- Hyundai is recalling almost a quarter of a million vehicles because of a problem with their rear-view cameras.
- A total of 226,118 Santa Fe SUVs and Elantra sedans built for the 2021-22 model year are affected.
- Dealers will replace the defective cameras with updated components with better soldering on the circuit board.
Camera tech is allowing automakers like Jaguar and Polestar to ditch conventional glass rear windows, but today we’ve had a reminder of why that might not be such a great idea. Hyundai has been forced to recall more than 200,000 cars and SUVs in the US due to problems with their rear-view cameras.
A total of 226,118 Hyundai Santa Fe SUVs and Elantra sedans built for the 2021-22 model years are at risk of not displaying the back-up image on the touchscreen display due to an insufficient volume of solder on the camera’s printed circuit boards.
Related: Would You Buy A Car Without A Rear Window?
High temperatures generated by the camera during operation could make the cracks worse causing a loss of signal, something that’s not only mildly annoying for drivers whose necks have got so stiff from not having to turn around for the last decade when backing up – it’s also illegal. Federal Motor Vehicle Standards have insisted that all new cars sold since May 2018 have functional rear-view cameras.
Hyundai and its suppliers have known about this problem for ages, and an updated version of the camera with better-quality soldering on the PCB has been used in new-car production since April 2022. But now the vehicles built before that switch are being asked to return to dealers to have their own cameras swapped for the improved version.
Tesla issued a recall for a similar reason earlier this year, and Ford, Honda, Porsche, Bentley, Jeep, Ram, Audi, VW, Kia and Infiniti have all had problems with rear-camera tech, so this Hyundai boo-boo isn’t an isolated incident. Which has understandably caused some people to question whether Polestar and Volvo deciding to junk their back windows in favor of non-transparent panels is a wise move. Manthey’s new performance kit for the Porsche 992 GT3 RS also ditches the window, in this case for a carbon panel featuring a giant shark fin, though we doubt drivers of those track weapons are quite as concerned about being able to see behind them.
