2003 Hyundai Tiburon Gt Coupe 2-door 2.7l on 2040-cars

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Hyundai Fined $17.35 Million For Delayed Recall

Hyundai has agreed to pay a $17.35 million fine for delayed reporting of a brake defect affecting Genesis luxury cars, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday. The defect involves corrosion in critical brake system components that can reduce braking effectiveness and increase the risk of a crash, NHTSA said. Hyundai was aware in 2012 that brake fluids used in the model year 2009-2012 Genesis cars did not sufficiently inhibit corrosion in key components of the vehicle's brake system, the agency said. But rather than issue a recall, Hyundai instructed dealers to change the brake fluid in affected vehicles without explaining the consequences that failure to take that action might have, NHTSA said. Hyundai also did not inform Genesis owners of the potential safety consequences, the agency said. Hyundai recalled 27,500 of the cars in October 2012 just hours before the government opened an investigation. "Hyundai failed to act to protect their customers and others that were harmed in an accident, and must change the way they deal with all safety related defects," David Friedman, head of the safety administration, said in a statement. About 70 percent of the affected Genesis cars have been repaired so far, the safety administration said. Hyundai is committed to ensuring immediate action in response to potential safety concerns, including the prompt reporting of safety defects, said Jim Trainor, a senior group manager for Hyundai Motor America. "In order to mitigate a situation like this in the future, Hyundai is instituting new organizational and process improvements, and enhancing the ability of its U.S. leadership team to readily respond to regulatory reporting requirements," he said in an email. In May, the safety administration slapped General Motors with a record $35 million fine Friday for taking more than a decade to disclose an ignition-switch defect in millions of cars that has been linked to at least 13 deaths. Earlier this year, after a four-year criminal investigation, the Justice Department made Toyota pay $1.2 billion for concealing unintended acceleration problems from NHTSA. No individuals were charged with a crime. Related Gallery Safest Crossovers For The Budget-Conscious Family View 10 Photos Recalls Genesis Hyundai NHTSA brakes

We get our hands on Android Auto [w/video]

After a week with version one of Android Auto in a 2015 Hyundai Sonata, my opinion is that it fulfills the promise of the technology. I couldn't even exploit it fully because I'm not married to the Android ecosystem. At my desk right now there's a PC in front of me, an iPad on my left, and an Android phone on my right. My Android phone is, in fact, so old that it's not compatible with Android Auto. So in addition to a Sonata, Hyundai let me borrow a Nexus 5 smartphone and a Motorola Moto360 watch. Yet even with all that gear, which, in practical terms is someone else's borrowed digital life, Android Auto still showed itself to be tech worth having. When you start the Sonata you get the standard Hyundai infotainment screen. Plug your phone in, and you'll get an option to click over to Android Auto. At that point, you lose the ability to use your phone, which is the purpose of the system, to keep you from using the handset. Since the contents of your phone are ported to the head unit, there is hardly any reason to reach for the portable device anyway. The Google Now screen comes up first, populated with a series of notifications resulting from Google having learned your life and kept track of where you've been going, who you've been calling, and what you've been searching for. After only two days, Google Now understood that I probably lived in Venice, CA, and not in Orange County, where the phone had previously resided. No matter the make of car, the interface is the same. The icons along the bottom of the screen indicate Navigation, Phone, Home (Google Now), Audio, and Return – to go back to the car's native interface. The first four options represent much of what we use our phones for (we'll get to texting in a second), and that's what buyers want: for cars to work seamlessly with their phones. Oh, and to have voice recognition actually be useful. Android Auto works with the Hyundai system, so if music is playing when you turn the car on, it will continue to play even though you're in Android Auto, and you can control it through that interface. Switching to media or apps on your phone is as easy as saying, "Play music," which defaults to Google Play, or pressing the audio button and choosing an app like JoyRide or NPR One. You do have to figure out how to speak to the system. I couldn't find any list of Android Auto-specific voice commands, so sometimes it would take a few tries to figure out how Google liked to be ordered around.

Tucson hydrogen fuel cell CUV will allow Hyundai to sell more dirty cars

With the first Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Vehicle deliveries happening soon (a bit later than expected), it's time for the Korean automaker to explain why it's offering the H2 CUV here in the states. After all, there are only 10 public hydrogen stations in the US today, according to the DOE, so it can't be to take over the market. According to a Hyundai exec, the reason we are getting the Tucson Fuel Cell is to make up to $130,000 through California's ZEV credit system. "We really don't make any money out of selling the fuel cell vehicles for now" – Byung Ki Ahn According to Wards Auto, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) will give the automaker up to 26 points worth of zero emission vehicle (ZEV) credits for each of the $499/month hydrogen Tucson leased through the 2017 model year. Those credits could be worth up to $130,000 to Hyundai. Byung Ki Ahn, Hyundai's director of the fuel cell group, told Wards Auto that, "We really don't make any money out of selling the fuel cell vehicles for now. ... So just by selling the fuel cell (vehicle) we could get a lot of credit points, which you could sell at a later time if you want, like Tesla does. It could be a good business model." Ahn clarified that Hyundai does not plan to cash in on those credits, but to use them to offset the rest of its vehicle lineup. Other automakers also participate in the ZEV credit system, of course, but if Anh's numbers are correct, then fuel cell vehicles earn more credits than battery electric vehicles do, so if you want to earn a lot of credits, hydrogen is a good way to go. You can find more details over at Wards Auto. *This post has been updated to mention other automakers using the ZEV scheme.