A manufacturing defect could lead certain Hyundai vehicles’ rearview cameras to fail over time.
A new Hyundai recall impacts 226,118 vehicles due to defective rearview cameras, increasing the risk of a rear-end collision with pedestrians, objects or other vehicles and putting the cars out of compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). The automaker says it has been investigating the problem since September 2023, as its internal safety office noticed a troubling pattern with the cameras failing on 2021 and 2022 Elantra and Santa Fe models — two of the company’s most popular vehicles.
Specifically, Hyundai told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that thousands of vehicles within the recall population — up to 5%, at least — could be suffering rearview camera failure due to insufficient solder joints on the camera’s printed circuit board. Because of the manufacturing defects, the solder joints could weaken over time, increasing the risk the camera output could fail and reduce rearward visibility when an owner is driving in reverse. That sort of failure violates the federal government’s safety standard for rear visibility, as well as creates a non-zero risk drivers could get into an accident that would injure bystanders.
The NHTSA published a breakdown of vehicles affected by the recall.
According to the recall report, the rearview camera defect impacts the following models:
- 2021-2022 Hyundai Elantra
- Gas models built between September 12, 2020 and May 16, 2022: 54,463 units
- Hybrid models built between December 23, 2020 and February 14, 2022: 3,517 units
- 2022 Elantra N models built between September 15, 2021 and February 7, 2022: 1,186 units
- 2021-2022 Hyundai Santa Fe
- Gas models built between October 30, 2020 and March 9, 2022: 84,421 units
- Hybrid models built between December 18, 2020 and March 10, 2022: 3,517 units
- Plug-in Hybrid models buitl between May 13, 2021 and March 10, 2022: 1,760 units
Hyundai dealers will replace the rearview camera free of charge, regardless of whether the vehicle is still under warranty, and reimburse owners who paid out-of-pocket to fix the issue. The automaker says a new camera without the improper solder joints have been installed to new vehicles since April 2022, so newer models do not fall under this specific recall.
The company told its dealers on November 21, 2024 through a “best practice” bulletin that a remedy is under development, and Hyundai told the NHTSA it would notify owners of a fix on January 19, 2025.
More information on this recall campaign is available through the NHTSA’s official website (recall number 24V-879), while owners should also be able to find out more about whether their car is affected by plugging in their 17-character VIN to Hyundai’s recall website. The automaker’s customer care center is open Monday-Saturday at 1-(800)-633-5151.
