CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2008 Veracruz has a minor trend of complaints where the valve cover leaks oil onto the alternator, causing alternator failure. The problem starts with the battery warning light & typically all the other warning lights coming on in quick succession. Luckily, that problem was covered in a 2014 recall.

Overall, It's a solid reliable vehicle with no major problems reported.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
106,708 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2008 Hyundai Veracruz steering problems

steering problem

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2008 Hyundai Veracruz Owner Comments

problem #13

Jun 132019

Veracruz

  • 86,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Vehicle alternator went, something in driveshaft broke, causing vehicle to go right on its own into telephone pole, sir bags didn't deploy. Recalls are out on these issues but no one has covered vehicle loss and loan.

- Central Square, NY, USA

problem #12

Aug 152019

Veracruz

  • 133,000 miles
Every time someone drives through a tiny bit of water on any road, at any speed, the power steering cuts out for like 30 seconds. Loose all ability to safely maneuver off the road. We have to avoid driving this vehicle on rainy days because we never know if we are going to lose steering. It seems like possibly the belt gets wet and slips or possibly something electrical. When this happens all of the dummy lights on the dash start flickering as well. It happens only when the vehicle is in motion on wet road conditions, it happens at highway speed or city speeds as well. This has happened 4 times in the last 2 months.

- Manteo, NC, USA

problem #11

Aug 242018

Veracruz

  • 101,410 miles
The gear shift is sticking and will not move out of drive and reverse. The vehicle was stationary, turned on in a parking lot with other cars around.

- Dothan, AL, USA

problem #10

May 012018

Veracruz

  • 170,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Highway traveling at 65 mph when oil light glows but doesn't come on fully. As driver slows to pull to side of road, oil light comes on fully w/check engine light and power steering quits-all at once, making steering very difficult. It was a very dangerous situation because it was on a turn on I-81. Luckily traffic was light and there was no accident. The car was then towed to a service station. In terms of relevant history, when trip started, no warning lights were on. But incident came a few days after the oil light had glowed (not fully lit). The oil was a tad low but not a full quart. It was topped off which turned the oil light off. The check engine light had also came on briefly at a different time from the oil light but around the same day as the oil light. It too had turned itself off after being on briefly. So the day of incident there were no warning lights on at all and there had been none on except for that brief time I described above. People have since speculated that the steering failed because the car had stalled. I did not think that the car had stalled. Rather, it just seemed as tho the power for the steering had quit. Once the car was at the shop, I was told there was a bad banging sound when the car engine was on and the mechanic speculated that a rod had broken. Until this happened, the engine appeared to run well and there was no banging sound or any other noise while the car was being driven. The service mechanic confirmed that the oil was full but mentioned it being all over. This could have resulted in a terrible accident. I was very lucky.

- Manlius, NY, USA

problem #9

May 012018

Veracruz

  • 170,000 miles
Highway traveling at 65 mph when oil light glows but doesn't come on fully. As driver slows to pull to side of road, oil light comes on fully w/check engine light and power steering quitsall at once, making steering very difficult. It was a very dangerous situation because it was on a turn on I81. Luckily traffic was light and there was no accident. The car was then towed to a service station. In terms of relevant history, when trip started, no warning lights were on. But incident came a few days after the oil light had glowed (not fully lit). The oil was a tad low but not a full quart. It was topped off which turned the oil light off. The check engine light had also came on briefly at a different time from the oil light but around the same day as the oil light. It too had turned itself off after being on briefly. So the day of incident there were no warning lights on at all and there had been none on except for that brief time I described above. People have since speculated that the steering failed because the car had stalled. I did not think that the car had stalled. Rather, it just seemed as tho the power for the steering had quit. Once the car was at the shop, I was told there was a bad banging sound when the car engine was on and the mechanic speculated that a rod had broken. Until this happened, the engine appeared to run well and there was no banging sound or any other noise while the car was being driven. The service mechanic confirmed that the oil was full but mentioned it being all over. This could have resulted in a terrible accident. I was very lucky.

- Manlius, NY, USA

problem #8

Jun 142016

Veracruz

  • 141,000 miles
Vehicle stopped while driving without warning. Unable to start. Dangerous situation, unable to control vehicle. I was about to enter the interstate and loss power. Had to have the vehicle towed. Had this same issue with the alternator recall. Had to have the vehicle towed to a dealer. Dealer said it was engine failure. No warning lights came on dash, no issues. With the previous alternator recall, oil was dripping onto the alternator and the vehicle shut down while driving. I did not feel safe driving the vehicle as I did not know when this would happen. This vehicle is not safe to drive.

- Canal Winchester, OH, USA

problem #7

Dec 182015

Veracruz

  • 70,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

"ABS failure" and "alternator recall 121" the break, ABS, ESC and chk engine lights all came on and stay on. From time to time the TPMS light will also come on and speedometer will be at zero when driving along the highway. The car will from time to time completely shut down, even while driving along highway, which is a very dangerous situation. Upon further research and diagnostics by Hyundai it seems 2 items are the root cause of the problems, 1) faulty ABS module that was been reported by 100's of people and 2) faulty alternator that affects the loss in power, again with 100's of complaints. There is a recall for alternator but not the ABS module. This is a very expensive repair and with only 70000 miles, this should be replaced/fixed under Hyundai usa warranty.

- Roswell, GA, USA

problem #6

Jul 252015

Veracruz

  • 66,000 miles
Driving on the road and try to make a left...the ABS, and other lights light up and the engine stall.all assisted power was loss for direction in the middle of the left turn. Coast to the side of the road and restart the engine. Mechanics find brake fluid in the ABS control unit.

- Grand Rapids, MI, USA

problem #5

Oct 292014

Veracruz 6-cyl

  • 152,000 miles
The car just failed and did not have power. Lights came on and then car stopped. It is recall 121 from Hyundai but they will not fix the problem because they have no solution. I tried to fix it once before but I was told I had to pay my own bill and they might reimburse me because they have no long term fix for the issue. But my car died because of it and they say that is my problem because I have 151K miles on the car. I spoke to many people at Hyundai and no one would take responsibility. That is crazy that they know it is a problem but will not own up to fixing it for me.

- Fairfield, CT, USA

problem #4

Jul 032013

Veracruz 6-cyl

  • 130,000 miles
While exiting the ramp off of I-95 North in ashland, Virginia at about 50 mph, suddenly a couple of dash lights lit up, there was a loud squeal, and I lost power steering. I almost lost control of the vehicle and almost ran off the ramp before bringing the vehicle to a stop. When I took the vehicle in to get it checked, it was determined that a valve cover gasket oil leak (that I had fixed months earlier, along with replacing the alternator it shorted out), had leaked onto both the alternator (shorting it out again), as well as onto the serpentine belt causing the belt to slip in wet weather (the road was wet from rain and water splashed up onto the oily belt), which caused the loss of power steering. It was a very scary, dangerous situation. I have now gone through 3 alternators and two valve cover gasket replacements on this vehicle since the fall of 2011. This model has a serious, dangerous defect and there needs to be a safety recall.

- Mechanicsville, VA, USA

problem #3

Jul 022012

Veracruz 6-cyl

  • 55,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

July 2012 - gasket leaked and killed alternator and battery. Car stopped suddenly and needed to be towed to the dealership. Dealer fixed the alternator and gasket but I had to pay for battery. July 2013 - alternator died while driving and battery light came on. I had to pay for alternator change $550 as I was above 60,000 miles.

- Nazareth, PA, USA

problem #2

Aug 282012

Veracruz 6-cyl Diesel

  • 65,000 miles
This car loses power and the ability to control it via power steering, power brakes, and sometimes completely shuts down when operating under rainy conditions and wet roadways. It has happened five times. I have never been traveling at a high rate of speed, but for a split second codes appear and I have no control of the car. There is a moment of panic and then the car comes back to life and everything is operational. The dealer has not been able to diagnose.

- Red Bank, NJ, USA

problem #1

Jul 202012

Veracruz

  • 47,800 miles
I have a 2008 Veracruz (48K miles) and recently experienced loss of power steering after driving through a puddle (happened twice within a 2 week period). The car could still be steered but with a lot of difficulty. Warning lights came on as if car was stalled but the engine was still running. For both instances, once I pulled the car to the side of the road and put into park, then put back into drive, the steering and car worked fine. I took it to dealer where purchased and they said that they could not duplicate the problem, nothing negative came up on the car's computer indicating a problem and most likely due to the belt slipping when wet. They said that belt was not worn and was at correct tightness. I have not driven through a puddle since, so no repeated experienced yet. I notice other people reporting similar problems with several other Hyundai models.

- Brick, NJ, USA

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