2006 Hyundai Trajet Pricing and Specs

If you’ve just bought a new car, it’s very important to discover what recalls have been issued for it over the years and whether those fixes have been attended to.

My list of recalls for this model Hyundai iX35 includes one for a seat-belt tensioner cable that was not attached properly, one for an air-bag retention nut that was incorrectly torqued and could cause the air-bag to deploy incorrectly, one for a transmission cooler hose problem on automatic versions, one for a potential fuel hose leak and a fifth recall for a potential engine oil leak on the 2.4-litre petrol variant.

Various systems randomly turning themselves on or staying powered up when the car is otherwise turned off often point to a fault with the body computer which controls literally hundreds of functions. Obviously, the power steering should shut down with the rest of the car so, as the master control unit, the body computer is where many mechanics would start looking.

Whether the same fault is also causing the ESP light to come on is another matter, but it’s possible both problems are connected. Again, the body computer is a likely culprit. Have the car scanned to see what and how many individual fault codes are thrown up. That’s the best way to proceed in this case.

The Grandeur was Hyundai’s first serious crack at a large luxury car. The V6 engine and automatic transmission seem pretty sound over time, but the kilometres on this example are right up there. Any car with this many kilometres could be a candidate for new suspension, new brakes and who knows what else. So, what may seem on the surface like a bargain (the average price is closer to $6000 or $7000) might not be the case if you have to scrap the car in a year or so because it needs too many repairs.

Then again, at the price, you’re not throwing away the national debt, are you? So perhaps, if you trust your mate, it’s worth a punt, but only if you can comfortably afford to walk away from it if it goes wrong.