Hyundai preliminary evaluation PE12012
Side Curtain Air Bag Improper Deployment. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the air bags on 1 model year (2012). Opened May 10, 2012, closed Sep 17, 2012 after 4 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is aware of one incident of an improper deployment of the driver-side curtain air bag that deployed as a result of a crash involving a model year (MY) 2012 Hyundai Elantra. An inspection of this vehicle showed that a metal bracket (stiffener) in the headliner assembly had detached and was forced downward by the deploying air bag. The metal bracket caused a laceration to the driver's ear and other possible injuries. Approximately 75,000 MY 2012 Hyundai Elantra vehicles, built in Korea and sold in the U.S., have stiffeners in the headliners while the MY 2012 Elantra vehicles built in the U.S. utilize a different headliner that does not use a stiffener. Thus, the latter vehicles are not included in this investigation. Hyundai has inspected the headliner assemblies from eight Elantra vehicles (which were sold in the Korean market) with production dates in the same range as the field incident vehicle. Hyundai reported to ODI that the metal brackets from these vehicles were found to be securely attached to the headliners. Hyundai also has conducted several static deployment tests in attempts to replicate the field incident. In one test, the metal bracket detached from the headliner but the test condition did not replicate or explain the condition observed in the incident vehicle. This Preliminary Evaluation has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA12-008) to further assess whether incidents like the single field incident could potentially occur with other subject vehicles. In addition to the subject vehicles, ODI also will collect and review information on MY 2011 and 2013 Elantra vehicles that have headliners with stiffeners similar to those in the subject vehicles. To date, there have been no reports on the MY 2011 and 2013 vehicles. The ODI report cited above can be viewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification number: 10457696
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2012 Hyundai Elantra.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE12012 a recall?
No. A preliminary evaluation is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is PE12012 still open?
No. It closed on Sep 17, 2012 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE12012 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2012 Hyundai Elantra. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.