550k Hyundai/Kia Vehicles Recalled For Wrong Way Turn Signal
You might want to turn right, but your Hyundai Sonata wants to go left. That is the conundrum faced by a small number of Sonata owners as their cars can display the opposite turn signal to what the driver intended.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a recall for the 2015-2017 Hyundai Sonata and the 2016-2017 Sonata Hybrid and Sonata Plug-In Hybrid. 466,109 Sonatas are under this recall and only about 1% of them have been reported to have the defect.
The NHTSA claims that the Smart Junction Box software logic may not properly interpret the signals received from the multifunction switch in certain circumstances. The defect will be easy to spot; the turn signal may intermittently activate in the opposite direction of what was intended by the driver.
The NHTSA says the defect can increase the risk of a crash, though Hyundai claims there have been no reports of a collision due to the issue. Hyundai has identified 631 claims related to the recall.
Hyundai Motor America will notify owners of affected vehicles beginning November 19. A letter will direct owners to visit a Hyundai dealer to have the Smart Junction Box software updated. The remedy procedure will be performed at no charge to the owner.
In a separate, but related recall, Kia is recalling its Sedona minivan from model years 2015 through 2017 for the same issue. Kia will begin notifying owners on November 12.
As of yet, the Hyundai Sonata's mechanical cousin, the Kia Optima, hasn't been subject to a recall for this turn signal issue.
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