Hi there, my new car (which I owe thousands on) had a dashboard light issue. While driving 70 MPH on highway, all of the dashboard lights lit up at once for a moment, and then went back to normal. I am very unhappy about this, since I just bought it exactly 2 months ago. I know it is under warranty, but I do not trust Hyundai to do the right thing. Anyone have any thoughts about/knowledge on why this would happen? Experience with Hyundai fixing/replacing car. Electrical issues are NOT anything to dismiss. Ideally I would want a different car…way too early for something like this and I do NOT want to make payments on something that is already having issues. Thank you.
Model-year, please?
CSA
2016 Hyundai Accent
Describe “all the dashboard lights.” Do you include warning lights and symbols or just night time lighting?
CSA
It’s way too early to be talking about a different car. You need to give the dealer a chance to fix this, so take it in.
Every light on the dash-check engine, seat belt, fluid, battery, air level in tires-every single one of them…all at once.
This should not be happening to a new car. Everyone can agree with that. I will (and have to) take it in, however I owe lots of money on this. Unacceptable for something to go wrong at all.
Car dealers and manufacturers don’t give out new cars when somebody has a problem, but they do provide you with a warranty to cover repairs. Many new cars have a problem or a few problems.
Have you paid more for the car than your budget would allow?
CSA
I am guessing this is your first new car and you are flipping out over spending what seems like a LOT of money and finding out it isn’t perfect. Relax a little, many people go through this with their first new car. Hyundai has the best warranty in the business and you are covered for everything but wear items and fluids. This might be hard for the dealer to find if it only happened once so have a little patience with them.
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First of all, calm down. Give the dealer a chance to fix it before assuming that they’re going to blow you off. I can tell you from experience that some Hyundai dealers are more responsive than others, so if your service department isn’t giving you satisfaction, try a different dealer. Be aware that since this seems to be an intermittent problem, it may be difficult to diagnose, no matter how hard they try. It IS important, however, at this stage to begin documenting the problem because that will be necessary to pursue a lemon law claim if this turns out to be a chronic problem that can’t be fixed. But really, that’s only a remote possibility at this point. Give the dealer a chance and let us know what happens.
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Also, just fyi–my parents bought a new VW (which was not cheap) in 1982 that puked its transmission at 3 months. VW replaced the tranny and that turned out to be the most reliable car they ever owned and was still running fine when the body rotted out at 200k miles. So these things happen. Take it easy.
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Have you had a bad experience with them? Please explain. If possible, try and give them the benefit of the doubt.
Hyundai didn’t want problems with your car, any more than you do. It could turn out to be something fairly minor. Also, as oldtimer 11 has indicated, the problem could be difficult to find in order to remedy it, as intermittent problems often are.
CSA
This is what is called a “sample defect”. Occurs on specific examples of all makes and models. Sounds like it occurred on yours, a bit of bad luck. But not the end of the world. Goes with new car ownership is all.
Something like this could be caused by something simple like a defective battery or battery connections or alternator problem. The dealership should have not problem checking the battery and charging system, the likely have an automated machine to do all that. There are some published technical service bulletins (tsbs) about the battery on this car, there may be something unique in the design of that battery, so you might ask if any of those are pertinent to your problem. The only recall I see applies only to California cars, some kind of emissions testing issue. I don’t see anything specific to the dashboard. My first guess, it’s a problem with the battery or charging system, after that a loose connector under the dash, third most likely is a defective dash module, which the dealership would have to replace under warranty.
There’s not a lot you can do to prevent this kind of thing, other than choosing a make/model/year of vehicle that the reliability statistics say is better reliability that most. Did you check with Consumer’s Reports for what they said about the reliability of this car? It seems like Hyundai’s get pretty good reports here, but Kia’s are maybe a little better on the reliability issue. For econoboxes, Toyotas seem to get the best reliability from reports we see here. At least for the long term, 10+ years. After that, probably Honda.
Yep, that hard-to-find solution is what I am afraid of. It is my first new car. I am distrustful of any and all mechanics, since I bought the car with the best warranty because I have had so many bad mechanics that have taken me for a ride in the past. What everyone is saying is fair, and I did not know that new cars can be buggy. Can’t blame me for being cautious, but I can def. rest a little easier since so many on the forum have said that new cars can have things that come up. Disappointing, but if it is not unheard of, then I can chill while doing all I can to record what is happening in case there is a bigger problem down the road.
I think I read something about a battery problem causing this, so perhaps (hopefully) that is all it was. Thank you.
2016 Hyundai Accent
2016 and 2017 Hyundais were being sold when you bought your car. Seeing that this particular car is a 2016 model-year and was purchased 2 months ago, it’s possible that it sat in inventory for a while. Although we can’t know for sure that this is a battery related problem, that situation can be problematic for a car’s battery.
Not blaming anybody, but sometime a battery can become discharged by sitting for a while and necessitates recharging. That is tough on a battery. Almost every car manufacturer is aware of this and has some procedures in place for dealers. Hyundai is no exception.
Here’s a TSB (technical service bulletin) written for Hyundai New Car Departments and technicians on properly checking and maintaining batteries of cars in inventory.
It includes an admonition pertaining to timely inspecting and carefully maintaining the batteries or risking the loss of warranty coverage on them. (Note: In my opinion if the dealer loses warranty coverage on the battery then they would be obligated to warrant the battery to you. It shouldn’t be your problem).
http://www.revbase.com/BBBMotor/TSb/DownloadPdf?id=194617
CSA
Wow. Thank you. I knew this site would be helpful. In all honesty, I saw the sales ppl jump start the battery when I was test driving it. I did not make a fuss because I understand that the car probably was sitting for a long time and that is what happens to cars when they sit. So what do I do now?
you make the fuss you should have made before you bought the car. Take it to the dealer you bought it at, explain what is happening, explain that you watched them jump start this very car off the lot, and have them do a complete inspection- including load testing the battery and checking the cables for cleanliness/tightness.
Your car shouldn’t be having these issues, but things happen- even with new cars.
Piggybacking on what @eddo has suggested, I’d want a check on all of the car’s charging system (including alternator).
That’s not the best way to charge a dead battery… jumping it (to crank the starter) and then putting all the load on the car’s charging system and it expect it to charge the battery(that system is intended to maintain a charged battery, not charge a dead battery)… besides there’s too good a chance that a careless or inexperience person, helping out on the lot, can cause damage to the electrical system.
It would be better to charge the car’s battery with an outside (outside of the car’s onboard system) charger and then starting the car.
Of course, what’s better than that is maintain the batteries in accordance with what Hyundai has outlined in a rather detailed TSB (linked in a post above) that was sent to the dealers!
CSA
If you were talking to me in reference to the link, you’re welcome.
You can do more “googling” on this subject, but here’s a blurb from a battery manufacturer (Optima).
"Tips & Support Posted: Aug 01, 2012
Fact: Alternators are not designed to charge dead batteries"
https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/experience/2012/08/fact-alternators-are-not-designed-charge-dead-batteries
The thing is, people do this all the time… and get it away with it most of the time, but not all of the time. That’s why jump starting a car with a dead battery and then letting the car charge it is not recommended!
Here’s some more from Interstate Batteries…
http://www.batteries-faq.com/activekb/questions.php?questionid=8
Look at reason A ( #1) under “What are the most common causes of premature battery failures?”
“Deep discharges (leaving your lights on)”
(My note: Going dead while parked would be a deep discharge or fairly deep discharge)
CSA