Folks: First, thanks for the responses; some do suggest the issue I inquired about is being observed by more than just one overly fussy Sonata driver.

As for the contention that the wheel rusting is some unavoidable consequence of brake heat, moisture and other factors, I'll submit that I've been driving and observing steel-wheeled cars, trucks, and other vehicles for over 50 years from many manufacturers and many parts of the world and the wheel rust I'm seeng on my Sonata is remarkable -- so I'm remarking.

In every other respect, I absolutely love the car and plan keep it 'till the wheels are ready to fall off (don't want to be driving it WHEN the wheels fall off, from rust or mis-torqued lug nuts!). I am pleased with our decision to purchase it and would probably replace it when the time comes with another Hyundai. If the biggest concern I have re this car is wheel rust, I'll still consider the car one of the best car values I've ever had, though it'll be hard to top the '62 Falcon I bought for $100 and drove for 13 years.

I guess where I am with this is not upset so much as surprised because the car is in so many other respects so terrific. My suspicion is that the wheels were furnished by a subcontractor and either the purchase specification that Hyundai made the buy with was inadequate to specify wheels with sufficiently rust-resistant characteristics OR that the spec was fine but the subcontractor fudged on the production and/or quality control.

I submit that as wonderful as the global economy may be at some levels, one consequence of the contemporary commercial practices is an unwittingly naive willingness to buy into the idea that because an organization has paid a lot of money to be ISO certified that the product out the door is somehow magically better than the ACTUAL materials and processes support. I'd be surprised if Hyundai didn't buy the wheels from a manufacturer with all the fashionable certification logos on their letterhead, but if somebody doesn't perform enough quality surveillance, many producers will make changes after the contract's been signed and the production run's consistency may not be stable enough to insure all output is on par with first/sample article versions.

As one who's spent more years as a quality inspector/manager than I want to remember sometimes, I simply suggest this observation is an opportuity for Hyundai to make a great car even better.

What I hope is that this observation and discussion of it will encourage Hyundai to review the issue to determine a root cause, develop a fix, and agree to correct the issue for those of us affected. (Don't think there's a big chance they're going to offer me a set of sexy alloys but I wouldn't say no -- we can dream, can't we?) My hunch is that they got a bad batch of wheels. WHY they got a bad batch is what needs to be determined along with what is a fair way to correct it.

If anybody from Hyundai who's sufficiently empowered to award me a sexy set of alloys wants to contact me, I promise not to feel bought off

I still love my car and plan to enjoy it 'til the wheels are ready to fall off. I just hope that's later rather than sooner.

As for sandblasting and painting the wheels, that would certainly make MY car look nicer but it wouldn't help with the cause.

This post was never intended to badmouth Hyundai, just a query to see if what I've experienced is a big enough issue to merit manufacturer attention and maybe to generate a service note to instruct dealers to honor correcting the issue as a no grief warranty claim.

 

Very **** are we?

Well go ahead and throw in car and insurance payments if you feel better. Also the cost of time I had to take off from my work which cost me vacation time for having to deal with the issues.

Regardless, this is not my first new car. This rust is unacceptable. From what I've read on the Internet this isn't the first time Hyundai has had this issue.

Overall mechanically the car seems to handle well, which makes little issues like this frustrating.

 

My 2009 had the steel wheels rust after 1 Indiana winter. Whoopie.

The following spring I yanked all 4 off the car, scrubbed 'em up with a 3M Scotch-Brite pad, gave then a quick wipe with MEK, masked the tire & valve stem, and hit 'em with a rattle can of Rust-O-Leum matte black.

Total time - 4 hrs
Total cost - $20.00 USD (and a couple Sam Adams)