1999 Hyundai Tiburon problems
The 1999 Hyundai Tiburon has 50 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (20%) concerns electrical system. After that come seat belts (12%) and cruise control (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 50 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 6 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 4 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 44,000 miles 15 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 6 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 0 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 2 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 15 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 44,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 6 complaints mention a crash; 4 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1999 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the Hyundai Tiburon with enough data (38 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Brakes malfunctioned, resulting in a collision/ minor injuries. Vehicle was totalled. Brake failed on wet road.
My son was driving on a highway entering a freeway on an on ramp when his airbag "exploded" for no reason. There was nothing on the road he was simply driving along on the highway. The air bag exploded which resulted in my son hitting a wall barrier on the freeway. At the point of impact his passenger side air bag deployed. Since it was late at night we towed the car to a dealer where it currently is.
Two weeks prior to accident car was at the dealer to "fix" the reason why his air bag light was on. The dealer "fixed" the light. Two weeks later driver was exiting highway getting onto the on ramp to another highway and for no reason his airbag exploded. The ground was dry and there were no obstacles in the road. At once his hands were forced from the steering wheel and his view was obstructed resulting in him plowing into the freeway barrier. Upon this impact his passenger side airbag deployed.
While driving at various speeds the transmission would down shift from high gear to lower gear and then lock up. The vehicle would jerk forward and remain in the lowest gear when this happened. The wheel would lock up just prior to being release. The vehicle has been to the dealer who changed the speed sensors 3 months before the transmission was replaced. *nlm the speed sensor was replaced 2 times. The pulse generator was replaced a total of 4 times. The thermostat has also been replaced.
Vehicle loses power on acceleration sporadically. When car stopped and idle, engine RPM increases dramatically trying to override brakes.