Hyundai recalls 50,000 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe models for faulty airbags that can deploy at random or not function at all due to wiring problem.
Hyundai is recalling 50,000 Santa Fes due to an airbag problem.
The 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe has been on the market for less than a year but the SUV has already managed to get its first recall with the Korean car giant being forced to recall 50,000 of them due to faulty airbags. This recall comes at a bad time for Hyundai as the brand prepares to expand its presence in the utility vehicle market.
Airbag problem can cause them to deploy randomly
The problem is focused on a harness that can make contact with the second-row seats causing the airbags to malfunction if it’s damaged.
The problem is caused by a wiring harness that can become damaged with the floor-mounted harness potentially rubbing and chafing itself on the passenger side of the second-row seats. Unsurprisingly, this eventually damages the harness and the compromised electrical hardware can cause the airbag to deploy randomly or not at all.
This cocktail of trouble creates a massive safety problem especially if the airbags deploy when they are not needed while going down the road or not at all if the Santa Fe finds itself in an accident. Thankfully no injuries or accidents have been linked to the problem but separate recall documents from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration revealed that the agency found eight instances of airbag irregularities going all the way back to February 5, 2024, but it’s not known if any of these were unexpected deployments. The same documents also record one instance of a rear-side airbag deploying without warning.
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What’s being done to fix it?
Dealerships have already been notified of the problem with customers expected to get letters in September.
Hyundai says that the fix for this recall is fundamentally simple with dealer technicians inspecting the harness to make sure it isn’t making contact with the seat. If it is making contact and damage is also found, the defective harness will be replaced with a new one that’s shorter and secured so it can’t make any further contact with the seat on that side.
Hyundai has already begun notifying dealerships about the recall but owners will be notified on September 23rd to help give dealerships time to prepare for the recall and get the replacement parts needed. The recalled vehicles themselves are split into two categories with the bulk of them being 40,144 standard models with the Hybrid model making up the remaining 9,575 units.
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