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How a Texas Hyundai dealer became the Chevy SSR king

The SSR isn't one of the most appreciated vehicles in Chevy's long history. With a style amalgamating the look of a vintage hotrod, convertible and a pickup, it's really serving a niche market right from the start. However, a Hyundai dealer in Texas has turned selling the cult models into a booming business and has become the de facto king of the quirky truck. According to Automotive News, Paul Peebles runs North Freeway Hyundai in Spring, TX, but he's better known in the Chevy SSR community the premiere seller of the weird model through his used car network. The odd venture started in 2010 when Peebles wanted to boost his pre-owned business and bought several sporty vehicles. Among them were five SSRs, and he threw a cookout for owners to get the word out. Things just ballooned from there. Since then, Peebles' used car dealer has had a hand in 447 SSR transactions, and some of those are the same truck coming back to sell again. With just over 24,000 of them out there, that works about to two percent of the model's production moving through just one business. The dealership also sponsors an SSR owners' forum online. Being a major broker for a niche model also means that Peebles often gets rare examples of the SSR, including some of the Indianapolis 500 pace car versions, according to Automotive News. We even saw a bizarre one last year when the business put this shark-inspired truck on eBay Motors. The whole thing also works out well for Peebles' Hyundai business. Specializing in SSRs brings other performance models in as trade-ins, and they can draw folks to the lot to check out the collection. Then, maybe visitors can take a look at a Sonata, too.

Hyundai admits 'error' in KDM Sonata fuel economy announcement

Stop us if you've heard this one before: Hyundai is going to have to reduce the officially announced miles-per-gallon number for its 2014 Sonata. While there's a lot of similarity between this new situation and events that transpired in 2012, there are some important differences. For one, the new mileage mistake, which Hyundai says was once again caused by an error at its test centers, is only applicable to cars in the Korean Domestic Market. Secondly, it's not so much mpg as kilometers per liter. "We are very sorry for causing confusion to reporters" - Hyundai According to Reuters, the numbers for the Korean Sonata were originally announced as 12.6 kilometers per liter (29.63 mpg), a six-percent increase over the previous model. The automaker has just announced that government verification showed an actual result of 12.1 kpl (28.46 mpg), which is only a two-percent increase. Since these numbers were done using the South Korean economy test, they are not equivalent to the US EPA numbers, the latter of which say the 2014 Sonata gets 36/40/38 miles per gallon. The correction came before the new Sonata went on sale in South Korea. In an official statement, Hyundai said, "We are very sorry for causing confusion to reporters." Hyundai Motor America's Jim Trainor, product public relations senior group manager, assured AutoblogGreen that the Korean error will have "no effect" on US ratings. In 2012, Hyundai and Kia faced a media and consumer firestorm after being caught up in exaggerated mileage claims for vehicles like its 2013 Accent, Veloster and Elantra. The sister companies agreed to compensate buyers to the tune of $395 million for what they said were "honest mistakes" and "human error" during in-house fuel economy tests. There is no word yet on whether similar customer satisfaction actions will follow this domestic market snafu.

Hyundai recalls about 980,000 Sonatas for seat belt detachments

The Basics: Hyundai is recalling 977,778 Hyundai Sonatas and Sonata Hybrids for seat belts that could detach from their anchor pretensioners, which could lead to an injury. The recall affects 2010- cars including 2011-2014 standard Sonatas built from December 11, 2009 to May 29, 2014 and 2011-2015 Sonata Hybrids built from December 2, 2010 to January 9, 2015. The Problem: During manufacturing, some Sonatas may not have had the seat belt properly attached to the anchor pretensioner. According to NHTSA recall information, the seat belt is connected to the anchor after the latter has been installed, and it is possible that the seat belt didn't completely latch onto the anchor during assembly. If the seat belt was not properly attached, it can separate from the anchor during a collision, potentially leading to an injury. Injuries/Deaths: Hyundai has reported one injury to NHTSA. No deaths related to the recall have been reported. The Fix: Owners are asked to bring in their vehicles to dealerships to have the seat belt assembly inspected to make sure the belt is correctly latched. If not, the dealer will reattach it properly at no cost to the owner. If you own one: Hyundai will alert owners to the recall by mail starting April 7. Owners can also call Hyundai's customer service directly to ask about the recall at 1-855-371-9460. They can also enter their VINs at the NHTSA website to check if their car is included in the recall. Related Video: