Common Problems/How are these cars?

[Nick1994]

Hello everyone, I just recently purchased a 15' Genesis 5.0L with 54k miles about 10 days ago. So far loving it! Had a 15' Sonata with 107k miles that I was very happy with as well, great car.

Wondering what the consensus is on these cars? Common problems to look for? Things I need to look out for? Things that need to be serviced more often?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[BlancaGenny]

Hi Nick,

A couple of things stick out in my two years (29k miles) of ownership:

- Rear camera went out in Sept 2018. Found it was a kink in the wire where the trunk closes. Ended up getting a new head unit and camera out of it because the dealership didn't know what they were doing.
- Since you have a 5.0, I won't worry you about the cold start shutter I had. But, make sure to use injector cleaner around every 4k miles. The injectors have six small jets, instead of a traditional one port jet, and they clog easier than normal. I had all six of my injectors replaced (warranty).
- Rear door locking mechanism replaced (warranty).

Solid besides that. You'll enjoy the 5.0. I've always liked large sedans so the Genesis fits. Have fun with it!

 

[okcguy]

Driveshaft noise during "cold" (initial) drives.
DRL incandescent bulbs constantly burning out.
DIY oil changes sound a bit more involved due to the underbody panels.
Car battery replacements are a little more than traditional types.
Watch out for the shattering pano sunroofs as well (not common but there's a recall).

Other than that, enjoy the new ride!

 

[skipgen]

I've only had small electrical glitches on my 5.0 for the most part - @76k miles now.

- Stupid design for DRL's. Replaced bulbs & stopped using that function. No issues since.
- A/C quit. Removing & reinsterting fuses cured it. Dealer said fuses can eventually work themselves out of position, not common but has seen it happen.
- HVAC tried to roast me on driver's side once. Restarting car restored normal operation.
- Have small coolant leak @ ATF warmer pipe. Perishing "O" rings. Will address eventually - took a 2000 mi road trip to have any noticeable drop in level. Kinda of a PITA to get to, as it's under the intake manifold, but straightforward job. Known but uncommon issue, there's a TSB for it.

 

[Eileen Joan]

I have a 2015 Genesis sedan that I bought bran new as a leftover in March, 2016. Love the car but have put 5 batteries in it. Also I am a 80 year old widow and all of the above posts are absolutely foreign to me as I know nothing about the mechanics of the car. Obviously something is seriously wrong - no car with 19K plus miles and a little over 3 1/2 years old should have killed that many batteries. I am solely dependent on the Hyundai mechanics to help me and all I get is “everything’s fine and we put in a new battery”. And the Warranty for the Hyundai batteries is only 12 months or 12,000 miles. The only checking they did was a “MPI” - Multi Point Inspection. Can anyone help me with this? I am losing confidence in this lovely car very quickl;y and would really like to get to the bottom of the problem. Supposedly Hyundai is very much aware of this problem but the dealership’s Service Department isn’t???? And BTW they charge an arm and a leg and still you don’t get any definitive answers.

 

[yolonge]

Some of issues I am having/had with my 5.0. These are very common issues often discussed in the forum. Feels like car is plagued with small issues, but not bad enough to sell the car just yet... Sunroof issue was mostly resolved by replacing entire track/rail of the sunroof assembly under warranty.

1. Driveshaft "flutter" when car is cold - around 30mph
2. Sunroof creaking/rattling/not-closing
3. Turn signal bulb burning out - defective design
4. Trunk (non-ultimate model) not lifting by itself anymore over time
5. AC not blowing cold on one site - recharging fixed
6. Hood vibration on highway speed
7. Car leather paint is not very durable (ivory)
8. Clearcoat starts to peel on top of headlight

 

[greekgeek]

First, congrats on your new ride! Great color and powertrain.

Hmmm not sure if common but here is my list off the top of my head covering almost 5 years and 48k mi. 98% sure I will not be back for a second helping, despite that sweet v8. In fact on the fence now, will either try to dump it when the warranty is up in a month or maybe ride it out since so much has already been replaced... Depreciation is massive on the V8 ultimate.

1.Brake booster leak, cannot depress brake pedal to start car, replaced
2.Headlight stalk switch failure resulted in random headlight shutoff, replaced
3. Bad battery, replaced
4. Master window switch intermittent failure, replaced twice, years apart.
5. Sunroof failure to close, twice. Lubed and adjusted
6. Massive electrical failure with all kinds of warning lights, flatbedded to dealer.
7. Same as above massive electrical failure but driven to dealer with no speedo or turn signals, yikes
8. Door seals defective allow wind noise in, replaced
9. Flaking of soft touch coating on inside door handle release, refuses to fix
10. Creaky passenger door checker, multiple tries to fix, finally replaced part and still creaks.
11. Rear camera failure, replace
12. Autotrunk mechanism failure to open/close, replace
13. Random subtle driver seat movement, cannot reproduce so not fixed
14. Gear shifter know loose plastic, replaced
15. Seat warmers are weak and slow, not addressed
16. AC not very cold on hot days, no addressed
17. Intermittent Excessive vibration at low speeds and idle, not addressed
18. Random Scary loud rear axle noise banging noise under hard acceleration, kinda takes the fun out of the V8, unaddressed

Hmmm I feel like I am forgetting something but I guess that's it for now lol

And hopefully this lemon like list is the exception, I know some folks who have not had any of these
Issues

It is a sweet car and a sublime highway cruiser, when it works!

That said I am likely going to Lexus or Acura. Maybe even the Germans, can't possibly be worse could it?

 

[TinsleyC]

I have a 2015 Genesis Sedan.... The only checking they did was a “MPI” - Multi Point Inspection. Can anyone help me with this? I am losing confidence in this lovely car very quickl;y and would really like to get to the bottom of the problem. Supposedly Hyundai is very much aware of this problem but the dealership’s Service Department isn’t???? And BTW they charge an arm and a leg and still you don’t get any definitive answers.

Were you having battery problems each time before they replaced the battery? If not, maybe they're just trying to turn over their battery stock.

Next time you go in, tell them to not replace anything without your approval. If they say the battery is bad, make them tell you why. Ask for the service managers opinion. Do you have a relative who can talk to them?

edit: spelling

 

[EdP]

I have a 2015 Genesis sedan that I bought bran new as a leftover in March, 2016. Love the car but have put 5 batteries in it. Also I am a 80 year old widow and all of the above posts are absolutely foreign to me as I know nothing about the mechanics of the car. Obviously something is seriously wrong - no car with 19K plus miles and a little over 3 1/2 years old should have killed that many batteries. I am solely dependent on the Hyundai mechanics to help me and all I get is “everything’s fine and we put in a new battery”. And the Warranty for the Hyundai batteries is only 12 months or 12,000 miles. The only checking they did was a “MPI” - Multi Point Inspection. Can anyone help me with this? I am losing confidence in this lovely car very quickl;y and would really like to get to the bottom of the problem. Supposedly Hyundai is very much aware of this problem but the dealership’s Service Department isn’t???? And BTW they charge an arm and a leg and still you don’t get any definitive answers.

You should be getting better life from the batteries. at least a few years. It may be in your best interest to have it checked out by a good independent shop. You can also buy batteries cheaper elsewhere too.

Do you let the car sit for long periods of time? There is some parasitic draw that will kill a battery over time, but weeks,, not a few days. Tell us more about the circumstances and maybe we can help more.

 

[skipgen]

I have a 2015 Genesis sedan that I bought bran new as a leftover in March, 2016. Love the car but have put 5 batteries in it. Also I am a 80 year old widow and all of the above posts are absolutely foreign to me as I know nothing about the mechanics of the car. Obviously something is seriously wrong - no car with 19K plus miles and a little over 3 1/2 years old should have killed that many batteries. I am solely dependent on the Hyundai mechanics to help me and all I get is “everything’s fine and we put in a new battery”. And the Warranty for the Hyundai batteries is only 12 months or 12,000 miles. The only checking they did was a “MPI” - Multi Point Inspection. Can anyone help me with this? I am losing confidence in this lovely car very quickl;y and would really like to get to the bottom of the problem. Supposedly Hyundai is very much aware of this problem but the dealership’s Service Department isn’t???? And BTW they charge an arm and a leg and still you don’t get any definitive answers.

A point could be made that the car simply isn't driven enough to keep the battery in good condition. Keep in mind, there's is a low, but constant power draw that allows various systems to retain memory for user settings for things like Time, GPS, Seat positions, Radio presets & etc. If you have Blue Link activated, the car's modem is awake for receiving commands for remote starting & other functions.

______________________________

Help support this site so it can continue supporting you!

 

[okcguy]

19k over roughly 182wks is an avg of 104 miles per week. I think that's well above a rarely driven car. Had it been 3k-5k a yr, I'd say it was sitting for months on end discharging. That's just my assumption though.

 

[Eileen Joan]

You should be getting better life from the batteries. at least a few years. It may be in your best interest to have it checked out by a good independent shop. You can also buy batteries cheaper elsewhere too.

Do you let the car sit for long periods of time? There is some parasitic draw that will kill a battery over time, but weeks,, not a few days. Tell us more about the circumstances and maybe we can help more.

The battery has never died on the road. It would drive perfectly and the first time it happened I was getting my nails done and came out to the parking lot and car was dead. Rest of the times it was the same way but, fortunately, it happened either parked on my driveway or in the garage. I’ve never not used the car for longer than 2 days unless on vacation or sick and strangely enough it was always fine when I would come back from a 15 day vacation or after being sick. Car is exactly 3 years and 9 months old With over 19K miles and the first original installed Hyundai battery failed 9 months after purchasing the car. And the saga continued. The Hyundai dealership I took it to in Nov ‘19, put in a new battery and that died in 6 weeks. They (supposedly) put in another new battery on 12/27/19 with no explanation as why these battery failures were happening when the battery issues are all over the internet - so who is kidding who?

 

[EdP]

The battery has never died on the road. It would drive perfectly and the first time it happened I was getting my nails done and came out to the parking lot and car was dead. Rest of the times it was the same way but, fortunately, it happened either parked on my driveway or in the garage. I’ve never not used the car for longer than 2 days unless on vacation or sick and strangely enough it was always fine when I would come back from a 15 day vacation or after being sick. Car is exactly 3 years and 9 months old With over 19K miles and the first original installed Hyundai battery failed 9 months after purchasing the car. And the saga continued. The Hyundai dealership I took it to in Nov ‘19, put in a new battery and that died in 6 weeks. They (supposedly) put in another new battery on 12/27/19 with no explanation as why these battery failures were happening when the battery issues are all over the internet - so who is kidding who?

I think your dealer is just putting in a battery and sending you on the way without looking for the real problem. Six weeks should not kill a battery, even 9 months is odd. Sure you can get a defective one but four in a row? You need someone to take this as a serious issue and check out what is either drawing power or not letting the battery charge.

I hate to say this, as you seem to be a smart woman, but the service people at the dealer my not be taking your ability to push them seriously for a solution. You probably know the type, just an old lady that does not know about cars. Talk to the service manager and point out you know this is not normal and you expect a serious analysis and logical reason for the abnormality of dead batteries. Even better if you can talk to the owner or general manager.

Perhaps someone here had a similar problem and can give you a few things to ask about.

 

[okcguy]

I agree EdP. I'm no mathematician but something isn't adding up. Have the the charging system diagnosed as well as for a parasitic draw (which sounds like the latter).

Once they find out the issue, I'd push for any out of pocket reimbursement.

 

[TinsleyC]

Eileen, you stated that you don't know anything technically about cars, so it's important that you understand what the guys here are telling you. There's three main points here - 1) going though 3-4 failed batteries rules out the chance that you have/had a bad battery. You may have had one bad one, but not four. So, there is a different problem. 2) The car may not be charging the battery properly during normal driving. When the engine is running, the battery is supposed to be charging. Yours might not be, or is having a random or inconsistent problem with charging. 3) The car may have a problem that is draining the battery when the car is turned off. There is equipment in the car that draws power all the time, even when the car isn't running, and this can drain the battery. Normally it won't cause a drained battery, but if one of these devices has a problem, it may be draining the battery too much. You said you've gone 15 days without issue, so it may be a random or inconsistent problem.

This problem may be hard to find, but hopefully not. Make sure you don't have things plugged into the car's charging ports that could be draining the battery, and make sure you close the doors fully so the dome lights are not left on. The car does have internal protection to help prevent draining the battery, but you still need to be aware and careful. I drained my battery the first night I had my car, sitting in it, playing with the radio and controls, without the engine running. That will drain it quick!

Hoping you can press the service department for a fix. Please keep us informed.

 

[Eileen Joan]

Were you having battery problems each time before they replaced the battery? If not, maybe they're just trying to turn over their battery stock.

Next time you go in, tell them to not replace anything without your approval. If they say the battery is bad, make them tell you why. Ask for the service managers opinion. Do you have a relative who can talk to them?

edit: spelling

I didn't have any problems with the car before the batteries failed. They drove perfectly when I parked and when I went to restart, the battery was dead. In fact the Hyundai battery they put in 6 weeks ago had to be double jumped before they could tow it to dealership. So now I'm on my 6th battery and Hyundai had no explanation whatsoever and believe me, I asked twenty times in twenty different ways.

 

[Eileen Joan]

You should be getting better life from the batteries. at least a few years. It may be in your best interest to have it checked out by a good independent shop. You can also buy batteries cheaper elsewhere too.

Do you let the car sit for long periods of time? There is some parasitic draw that will kill a battery over time, but weeks,, not a few days. Tell us more about the circumstances and maybe we can help more.

I do use the car frequently as where I live you can't get a container of milk without driving 5 miles, one way. Since I am a 80 year old widow but quite active, I haven't really taken it on long trips lately but use it mostly for shorter "forays". I've had it for 3 years and 9 months and the mileage is over 19K. First battery went out after only 9 months.

 

[Eileen Joan]

Eileen, you stated that you don't know anything technically about cars, so it's important that you understand what the guys here are telling you. There's three main points here - 1) going though 3-4 failed batteries rules out the chance that you have/had a bad battery. You may have had one bad one, but not four. So, there is a different problem. 2) The car may not be charging the battery properly during normal driving. When the engine is running, the battery is supposed to be charging. Yours might not be, or is having a random or inconsistent problem with charging. 3) The car may have a problem that is draining the battery when the car is turned off. There is equipment in the car that draws power all the time, even when the car isn't running, and this can drain the battery. Normally it won't cause a drained battery, but if one of these devices has a problem, it may be draining the battery too much. You said you've gone 15 days without issue, so it may be a random or inconsistent problem.

This problem may be hard to find, but hopefully not. Make sure you don't have things plugged into the car's charging ports that could be draining the battery, and make sure you close the doors fully so the dome lights are not left on. The car does have internal protection to help prevent draining the battery, but you still need to be aware and careful. I drained my battery the first night I had my car, sitting in it, playing with the radio and controls, without the engine running. That will drain it quick!

Hoping you can press the service department for a fix. Please keep us informed.

Thanks for the input. I have written down some notes from this site to try to get some answers from Hyundai. I have been making sure that everything inside the car is off after I pull into the garage - the radio, heater or AC, windshield wipers, defrosters, etc. I never sit in the car with the engine off and have anything on. My GPS screen will always flash a message as soon as I turn the key off that I could be draining the battery and the message will disappear as soon as I open the car door. I opened up a Case with the "Hyundai Customer Care" Dept. So far they haven't been too much help but I am going to call on Monday armed with info I have received from this site and another one.

 

[Eileen Joan]

I think your dealer is just putting in a battery and sending you on the way without looking for the real problem. Six weeks should not kill a battery, even 9 months is odd. Sure you can get a defective one but four in a row? You need someone to take this as a serious issue and check out what is either drawing power or not letting the battery charge.

I hate to say this, as you seem to be a smart woman, but the service people at the dealer my not be taking your ability to push them seriously for a solution. You probably know the type, just an old lady that does not know about cars. Talk to the service manager and point out you know this is not normal and you expect a serious analysis and logical reason for the abnormality of dead batteries. Even better if you can talk to the owner or general manager.

Perhaps someone here had a similar problem and can give you a few things to ask about.

I agree that I need to really push the Service Manager to get me some answers. Someone told me that they have a Mechanic "troubleshooter" which should take a look at the car. Don't know if that's true though. I did report this to Hyundai Corporate and I'm going to call them on Monday to see what they will do. I've never had this kind of trouble with cars that cost half of the 52K sticker price that this one had. My husband had serious medical issues and I had to get a smooth riding car so as not to cause him pain. I fell in love with this one until I fell out of love. I often referred to it as my "end of life" car not knowing it would be the death of me!

 

[celltech]

My take on *common* problems:

1. Sunroof creaking, popping, noise
2. Front wheels are very sensitive to balance and can cause a high frequency shimmy in the steering wheel
3. Hood edge flaps in the wind at highway speeds
4. Electrical gremlins caused by either the battery terminals loose or a loose buss bar in the main fuse box

Things that have broke on my '15:

1. Sunroof was binding when trying to close - fully replaced under warranty...and now it's completely quiet as well!
2. Left rear tail light filling with water after heavy rain - fully replaced under warranty
3. Read high mount brake light rubber trim fell apart - light replaced under warranty
4. Drivers door window motor failed - replaced under warranty
5. Tabs broke on drivers seat back cover - cover replaced under warranty

My car has never left me stranded and the drivetrain has always performed great.