- Hyundai is recalling 568,850 Palisades over a seatbelt issue.
- The 2020-25 SUVs have incorrectly machined seatbelt buckles.
- Owners should listen out for a lighter-than-normal latching click.
Modern cars have a multitude of clever electronic ADAS gizmos to keep us from getting hurt, though one of the most important and effective bits of safety equipment remains the humble seatbelt. But more than half a million Hyundai owners are being warned that their seatbelts might not be working properly, and to listen for a specific noise to avoid disaster.
Related: Hyundai Palisade Owners Keep Reporting Suspension Failures
Hyundai last week announced a recall for 568,850 SUVs after discovering a problem with the seat belt buckle on 2022-25 Palisades built in Korea and sold in the US. The issue affects belts fitted in both the first and second rows of the three-row utility.
Fault traced to supplier
The problem is that the metal tongue attached to the belt itself might not correctly latch in the socket, and that could mean it pops out when subjected to a load and wouldn’t restrain a human body in an accident. Hyundai traced the problem to badly made buckle guides from supplier ZF Lifetec, and will begin replacing the entire buckles on US-market Palisades starting this November.
Owners can still drive their Palisades until the swap happens, Hyundai says, but they need to be more deliberate when buckling up, and should listen out for a specific click that could indicate all is not well. A lighter-than-normal click during latching, possibly accompanied by a recessed button on the buckle, are warning signs that the belt isn’t fully secure. Hyundai says cold weather and inserting the tongue too slowly can increase the likelihood of the belt not latching.
As with many recalls, this relates to a problem that’s been known about for a while. The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a preliminary investigation into poor seatbelt latching performance on 2020-23 Palisades last August, but it has taken 13 months for the ODI, Hyundai, and ZF Lifetec to finish their testing to get to the root of the problem.
The good news is that despite being aware of 546 reports of duff buckles, Hyundai knows of no instances where anyone driving or travelling in a Palisade has been hurt due to the defect.
