Hyundai ix35 (2009 – 2015) Review

• April 2009
• February 2010
• December 2010
• May 2014: ix35 Go! launched

02-03-2011:

1.7 diesel KIA Sportages (same basic vehicle) suffering problems with cruise control.

08-03-2011:

Mysterious faults leaving 2.0 diesel 4x4s temporarily immobilised.

08-03-2011:

Trip meter sometimes re-sets on a refill of fuel, sometimes doesn't.

22-06-2011:

Notified by reader of two dealer service updates to 2.0 4WD: OOCS10 rear trailing arm bolts and OOCS16 ECU Upgrade. Since the ECU upgrade the reader's MPG improved from 39 to 46MPG.

21-03-2012:

Some complaints of difficult engagement of 1st and 2nd gear when very cold.

03-06-2012:

Report of noisy driveshafts on 2WD GDI versions.

17-12-2012:

Another complaint of difficult engagement of 1st and 2nd gear when very cold. Might be down to the low friction oil used in the transmission.

17-04-2013:

Seems to be a problem of fuel filters of 1.6 GDIs getting blocked by emulsified fuel. For a GDI engine the filter has to be very fine, so if you fill with fuel that contained a high percentage of ethanol (biofuel), that is more prone to emulsify.

10-07-2013:

Report of all four injectors failing on January 2010 ix35 2.0 CRDI engine, then the sump seal failing and leaking oil. All fixed under warranty.

09-01-2014:

Water leak reported into load area of April 2013 ix35. Possibly stuck cabin vent flaps.

29-10-2014:

Report of aircon of Hyundai ix35 1.7CRDI failing on long trips: fan speed appears to slow although a lot of fan noise still being made and vent temp becomes warm. Can be cleared by turning the temp up for 2 mins and opening the window, but then the problem returns after 15 minutes.

05-03-2015:

2013 Hyundai ix35 1.7CRDI continually going into limp mode at which point fuel economy drops from 48mpg to 35mpg. Could be the DPF becoming blocked and failing to regenerate.

18-07-2015:

Information from reader that there is a technical bulletin on the aircon problem. Aircon needs to be reprogrammed and a new proble fitted. This stops the condensor freezing up. Many Hyundai dealers are unaware of it.

09-08-2015:

Aircon problem first reported 29-10-2014 finally fixed by ritting a new proble into the system.

09-09-2015:

Reported that Hyundai seems to have stopped supplying full sized spare wheels with the car from 2014. Now just a puncture repair kit.

09-12-2015:

Rear diff failure reported on 2010 Hyundai ix35 that was 4 months out of warranty. Nail found in one rear tyre. It could be that the difference in pressure of the two rear tyres over time caused the diff to fail or that an unevenly matched pair of rear tyres put a strain on the diff.

06-04-2016:

Report of clutch and DMF of Hyundai ix35 failing at 62,000 miles. A Hyundai clutch is normally warranted for 2 years and the car was older but, on dismantling, the Hyundai dealer thought the damage had been caused by a failed DMF and put in a claim. Unfortunately Hyundai rejected this, blaming the clutch for damaging the DMF, but the dealer was still decent about it and only charged £584.21.

14-04-2016:

Report of clutch failure of 2011 Hyundai ix35 2WDCRD1 134 at 37,000 miles. Possibility of engine or transmission shaft end seal or clutch slave cylinder failing and contaminating the clutch, or, of course, driving style leading to the failure.

12-05-2016:

Report of Emissions Warning Light on 2011 Hyundai ix35 just out of 5 year warranty. Paid £62.90 for diagnosis, fault code P2015 and failt code was cleared. Dealer recommended new manifold runner sensor/actuator (Swirl device), but told owner he could avoid the expense and carry on.

06-05-2017:

Hyundai dealer discovered cracked piston rings in the engine of an ix35 taken in for service. No strange noises noticed by the owner beforehand Resulted in a complete engine reubuild under Hyundai warranty. Short engine, cylinder head and most major components such as camshafts, valves, timing chain and tensioners, oil pump all replaced due to metal contamination from failed piston rings.

21-06-2017:

Report of infotainment system on 2002 Hyundai ix35 packing up just out of warranty. System had failed before and been replaced inside 5 year warranty. Now, the infotainment system is virtually dead. The Radio presets do not work, the frequency scanner, does not, rear-view camera has ceased functioning, sat-nav has become 'flakey...' We speculated that it might be the power or earth connection rather than the unit itself, especially if it is on can-bus power sharing.

20-08-2017:

Report from Azerbaijan of serious problems with the a/c of a Hyundai ix35 in temperatures of more than 40C. "Service centres have tried everything from recharging to fitting a new compressors but the problem continues. Some garages who have the experience of the fault, seem to have traced it to the sensors either side of the condenser, but as these are very difficult to get at the cost involved is high, Hyundai don't want to admit the fault and do a recall." Might be due to being forced to use refrigerant R1234YF instead of the more reliable and much cheaper R134a.

29-08-2017:

Report of persistent electrical problems with 2012 Hyundai ix35 about to come to end of 5 year warranty.

21-11-2017:

Report of track rod end gaiters of 2012 Hyundai ix35 failing at 41,000 miles, just inside Hyundai 5 year warranty, but regarded as a wear and tear item and not covered.

04-04-2018:

Report of waxing of diesel on fuel filter of 2014 Hyundai ix35 1.7CRDI causing 5 issues of sudden power loss over last 3 months since the fuel filter was changed at a 40k mile service in August 2017. Could simply be waxing of the diesel the owner is using in the recent cold weather.

26-10-2018:

Report of clicking sound in the dashboard of a 2013 Hyundai ix35 1.7CRDI while driving, which is accompanied by the reverse lights intermittently flashing on and off.

21-03-2019:

Report of problem with button start of Hyuindai ix35 with keylerss ignition. When pressed on two occasions, owner just got a flashing key symbol and the car wouldn't start. Both times the Hyundai dealer said they could find no fault and no error codes displayed. It isn't a fob battery problem.

03-05-2019:

2014 Hyundai ix35 diesel required new transmission synchro ring at 70,000 miles. Repaired under warranty, but part took 6 weeks to arrive taking car out of warranty. After being fixed, clutch pressure regulator was leaking and owner was quoted £396 to repair it, but it could ahve been damaged during the transmission repair.

11-07-2019:

Report of repeated overnight drain of battery of 2014 Hynundai ix35, bought in early 2017 from independent dealer when it was still under Hyundai's 5 year warranty. Battery replaced by independent dealer. Fresh battery drained so taken to Hyundai dealer who faound glove-box light was staying on and fixed that. 6 months later battery flat again in the winter, thught due to cols starts and short runs. Owner bought a jump starter. Local auto electrician traced drain of 0.35 amps to the radio. Now out of warranty, going back to Hyundai dealer who will try to trace drain at cost to owner.

06-08-2019:

Report of "no. 3 conrod bearing" failing in a 2012 Hyundai ix35 2.0CRDI automatic at 45,000 kilometres. No fault with the oil pump. Plenty of oil in the engine.

13-08-2019:

Owner of 2014 Hyundai ix35 told that free satnav update might corrupt the car's satnav and that a replacement satnav system would be £2,000. We advised not to update and to use Googlemaps or Waze on a cradled Smartphone instead.

22-08-2019:

Report of 2010 Hyundai ix35 1.6 GDi Style 5dr SUV Manual needing a replacement steering rack because it has excessive play on the nearside and produces the occasional clunk.

11-09-2019:

For 4WD ix35s automatics, Hyundai schedules a fluid and oil change for the automatic transmission, axle, transfer box and rear differential at 60,000 miles. If you have one, these need to be done. If buying one, check that they have been done by sight of an invoice for the work and double-check with whoever did the work.

26-10-2019:

Report of sudden loss of power happening twice in the life of a 2013 Hyundai ix35 1.7CRDI, once at 30,000 miles, then again at 55,000 miles. AA diagnosed P1186 'low rail pressure' fault code probably due to a 'blocked fuel filter'. Both times the fuel filter was replaced. Then when the car was serviced (which included fuel filter replacement) owner asked to see the old one and mechanic told him it was the OEM filter. (What he might have meant was that it was a replacement OEM filter.)

21-11-2019:

Report of hydraulic coupling and rear differential failure on September 2013 Hyundai ix35 at 41,000 miles.

11-06-2020:

Report of EGR failure on 2012 ix35 2.0-litre CRDi at 85,000 miles.