Manufacturers issued recalls on 14.4 million cars in 2024, according to Auto Remarketing, to address problems with seats, air bags, and seat belts.
Now, owners of the brand new 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe and Santa Fe Hybrid Crossovers can add their vehicles to the list.
TikTok car expert Brian Mello (@realbrianmello) recently garnered over 660,000 views with a video breaking down the latest recall. Mello gained an impressive following with videos explaining how cyberattacks paralyzed more than 15,000 vehicles across the country and why no one is buying Acuras.
Why are Santa Fe being recalled?
Mello reports that Hyundai is “recalling almost 50,000 Santa Fe and Santa Fe Hybrid Crossovers due to an issue where some airbags can either deploy for no reason or fail to deploy in an accident at all.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall will indeed impact an estimated 1% of Santa Fe models and Santa Fe Hybrid Crossovers. This is because of an issue with airbags, which can deploy for no reason or fail to deploy when necessary.
The issue, according to NHTSA report, stems from “the main floor wire harness used in the subject vehicles. That wire harness “could become damaged due to contact with the passenger side second row bench seats folding assembly.”
“Owner notification letters are expected to go out on September 23, and in order to remedy the issue dealers will need to inspect or repair those wiring harnesses,” Mello concludes.
Viewers not surprised by the recall
“Hyundai and Kia are cooked bro,” one said.
“Toyota, Hyundai, and others are having issues with airbags left and right. What’s up with that?!” a second questioned.
“They changed the look but that didn’t help,” a third joked.
They might have a point. Money.com reports that, in general, “new vehicle quality has been declining since 2021.” Quality issues are widespread with even the most basic parts of a car like “cupholders, horns and door handles” malfunctioning.
@realbrianmello Hyundai Issues New Recall! | #hyundai #hyundaisantafe #cartok #cars ♬ original sound – Brian Mello
The Daily Dot reached out to Mello via TikTok comment and email for comment. We also reached out to Hyundai via email.
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