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2005 Hyundai Tucson Recalls & Complaints

8

open safety recalls on record

Serious

273 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 0.49 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Serious09V122000

Exterior Lighting:Brake Lights:Switch

ANY OF THESE MALFUNCTIONS, ALONE OR IN COMBINATION, MAY LEAD TO A CRASH.

Remedy & full details

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JUNE 29, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT THE HYUNDAI CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-633-5151.

HYUNDAI IS RECALLING 532,633 MY 2006-2007 ACCENT, ENTOURAGE, SONATA, MY 2007 AZERA, ELANTRA AND SANTA FE, MY 2005-2007 TUCSON AND MY 2007-2008 VERACRUZ VEHICLES. THE STOP LAMP SWITCH IN THE AFFECTED VEHICLES MAY MALFUNCTION. A MALFUNCTIONING STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED OR MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS RELEASED. A STOP LAMP SWITCH MALFUNCTION MAY ALSO AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE BRAKE-TRANSMISSION SHIFT INTERLOCK FEATURE SO THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE SHIFTED OUT OF THE PARK POSITION. IT MAY ALSO CAUSE THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) MALFUNCTION LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE, AND IT MAY NOT DEACTIVATE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED.

Serious05V177000

Electronic Stability Control:Automatic (Asc)

BRAKE APPLICATION CAUSED BY INADVERTENT ESP ACTIVATION MAY RESULT IN LOSS OF CONTROL AND A CRASH.

Remedy & full details

DEALERS WILL REPROGRAM THE ESP HYDRAULIC ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING MAY 2005. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI DE PUERTO RICO AT 1-800-981-0188.

ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH ELECTRONIC STABILITY PROGRAM (ESP), THE YAW RATE SENSOR MAY BECOME TOO SENSITIVE AND MAY RECALIBRATE INACCURATELY. WHILE DRIVING THE ESP PROGRAM MAY CAUSE THE ENGINE TO REDUCE POWER AND MAY CAUSE A BRAKE AT ONE OF THE WHEELS TO BE INAPPROPRIATELY.

Serious09V280000

Exterior Lighting

ANY OF THESE MALFUNCTIONS COULD LEAD TO A CRASH.

Remedy & full details

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI OF PUERTO RICO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-787-999-4310.

HYUNDAI IS RECALLING 3,011 MODEL YEAR 2005-2007 ELANTRA, TUCSON, SONATA, AZERA AND ACCENT VEHICLES. A MALFUNCTIONING STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO FAIL TO ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED OR MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS RELEASED. A DEFECTIVE STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY ALSO AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE BRAKE-TRANSMISSION SHIFT INTERLOCK FEATURE SO THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE SHIFT OUT OF THE "PARK" POSITION. IT MAY ALSO CAUSE THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) MALFUNCTION LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE, AND IT MAY NOT DEACTIVATE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED.

Serious07V197000

Air Bags:Frontal:Driver Side:Inflator Module

THIS CAN CAUSE INCREASED RISK OF INJURY TO THE DRIVER UNDER CERTAIN CRASH CONDITIONS.

Remedy & full details

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE DRIVER AIR BAG MODULE WITH ONE THAT IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE AN INCREASED MARGIN OF COMPLIANCE FOR LOW RISK DEPLOYMENT FOR SMALL STATURE ADULTS WHO ARE NOT PROPERLY WEARING THE SEAT BELTS. THE RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2007, AND WILL BE PERFORMED IN TWO MAILINGS. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI DE PUERTO RICO AT 1-800-981-0188.

ON CERTAIN VEHICLES, STATIC AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT TESTING CONDUCTED BY NHTSA USING FIFTH PERCENTILE FEMALE DUMMIES INDICATED THAT A SMALL STATURE ADULT DRIVER NOT WEARING A SEAT BELT AND INVOLVED IN A FRONTAL OR NEAR FRONTAL CRASH, THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE DRIVER AIR BAG MAY NOT OCCUR.

Serious05V315000

Parking Brake

THE INABILITY TO ENGAGE, OR THE INADVERTENT RELEASE OF, THE PARKING BRAKE LEVER MAY ALLOW YOUR VEHICLE TO ROLL WHILE IT IS PARKED AND MAY RESULT IN A CRASH.

Remedy & full details

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE PARKING BRAKE LEVER ASSEMBLY. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 29, 2005. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI AT 1-800-633-5151.

ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, THE PARKING BRAKE LEVER RATCHET PAWL WAS NOT PROPERLY MANUFACTURED AND MY DAMAGE THE TEETH OF THE PARKING BRAKE LEVER RATCHET. DAMAGED PARKING BRAKE LEVER RATCHET TEETH MAY PREVENT THE PARKING BRAKE FROM ENGAGING OR MAY ALLOW THE PARKING BRAKE TO RELEASE AFTER IT HAS BEEN ENGAGED.

Serious05V119000

Electronic Stability Control:Automatic (Asc)

BRAKE APPLICATION CAUSED BY INADVERTENT ESP ACTIVATION MAY RESULT IN LOSS OF CONTROL AND A CRASH.

Remedy & full details

DEALERS WILL REPROGRAM THE ESP HYDRAULIC ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 13, 2005. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI AT 1-800-633-5151.

ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH ELECTRONIC STABILITY PROGRAM (ESP), THE YAW RATE SENSOR MAY BECOME TOO SENSITIVE AND MAY RECALIBRATE INACCURATELY. WHILE DRIVING THE ESP PROGRAM MAY CAUSE THE ENGINE TO REDUCE POWER AND MAY CAUSE A BRAKE AT ONE OF THE WHEELS TO BE INAPPROPRIATELY.

Serious06V445000

Air Bags:Frontal:Driver Side:Inflator Module

THIS CAN CAUSE INCREASED RISK OF INJURY TO THE DRIVER UNDER CERTAIN CRASH CONDITIONS.

Remedy & full details

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE DRIVER AIR BAG MODULE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JANUARY 29, 2007, AND WILL BE CONDUCTED THROUGH SIX MAILINGS. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI AT 1-800-633-5151.

ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, DURING STATIC AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT TESTING CONDUCTED BY NHTSA USING FIFTH PERCENTILE FEMALE DUMMIES INDICATED IF A SMALL STATURED ADULT DRIVER, NOT WEARING A SEAT BELT, IS INVOLVED IN A FRONTAL OR NEAR FRONTAL CRASH, DEPLOYMENT OF THE DRIVER AIR BAG MAY RESULT IN AN INSUFFICIENT MARGIN OF COMPLIANCE AS MEASURED BY THE TEST DUMMY USED IN THE NHTSA TEST.

Serious05V342000

Parking Brake

THE INABILITY TO ENGAGE OR THE INADVERTENT RELEASE OF THE PARKING BRAKE LEVER, MAY ALLOW YOUR VEHICLE TO ROLL WHILE IT IS PARKED AND MAY RESULT IN A CRASH.

Remedy & full details

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE PARKING BRAKE LEVER ASSEMBLY. THE RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2005. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI OF PUERTO RICO AT 1-800-981-0188.

ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, THE PARKING LEVER RATCHET PAWL WAS NOT PROPERLY MANUFACTURED AND MAY DAMAGE THE TEETH OF THE PARKING LEVER RATCHET. DAMAGED PARKING BRAKE LEVER RATCHET TEETH MAY PREVENT THE PARKING BRAKE FROM ENGAGING OR MAY ALLOW THE PARKING BRAKE TO RELEASE AFTER IT HAS BEEN ENGAGED.

Complaint volume

273 this model-year 6 median, same year

Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.

What owners reported happened

16Crashes
5Fires
22Injuries
0Deaths

Across 273 complaints. Severity Index 0.49.

Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.

What owners report most

Electrical System25 · 9%Air Bags22 · 8%Engine18 · 7%Engine And Engine Cooling14 · 5%Suspension13 · 5%Unknown Or Other11 · 4%Electronic Stability Cont…10 · 4%Vehicle Speed Control9 · 3%
  1. Electrical System — 25 reports
  2. Air Bags — 22 reports
  3. Engine — 18 reports
  4. Engine And Engine Cooling — 14 reports
  5. Suspension — 13 reports
  6. Unknown Or Other — 11 reports
  7. Electronic Stability Control (Esc) — 10 reports
  8. Vehicle Speed Control — 9 reports
  9. Structure — 9 reports
  10. Exterior Lighting — 9 reports

What to do

  1. Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
  2. Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
  3. Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.

Other model years

2005 · 2006 (5) · 2007 (5) · 2008 (1) · 2009 (1) · 2010 (4) · 2011 (5) · 2012 (3) · 2013 (3) · 2014 (2) · 2015 (1) · 2016 (5) · 2017 (3) · 2018 (1) · 2019 (1) · 2020 (1) · 2021 (1) · 2022 (3) · 2023 (2) · 2024 (4) · 2025 (6) · 2026 (5)

Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.

Questions

Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?

Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.

Do I pay for recall repairs?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.

Why are there complaints but no recalls?

Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.