2008 Hyundai Tucson
This year drew an ordinary 43 complaints for a Hyundai Tucson — the model's median is 185. What they were about is the unusual part: 20.9% of them mention wheel, against 7.4% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Hyundai Tucson, which began in 2005 and ran to 2009. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 43 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 185 |
| Involving a crash | 5 |
| Involving a fire | 5 |
| Recalls | 1 |
| EPA combined | 21 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- wheel — 20.9% of this year's complaints, against 7.4% across the other years of this generation (2.8×).
- must — 7% of this year's complaints, against 1.1% across the other years of this generation (6.5×).
- attempting — 7% of this year's complaints, against 1.5% across the other years of this generation (4.7×).
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
STEERING WHEEL LOCKED WHILE DRIVING, UNABLE TO TURN WHEEL. BRAKE LIGHT AND EMERGENCY BREAK LIGTH WENT ON - ON DASHBOARD. HAPPENED 3 TIMES IN 3 DAYS. AT 5 MPH, 10MPH AND 25MPH. LUCKILY THESE WERE ON CITY SIDE STREETS AND 1X WHILE PARKING. TYPICALLY WHEN ATTEMPT…
THE STEERING WHEEL SEIZED UPON STARTING AND WHEN ATTEMPTING TURNS. THE FAILURE RECURRED ON AN INTERMITTENT BASIS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE STEERING RACK AND PUMP NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 13V113000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
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 2008 Hyundai Tucson? What happened to yours?
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