Dashboard Cracked~

Hello Everyone... *Newbie to the Forum *

My wifes 2006 Azera Limited has a crack in her dash that she spotted a week ago. The car has 16k on it and I couldn't imagine the dash cracking...?
But yes it is actually cracked, it seems to be around the deployment door that would flap open to let the airbag out. The stretchy crack seems to curve at the end as if it is following the airbag door...?

PS: I have never used Armor All... My father told me ever since I was a kid it cracks dashes... I use a terry cloth & water... Thats all... L :(

Attached are some photo's I took of her dashboard:


** Top right look at the crack...?**


** Close-Up of the crack notice it turning left toward the other end of the airbag panel?**


**Close up of the crack... So sad!

That is pretty strange... I wonder if the airbag had a malfunction and tried to deploy.  Was it there all of a sudden, or small at first and keeps growing?

Jim,
 
That is really bad news.  This is the first time I have heard of a dash cracking since the cars of the 70s.  I thought this problem was solved.  I wonder what cheap material Hyundai is using?
 
I know that you live in a moderate climate so it can't be from temperature extremes.  That was the main cause of dash cracks in the older cars.  General Motors and Nissan had the most problems.  General Motors had huge dashes with a lot of exposure and the Japanese used cheap vinyl.
 
I noticed in one of your close up photos that the dash material seems somewhat thin.  Another problem with the Azera may be the fact that the dash surface is flat and quite large, similiar to the older GM cars.  Does your wife work, and if so, is the car left outside all day?
 
Of course you are covered under warranty but never the less, it is going to be an inconvenience with your car out of commission for who knows how long.
 
Be sure to keep us posted as to the outcome.
 
David <><

Is the dealer covering this under warranty?  They should be, especially with a safety issue involved.

Hey guys-

Just came back from the dealer and they said it would take up to one week to fix this. I thought that was insane... But if they really can fix it then hell I will leave it for a month and drive the wife to her vanpool everyday.

    As for the material it is the seam around the airbag like I thought it was that is shrinking and eventually cracked. My wife parks it outside everyday and uses a sunsheild. Her VW turbo beetle never had this problem. Heck that dash was like 5 feet deep!! And she never shielded it from the sun... Oh well live and learn I guess...

PS: I will keep you guys posted when I drop it off and the out come when I get it back forsure!

Take care,

If it takes that long, the dealer should supply a loaner for something covered under the warranty.

Good photos. I agree the cause is the airbag deployment seam. It was probably cut (or molded) too deep and direct sunlight shrinked the (likely)urethane foam; as an old plastics engineer this has happened before and it is almost impossible to weed out in quality checks. The dealer probably wuill have a wait of at least a week for a replacement part and it should take at least 2 days to replace. Dashboards are a very difficult place to work on. Be glad it should be a warranty repair. cheers.

Yeah, mine did this as well after about 10mo of ownership.  Dealer replaced under warranty.  took about a week to get part in and a day to replace (dealer estimated 2 days)  I would advise though to let your dealer take as much time as necessary to ensure everything is fitted right and put back together securely.  You WILL notice if it done half-assed because your dash will inevitably develop creaks and rattles.

  On my 10 hour drive home yesterday I noticed that mine has started to split as well.  **sigh**  This sucks.

Man this is getting sad to hear everyone going though my depressing ordeal... I STILL HAVE A CRACK! The dealership we normally take it to were A##holes. Tried another dealership and said there was a 2mth back order for the dash pad... *Cough* BS..... So I went to Hyundai's corporate Finance office near my house in Fountain Valley, Ca. Talked to the receptionist who introduced me to a customer service gal who takes care of Warranty questions. And she said it's a known issue and a TSB will be issued soon according to her with no date. She gave me a name of a good Hyundai Dealership in Long Beach, Ca and I just have not had the time to shoot over there and leave the damn car...

*** EVERYONE that is going though this. Keep everyone posted on your experience with the dealer and how long the whole process took? ****

Take care guys!
Love my wifes Azera, am tempted with the Genesis but not if this crap keeps happening...!
 

This is costing Hyundai a lot in terms of money, but probably even more in terms of PR.  Your quote is very telling:  "Love my wifes Azera, am tempted with the Genesis but not if this crap keeps happening...!"  They need to take care this before it turns into a PR blunder.  I bet they are just about ready to strangle their supplier for the dash pads.

My dealer took care of it right away and put their best technician on it (which is probably why it only took a day)  They told me I was their first Azzy that had this problem but they had several sonatas they had to replace the dash on.  When I brough it in I kind of got this look from the service manager like oh great...here we go with this model.  Nothing but apologies for the inconvenience and I can't believe this happened - I'm terribly sorry's though.  A word to anyone out there's dealer who may be attempting to replace one for the first time.  According to my service director it was a B**ch to put in and they questioned several times during the install if it was the correct part.

Hey, Jim.  I'm the newest newbie from the OC - probably seen you rollin' near the 55/405/73 golden triangle.  Happy to hear the dealer in Long Beach has a good rep in Fountain Valley.  My '07 just turned over 5,000 miles and has logged zero time in a service bay since its first oil change in July.  Do I understand that your experience with the dealers in Costa Mesa, Irvine and Santa Ana is less than satisfactory?

Azera007 - From what I read Costa Mesa Hyundai is a dive... And not sure about one in Santa Ana... sorry took so long to get back...

I will update everyone with new photos of our dash NOW! I really been procrastinating to see what the effects would be. Seemed like the cracking stopped until looked closer a week ago, now it's on the way to making an entire "outline" of the airbag door... This will be taken care of soon, since we have a new sound from the engine I reallllllly want to be looked at. Sounds like the water pump bearing is going bad... NOT COOL!

Take Care everyone,

Not that I wish this problem on anyone else, but I'm glad to find others who share this disheartening problem with their Azera.  I had not had my 2006 for more than 6 months when I noticed a 2 inch, curved crack in my dashboard around the airbag.  My Hyundai dealer was perplexed, but immediately orded a new dashboard under warranty.  It took a couple of weeks to get it in, but only one day to replace.  As others stated, I wouldnt rush this job as they have to disconnect and reconnect alot of electrical to replace dashboard.  I was very pleased with the service my dealer provided.  
 
Now the fun part....another 8 months and...you guessed it...my dashboard is cracking again.  Same as last time, I noticed a small crack that continued to grow...and now the same is happening on the other side...soon it will be around the entire airbag.  The dealership is waiting to hear a resolution from the warranty rep, but that was 2 oil changes ago!
 
I'll keep you posted on my progress.

 
I have one question:
 
What color are the bad dashes.
 
In other words, are the bad dashes all colors or simply some of the available colors.
 
My '07 uses a light colored dash material.
 
I'm thinking that the dashes may be splitting on the darker colored dashes only?
 
Sorry to hear about this problem.
 
I'm in So Cal also!
 
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Derrel H Green



I have one question:

What color are the bad dashes.

In other words, are the bad dashes all colors or simply some of the available colors.

My '07 uses a light colored dash material.

I'm thinking that the dashes may be splitting on the darker colored dashes only?

Sorry to hear about this problem.

I'm in So Cal also!

Very good question Derrel... Have no clue.

* But they just replaced my wifes dash pad which is the dark one. Everything seems good...

The other thing that was wrong was the rear brakes needed to be "adjusted" and cleaned since it was making a horrific sound from the drivers rear. I knew what it was and they seemed to fix it. So kudos to them... But man I don't want to post anymore cracking dash photos up.............!! So mine better not crack...

We need to do a poll and see what colors people have crack the most!

Laters

Forgot to add there is one problem... Upon installing the dash they now seemingly got the ESC OFF light to stay on. But it does turn off when in [P] and the button is pressed. Then turns right back on when I start to move at all.
-- Anyone got any ideas on this or am I in for a friggin' trip to the dreaded Dealership?

Take care everyone!

Spoolen,
Your engine noise is probably a noisey idler pulley.  Should be an easy fix for a dealer.  The ESC OFF light concern may be a bad circuit in the brake lamp switch which would also be an easy fix.  Double check that your brake lights are functioning correctly just to be on the safe side. 
 
As far as Azera dashes go, I''ve seen 2 so far in 10 months so its not a very common problem.  Haven''t seen a TSB released for the issue so the only cure is to just replace them as they come. 

Eric, Spoolen asked that question almost a year ago: 12/10/2007 4:02:11 PM 

quote:

ORIGINAL: NovaResource

Eric, Spoolen asked that question almost a year ago: 12/10/2007 4:02:11 PM 

Hey not a problem... Thanks for the replies both of you... :)
  Our dash is looking good since being replaced almost a year ago now. No lights are on... Turning the ESC light on was a faulty switch, so they said but its been fine ever since...

Again hope all is well with you folks in AZERA land... I went to the Hyundai facility in Fountain Valley over 1.5 months ago since I saw some Genesis outside (13 of em). Man I still like the look of our AZERA compared to it. Just my $.02