Purchased a 2011 Sonata SE. Took it back to the dealership within one week of owning it for a steering problem --- vehicle constantly pulling left.

The dealership diagnosed it as needing an alignment adjustment. Adjusted it and returned it three days later. I returned the vehicle one week later with the same problem --- still pulling left. This time the dealership kept the vehicle for TWO weeks.

The dealership couldn't resolve the problem. The dealership had to contact Hyundai Technical Support. Hyundai Technical Support exhausted their recommendations to the dealership; thus, couldn't help the dealership to resolve the problem. The dealership had to contact Hyundai and Hyundai assigned a Hyundai Factory Engineer --- all this is documented. The Hyundai Factory Engineer couldn't resolve the problem. To this day, the vehicle still pulls left.

The Hyundai Engineer Factory Engineer says that "it is the nature of the beast" --- meaning was or is determined as a inherent flaw of the vehicle, but that the is OK/safe to drive and shouldn't wear the tires as the vehicle is properly aligned.

Email from dealership:

Here's what we came up with. In re-inspecting the car and the alignment the engineer figured out that the caster was off about .2 degrees to one side. In order to correct this we did adjust the sub frame and got the alignment in better spec. After driving the car again you can still feel a very slight pull. The engineer, my technician, and myself drove the vehicle and compared it to another vehicle that we had on the lot. Your car feels better than the other car actually. Basically the engineer said the vehicle naturally will have some pull, it's a lot better than it was originally and ultimately even if it does still have a minor pull it will not wear your tires because the car is in alignment. Basically he was saying that "it's the nature of the beast."

I know this may have been a frustrating experience to be without your brand new car, but I needed a factory representative to look at the vehicle just to confirm everything.

Yes, it sure seems as though the Hyundai Factory Engineer has determined that it is a inherent design flaw of the NEW 2011 SONATA. Now, does this mean that ALL 2011 Sonata's are going to have a similar problem? To be determined ...

Just to know ... to keep this vehicle straight on the highway I have to keep the steering wheel positioned slightly off center (right); otherwise, the vehicle wants/will pull to the left. In addition, the dealership service manager, dealership service tech and the Hyundai Factory Engineer all drove another 2011 Hyundai Sonata from the dealership inventory and confirmed that another vehicle had a similar pull, BUT my vehicle "feels better than the other car." Keep in mind the "other car" is/was in dealership inventory to be sold.

This brand new 2011 Sonata SE has had: 1) Alignment by the dealership, 2) The Steering System computer replaced (temporarily, actually swapped with one off a new vehicle for test purposes --- still had same problem), 3) Alignment by the Hyundai Factory Engineer, 4) The sub-frame aligned, 5) and other numerous tests. All resulting in NOTHING correcting the pull to the left problem.

Bottom line, no one can correct the vehicle from pulling to the left!! Very disappointed!!! What else can one do???

 

That's total BS. It's NOT normal. Personally, I'd take it to another dealer.

 

I'm also going with that should not pull. I just recently took a 7 hour trip in my 2011 sonata and it drove perfect on the highway. Have you thougt about lemon law?

 

Multiple alignments really has no meaning, it is the final numbers that are of value, they tell the story.

Do you the finished align numbers ?

We have had a few of the '08 - 09 Sonatas with drift/pull concerns... since there is no supplied adjustments to create a push the other direction, we have ordered new spindle/knuckle in hope that the part would have enough manufacture tolerance that it would change the camber enough to reduce/eliminate the drift/pull..

So far the couple we done have remedied the concern.

Possible part(s) swap may have enough difference to help remedy..

 

I test drove a SE and GLS and don't recall any pull on either car.

Of all the posts I've read on multiple forums, this is the first I've heard of a car pulling too much. So I have a hard time believing it's a flaw in the whole product line.

Anyway, I'd take it to another dealership and see what they say. Hope you can get it figured out.

 

I just bought a 2011 GLS this weekend (Spring Limited Edition).

It test drove great, but the first time I got it on the freeway I noticed that it pulled noticably to the left.

The steering is definitely NOT the best part of this car. This is my first experience with electronic power steering, and it is different.

Anyway, the tech at my dealer suggested that I drive it for 1000 miles and wait for the suspension to "settle", but I think I'm going to have him address it now, so that if there really is a problem I have some recourse.

 

I have all the documentation for the dealership pertaining to the alignment specs and the Hyundai Service Order Number for the factory engineer.

After driving the vehicle for a week (after second service), the vehicle has a slight "drift" to the left at speeds greater than 60mph (I drive a lot of highway). At times, it can be more of a "pull."

I should note that I also have a GMC Acadia with electric based steering and it does NOT have a drift or pull --- spot on down the middle of the road.

I truly believe this to be a "situation/problem" with the new electric based steering system for the 2011 model. As the dealership told me, it is a new steering system desgn/configuration for Hyundai and they are unfamilar with it at this point in terms of servicing it.

As more 2011 Sonata's come in for service indicating a noticable drift/pull (left) the clearer the problem will become for Hyundai pertaining to the electric based steering system. It is NOT NORMAL for a vehicle to have any drift/pull!

As the dealship informed me too, there were other unsold 2011 sonata's that they drove (for comparison) that had a similar drift/pull. As noted, my vehicle did so less than the others. So, that leads me to believe that it isn't just my vehicle. Again, the drift/pull is more noticable at highway speeds (60mph+) than at lower speeds.

Like I told the dealer, we'll see as there are more complaints! So, if anyone else has a 2011 Sonata with noticible drift/pull PLEASE have it serviced because there is an identified issue by a Hyundai factory engineer whom serviced my vehicle, which isn't being addressed. They couldn't figure out what was causining it to do it; so, the Hyundai factory engineer simply chalked it up to "the nature of the beast." How wrong is that?

Oh, by the way, I live in Maryland and the Lemon Law here stipulates that the vehicle must be in for service more than four times for the same problem or out of service for maore than 30 days. So far, I have had it in twice. I plan to take it to another dealership for a second opinion or diagnosis.

 

Having the same problem. Will try to get it in offically.

 

I finally found a color I love,besides the White Pearl,Venetion red,Silver,it's the Indigo Blue.It's a beautiful blue better then the Pacific blue that's to dark.Also did anyone else have steering problems?I don't think it's all 2011 sonata's?I'm buying the SE received a price of $23,750 before taxes etc.

 

Are you operating the vehicle on 'high-crown' roads? I seem to remember something from the late '70's concerning full-sized Fords and a pull to the left on high-crowned roads....

A high-crowned road being a road that has an 'arch' built into it for water drainage. The center of the roar is several inches higher in elevation than the curb sides, and the camber dialed into a suspension tended to want to pull 'uphill'. Radial tires tended to make that not so much a player any more when they became more common than the old bias-ply & bias-belted tires.

Just a thought.