2005 Hyundai Tucson
This year drew an ordinary 185 complaints for a Hyundai Tucson — the model's median is 175. What they were about is the unusual part: 8.6% of them mention esp, against 1.5% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The Hyundai Tucson was redesigned for 2005. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 185 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 175 |
| Involving a crash | 12 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 8 |
| EPA combined | 21 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- esp — 8.6% of this year's complaints, against 1.5% across the other years of this generation (5.8×). Owners wrote it as: esp, esp light, aug, perform.
- broke — 8.1% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the other years of this generation (3.5×). Owners wrote it as: broke, cable, mechanic stated, broke off.
- intermittently — 6.5% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: intermittently, vehicle able, dealer several, 4wd.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
NEW HYUNDAI TUCSON 5 SPEED MANUAL 4 WHEEL DRIVE(2005) WITH LESS THAN 400 MILES DRIVEN, THE SHIFT LIVE BROKE OFF INSIDE TRANSMISSION. THIS WAS LIFE THREATINING. I WAS IN THE CENTER LANE EAST BOUND ON THE CROSS BRONX EXP. CAR COULD NOT MOVE. I WAS ABOUT ONE MILE…
: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE STARTING THE VEHICLE, IT LURCHED FORWARD AND WOULD NOT ENGAGE INTO GEAR. ALSO WHILE DRIVING, THE 4WD LIGHT INTERMITTENTLY ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER SEVERAL TIMES WHO COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 09V122000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 05V177000 ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL
- 09V280000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 07V197000 AIR BAGS
- 05V315000 PARKING BRAKE
- 05V119000 ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL Fixed free of charge.
- 06V445000 AIR BAGS
- 05V342000 PARKING BRAKE
How this was worked out
Every year of the Hyundai Tucson was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2005 Hyundai Tucson? What happened to yours?
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