue will be escalated up the chain, and not necessarily to a good resolution.
Folks, let's not start aggravation where none exists!
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Dropping tire pressure that much would increase the likelihood of a blowout at freeway speeds, creating liability issues for the company. Increasing tire pressure that much would cause a rock-hard ride over road imperfections, and that would create a whole new set of complaints for Hyundai to deal with.
It's natural for management to back their crew/company. If they can manipulate the PSI by a few lbs, in order to satisfy the customer's complaint, they're going to forge ahead.
I drive w/electronic stability control (ESC) off. I've yet to try switching it on to see if it might make a difference.
Regardless, the car pulls slightly/drifts to the left w/steering wheel slightly shifted CCW from center. The only way to true the wheel is for me to apply a constant CW pressure.
I'm concerned w/drifting into the other lane of traffic as this pull doesn't yank the wheel, yet it's steady and deliberate.
I bought the Sonata after reading all the good reviews.
I will be happy w/overall package if they fix this steering issue of the car pulling left against the crown.
If you have a Sonata that constantly wishes to pull/drift to the left then report the issue.
CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION and HYUNDAI CUSTOMER SERVICE.
The car will drift of into the ditch if you let your hand of the steering wheel.
Other issue I am noticing is the steering wheel is tilted and will not hold steady at center.
I already called Hyundai Consumer Affairs once and they recommended the dealer to do the following adjustments but still no improvement.
1) check tire pressure
2) Align the car
3) Perform relearn procedure for steering angle
4) Reset the electronic motor driven power steering
I will call them again. I have also called NHTSA and reported the issue.
As for the actual struts. Will have to wait and see if there is any improvement once I get them replaced.
I have also filed a complaint with NHSTA.
I bought it new, no discount for left drift, expect it to track true and have the steering wheel stay at a level position upon release on a straight section of average highway.
I tried ESC on & off w/no noticble difference in the left pull/drift.
I can simulate what the service manager said he could accomplish by making the car track right.
However, you quickly run out of room, from starting on the right hand side.
If in a straight stretch you very slowly turn right, and hold the wheel for a moment, then release sometimes it will continue to track right.
However, most of the time, if there's enough room, it will start towards the right and then come back to the left once again pulling against the crown.
SO I am sitting here trying to decide if I want to trade it in on a new SE Turbo..good price on the Turbo and $4000 more on the trade in than ANY Other car dealer.
If it is opening when you close the front doors, the sunroof is not securely installed. It's amazing that three dealers would tell you everything is normal.
Did they figure out what caused the smoking? Sounds like your car has some definate electrical issues, would this not qualify it under your state's lemon law?
What car did you buy?the GLS SE or Turbo?