2011 HYUNDAI SONATA — Complaint #886142
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about STEERING:GEAR BOX:SHAFT SECTOR filed October 18, 2011
NHTSA complaint #886142 (ODI reference 10430699) concerns a 2011 HYUNDAI SONATA and was filed on October 18, 2011. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 14, 2011. The vehicle had 20,656 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Ohio based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as steering:gear box:shaft sector, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same HYUNDAI SONATA cohort independently describe similar steering:gear box:shaft sector failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2011 HYUNDAI SONATA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH ON A STATE HIGHWAY DURING RUSH HOUR WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ON, THE STEERING WHEEL/CAR SUDDENLY STARTING SHAKING EXTREMELY VIOLENTLY AND IT WAS ALL I COULD DO TO MAINTAIN CONTROL LONG ENOUGH TO PULL OVER AND STOP/INSPECT THE VEHICLE. IT WAS REMARKABLE AN ACCIDENT DID NOT OCCUR AND IF MY CHILD, A NEW DRIVER, HAD BEEN BEHIND THE WHEEL, I AM CERTAIN AN ACCIDENT WOULD HAVE OCCURRED. THE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING (EPS) AND ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AND POWER STEERING NO LONGER WORKED. THE SENSATION I EXPERIENCED WAS VERY MUCH LIKE THAT DESCRIBED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NO. 10V426000. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY ULTIMATELY CONCLUDED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS A BRAKE SWITCH WHICH CAUSED POWER STEERING TO STOP WORKING. THE DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE BRAKE SWITCH, CONCLUDING THAT MY 2011 HYUNDAI SONATA, MANUFACTURED ON 3/11/11, WAS NOT SUBJECT TO THE RECALL INVOLVING STEERING COLUMN INTERMEDIATE SHAFT UNIVERSAL JOINT CONNECTIONS. I AM CURREN
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 886142 |
| ODI Number | 10430699 |
| Date Filed | October 18, 2011 |
| Failure Date | October 14, 2011 |
| VIN | 5NPEC4AC6BH |
Similar STEERING:GEAR BOX:SHAFT SECTOR Complaints for 2011 HYUNDAI SONATA
The contact owns a 2011 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while driving 35 mph, an abnormally loud popping sound was heard inside the vehicle and the steering wheel was shaking and vibrating while dr
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 HYUNDAI SONATA. THE CONTACT STATED WHEN HE MADE A LEFT TURN, HE FELT THE VEHICLE SCRAPED CURB. HE BACKED UP AND PROCEEDED TO DRIVE HOME. THE NEXT DAY, HE NOTICED THE STEERIN
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 HYUNDAI SONATA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN THE DRIVER WAS DRIVING AND ATTEMPTING TO TURN, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT TURN ALTHOUGH THE STEERING WHEEL WAS TURNED. THE VEHICLE CO
AS I WAS DRIVING HOME FROM WORK ON THE HIGHWAY THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP AND STARTED SHAKING FOR ABOUT FIVE MINUTES AS IF IT WERE POSSESSED. I WAS NOT ABLE TO PULL OVER BECAUSE OF THE STRENGTH OF T
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.