Azera Owners: Do You Have Suspension Issues?

[jwaters943]

I was going to do a poll, but I can't get the poll function to work.

Anyway, I'm curious to hear how many Azera owners have had suspension issues with their Azera. In particular, the wallowing and harshness and/or clunking over rough/uneven pavement.

Please reply with the following info:

-Year of your Azera
-Mileage at which you began to notice a problem
-How many times your vehicle has been in to the dealer for this issue and the results of each "fix"

As for the Azera owners who don't have problems, please feel free to chime in with your experience as well.
[b]
If nothing else maybe one of us can forward this information to Hyundai Motor America. If enough people speak up about this problem they might take the issue a little more seriously.

[campoly]

I think it will take someone getting hurt and a safety recall is issued before Hyundai will ever do anything about this. Even if some one does get hurt an sues, it will be in litigation for years anyway. The best you're gonna get from Hyundai right now is lip service about how the car is performing within specs as designed.

[richardc]

07 azera
problem was more noticeable after 2-3 thousand miles
had front struts replaced per tsb. Paid for new 040 rear struts which turned out to be a waste of time and money.
the knocking sound is not very loud and does not bother me. What is annoying is feeling every bump in the road. What little shock absorbtion I get is from the seats.

[andyman32]

I was just thinking on my way home today that it might be interesting to utilize the community here, and other enthusiast communities, to sort of craft a "class action", to gather consent and force Hyundai to acknowledge the engineering defect and issue at least a TSB, at most a recall.

Like I said, I either don't hear the noise yet or it doesn't bother me enough, but my 12-year-old Jags (40K & 62K miles respectively, with original shocks, BTW) actually make less noise over broken pavement than the Azera does. That's not comparing apples with apples, unless you consider the age and mileage of the Jags. But if I did hear all this clunking noise I sure as he11 would expect the manufacturer of any car they're willing to sell for $30k to be willing to deliver something that rides well for more than 3,000 miles...

The stereo is great, the features are great, the seats and buttons and aesthetics and steering and acceleration and braking and idling are all just great, but if you can pick up a 5-year-old, 60K mile Accord that still handles tightly and whispers over the roughest bumps, then Azera needs to deliver at 5k miles. And 20k. And if they want to be a credible nameplate selling Genesis-like cars in 10 years, the Azera needs to deliver at 50K and 70K miles.

If they breed a generation of early adopters, well-entrenched in enthusiast communities, who insist that the car is not durable, does not have a well-designed suspension, and ultimately, does not deliver quality comparable to competitors... then this is the legacy Hyundai has to live with for decades to come. They will need to "start over" in 2009, with Genesis (if it's good) and something other than Azera and Sonata - call this entire early initiative a loss, a caveat to earlier, low-price, low-quality days; they've changed in appearance, but not customer care, and not quality.

Now I wonder if a letter in language something like the above, undersigned by 500 enthusiasts and owners of Azeras, mailed to every Hyundai exec, with an offer to share the letter with Motor Trend, Consumer Reports, Car and Driver, Automobile, Edmunds, JD Power, and a few dozen lesser magazines, blogs, and car websites, would convince Hyundai to admit that they may have skimped a bit on basic suspension components.

A la the Nikasil-lined BMW 4.0L V8 blocks of E34s ('94-'95) or the Nikasil-lined Jaguar (FORD) blocks of X308s ('98-'00)... an engine that fails after 50k miles and requires the block to be bored out, re-sleeved and rebuilt, or just replaced entirely with a new one.

This is nowhere near as bad, but FAR more likely to generate bad blood from individuals who would otherwise be Hyundai's most staunch supporters... nearly a 'make it or break it' balance of affairs, because Hyundai doesn't have Jaguar's history, and this apparently does not only just effect some of the cars. Hyundai selling Genesis-2 in 2012 depends on Hyundai taking the suspension quality on the Azera seriously in 2008. Find the clunk, get a different supplier for gas shocks, issue a TSB for two or four bushings and the shocks, install heavier front springs, and make us go away happy.

Contrast this cost with Jag's replacing a V8 block in tens of thousands of XJs to "keep it quiet"... never acknowledging a design flaw, but still covering failed Nikasil block replacements even on cars out of warranty. I just spent $60,000 on a car from you two years ago and after 30k miles it runs rough, coughs smoke out of the tailpipe, and then, boom, next morning, won't start, won't run.

I say all of this in defense of what the Azera SHOULD deliver, and given Hyundai's recent initiative, what it MUST deliver. And on account of how easy it should be for Hyundai to make it right. Training techs to say "it's supposed to be like that" no matter what kind of noise is coming out of the front corners doesn't build credibility in the near-luxury buyer's market, it just gives us multiple datapoints that indicate that this is a training issue, a company-wide canned response. If & when I take my car to my dealer in Raleigh for this issue, I now know what to expect them to say.

I still like my Azera but Hyundai can't afford to make an army of enemies this early in their upmarket shift. So here's to hoping... both for us and for Hyundai... that they do the right thing.

All agreed?

[cdmuile]

Couldn't have said it better. Maybe a form letter?

[heypal]

I have a 2006 Azera and I do like the car. I noticed the clunk after 2000 miles and it is getting worse. Been to the dealer twice and the service manage says it sounds fine to him. No problem. Maybe he needs a hearing aid. I hear it going 20 to 30 mph and so does my girlfriend. This problem along with the dimming of my headlights turns me off on buying another Hyundai. I want to buy a smaller car as gas is getting to be a pain but I will not buy another Hyundai as they do not stand by their automobile. Sad but true. I have written two letters to the President of Hyundai and no response.

When I had a problem with my GM car back in 1984 I wrote a letter and got a response from the CEO of the company. The problem was resolved in two weeks. If Hyundai wants to make a move on the rest of the car companies in the USA they need to take find a fix for the problems and keep the customer happy.

NOW my clunk is getting worse. Sounds like something is loose in the shocks or springs. I may keep the Azera another year and trade it in for something smaller but the only problem is I only have 12,000 miles on the car. Almost new. Not even broke in. This really sucks.

[jwaters943]

What year is your Azera?

[Carolina Bob]

Owen Koh, PO Box 20850, Fountain Valley, CA 92728-0850 is the CEO. Complain to dealer first. Then or at the same time, call the Customer Assistance Center and get a file number assigned. At the same time, write to the CEO above.

He will not answer the letter, but after my second one (one month after first), someone from CA did call me. She then contacted the Regional Service Manager who made an appointment to drive the car June 17th. He already drove it once, but this time will be to address the wallowing at higher speeds. First time was just the non-absorption of bumps at low speeds.

Either I don't have the noise, don't notice it or it doesn't bother me. However, the car was quieter after the struts were replaced per the TSB.

Mine is a 2007 with 10,000 miles on it. Problem began about 2-3,000 miles and returned about 2-3,000 miles after struts replaced with -040's.

DO NOT send form letters; make them personal and make sure to include VIN, purchase date, dealership, current mileage and details regarding the problem. Add your phone number(s) and you may get a call. I have written to Acura, Lexus and Toyota regarding their cars and none wrote back, but they did call me.

Follow up with Customer Assistance periodically and good luck.

[Carolina Bob]

See my other comment, but I agree that Hyundai HAS an issue here. I wrote to Consumer Reports automotive editor to ask why they did not detect this problem as they brag about the length of time they drive the cars. No response. Once they establish their opinion, they don't back off. Same with car magazines.

I was all set to pick up a Genesis when it came out until the wallowing developed in my Azera. If they blew the ride in their "luxury" car, what will they blow in the Genesis?

Car would be a 10 even it did not wallow. IMO, still better equiped than Acuras, Infinitis, Lexus' costing 10,000 more.

[campoly]

Well spoken and I agree with you but it would be like herding cats to get 500 Azera owners to sign. It might be a better Idea to go straight to Motor Trend, Car & Driver, Popular Mechanics, pasted/blogged all over the Internet, etc.

I can imagine Hyundai's argument will be something like this: * This is how the car was designed and it is performing as designed and there is no basis to take action.*

The only way they are gonna take action on this is if it is deemed unsafe by some govt. agency or something like that.

I haven't seen or heard of any reports of Azera owners getting satisfaction apart from changing the shocks as per the TSB.

The first time I complained about the suspension was before the TSB came out. I went to two different dealers and got the same s#it about being "within specs" and "no noise could be heard at this time, complaint could not be duplicated".

It was as though they had been to the same meeting where they were coached on what spiel to use when dealing with this issue. It was only after the TSB came out several weeks later and I went back and literally waved it in their faces that they decided to replace the front shocks. The service monkey didn't even know about the TSB until I walked in and held the document up to him and politely ask him to read it.

I will gleefully sign a class letter of complaint but alas, I don't think anything is gonna help until it becomes a safety issue. Making a safety issue out of it is gonna be a hard sell because it can't be proven. I just don't see them spending a lot of money for a "fix" just because a few owners are not happy. Especially since the way a car feels and handles can be so subjective. I bet they could find more Azera owners who are happy with the way their cars ride than owners that are unhappy.