2008 HYUNDAI SONATA User Comment / Complaint

My 2007 hyundai sonata passenger side airbag sensor does not properly activate the airbag when my girlfriend (5'6", 115 lbs) sits on the seat. turning on and off the car multiple times will usually make the sensor activate. in the last several months the airbag has been disarming while traveling (hitting bumps especially seems to make the airbag get disarmed). this makes me wonder what would happen to the airbag sensor if i needed to swerve and/or break in an attempt to avoid and accident, and ended up getting into the accident anyhow. it seems likely the passenger side airbag would deactivate under these conditions. furthermore, the sensor sensitivity appears to vary greatly from one 2007 sonata to another one. when my sonata was in the shop for maintenance, i rented another 2007 sonata (same model and same options), and the passenger side airbag sensed my girlfriend's presence just fine. hyundai has also been extremely uncooperative. after returning the car multiple times to the authorized dealer, and calling hyundai usa directly multiple times, i stopped receiving return calls. after threatening legal action via a demand letter, hyundai is at least talking to me again though they seem to have no capability to fix the problem. after doing some web searches, it is clear that many other folks are having similar problems with hyundai elantras and sonatas.  view