2017 Hyundai Sonata Steering
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
I have been having issues with my electric power steering rack and pinion when turning left it binds occasionally. I was backing into my driveway 7/10/2023 and my steering rack bound up and locked, triggering steering control warning light, and abs light. Other models of Sonata and previous years have recalls on this problem and I this should be included with those active recalls.
Power Steering failed on 4-lane highway. Is available for inspection. I was able to slow down and hard-steer to shoulder of road with cars whizzing by. Problem has not been confirmed by dealer or service center because it just happened a few hours ago. All shops are closed. No, the problem has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or any others. Warning light came on with steering wheel icon before it failed. I had no idea what icon meant until I came home and googled it to learn it is "Electric Power Steering (EPS) Warning Light". Also the warning light icon of car on wavy lines came on (Electronic Stability Control (ESC) Indicator".) Meanwhile I'm terrified, this has never happened before. After a few minutes I cranked the car, turned steering wheel back and forth. Warning lights turned off. I slowly drove it on home, keeping to far right in case I had to leave road again. After I got home, I did thorough research to find out what had happened and I see there have been numerous reports of 2017 Hyundai Sonata EPS cases reported. Why hasn't Hyundai issued Recalls on the 2017 EPS problems? This is a serious safety issue. People could die. There needs to be a Recall on this car and Manufacturer should pay to have this issue remedied as soon as possible in order to prevent death or serious injury in these cars.
I have been having issues with the Power Steering, I often get the wheel sensor and stability sensors activate making it very hard to steer my vehicle, I have taken to the repair shop to unlock, but comes back after a week. this is a problem and feel very unsafe driving as it has locked while I am driving, having me to pull over to turn off my car to clear the sensors. this issue has been happening more often, and has become a financial burden as the dealer charges a fee for running analysis on the vehicle.
While turning right my steering wheel locked up. I was able to turn it enough to get on the side of the road, I turned it off and turned it back on and it was fine for about a week and then it started to lock up again. I tried turning it off and turning it back on but it has continued to lock up every time and I am unable to drive it without it being a danger.
The power steering fails. It has happened several times while backing up and while slowly moving forward. The car loses all power steering and the steering wheel catches.
The steering wheel completely locks up while driving/turning. It almost as if the power steering has gone out and it's near impossible to turn the steering wheel. On several occasions while backing out of our driveway, the steering COMPLETELY locked up. On few other occasions, it locked up while driving and making a turn. 2 times it locked up randomly while just driving switching lanes at 25Mph. Resolution is to stop the vehicle, turn it off, wait a minute or two and turn it back on to reset the power steering and then it works until it happens again. There are hundreds of reports that can found online for this issue happening to this year and model car (2017 Hyundai Sonata). This is clearly an issue. This is EXTREMELY dangerous as I don't have to explain what happens when steering wheel gets locked up while driving. This has happened SEVERAL times now and dealer was no help when we initially took it in as they could not "replicate" the issue as it is intermittent. Please look into this issue with Hyundai. This is unacceptable. Will action only be taken when lives are lost because of it? Is that the cost to have this issue looked in to? Thank you
Steering column randomly locks up and the car can’t be driven.
Steering wheel froze/would not turn, and Shift selector and Ignition key were also frozen on Three occasions. Once while backing out of parking space, and Twice after being parked. Vehicle is available for inspection. Frozen steering wheel while in motion could have caused accident. Car was inspected by Dealership, but Service Representative stated " could Not determine problem unless it was happening at time of their inspection" and " they are having this problem on other Hyundai models." Only inspected by original Dealership. No prior warning to any of the three incidents.
I noticed that the steering column was making a noise right after Hyunda replaced the defective motor. Car was leaking fluids and engine light came on. Benson Hyundai had the car towed. I mentioned that the steering did not feel right and I was concerned. They evaluated and said the mid steering shaft needed to be replaced. I noticed this was an issue with earlier models but did not see anything with the 2017 model. Thought it would be worth inquiring as the dealership is so nasty to deal with and don’t seem to have answers when I go to them.
I’ve had my 2017 Hyundai Sonata for approximately 1 year, purchased through a Carmax dealership. With no explanation, while making a left hand turn the steering wheel locked for about 1-2 seconds and all lights related to the steering and braking system appeared on the dashboard, they instantly disappeared and my steering wheel was usable again. This same incident happened an hour later making a right hand turn, as well as a third time going straight over a speed bump: This issue is intermittent, occurring fairly rarely, however it’s terrifying and extremely dangerous to drive the car now. The vehicle is full on power steering fluid and hasn’t been in any accidents. I’ve talked to numerous people with this same issue. This will kill somebody if it isn’t addressed as a recall. Most people can’t afford to have intermittent problems diagnosed, due to most auto shops / dealerships not being able to help unless there are warning lights on the dashboard. Please help
Since Aug 2021 I started to feel the steering is very tight. Even with a small move car steers very quickly. I have to hold the steering with both hands. Before that it was very easy to drive, even with one hand. Since then, every time when I went to Hyundai dealerships for regular maintenance I brought up about this. I was taking to Hyundai dealership in Kirkland, WA and Renton, WA. They checked and said that they don't feel it. I called Hyundai US and they assigned a case number and assigned a person to work with me. She suggested that I go back to the dearlership to ask them to inspect once again. When I went to the dearlership on March 27th, 2023, they said that the warranty has expired. When I called Hyundai US, she talked to the dearlership and now they are asking me to complete the 60K service mileage, including brake change before they can look at this issue. I am concerned about the safety. In many forums on the internet, I read that car steering jams right in the middle of the highways, leading to accidents.
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The traction control and an unknown warning light was illuminated. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided a number to another dealer. The contact was informed to have the vehicle towed to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 71,000.
Power Steering, on two occasions the power steering malfunctioned. One while starting to leave a parking lot, the other happened while driving. This can cause an extremely safety hazard driving in traffic. As far as know there has been no recalls addressing this problem. I did some research and found this same incident has happened with others with this vehicle. It seems that a safety recall should be initiated to correct this malfunction.
The steering wheel became stiff and I had to jerk it a little just to coast with the curves in the road. Took it to Hyundai and they said nothing was wrong and recalibrated the steering. The problem remained. A few months later there was a mechanical griding sound coming from the steering column while car was idle on several occasions. It eventually stopped and then the steering wheel was not in sync with turning the wheels causing a knocking sound. The plastic gear in the motor was bad and replaced by a mechanic. Vehicle now has additional sounds coming from the steering column and they suspect the power steering motor itself is bad. Sound/problem more noticeable when driving on a bumpy road.
Electric power steering light has come on… when this happens the stirring wheel almost feels locked and when merging off the freeway this was a scary thing. Not sure how something like this can go out already and the car is only a little over 5 years old.
When driving the vehicle, the power steering stops working causing the steering to become very difficult to operate. It has created very hazardous situations. I’m very nervous when driving the vehicle due to the seriousness of the situation.
Was pulling out of a parking space started driving and power steering completely failed second time this has happened in 2 months
Yesterday when turning right on to my street making right turn very slow as children going home from school my steer ing lock no control. Car stopped within a few feet but unable to restart or take it out of drive. I tried several times turning the key nothing happened. But finally able to get it out of drive and start the car. With that the power steering worked I slowly drove it home about ten houses from intersections. Lucky no one hurt when I turned on to my street. Looked up problem with the electric steering for this cat and reports from your agency referenced similar problems but for some reason no recall issued by manufacturer. Call dealer can do nothing without mfg doing recall. How possible.? Your agency is to protect. What's more dangerous then having your steering going completely out while driving.
Roughly 6 months ago the problem first occurred while backing up in a parking lot a steering wheel lit up on the dash as well as a traction control light in which then the steering wheel became hard to turn or loss of power steering. about 4 months ago the same thing occurred while driving the vehicle making a right turn power steering got tough and I had to slam on the brakes or I would have hit a another vehicle. And today the same thing happened while pulling into a parking lot I do have video and pictures of the situation The vehicle was taken to the Hyundai dealer last week where they had the vehicle for 3 days just to tell me the issue is not present or can't be duplicated so nothing was fixed. I got this vehicle from my wife and kids and now I don't want them around it. Don't understand how Hyundai has not put out a recall on this one search of the internet shows thousands of complaints about the same situation with the power steering
2017 Hyundai Sonata. 53k miles. Steering becomes sticky and hard to turn. It is most concerning on the highway when at speed it is difficult to keep the car going in a straight line. It takes extra force to turn the wheel just a little. Once its forced, it can turn too much if not careful and will swerve into the next lane. It then does not freely return to center without manually doing so. I will not let my wife drive the car. I have read other reports of this problem and it is a serious issue. I have not brought the car to any dealer or repair shop. This is clearly a safety recall issue and must be dealt with before someone gets seriously hurt or killed.
The electronic power steering sporadically fails. This has happened 3 time in the last two months. The frequency of occurrences are now closer. When this happens the car is almost impossible to steer, it would be unsafe to attempt to operate the car on a public road. The majority of the time when this happens it's when the car is started (regardless if the vehicle is cold or warm). It did happen once while the car was moving at approximate 45 mph. Turning the car off and back on will stop the problem. A warning light on the dash appears when the problem happens. We unsuccessfully tried to recreate the problem so it can be diagnosed from the dealer. The dealer stated in conversation that is difficult if not impossible to diagnose a problem when it is not occurring.
1.loss of power steering vehicle is available for inspection.2. Person that was operating vehicle when it lost power steering didnt have the strength to handle steering could of led to an accident causing personal injury or property damage.3. Problem occured twice code in vehicle was C1290 call dealer wouldnt look at vehicle untill 2 weeks when looked at was told code wasnt active and was told code was in history then told it wasnt in history then told even it was in history they wouldnt do anything, Gave me vehicle back after a week at dealer told it was ok two days later same issue almost hitting bldg wall same code C1290 dealer refusing to look at MY vehicle.4. Vehicle looked at by southshore hyundai valley stream NY.5. Nothing prior lights and code showed up when incident qccured first time Oct 8 2022 second time Oct 29 2022
The power steering stop working and the wheel it's hard to manuver. Very difficult to make turns
2017 Hyundai Sonata’s electric power steering is having an undiagnosable issue. Mechanics cannot figure it out only speculate since Hyundai has no remedies for this issue. The axle has been replaced and suspension inspected and the issue persists. Crunch when turning left usually a hard left at or more than 180 degrees. Vehicle has resistance if not kickback or tension when turning left, but turning right has little to no resistance at all. You could be parked, driving, or backing up and the vehicle makes hard crunch noises to the left. Also, when the sounds and issue becomes frequent (its intermittent) the steering wheel will kick to the right and lock up. There is a traction control light that comes on and a red steering wheel light with an exclamation point that pops on. If you turn off car and turn back on the issue and lights go away. This is extremely dangerous. It has happened to myself and my husband 3 separate occasions, different times of day, different temperatures and roughly a speed under 20 mph. The jolt and locking up of steering wheel is someone’s death waiting to happen. Extremely unsafe to drive.
While driving the electric power steering locked and I couldn’t turn while driving. Hit curb and someone’s personal property. I was so frustrated because there wasn’t anything I could do. The steering locks up and you can’t move it.
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The 2017 Hyundai Sonata has 144 Steering complaints on file. 3 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.