Avg. Price Paid:$8,358 - $11,598
Original MSRP: $16,995 - $23,845
MPG: 22 City / 27 Hwy
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Hyundai Tucson Recalls & Reliability

These scores and this review are from when the car was new.

Scorecard

Overall: 2007 Hyundai Tucson U.S. News Best Cars 7.6
Critics' Rating: 7.9
Performance: 6.0
Interior: 6.6
Safety: 6.9
Reliability:
How we calculate scores
Research analyzed for this review

Pros & Cons

  • Roomy for four passengers
  • Comes with impressive five-year basic and 10-year powertrain warranties
  • Sluggish performance from the base four-cylinder engine
  • Some cheap-looking interior materials, such as plastic door handles
  • Some complaints about road noise

Research Other Years

Review Last Updated: 5/2/08

Recalls

There have been 3 safety recalls issued from NHTSA.

EXTERIOR LIGHTINGRecall Date: 07/15/2009
  • Consequence: ANY OF THESE MALFUNCTIONS COULD LEAD TO A CRASH.
  • NHTSA Campaign ID: 09V280000
  • Potential Number of Units Affected: 3011
  • Summary: 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.
  • Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING AUGUST 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI OF PUERTO RICO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 787-999-4310.
  • Notes: HYUNDAI OF PUERTO RICO RECALL NO. 91B026. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:SWITCHES:BRAKE LIGHTRecall Date: 04/14/2009
  • Consequence: THESE MALFUNCTIONS MY LEAD TO A CRASH.
  • NHTSA Campaign ID: 09V122000
  • Potential Number of Units Affected: 531894
  • Summary: HYUNDAI IS RECALLING 531,894 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 AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE BRAKE-TRANSMISSION SHIFT INTERLOCK FEATURE SO THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE SHIFTED OUT OF 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.
  • Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING APRIL 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-633-5151.
  • Notes: HYUNDAI RECALL NO. 092. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE INFLATOR MODULERecall Date: 04/25/2007
  • Consequence: THIS CAN CAUSE INCREASED RISK OF INJURY TO THE DRIVER UNDER CERTAIN CRASH CONDITIONS.
  • NHTSA Campaign ID: 07V197000
  • Potential Number of Units Affected: 2967
  • Summary: 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.
  • Remedy: 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 IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON OR ABOUT MAY 31, 2007, AND WILL BE PERFORMED IN TWO MAILINGS. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI DE PUERTO RICO AT 1-800-981-0188.
  • Notes: HYUNDAI RECALL NO. 079. CUSTOMERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.

Reliability

Our reliability score is based on the J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) rating or, if unavailable, the J.D. Power Predicted Reliability rating.

Dependability Ratings1 2007
Overall Dependability
Powertrain Dependability
Feature & Accessory Dependability
Body & Interior Dependability

1These scores come from consumer ratings of their vehicles after three years of ownership.

  • Key:
  • Among The Best
  • Better Than Most
  • About Average
  • The Rest

J.D. Power and Associates Power Circle Ratings do not include all information used to determine J.D. Power and Associates awards. See JDPower.com for more information on Power Circle Ratings. Your experience may vary.

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Warranty

The Tucson's basic warranty lasts for five years or 60,000 miles. Hyundai offers an unbeatable powertrain warranty of 10 years or 100,000 miles, which should appeal to most buyers.

Hyundai has left its earlier "unreliable" reputation in the dust and polished itself as a serious quality contender. As Edmunds points out, the carmaker's sales have improved with its reliability ratings.

Next Steps: Hyundai Tucson