Okay, so here's the deal. I bought this vehicle from Carmax on Saturday. I love it. Had 8K miles and it's a 2009. Yesterday when driving, I noticed it started pulling really badly to the left when I'd brake, so I took it in. Turns out, the Rack and Pinion is bad and needs to be replaced. Now, this is going to be covered by warranty, but it does not bode well. The Carfax for this vehicle was totally clear.

My question is, I have 5 business days to return it and walk away penalty free. That would make today the last day to do that. I love the car, and I feel confident that the problem can be resolved, but do you think I got a lemon? I mean a rack and pinion going bad after 8K miles on a 1 year old car seems really odd. Do you think I should just fix it and keep it, or walk away and buy something else. I tried to do a search on here and elsewhere to see if rack and pinion is a common failure on Hyundais, or Sonatas, but I could find no mention of anyone having this problem.

Also, I should add that they were really cool and gave me a nice loaner car (2010 Toyota Camry) while mine is in the shop free of charge.

 

Take the car back and get your refund. Little things like missing tranny lock out covers and a bad rack at 8K tell me the vehicle has lead a tortured, albeit short, life. The Sonata is a great car, but it not immune to abuse.

 

Yeah, I'd take that sucker back too. Sounds like it's been pounded on pretty hard...

 

Well, great news! I talked to the Hyundai Service Manager, and he said the problem had nothing to do with the rack and pinion. He said the only thing wrong, was that at some point, the right caliper was removed, and when it was reattached, it was turned around 1 time causing a reduction in flow of brake fluid to the right caliper. This caused the left caliper to engage considerably more than that right. That is exactly what I described that it felt like to me when I brought it into Carmax in the first place. He also said everything else looked good, and that he saw no problems whatsoever in the car. He did say they were charging Carmax 100.00 for the repair (labor). The only mystery is why on earth the brake caliper would have ever been off during the first 8K miles, but I'm not terribly concerned by that.

The real kicker here, is I called the SA at Carmax to tell them that Hyundai said it was done, and he started griping me out for getting in the middle of it. That really made me mad! I will definitely be leary of that service dept in the future.

 

Just as an update! I picked it up on Friday, and it was great! I had no issues whatsoever, and it drives perfectly. Thanks all for the advice. I am definitely glad I kept he car, and I will definitely not be returning to the Carmax service department.

 

By the way, CarFax reports for the most part, are a joke! Unless damage was reported to an insurance company, it won't show up on a CarFax report. I had a 2000 Corvette that was BADLY damaged (~$15000) in a fire in my garage. The damage was covered under my homeowner's insurance so there was never an auto claim filed. I took the money from the insruance company and sold the car to a guy in Idaho. He rebuilt it and he later sold it with a perfectly clear title and a perfectly clear CarFax report.