13th Nov 2009, 15:31

I slide our 03 Sonata into a ditch while driving too fast on snow and tore the rear end off, crumpled the left rear quarter panel and truck lid.

I fixed it by buying used parts off e-bay.. Now the trunk leaks water when it rains and Hyundai won't fix the leak..

This is a horrible car!!

14th Nov 2009, 11:23

So it's a horrible car because it needed repair after YOU had an accident in it? That isn't the cars fault, it's yours for damaging the car.

12th Apr 2010, 01:02

I'm an 03 Sonata owner. I just experienced my first major problem with the car at 130,000km. I was driving on a major highway when the car started to rev up to 5000rpm. I let off the gas completely and watched (and felt it) jump between 2000 and 5000 rpms. I had to put the car in neutral and coast off the highway.

I checked the timing belt, which had just been replaced 10000km earlier, it was fine. Fluid levels in the tranny were fine. I ended up getting it towed to my mechanics, where the problem will be looked at tomorrow. I will post the diagnosed problem and price to fix it in a day or two.

12th Apr 2010, 17:17

Check the cruise control cable. If the guy didn't take the cruise module off when he replaced the timing belt, then the cable stretched while the motor mount was off. You have to remove the motor mount off the front to replace the timing belt. I know; I'm doing one now on a 2004.

21st Apr 2010, 21:52

Hello there!

I am the owner of Hyundai Sonata 2003 2.4 base.

Recently I spotted a power steering fluid leak. For the first time I thought that it's a matter of adding some more (everyone has to do it form time to time). So I did buy a bottle of fluid, fill it up to the max level. But unfortunately, after approx. 25 miles again... Strange little noise, and I already knew what was that.

Anyone had the same problem in the past? I was trying to find the actual leaking part, but so far nothing. I will try to look for it more carefully tomorrow, hopefully it's not going to be an expensive repair :/ Because I am spending way too much on this car...

22nd Apr 2010, 13:45

If the power steering pump isn't making any strange noises, and there doesn't appear to be fluid leaking from it, you can probably rule out the pump. I also doubt it's a line, because the leak would probably be more than what you seem to have described. I suspect the power steering rack itself, and that WILL be an expensive repair. This is just my best guess on the problem from what you have described, only a proper inspection can either confirm my guess or tell you the real problem.

8th May 2010, 22:37

2003 HYUNDAI SONATA 4 CYLINDER

Creaking sound when I open the drivers side door - TRIED WD 40 to fix, they also said that I needed to just tighten a screw. Not covered on the less than 100,000 miles or less than 10 years warranty.

Automatic adjustment for side mirrors no longer works – have not address this with them; yet to see if it is covered under warranty.

Sometimes I cannot get my CD out of the CD player.

Car shakes while in idle at a red light

Oil leak; they will fix this under warranty.

Passenger side of vehicle when it rains – water or wet on passenger side floor board.

Chipped paint on door handles on passenger’s side, driver's side.

Front and back door handles chipped – not covered under the less than 100,000 miles or less than 10 years warranty.

Front axles are broken and I never drove over anything to break them - not covered under the less than 100,000 miles or less than 10 years warranty.

My car makes a clicking sound when I make a turn. Customer service number for Hyundai said that this should be covered under warranty, but at the dealership they sang a different tune. I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A DEFECT.

Told to take my seat covers off because it will offset the air bag in the seat on the passenger and driver’s side.

Timing belt replacement is not covered under the less than 100,000 miles or less than 10 years warranty if you go over 60,000 miles.

Must get the timing belt replaced at the dealership ONLY if there are any future problems with the engine, warranty will cover this, but ONLY COSTS $900.00 to fix - yeah right, ouch.

Hyundai web page does not cover what is included or not included the warranty for the 2003 Hyundai Sonata, and I am not sure where my papers are for this, but I think that there must be a bunch of loop holes to not cover you for what is a manufacturer defect.

9th May 2010, 10:57

You have a creaking sound when the door opens? How unfortunate. I'm sure that left you stranded a lot. My car had the same problem, WD-40 didn't work for me either. What did work was a little bit of grease on the hinges.

The power mirrors don't work? That's pretty easy (and cheap) to fix. And if you don't want to fix them, you can still adjust them (with some force) manually.

CD stuck in the CD player... I can understand your being aggravated about that. However, it's still a pretty minor problem. You can usually pick up an aftermarket radio for not much money. Depending on where you buy it, they may even install it for you.

Car shaking at idle? If you have an automatic transmission, a little bit of vibration while in drive (and stopped) can't be entirely avoided. If the shaking is violent, then you have a problem. If not, and it's just a little vibration, I wouldn't worry about it. When the cars running and in gear, it wants to move. The torque converter, which basically makes automatic transmissions possible, works to allow some slip. When at idle, it only takes a small amount of force to keep the car from moving, but a very small amount of power is still being supplied to the transmission. If your car has a manual transmission, then motor mounts might be your problem. However, I doubt that because is the motor mounts were faulty you would probably feel the vibration all the time.

Oil leak? Well, unless it's leaking a ton of oil, it's probably not a big deal. It may be something pretty simple, such as the drain bolt on the oil pan itself (and in fact I have seen many Hyundai Sonata's from around '03 that had an oil leak from the drain bolt. It's usually just the crush washer that needs replacing on that). It could be the oil pan gasket, another relatively easy fix. The only places you really have to worry about oil leaking from are: the headgasket, and the front and rear main seals. Everything else is not a real big deal.

Water on the floor? Probably needs the weatherstripping replaced. Weatherstripping gets dry and cracked over the years. If you have a sunroof, the drain might be clogged.

The chipping paint? Well, if the door handles are plastic, you should expect that. Paint on plastic always chips. Once again, it's not really a big deal. Doesn't make the car look to nice though, so I can understand where you're coming from with that.

Your front axles are broken? AND you didn't drive over anything to break them? Well, drive axles have joints in them, and joints wear out. Replacing drive axles is something you should expect on a front-wheel drive vehicle. The joints have to transmit power to the wheels while your going around corners as well as going straight. That's why front-wheel drive vehicles usually need to have their CV joints replaced more frequently than rear-wheel drive vehicles (in rear-wheel drive vehicles they're more commonly known as U-Joints).

And that clicking sound your hearing when you're taking a turn, it's not a defect, it's the drive axles. They're worn out.

If you have aftermarket seatcovers on your seats, then the dealer was right, those will affect the airbags (if you have side airbags).

You had to have the timing belt replaced at the regular interval? I'm so sorry to hear that.

Hyundai's web page is meant for advertising their vehicles, not to provide detailed information about what their warranty covers. The fact that you lost your warranty papers is no fault of Hyundai's.

Nearly everything you complained about here is either a minor problem, basic maintenance, or your own fault. Cars need to be maintained in order to work correctly. It's up to the owner of the vehicle to make sure this basic maintenance is done. The car can't do it itself. And no matter how well you take care of your car, you will need to replace some things eventually, because parts wear out. It's all part of owning a car.