2011 Sonata that will not start
 

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the forum, but I'm having a major problem. I purchased a 2011 Sonata new in Dec 2010. I love the car and never had any problems until about a month ago. I leave the gym and my car won't start! I called Hyundai road side asst and they send a person to come jump the car. It starts and I just blew it off as being a glitch

Two weeks later, same thing, this time at work. I get the car started and take it to a dealership near my job. The dealership I bought my car from is 150 miles away. They keep the car overnight and give it back saying there was a dead cell in the battery. No harm no foul right? Wrong! The car won't start that evening.

I had it towed, but because the dealership was closed the tow company had to keep it at their lot and tow it in the morning (this counts as two tows, which I did not know, but will find out soon enough). The service tech gets in the car and pumps the brakes hard and the car starts. They give me back my car in an hour an a half and says it is the brake light switch. The car won't start the next day.

I call roadside asst to have it towed and they tell me I've gotten all my tows for the year, but they would be happy to have a company come out at my expense. I cuss the CSR out and hang up. My fiance' gets the car started AFTER I rent a car and I follow him to the dealership. He cusses the service tech out and they agree to give me a loaner. After having the car for five days they give it back and say it's the fuel pump.

I tell them I feel the car is a lemon and that I've given then a chance to fix the problem and he says that there were three seperate problems. No, there was one problem, the car won't start. After having my car for five days and feeling a hesitation when it started, guess what happened? If you guessed it wouldn't start, you would be correct!

I contacted Hyundai Consumer Affairs and I will be sending them a certified letter today requesting they buy back or replace my car. This has been frustrating and annoying not to mention costly. I had to rent another car today to get to work.

After typing all of that, has anyone else heard of or had this happen to their Sonata?

Yes!! Our 2011 Sonata developed the same symptoms of not starting at about 30,000 miles. At first thought it was no big deal, but the frequency of incidents is know multiple times per week. Very random as to when it happens. Go to turn key and nothing, not a sound. It's as if the key is not registering in the ignition. We simply wait and continue trying, until out of the 'blue'....it starts. Sometimes it takes 30+ attempts. We brought it to dealer and left it there all day and of course it started fine for them everytime. We were told they need to see it not start in order to diagnose the problem. Question..... since it is random, how the @#%%# do we get a vehicle that doesn't start to the dealer so they can see the problem? We were told they can't simply hook it up and run diagnostic checks. In other words they don't want to help. My wife had the car today out shopping and had to call me after 30+ attempts. When I got there I did get it to start after 10+ attempts. I too, am at a loss and will be requesting a buy back. We also have a 2004 Sonata with 160,000 miles, which starts everyday. Why they won't address this issue on a brand new car is poor customer service. Will make one more attempt to have them rectify the issue before winter sets in and getting stranded with a car that won't start is not going to be an option.

K Hunter
Syracuse, NY

It's called a tow truck.

It's not poor customer service. How can they fix a problem that isn't happing? If it's not happening when they are looking at it there is no way for them to find the problem. Next time it happens, get it towed to the dealer.

Are the moderators on this site paid by Hyundai?

[SARCASM]
Yes, and very well I might add.
[/SARCASM]

Get real

Replace the brake switch. Same thing happened to me and now there is a recall on them. Hyundai's been producing the same crappy switch for years and it's been causing problems for years.

2011 Sonata not starting every time
 

Hi,

I see that there are a few other users who have had the same issue; it makes me think that there is some defect in this model which is causing the issue. It's quite a coincidence that on this forum we are all having the same problem.

Out of the blue, the car won't start, then it starts after so many failed attempts. Not very happy with this car now.