2016/2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Crossover Recall

It’s a factual statement that Hyundai is calling back on users of Hyundai Santa Fe Crossover 2016 and 2017 models to bring in their cars.

With over 34,000 Hyundai Santa Fe Crossover sold, the 2016 and 2017 model of the Hyundai car has been termed unsafe until some readjustments are done on it.

A statement explaining the configuration of the affected parts of the Hyundai Santa Fe Crossover was released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) earlier this year to reiterate this recent report by Hyundai.

The car in subject is designed with an integrated switch to monitor the status of the occupant seat belt buckle (buckled or unbuckled). There is therefore a lot of wiring in here and the unusual thing is that the seat belt buckle is attached to the seat assembly by the seat supplier. So when the vehicle’s ignition is turned to the ON position, the seat belt warning chime and light are activated in accordance with S7.3 of FMVSS No. 208. Thus, in the affected vehicles, the wires in the seat belt buckle harness may be damaged by the seat’s height adjuster mechanism.

The actual sense the technological reason for the new wiring feature is to constantly remind the occupant the use of the seat. But when things go wrong (when the wires in the seat belt buckle is damaged by the seat’s height adjustment), the occupant can then experience an electrical problem. The reminder sound might trip off and if there’s an accident and the belts aren’t engaged, occupants could be exposed to far greater risk of injuries.

Also as further explained by NHTSA, when the wires has been tampered, even if the occupant has his belt, the warning chime and indicator light could remain on causing an entirely frustrating ride.

The recall is only for all 2016 and 2017 Santa Fe crossover and it is to span within late 2015 to 2016. All 2016 and 2017 Santa Fe crossover users are expected to present their vehicle within this stated period for repair. A total number of 34,000 users were estimated.

Would this ‘expensive’ error by Hyundai negatively taint the image of the car company? We think it’s just technology gone wrong. The concept was for good reason but not enough safety tests were carried out.

Hyundai as therefore asked all owners of their latest Santa Fe crossover for a free fixing of their vehicle.