> I Almost Took Home My New Sonata Today :(
 

I was at the dealer today to lease a 2011 Sonata. Everything went smooth except when i drove off the lot. About 1 mile from the dealer, driving around 45mph the car just shut down. I managed to get to the side of the road and tried to start the car but no luck. When i turned the key the lights on the dash came on but no crank from the starter. About 10 minutes later the car started normally. I drove back to the dealer and told my salesman. It was around 4pm and service was getting ready to close. He gave us a loaner car and said he will call us as soon as he finds out from service. When we were driving home he called us and said the problem was a wet sensor. He said during clean-up of the car they hose down the engine compartment. There were no codes stored in the computer. I asked him if he knew the name of the sensor but he didn't know. He said he will show me when i pick it up (tomorrow). What sensor could of got wet, make the car stall and not start for 10 minutes ? Sounds like BS to me.

That doesn't sound like to BS to me. Many dealers do that when detailing a car before delivery. I wouldn't sweat it.

I'm real curious to find out which sensor can cause a car to shut down while driving and not start back up for 10 minutes.

I think i figured it out. The salesman put 2 keys (which have transponders) on the same remote key chain. I think the car saw the second key (transponder) on the key ring and went into theft mode and shut the car down. Here what it says in the owners manual. "When starting the engine, do not use the key with other immobilizer keys around. Otherwise the engine may not start or may stop soon after it starts. Keep each key separate in order to avoid a starting malfunction." When i get the car back i will try to duplicate the problem just to confirm this.

I think you just became the 2011 Sonata expert on the forum. You actually read the owners manual. Congratulation!

LoL When all else fails you read the owners manual

I picked up the car today and i spoke to the tech who worked on the car. He said it was the PCM module that got wet (when they hosed the engine compartment) and that there was a code in the history. I also asked if my keys have the transponders and he said no (so that rules my theory out).
I was driving for about 2 hours and everything seem normal.

we have had a few minor issues with 2 key fobs being in the same car, be we have never heard of the second key causing the car to die for a certain amount of time. i would put my money on the wet sensor or pcm, because that will happen, and is fairly normal.


also on a side note. take your car back to the dealer and have them check the front door latches. a recall just came out today about the front door latches releasing while the car is in motion causing the door to open. i assume you can see what may happen next. your car may or may not be affected, but a good dealer would be able to tell you within 30 mins or so if your car is affected. if so, dont drive it, and request a loaner until the latch or latches are replaced

Thanks for that info. Would the service adviser be able to tell by the vin or would they need to physically see the car ?