2018 Hyundai Sonata - ENGINE Failure Complaint (#b0be93)

2018 Hyundai Sonata

• Date of Incident: Feb-01, 2023
• Date complaint filed: Apr-15, 2024
• Failed components: ENGINE

I had just taken my 2018 Hyundai Sonata through the brushless car wash at Marion Ford-Hyundai in Marion, Illinois. As I exited the car wash, I noticed that the engine light had come on. When I took the car out on the highway, it accelerated very slowly and would only reach a speed of about 50 miles per hour. I called the service department at the dealership about what had happened and they told me the knock sensor had shorted out and for safety to the engine, would only allow me to go about 50 miles per hour, and to drive it as little as possible until it was repaired. They said that they had several other Sonatas in the shop with the exact same problem. The car was, and still is, under warranty, so it was repaired for free. It took about a month for them to get to my car, due in part to the other Sonatas waiting for the same problem to be repaired. The second time it happened I was driving home and went through some water on the highway at about 55 miles per hour, and the engine light came on and the car instantly decelerated to about 45 miles per hour. Same problem. The dealer again repaired the car for free. My two biggest concerns are how much it's going to cost me to have the repair done after the car's warranty expires, and, more importantly, what if the problem occurs in fast city traffic, such as in Covington, KY, where you have to drive 80 mph to keep from being a traffic hazard, or some other similar situation, such as interstate highway travel. Rapid deceleration in fast traffic can be deadly, and I don't like the thought of being killed or stranded in the middle of nowhere due to a design flaw by Hyundai. Can't Hyundai be made to fix the problem at no cost to the vehicle owners, to make the cars safer? I hardly drive the car in the rain any more. By the way, I don't have the exact dates these incidents occurred, only that they were, the best I can remember, in 2022 and 2023.

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