My wife & I had a very scary experience on Sunday 26 May in out Hyundai Kona car.
I'd be interested to learn if anyone else on the forum has had his happen - I hope not!
The electrics are so complex in modern cars, but an event occurred which I never could have imagined would happen.
Driving in heavy traffic in torrential rain, about to negotiate a roundabout, all the warning lights on the dashboard lit up - 'ABS Failure, Generator Failure, Power Steering Failure' etc. The car lost power, I had to lug the steering wheel to manhandle the car around the roundabout, and luckily, managed to get to a safe place to park the car and call for assistance. As the car has an electric handbrake, that wouldn't function, so I had to put it in gear to stop it rolling away.
It was later diagnosed as an alternator control panel failure. Had the fault occurred just 15 minutes later, I would have been going uphill on the M1 Northbound, south of Sheffield on a Smart Motorway' section, and could have been in any one of four lanes of heavy traffic in torrential rain, with no hard shoulder. At best, if in the nearside lane the car would have quickly slowed to a halt. A vehicle behind me would seen me slowing down have pulled out to overtake into the next lane, but other vehicles in the lane behind that one wouldn't have observed that my car had stopped. (No hazard warning lights either). Seems to me that a pile-up wouldn't have been just a possibility, but an inevitability. My wife and I would have had just seconds to have tried to exit via the front passenger door and scramble over the barrier and onto the embankment. Mercifully that didn't happen, but it illustrates just how unsafe smart motorways are.
What concerns me greatly is that the control panel is on 'back-order' with no indication of the timeline for availability.
I'd like to think that's because they're no stocked as the rarely fail, but I'm left wondering if this incident is more commonplace. Something so . Cars of any make and model do break down, and ordinarily Hyundai cars in general and the Kona in particular rank highly for reliability, with a five-year warranty and full breakdown cover. The screen washer pump failed the week before. Not safety critical, so I can live with that, but a safety-critical control panel, the failure of which poses a credible threat to life and limb, should be designed with a 'mean time before failure' which exceeds the life of the car.
Reliability of small SUVs aged up to five years old
I've written to the President of Hyundai UK LTD to express my concerns, and it will be interesting to see if I get a response.
Here is the text of my letter:
Mr Ashley Andrew,
President,
Hyundai Motor UK Ltd.,
Birchwood,
Springfield Drive,
Leatherhead,
KT22 7LP
Dear Mr Andrew.
CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF CONTROL BOARD ON HYUNDAI KONA, 998cc HYBRID, REG YX71xxx REGISTERED 1 SEPTEMBER 2021.
I am writing to you to express my deep concern about an event which occurred on Sunday 26 May 2024. I was driving home to East Yorkshire from Derbyshire in heavy traffic and torrential rain, about to negotiate a roundabout to drive downhill into Chesterfield when all the warning lights on the dashboard came on. The engine lost power and the power steering failed. I was able to manhandle the steering wheel to negotiate the roundabout and drive downhill into the town.
Luckily, I was able to coast into the car park of a Retail Park, at which point the engine cut out, and the electric handbrake failed to operate, so I had to put the car in gear to stop it rolling away. I called the Hyundai Assistance number who were very helpful and within minutes the AA attended. The Patrolman diagnosed that the alternator had failed in some way. Although our home was 80 miles away, and out of his normal range, as we are in our 80s and it was pouring with rain, rather than call a breakdown truck which risked a long delay, he kindly towed our car to the Hyundai dealer in Hull from whom we purchased it, (Drive Hyundai, Livingstone Road Hull HU13 0AB), then took us home.
It being Sunday, the Service Dept was closed, but the sales staff were very helpful in making a space available for the car in the car park and looking after the key. It was a Bank Holiday on Monday, so I contacted the Service Department on Tuesday who arranged for it to be looked at promptly. They called me back later to say that it wasn’t the alternator that had failed, but a control board/panel, and that these are on ‘back-order’ with no indication as to when one might become available.
The car is not yet three years old and has done less than 14,000 miles.
Without wishing to sound melodramatic, this is a safety critical component which should last the life of the car, the failure of which could - and almost did - pose a credible threat to life and limb. Had this event occurred 15 miles later, we would have been on an uphill stretch of the M1 Northbound - a Smart Motorway with four lanes of heavy traffic, including the hard shoulder. The car could have failed in any of the four lanes and even if on the inside lane, my wife and I would have been in great danger, having to exit the vehicle and clamber over a barrier onto a steep embankment. Thank heavens that didn’t happen, but it’s hard for us to un-think that scenario.
As the control board/panels are on ‘back order’, I’m left wondering if this is not simply an isolated incident, but a rather more commonplace occurrence – I certainly hope not.
I do have a hire car provided by Hyundai Assistance under the terms of the warranty, but I would like some indication of when my own car is likely to be repaired back on the road, and to address my concerns about the failure of this safety critical component. Drive Hyundai Ltd, Hull, who have the car, are unable to give me any indication of when my car will be roadworthy.
This is our second Hyundai – we had an i30 for five years and it never skipped a beat. The Kona fully meets our needs and is a pleasure to drive, but this event has really dented the confidence we had in Hyundai. Only three days before this incident, the car had been in for the replacement of the windscreen washer pump that had failed.
I would appreciate your early response to my safety concerns.
Yours sincerely,
