Hyundai Santa Fe Sun Visor Falls Off

eyo

I just found out today that the sun visors are defective and they tend to fall off.
It breaks from the point where it can be turned out to the side. If it does, then it will only hang from the wires,
If it does happen it will be replaced under guarantee, but I feel that this should have been issued in a recall from Hyundai. If it happens when you drive it could disrupt you and cause accident.
So I think everyone should pay attention to this and not to turn it out while driving or at least be ready that it will fall off and hang in front of you.

In my SF first the driver side broke then after a few weeks the passenger side. I guess the time between them was only depending on how much it has been used.

gizzer777

Question: Have you been informed by a dealer or???? that they are defective or is this something that just happened to yours

Has anyone else experienced this? I hate buying 1st year cars but made an exception with the 2007 SF. Mine has been excellent but i do not use it that much.....mostly around town

If it is defective...it is very dangerous, and there should be a recall IMHO

slateblue

I'm sure if there was a wide spread problem with defective sun visors we all would have had an inkling of it before now. After following several different Hyundai forums for the last few years this is the only reference I've read about any problem with sun visors.
What did your dealer have to say about what caused the problem and what will Hyundai correct to insure it does not happen again?

eyo

Well, when the drivers side fell off, I thought maybe someone has pulled it without my knowledge and that caused the damage after some time. They even changed it without a problem, no question asked when I reported it at the service. When the passenger side fell off, I thought there is something wrong. Then when I spoke to the guy to who I hand over the car, said they will change it. I asked if it has happened to other SF cars and he said yes there is a problem with it and it has been already reported to the factory and modification are being made. So I asked what if this falls off again and I’m already over the warranty mileage. He said that will be my problem and I will have to pay for the replacement.
This is what I heard and what I know. I hope it’s not true, but isn’t it strange that both of my sun visor fell off?

lpwatchdog

The passenger sun visor broke in my 15 year old son's hand last week. At first I was angry because I thought he broke it, but then I realized I could see him as he opened it and he had only opened the visor like any other person would open it. It came off in his hand and was hanging by the wires. I took it to the dealer and they said it was not defective and that my son must have pulled too hard on it and broke it. To replace it would cost me over $250. Yes, $250, it's not a typo mistake. I drove the car home and dismantled the visor myself and when I took it down it was clear that the problem was that the ball and socket is made of cheap plastic and it is just a matter of time before this happens to anyone who owns one of these vehicles. Be very careful if you already own one and if you are thinking about buying this vehicle, beware that they will not honor the warranty. So much for Hyundai's best warranty in the business. I have had problems with the automatic fuel cap opener and the cigarette lighter too. Maybe my car is just a lemon, but I doubt it. :mad:

eyo

It’s definitely not your sons fault. It will happen sooner or later to almost every one of the SF owners, it’s only a question of time. Watch out for the driver side.
I guess mine did it quiet early because it has 40000 miles in it and it’s 1 & 1/2 years old.
I think you should complain in an e-mail to the HQ, they should know about the issue. Don’t pay for it, fight for it, it’s a manufacturer defect! It must be replaced free of charge.

jackcob

Is there any way to have the lighter and/or other power outlets be on when the car is turned off? My other cars always were wired that way. There are times when you want to leave an item to be charged (cell phone, etc) while you are in having lunch or whatever.

somedai1

i think cars wired that way have more problems with the battery draining down by mistake....

graycar

This also happened to mine (drivers side). The dealer replaced it no charge. I asked the service guy if I was the first. He said no.

joshknoedler

Same exact problem with the drivers side visor on my mother's Santa Fe. I agree that it is very dangerous. It was bungee corded up there after it broke and came undone while I was driving it. The bungee almost hit me in the face and the visor fopped down, dangling by the wires right in my line of site. Dealership wants almost $300 to fix it. pfffffftt!

bearie

I have a 2004 SF V6 and about a year ago, my mirror light stopped working, which I really don't use on the driver side and then I heard a click and the mirror cover fell off. Within 2 months of that incident, the sun visor itself started to break down (plastic) and then while driving it fell dangling by wire in front of my face while doing 70 on freeway. I had to find a safe place and pull over to fix. I went to the dealership parts department and he said they were having trouble, but I was out of warranty and it would cost me $230 or about, I said no thanks. I made a make shift device to hold in place. Left it in the down position since I do a lot of driving.

Anyone know where to get one cheap? I thought of a pick a part store, but unless a Hyundai has been in a major accident, they don't have them.

spember

My 2007 Santa Fe SE had the same problem. The driver's side sun visor broke and dangled from the electrical wire. The dealer in So CA wanted to charge $114 for the visor and $133 for installation... a total of $258 with tax. I found the part online at www.shophyundaiparts.com for $80 & shipping and installed it myself. I had the part in two days.

The installation took all of 10 minutes.... very easy... using 1 flathead and 1 phillips head screwdriver. Just pry off the triangular cover, unscrew two screws, unplug the socket for the electrical connection and reinstall in the reverse order. Doing it myself saved almost $170.

tomzpc

Just had this problem occur with my driver side visor. Went to adjust it while driving and down it came, hanging by the wire right in front of my face. This is a major safety issue.

mtnman1

What a coincidence. I have a 2011 Kia Sorento and the same exact thing happened to me when I flipped the visor down in my driveway just two days ago. It was still hooked into the clip, but the post that is inserted in the hole in the headliner came completely out. I consider the two the same vehicle. I reported this to a representative at Kia Motors, not my local dealership, today. Of course, the representative at Kia said she had never heard of this issue. This is just one of the growing list of problems that I have with this vehicle which I purchased back in June. It only has about 3500 miles on it. First problem that I encountered was that the Automatic Climate Control quit working at 600 miles was replaced then stopped again at about 2200 miles. The service department said that rather than replace the sensor they were passing it along to Kia engineering. Started working again one week later, but now the A/C is always on even when we just want to allow outside air to flow in. Also, has numerous rattles inside the cabin. So many that I can't begin to explain to the dealership where they are coming from because they are coming from everywhere. Just a major disappointment. This is the first time in my 54 years that I have absolutely regretted buying a vehicle. I emphatically profess to never buy another vehicle from Hyundai/Kia again in my life. I should have stuck with my 2004 Mercury Mountaineer which was the best vehicle I have ever owned along with the 2009 Fusion which I still currently own and love.

jcspohr

The passenger visor on my 2007 SF Limited broke (at the pivot point) this weekend.

I want to replace it myself since I'm past the bumper-bumper warranty and I'm not going to shell out $250+ to the dealer that has me spitting nails over a warranty claim they denied for an armrest.

I can't find the part online however. I need a Passenger Side Visor that is Gray on both sides (with Sunroof).

Can anyone provide a part number or site that has it?

All the ones I find are Beige or Gray/Black and I think i need Gray/Gray.

Thanks in advance for your time and effort.

John

oscar_gata

Order the grey/black. The color probably refers to the interior color, and all gray and black interiors have the same color head liner - gray. Don't they have pictures for you to look at?

jcspohr

Nope - none of the parts sites show a color picture.

I tried to order through my dealer but they require the VIN to get the correct version and I did not have it handy (wife was driving when I called the dealer).

I may just take a chance and order the gray/black as you suggest.

Thanks,

kcm221

I bought my 2007 Santa Fe Limited new from a Hyundai dealer in town. About a month ago I was driving and the drivers side visor decided it wouldn't stay in place any longer. Within a week, I was holding it my hand as the entire piece had fallen out of the connector, wires and all. I called the dealer and was informed the part alone was $110. I figured surely I could install it myself. But once I did a quick search online, I come to find out this is a common problem, none of which the dealership bothered to mention of course. I have had my car serviced there since purchasing until recently due to poor customer service issues and the thought of paying them another dime made me a bit sick. After reading up on the forum, I used the website recommended and ordered it for $83. At least I saved something but still, the thought that this should be a safety recall is really starting to irritate me enough to start going up the chain to get my money back. Guess it just takes enough people to call them on it before they're willing to do anything.

rvanstell

I just had this happen with my 04 Santa Fe. Didn't know it was a common problem. Can anyone recommend any after market web sites to get the visor part cheaper then the dealership? I can install it myself.

anilp

Hi,
I am searching for the same part, driver side Sun Visor, on the web for my '01 Santa Fe. One of the old post said about web site www.shophyundaiparts.com But I had no luck finding it.

Were you able to find the part? Any help would be highly appreciated.
Thanks.

luhoga

I just found it

you go to

www.shophyundaiparts.com

then when you are in hyundai santafe on the left list, click on
Roof
then click on
Interior trim
then click on
sun visor

anilp

Thanks for your help I was able to find, thanks for your step by step guidance.

luhoga

yw

kmoxford21

Thanks and yes it should be a safety problem

guerramaskllp

I was wondering if you had a picture of this?

guerramaskllp

I was wondering if you had a picture of this?

pookie61

I too have an 07 Santa Fe. One fine day on the freeway my visor just fell broke loose as I was swinging it from side to front. I had to hold the visor with one hand and drive with the other to get off the fwy to where I could check out what happened. I found a very thin peice of plastic that appears to connect the visor to the swing arm had cracked off. About 2wks later the passenger-side visor broke also, same place. FROM TUSTIN HYUNDAI SERVICE DEPT: I brought both detached visors to service dept yesterday 3/1/2012. Service rep Trina said the visors break on a lot of Hyundai's, she even pointed to the cracked area before I did. Because I paid $1,255 for the extended warranty I felt confident these would be covered. NOPE! Trina advised me they are not, I was later told their ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS EACH and that I would have to pay for them. NOPE AGAIN!! I'm taking mine to the nearest Hyundai office and filing a formal complaint. THIS is CRAP folks!!!!!!!

wosme

this just happened to my car too. I have a 2008 that I bought new, but had 6000 miles on it from the dealership manager's usage. My car now has 63000 miles, so it is out of warranty for this repair, although it wouldn't have been if I hadn't bought their "demo" car. I'm ticked off about it too. The problem started the day after I took my car in to Hyandai for new brakes & the air bag light recall. I flipped down the visor, and it fell out, hanging by the cords. I thought they had broken it, since it worked fine before I took my car in. They want to charge me $160 to replace the visor.

catkins99

I have the same situation with my 2007 Sante Fe purchased at Green Hyundai in Springfield and am also out of warranty at 55,000 miles. Seems that since this has been going on since 2004 there would be a service bulletin on it and a call back to repair it for free. I think it is a safety problem also especially since it is on the driver's side. Green wants $169 to repair it too. Not me! We have had 3 Hyundai vehicles in our family and this will be the last! Not happy with the 18 mpg either. Hope I can find the part from the instructions given. Thanks guys!

roscoe33

I had the same problem. the small piece of plastic that holds the post breaks. This is a very poor design! I trimmed away some of the plastic near the top of the post, slid a washer down the post and folded back the top of the posts. I wish I could add a picture to this post. does anyone know how to do that? You will have to cut and then re-solder the wires for the light switch.

stever

You can park the photo at an image hosting site like Flickr or Tinypic.com. Then click the IMG button and paste the URL of the photo there and click the IMG button again to close the "code".

Or you can just post the link to the photo on the hosting site.

southsloper

Hi Roscoe33, did you ever get a chance to post your image? Here's a photo of the broken visor bit from my Santa Fe that I posted on Hyundai-Forums.com:



Cheers!

roscoe33

link title

roscoe33

Hi all, Let me know if you were able to get the picture link. "Link title" above. I'm glad to say the fix is still working fine. We now have a problem with the gas gage. (another quality design problem). Light keeps coming on when tank is half filled.

stever

Link works fine for me, thanks!

southsloper

Yes, as Steve replied, the link worked and I've copied your photo to my PicasaWeb account so I could link directly to it and have the photo appear inline. I will try that fix myself, and if that fails, I got a note from a member of the Hyundai Forum, to find a 2008/2009 version of the visor from a used parts dealer (i.e. scrap yard), here's that thread: 2007 sante-fe-sun-visor-broken if you're interested. I'll post your photo there so that other Santa Fe owners with the problem can try it too. Thanks!

roscoe33

Thanks for passing it along, I think I did the fix back in August and its still working fine.

bigdawg8

southsloper's fix gave me motivation for a slightly improved fix, but requires a trip to the hardware store. In the plumbing section, they sell 1/4" compression fittings that come with a brass insert with a flare at the end. The brass insert is essentially a mini brass tube that's approximately 1/2" long with a flare on the end. The tube slips perfectly into the inside of the metal tube of the visor where the plastic piece broke off. What you can do it is slide a washer over the mini brass tube(acts as a stop like the washer in southsloper's picture) and then epoxy it to the inside of visor's metal tube. I use some clear JB weld(4400 psi). I also put a small bead on the top edge of the visor's plastic bearing/support piece so when I pushed the mini brass tube in, the washer was also epoxied in place to give it some extra strength. Don't get too sloppy with the epoxy though, don't want the plastic bearing to get 'stuck'. Did both driver/passenger side for < $10!

bonita0_1

After changing out the visor, I am having a problem...my car alarm goes off every time I try to lock it. Any suggestions?