| Issue ID | 826591 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 10364295 |
| Manufacurer | HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY |
| Brand | HYUNDAI |
| Model | SONATA |
| Model Year | 2010 |
| File date | 20/05/10 |
| Component | VISIBILITY |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | My 2010 hyundai sonata has a low beam defect that is a danger to drive at night , especially on hilly country roads. There is a black band that erases the field of view for objects on or alongside the road. By the time the car had 5k miles on her - she had been in twice to have the headlights checked and i was told they were adjusted as high as they could go and to use high beams if i couldn't see. I called hyundai customer service and after getting nowhere i finally got a manager on the line and he promised that an engineer would be sent to my dealership and look over the problem -this never happened so when i called i was told to go back to the dealership so they could look at the lights again i get flashed by oncoming cars because they think my highs are on when they are not. I can't imagine what they see when my highs are on. If i drive under streetlights or have oncoming cars in my view i don't see the black band but what i do see is my lights bouncing off road signs with only splotches of letters being illuminated and the rest of the sign dark. If something , like a deer, were in the road or by the side of the road i would never see it. I do not want to cause an accident, kill someone, hit debris in the road or hurt myself in a crash because the lights have a faulty design. . I read that other 2010 sonata owners are having this same problem so when is hyundai going to do something about it and fix the problem or replace our cars? I wrote to hyundai and they claim that the lights are working as designed and i should take my car in to check my lights if i am having problems. I had already been told by the service center during my first visit that it is a design flaw so i'm sensing a catch 22 here. I called the service center and told them i need to have a technician drive the car in the dark before closing hours. In the meantime, and until this gets fixed , the black band greatly impedes night driving and is a hazard. |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 1500 |
| Number of Occurences | 1 |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | SMITHVILLE FLATS, NY |
| VIN pattern | 5NPET4AC3AHXXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | |
| No. of fatalities | |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | |
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| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 40 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |