Genesis - Top safety pick by IIHS

[JOwest]

News from canadiandriver.com:
Genesis is the top safety pick. See article below:

Arlington, Virginia - The Hyundai Genesis has been named a “Top Safety Pick” by the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

To qualify, a vehicle must earn the highest rating of “good” in the IIHS’ front, side and rear crash tests, and be equipped with electronic stability control, which is standard on the Genesis.

The Top Safety Pick designation applies to 2009 Genesis models built after November 2008.

 

[Richard Ft. Lauderdale]

The Top Safety Pick designation applies to 2009 Genesis models built after November 2008.

Hmm, what did they change since November? I bought mine in July. As far as I know there have not been any changes.

 

[Gimli]

Hmm, what did they change since November? I bought mine in July. As far as I know there have not been any changes.

I'm thinking November may have been when they did the crash testing so they couldn't certify anything that was made previous to that.

Do you remember if your car had crash test information on the window sticker when you bought it?

 

[jwaters943]

I tried posting this 4x today and for some reason I can't post on this forum anymore. Can one of the Mods help me? I've tried contacting the site admin several times and have not received a response.

 

[jwaters943]

I'm thinking November may have been when they did the crash testing so they couldn't certify anything that was made previous to that.

Do you remember if your car had crash test information on the window sticker when you bought it?

I'm pretty sure they only publish the NHTSA crash test scores on the window sticker. FWIW, the Genesis has earned 5 star NHTSA ratings across the board.

 

[Richard Ft. Lauderdale]

I'm thinking November may have been when they did the crash testing so they couldn't certify anything that was made previous to that.

Do you remember if your car had crash test information on the window sticker when you bought it?

No it did not have crash test info on the window sticker. I am sure the crash tests were done after I bought it. I was pretty confident that it would do well since it has eight air bags.

As Gimli says maybe they can't certify anything made before the tests.

 

[stephenkyu]

Vehicles made before November 2008 did not perform well in the IIHS crash tests. Hyundai redesigned some of the components (airbag and dash) and the improved design received the highest ratings.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=1026

 

[jwaters943]

Correct. Hyundai made changes to the airbag and the underside of the dash to earn the top rating. Hyundai will be issuing an airbag recall on all Genesis built before the changes were made. Nothing has been said as to the changes they made to the dash (e.g. addt'l padding) and if that will be made available to early model Genesis owners. I'm guessing the replaced the ultra hard plastic panel surround that spans from the ESC, Parking Sensor, etc. buttons to the push button start with something a bit more "forgiving" in a crash.

 

[wallymn]

Correct. Hyundai made changes to the airbag and the underside of the dash to earn the top rating. Hyundai will be issuing an airbag recall on all Genesis built before the changes were made. Nothing has been said as to the changes they made to the dash (e.g. addt'l padding) and if that will be made available to early model Genesis owners. I'm guessing the replaced the ultra hard plastic panel surround that spans from the ESC, Parking Sensor, etc. buttons to the push button start with something a bit more "forgiving" in a crash.

I have a August V8. I have checked there are no TSBs regarding airbags. Can you please post the material you are referring too? (airbag recall)

 

[Mark_888]

Vehicles made before November 2008 did not perform well in the IIHS crash tests. Hyundai redesigned some of the components (airbag and dash) and the improved design received the highest ratings.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=1026

After looking at the link, it actually appears that vehicles made before December 2008 (or after November 2008) have the old airbags. I assume they mean before December 1st have the problem and after November 30 do not have the problem.

I guess that people who got an airbag replacement with the official Korean Genesis emblem are not going to be happy.

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[Mark_888]

I have a August V8. I have checked there are no TSBs regarding airbags. Can you please post the material you are referring too? (airbag recall)

According to jwaters:

"Hyundai will be issuing an airbag recall on all Genesis built before the changes were made."

1. "Will be" means it has not happened yet.
2. A recall is not the same as a TSB (maybe I am wrong about this?).
3. There are a fair number of Hyundai dealer people on this forum, and making them reveal their sources could just cut off the flow of information. Asking HMA or your dealer about it before the recall starts is not going to help.

 

[jwaters943]

Well, it looks like I was wrong. Hyundai will be issuing a TSB to reprogram the airbags deployment:
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2009/02/hyundai-genesis-iihs.html

So no new airbag for the driver and no modification to the hard as a rock plastic panel under the steering wheel to prevent me front breaking my kneecap in an accident. I can't say I'm very happy about this. :/

 

[Mark_888]

From the last link posted above. it appears the cut-off date is Nov. 20, 2008 as to when the change was made on the manufacturing line. Cars built before then will require the TSB. Check the date of manufacture on the door jam of the driver's door.

 

[wallymn]

Thanks, I will monitor this closely. Interesting note.

I checked my window sticker and it reports 5 stars for crash rating (again, august build date)

At the dealer this morning was a 3.8 (build date was December) it's window sticker had a crash rating of N/A....

Were the 3.8s not tested?

 

[wallymn]

Sorry for chaining posts.

My dealer had no information about this issue. I printed the IIHS report noting the changes Hyundai made, they still had no information.

 

[Michael_S]

Even with the first production run, before the November 20 changeover, you get 5 stars across the board and the IIHS top rating in side and rear crashes, and the IIHS second highest rating in front crashes. That's pretty good.

Post November 20, the Genesis is now up there with the Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable, and Lincoln MKS as the only sedans in the US with a perfect score in all crash tests. As a family man, I think that's a fabulous achievement for Hyundai!

 

[thomaspf]

The article from kicking tires mentions two seperate issues with the central and the side airbags.

Hyundai fixed the problem by reprogramming the airbags; it also issued a service bulletin for cars built before Nov. 20 so owners could have them reprogrammed, Rader said. (Note that the front airbag and knee bolster tweaks are hardware-related, so they can’t be changed in pre-December cars.) Hyundai spokesman Dan Bedore confirmed the late side airbag deployment, (but couldn’t yet confirm that Hyundai had issued a) as well as the service bulletin.

So it sounds like the side airbags can be reprogrammed but the airbag in the steering wheel needs to be replaced.

I talked to my dealership about the IIHS report for an upcoming service appointment and they were completely unaware. Does anyone here have a link to the TSB or at least the email address of Dan Bedore I could forward to my dealership's service department.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[bnajack]

Thomas,

My V8 was purchased in November. When I read about the differences in IIHS crash tests, I called my dealer to see about modifying my car to those updated specs. The IIHS report said there were two changes to the newer cars: updated airbags and knee bolsters.

He told me to wait and Hyundai would have a program to update those older cars, like mine.

He called today to say that Hyundai has a campaign to reprogram my airbag. If you note in the IIHS test, the dummy's head hit the steering wheel. I am guessing that the fix is to delay airbag's deployment in a collision. I will check on the knee bolster issue and its cost.

Jack

 

[thomaspf]

I have my car in the shop right now with CarPros Hyundai in Seattle and they applied new navigation software and reprogrammed the air bag controller. From the kicking tires article I concluded that the reprogramming will fix the delayed deployment of the side airbag but that the knee bolsters and the front airbag are hardware related.

The service manager looked up whether there is any alternative dash components in the system and he could not find any. They also did not have any Genny's build after December to have a look what has changed. The dealership is following up with their Hyundai rep to find out more and will let me know tomorrow.


They also test drove the car over my worst case stretch of freeway and told me they also experienced the whalloping I have been describing here.

According to them that is behavior as designed, which I guess is the corporate line on the suspension problems but I am sure glad I did not imagine this problem. Unless Hyundai offers some fix I suppose there is really nothing a dealership can do right now.

I can definitely recommend the dealership, they are treating me very well, but I probably have to wait for Hyundai to make fixes for the issues available to the dealerships before they can do anything.

Cheers

Thomas