Has anyone had a Timing Belt Break?

If yes, would very much appreciate some details including the model, year, and mileage. Did engine damage occur?
Opinions on the need to change the belt at 60,000 miles?
I have a 2001 Tib and a 2001 Accent. Both have about 70,000 miles. Dealer wants about $400 to change the belt so I’m looking at an $800 repair bill.  Read a previous post that indicated the belt that was replaced at around 75,000 miles looked almost new.  Don’t want to spend the bucks if the chances of one breaking are very slim.
 
TIA

Well if you bought the vehicles new then the 100,000 mile warranty is still intact...and the scheduled maintenance requires a new timing belt around the 60,000 mile interval.If the belts were to break before the 100,000 mile mark i doubt the warranty would be honored to repair the engines due to not having it changed.In my opinion,an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...say $400 is better than a new engine to pay for around $2000+ id imagine.

Thanks for the reply.  I’m all for the ounce of prevention thing but also know that some scheduled maintenance recommendations may be way over emphasized, thus unnecessary as far as the interval is concerned.  On the flip side have also seen examples of manufactures making no mention of maintenance items that should be done on a regular basis.
 
Given this item is not cheap I would like to insure I'm throwing $$$ toward something that is unnecessary. 
 
I suspect there are a good number of folks that have over 60,000 mile and have not replaced the timing belt.  Also, I do not recall seeing a single post from anyone who has experience a broken belt (not claiming there are none..just haven’t seen any)
 
IT would be great to get some feedback with model, year and mileage from those who have over 60K and have not replaced the belt 
 
Thanks!!!

What are the regular maintenance items which the manufacturers don't mention?
I have never heard of a timing belt breaking. I think it is more likely it would wear and then jump over a gear tooth than break.

Belts reach a point in life when they are more apt to break. Manufacturers have come up with a milage figure where the belt is still safe and replace it at that level. Yes, you can push it well above that figure or it may even fail prematurely. Ever buy something new and had to return it in the next few days as it was faulty. Yep, you can keep the belt and wonder if it will go at 99,000 miles, Murphy's law prevails. I have seen them break but not at under 100k. Even if it just slips timing, that  can put the valve vs piston timing out of sinc and destroying the motor.
Hyundai is not the only one requiring belt change at that interval. Toyota is around 70k.If its under warranty, you have little choice. You can find a shop manual and try to do it yourself. The belt and pulleys are around $140. Hyundai is stingy with their later year manuals and cant be found, yet. Even the DIY forum that you can subscribe to can only get some of the 06 Hyundai specs.
 
When I find an item questionable on my car I ask myself, do I want to change it in the comfort of my drive way with all the tools and parts store near by, or on the side of the road in 90 degree weather and wife and kids in the car melting away, or in drenching  rain.

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I broke a timing belt on an Escort at 84,000 miles.  If it had been an interference engine (i.e., valves and cylinders collide if timing is off), the car would have been trash.  As it was, I was able to get it going again.
 
Hyundais do have interference engines.  If the timing belt snaps, the engine is toast, plain & simple.  AND the timing belt is required to be replaced at 60,000 miles.  If you're up to 70k, you're on borrowed time.  If it snaps and the engine needs to be replaced, it will NOT be covered under warranty under any circumstance.
 
You need to get those belts changed ASAP.
 

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I’m all for the ounce of prevention thing but also know that some scheduled maintenance recommendations may be way over emphasized, thus unnecessary as far as the interval is concerned.

 
This is not an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure; it's more like a TON of cure.  Your engine will certainly be trash if your belt goes.  I've heard of it happening on other Hyundai forums, and people are very disappointed when the engine replacement is NOT covered under warranty.  Basically, if you haven't done that required maintenance and it breaks, you don't have a leg to stand on.

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One reason i had mine done at dealership at the 62,000 miles interval at a little under $400 was so that if it wasnt put on right by their service technicians and it screwed my engine up.....then its their problem to replace the engine with or without the warranty.I wonder if a person gets someone else to replace the belt and lets say it jumps a tooth after 5,000 miles and screws the engine up bad.....is the service warranted by the mechanic you chose to do the work or will your dealership where you bought the car honor the warranty if you hired someone else to replace the belt.?The way i did it.....their people changed the belt and its their warranty and service reputation at stake,seems it be a whole lot easier to win an arguement about who is going to foot the bill for repair or replacement of an engine.

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If you're comfortable with your own mechanical abilities then by all means do the maintenance of changing the timing belt yourself.My point is that in this imperfect world that a handshake and word of an individual who might work on an automobile is not worth a pile of doo in today's court.If you want to save money and have a local mechanic do the job instead of the dealership just remember one thing....get it it writing of a warranty on their workmanship just in case they screw up on this one job.Money may make the world go round but paper and ink helps keep it together.And by the way.....im about $785 short of the $800 an hour plateau but am living comfortably at the other financial decisions i make.

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That's the beauty of a warranty being in writing as opposed to the local grease monkey down the block saying...."Yep,it'll be right as rain when i get done with her."Also,there's always the Hyundai Motor Company to vent to if the dealerships dont do right by their customers and they have a little bit more pull on the dealerships than the average customer would over their friendly neighborhood mechanic.

 If you own a 4 cylinder sonata you had better do the timing belt on time. As for techs keeping one eye on the clock, well that is a mentality that some have toward dealers.I have worked for an indy repair shop before and I find they are worse than dealers as for customer satisfaction.I have to have customer satisfaction or it costs me money.Everyone thinks the dealer is out to get them.Not all. It is a buisness in which every tech is his own boss.He decides how much money he makes and if he upsets customers due to vehicle not being fixed right the first time then he loses money.Timing belts and tensioners should be replaced every 60k like clockwork.If you dont then you can likely buy an engine.I have seen hundreds of broken timing belts.On one hand I can count how many before 60,000 miles.On the other hand how many made it to 80,000 miles.The rest is within those mileages.If you stay by the recommended service intervals you wont run into a warranty problem.

Hey… many thanks for all of the input.  I had forgotten about the post and just stumbled upon it again today.    Have since sold the Tib but my daughter still drives the Accent. Going on 66K now and have decided (based on all of the input) to take it to the dealer.  Just don’t trust myself with tackling that job.    
Thanks.. again..

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i havent had one break but hyundai wont do warranty work on my car anymore because they say that since i didnt have the timing belt replaced at 60.000 miles i broke the contract that i signed when i bought the car      so they have lost me when i go to buy a new car

If it it didn't break and you replaced it after 60,000 miles, your warranty is still intact. For the warranty to be broken, any failure that occurs has to be due to something you did (like put on parts that ruined something or raced the car), or something you were supposed to do but didn't (like if the timing belt breaks because you didn't do it).  However, if you replace the timing belt after the recommended maintenance inteval and it hadn't broken, your warranty is still intact.  Bear in mind, though, that your bumper-to-bumper warranty ended at 60,000 miles regardless of mainenance that was or wasn't done.  The only warranty you still have, and this is only if you're the original owner, is the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.  And this only covers the mechanical powertrain components (not the electrical sensors and controls).
 
Was there a warranty repair they did not cover?  What kind of repair was it? 

Tuscon 2005, under 50,000 miles, took all of the engine valves with it and now i have been fighting with hyundai for a month to replace the engine, over $7,000!! great warrenty!! not!!

wow, not even 50,000 miles yet... yikes, did hyundai get the cheapest parts for their vehicles or what?