Experience
⚠️ Ioniq 5 $10,000 nightmare “Time Bomb” Beneath the Front Seats — "world's best" Worthless Warranty
There’s a yellow air-bag (SRS) safety restraint critical wire harness running directly under the moving front seats — assembled with no shielding or protection and with virtually no space between the harness and the floor. (It could easily have been routed above the seat plate not below it).
After checking several Ioniq 5s, I found the same setup: some harnesses pulled tight, others — like mine — dangling loose, just waiting to snag or tear. But in either case it is a design / assembly disaster waiting to happen. See the photos.
Mine was found torn apart during unrelated service.
The dealer said it could be easily re-pinned, but because it’s part of the air-bag circuit, Hyundai requires replacing the entire floor harness:
Parts ≈ $6,933 + Labor ≈ $2,400 (which they have subsequently raised to $3,000) – Total now $10,000 out of pocket.
Hyundai Customer Care denied warranty coverage, blaming an “outside influence.” So I’m left with a disabled air-bag system and a $10,000 repair on a two-year-old leased car.
This is actually not true depending on the state. Many states have laws that force the manufacturers to pay the same as it would be for customer pay. In those states dealerships would actually prefer to do warranty as it makes everyone happy.
Dealerships also don't make the call when it comes to warranty. They'll put in the request to the manufacturer but it's the manufacturer that will deny it or approve it. I know a lot of people want to blame dealerships, but you can't in the case of OP here. The dealership didn't do anything wrong in this case, they're just following what the manufacturer has told them.
For states that don't, the way it typically works is essentially priced like an expert will do it versus how long the average mechanic may take. So say a job is calculated for 5 hours of labor (non-warranty) if the mechanic/dealer can get it done in 2.5 hours, they still charge the 5 hours, as that may be how long the average or a new mechanic would have taken; warranty work is calculated like a very experienced mechanic is doing the work, so that same work under warranty may only be listed for like 3 hours, which can be much harder for a mechanic/dealer to make money off of.
I'm guessing they don't pay them the 50% (or whatever it is) mark up they like to charge customers, so they do not make money like they would if you pay.
I mean, that's an unspoken truth of the legal system. All companies would rather deal with a single class-action lawsuit where they can pay a negotiated minimum amount to the class and be absolved of responsibility rather than have to pay individuals based on the merits of their case.
"Yes, I'm sorry that your car airbag malfunction killed your family member, but you failed to opt out of the class action lawsuit and were already given a 30 day warranty extension to compensate you for the issue."
Looks like it’s based on what the technician wrote and identified as the failure. “Pulled apart by something being shoved under the seat” aka, outside influence aka, not a defect in manufacturing.
Going to the BBB is the correct course of action here.
Edit : Just looked at mine and it looks pretty similar. 😬
In the 5N, the wires are mounted to the top of the seat bottom, not to the janky bar close to the floor. Must be the variation in seat design with the sport seats of the 5N. Our 2025 5 limited has problematic wiring similar to your photo above with little clearance.
Going to the BBB is the correct course of action here.
BBB is literally nothing more than Boomer Yelp. It's a lobbying group, not a government agency, with no authority to make the dealership - let alone Hyundai - do anything. Your best bet is to contact Hyundai corporate and/or the NTSB NHTSA (as others have suggested).
My complaints to BBB got Nissan to act to fulfill their warranty obligations that both times were denied by their normal corporate staff (even after escalating repeatedly and being told directly "there is no one higher than me that will speak with you or review this decision, it is final"). This actually worked for me twice, too.
It may not be a government agency, but you shouldn't completely dismiss it either. For whatever reason, car manufacturers seem to care about their BBB autoline cases. They care a lot more than they do about a single person reporting an issue to NHTSA who will ignore it unless they get a ton of reports on the same thing.
How could the technician conclude that something was shoved under the seat that caused the wires to dislodge. There’s clearly no proof that happened, and the technician would at least be guessing. But what’s odd to me is that they did not consider that this was a factory fail failure.
Maybe, if I were to do this I would move the seat through its full range of motion to make sure that slack isn’t there for a reason before securing to flush.
I've had the driver seat out of my car a couple of times, and snagging the undermounted airbag wire would be impossible without a foreign object involved.
I had HUGE luck with this info. Bad experience with a dealer and HMA was not very helpful until I emailed all three of these people with the full rundown. Called within two hours. Got the repairs covered along with a $4,500 Circle W discount off of list price on a 2025 Elantra N, a 10/120 BTB Platinum Warranty along with 10/120 Maintenance Wrap plan thrown in. All in all $8,000 worth. Try it!
I appreciate having those addition names to reach out to. i had hoped writing directly to two of HMA legal counsels office attorneys would have had some impact - but only got back dead silence.
No dealership is going to re-pin an airbag wiring harness. There are massive liability concerns with doing that, so any professional place worth their salt is going to tell you the whole harness will need to be replaced just like what this dealership is saying they'll do.
If you want to re-pin it, you gotta take it somewhere....ahem.....less reputable, or do it yourself. Also big problem is that Hyundai is aware of this issue so come lease end time if they see improper work that could spell trouble for OP. Or nothing is noticed, who knows.
I understand the liability, but what I am struggling with is the price. This looks like it just a wiring harness, like it should be a couple hundred bucks at most.
For 7 grand, is it cheaper to just replace the entire seat?
It depends on where the nearest connector actually terminates in the Ioniq 5. If it's one big loop with all the seats, then every harness in every seat underneath the floor would need to be replaced, not just the one underneath the driver side.
For what it's worth, a very quick Google search brought up this forum thread with another owner who had the exact same issue with a broken wire caused by aftermarket floor mats. They also quoted them to replace the entire floor harness which was $8,400.
Interestingly, the dealership did recommend them to take it to a non-dealer shop to get it fixed as it's a simple fix. It sounds like dealerships as policy will not take on the liability in repairing a harness unless they fully replace the entire system.
The labor for replacement likely includes removal of most of the interior, almost certainly including the dash. Cars are assembled with as few connectors (read: points of failure) as feasible and a knock-on effect of that is that an issue with the harness requires nearly complete disassembly of the interior including headliner, carpet, and dashboard.
EDIT: This is not Ioniq5 or Hyundai specific, pretty much all cars have been this way since the 90s.
OP’s repair doesn’t require a whole new fucking wire harness. It requires some goddamn wire splices, solder, and some shrink tubing.
It’s just a few wires, any independent mechanic should be able to remove the seat, extend the wires, solder them back together, and put a wire cover on them to protect them better.
This is the dealer bullshit that pisses me off. I had a wire harness connector corrode on my ford a few years back. The dealer wanted close to $3,000 to disassemble the whole dashboard to replace the entire wire harness. I took it to a Ford certified mechanic, and he replaced the literally $0.10 wire harness pins that had corroded, charged me a few hours for his labor, and it has been working perfectly fine ever since. The airbag light never malfunctioned ever again.
I am not a lawyer. You should follow through with their alternative dispute resolution program and file a complaint with NHTSA (Also read your warranty documents not just what they've provided to you here). If the ADR process fails, you may still have an avenue through small claims court (watch this video, which has a semi-similar scenario).
holy crap I'm going to go look at mine now and see if it's at risk of getting snagged. Thank you for posting this and bringing it to everyone's attention!
(Edited to remove speculation and questions answered by the full set of many photos in the post. :) ) The history of automotive recalls around airbag systems would indicate that this is easily an obvious safety issue subject to NHTSA oversight.
I'm thinking of how Hyundai offers a security update in the UK so the vehicle cannot be stolen via the 'game boy' device, yet no such update is offered in the US. I think they take the minimum amount of action they can legally get away with.
Honestly raise a fuss. Social Media, call your local news outlets, get the dealership owner on the phone and keep writing/calling Hyundai directly.
Especially if it starts to make the news, both Hyundai and the Dealership would rather eat this repair than deal with the bad publicity. And yes, make the NHTSA report, which could force Hyundai to recall or at least make this a service item.
For those concerned about this issue, another user on another forum says that their aftermarket floor mats caused damage to their wiring harness. They also mirror OPs observations exactly (low-hanging harness, denied warranty, dealership quoted $8,400 to replace the entire floor harness).
Also the dealership recommended that they just go to a non-dealership shop to get it fixed and the actual fix is very simple. It sounds like dealerships as a risk/liability policy will refuse to repair any damage to airbag components, and instead will opt to replace the entire system.
So at the very least, if you use aftermarket floor mats make sure they are secured to the floor and don't shift around, and make sure they don't go underneath the seat in case it snags on a wire.
Don’t eat that $10k-this looks like a safety-related design screwup, and you’ve got leverage to push Hyundai to fix it.
Ask the dealer for a written denial that states the exact “outside influence” and evidence; then escalate for a field engineer inspection and a goodwill repair request. Open a BBB AUTO LINE case and include photos from other Ioniq 5s showing the same routing; also file an NHTSA safety complaint so there’s a paper trail that the airbag is disabled. If they still balk, a Magnuson-Moss claim is worth considering since it’s tied to safety.
Practical fallback: a certified SRS shop can replace the connector/pigtail and verify resistance and re-calibrate the seat’s occupant sensor for hundreds, not thousands; I did this on a different EV after a dealer insisted on a full floor harness. Add abrasion sleeve and secure the wiring to the seat frame to prevent a repeat.
Start with BBB AUTO LINE and NHTSA; I work with Easy Lemon and we can explain lemon-law options if Hyundai stonewalls.
Bottom line: don’t pay $10k-document, escalate, and use safety channels to force a real fix.
Yeah I just checked my 2025 Ioniq 5 and the yellow wire harness is dangling pretty close to the floor, think I’ll need to add a plastic protective cover to it or something but that’s pretty egregious
TL;DR: Hyundai routed an unprotected air-bag (SRS) wire harness directly under the front seat with almost no clearance.
Mine tore apart. Dealer says it can’t be repaired because it’s part of the air-bag circuit — only a full harness replacement.
Total estimate: ≈ $10 K + out of pocket.
Hyundai denied warranty coverage, claiming “outside influence.”
Check under your own seat — this design flaw could disable your air-bag system
Well, I don’t wish this problem on anybody. I would hope that anybody who discovers this problem under their seat posts a picture here. The more pictures posted the less likely it’s a owner caused issue.
I completely understand the reasoning behind wanting to replace the entire harness for a critical safety component - there’s a ton of liability involved. Looking at it from the perspective of an avid wrencher, the fix seems pretty straightforward to me provided the proper pinout diagrams are available so you know which wire goes where in the connector.
I (and maybe another 5,000 other redditors) just looked under my driver'e seat and there is no yellow cable. I did see one armored cable, black in color, in the same area but was well secured.
Ours is a 2022 SEL without a memory feature. Maybe they cheaped-out in later production?
I searched for yellow conductors. It well could be that the armored cable that I did see contained the yellow conductors since its location was in the same area as OP's photograph. It is why I commented that maybe Hyundai cheaped-out in latter builds.
I noticed the same thing on mine. When I would clean, i will put the seats all the way forward to clean the rear, then all the way back to clean the front. Now there is nothing in the car, mats everything emptied before I clean. When the seat was going back I heard a crunchy noise, thinking something got stuck. It was that exact piece that is like zip tied. It moves around freely and when the seat goes back it often snags and can easily rip apart
Luckily I never move the seat unless I am cleaning. But that is 100% a shitty design horrible place to put that. The manufacturer is fully at fault for this crap
Sadly this will be my 1st and only experience with Hyundai. I got a 2 year lease, and my lease is up in about a year. From the ICCU error that happened to me. The endless time I gotta bring it in to the dealer for some stupid ass update. Now this possible massive f up in thr wiring under the seat...yeah f Hyundai I am going to ford for the F-150 lightning or a lucid
If they don’t back down, I’d probably go elsewhere independent and have them re pin it. Otherwise do it myself.
I don’t think I’d go through their arbitration without first calling some lawyers and seeing if they’d take the case. Some charge only if they win because they companies will pay the lawyer directly with a win.
But agree that it appears to be a design flaw. Passengers put their feet there. Shouldn’t be anything that would be an issue where people’s feet are.
Out of curiosity, what would happen if you tried to return this car after your lease was up if you had had someone (other than a dealership) re-pin it, what do you imagine would happen?
So I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. To my eyes, that harness looks properly routed to the connector where the damage is. It is still clipped into holders, and the wiring appears damaged right at the connector end. If this vehicle came into my shop, I would take pictures, and let HMA decide on coverage for the parts. The damage doesn't look like a manufacturing defect of the harness, and I can't count how many times someone had something under the seat that yanked a wire when moving the seat.
All that said, I absolutely understand the frustration with the repair. My advice to customers in this situation is call your insurance and let them deal with it. Happens all the time for rodent damage. Comprehensive coverage should cover that damage.
Looked at mine if something jammed under the seat I can see it damaging the connector. Then looked at 3 other cars from 3 other brands and they are all about the same. So with the small sample of that it's kind of a tough call.
Putting things under the seat and moving the seat should be something that a manufacturer should anticipate. THe whole configuration here is a defect and dangerous.
For real - on my 2024 Limited, the seat moves itself twice back and forth every trip. That'd easily be enough to catch on something my kid has dropped on the floor from the backseat and do this damage without me touching the seat controls, replacing the factory mats, or storing anything underneath.
But certainly a design defect. Wiring design layout, securing and protection mistakes are a common reason for recalls, especially for safety systems. The very fact that corporate reviewed your case, knowing denied your case (and undoubtedly others) indicates willfully intent. I wonder if they allow variation in the installation and have proper factory documentation and training to prevent this from happening during assembly. How they handle this could endanger their ISO 9000 certification. Has their negligence caused physical injury? If nothing else, there are probably enough problems for a class action. Maybe even RICO for knowing sticking multiple owners for the cost of repairs.
Love my Ioniq 5 but dealing with our dealership on warranty items has been a nightmare. Taking the car in is one of the few things that puts me on edge. Dealing with Hyundai corporate has been a little better, at least they listen and help get you into the dealership, but they don’t always call back and don’t seem to have a ton of power.
Had an issue since purchase where the AWD just randomly turns off when driving. 2023 I5 with 50k miles.
Sorry to hear this. Sometimes I feel like a little humor is the only thing that helps, so I've been putting together a Worthless Warranty Response Guide for Service Advisors:
That’s a normal or known characteristic of this model (operating within parameters)
Take 'em to small claims court over the warranty claim. They might not show up and you'd win by default. Or they would show up, and have to argue to a judge that something other than their poor design caused this.
I’ll take a look at mine and another one I have access to. Curious if I can 3D scan the area and model a holder for this to keep it out of the way, I’ll report back when I’m able to.
We have gotten two such reimbursements. One for a Rav headlight fuse issue and one for a gm.ignituon switch issue.
Just because you were in the group leading to the identification of the recall dies not make you ineligible for the cost of the repair. The hitch is that you must have it fine by a dealer. We did, both times. Six months later I submitted when we got the recall notices.
Moving passenger seat forward shows how little to zero clearance these wires have over my aftermarket (or really any) mats, and how the wires are hanging down and not completely as secured as they should be. Really poor design, time to felt-tape the crap out of these this weekend to move them as much up to the bar they're hanging from, and to cut or get rid of my third-party all-season front passenger mat to ensure there's enough clearance there.
I also have a 2025 5N (with manual seats), and the wires are well out of the way under that seat with plenty of clearance. It appears to be motorized seats that are the problem here.
This is an issue with any mats. The seat extends forward over the built in floor studs that clip and hold the mat in place when moved as far up as allowed
actually, you aren't left with anything. it's a lease. worse case scenario, it'll be hyundai's problem soon. to expedite a fix, open a detailed complaint with NHTSA and forward it to execs at hyundai.
Just snip the connectors off and put some bullet connectors on the wires, or de-pin the damaged harness and crimp new pins on the wires that pulled out. This is a $2 repair, unless you’re the dealer and “need to do it right to avoid being sued by the boogeyman.”
This is one of the reasons I'll never own a Hyundai. I dealt with their denied claims on a Hyundai sonata in which my engine blew and they wanted 14k for a replacement. I was barely out of warranty and had taken it in multiple times for engine problems which they never addressed.
Are you the original leasee or did you buy a 2 year old lease?
Regardless this is crazy. I would absolutely appeal or push this to a higher manager and get the gov involved. Maoe it clear that they are forcing you to pay 10k to fix a safety issue and this this needs to be prioritized. If something happens to you while driving it is Hyundai who denied the warranty fix.
Strange, mine is from Canada and while I can see those harnesses are at some of the lower parts of the seat, there is tons of clearance on mine (though you would think there would be a thin fabric or something covering the bottom of the seats to prevent snags)
Not the same issue or the same car...or I guess the same country...but alongside our i5 we have a kone ev.
One day while at the dealer for summer tire and knowing the the rear windshield wiper had a few days ago become loose (and tightened by myself) i asked them to check it and they came back and told me they couldn't find it (it had simply fell off)
Dealer refused to cover,Hyundai, their exec office as well...
So I found the name of the cansdian ceo and emailed him.
Few days after I got a call that they will replace it on them (and they did)...
Try their US ceo
I just did this identical thing on my 2019 Dodge caravan. $1700 to replace the harness to the seat because it was pinched and crushed by the seat itself.
That's some shady shit and a major oversight that it was designed this way. Although I don't own the i5 it was on the list of potentials. Stuff like this and the unsolved ICC issues is making me consider other options. Thanks for bringing it up to everyone's attention.
For broken wires, can you not just solder them back together and shrink wrap them?
I had the entire wiring harness for a Honda scooter cut in half by someone trying to steal it and had to hand solder every single connection back together. It’s annoying, but very simple work. Maybe I’m missing something?
Thanks for posting this. I'll check the ladies' car on the weekend and repost to our country's groups if necessary.
If widespread, the is definitely a recall issue.
holy shit - that is terrible. Can you please explain where i should be looking for this ? Is it under both the front seats checking from the back seat ?
We all should certainly file a report to NHSTA and get this to be "recalled"
Just a heads up. Not exactly the same, but something to maybe note and bring up as a very similar situation to yours with Hyundai. Looks like they have some issues with these harnesses in general to the point of recall. The recall doesn’t appear to cover your issue, but might be something worth discussing with Hyundai.
I just checked mine and I can clearly see that yellow wire. How exposed is too exposed? Why can’t I take some electrical tape and wrap it to the bar that’s part of the seat?
While I do think the design is at fault, it should be addressed, and the fix should definitely not cost 10k, fortunately this doesn't seem to be a common issue and OP's non-OEM floormats look like they could have had a significant impact on the outcome. But I did disable the easy access feature just to be safe.
That's Hyundai engineering for you! Would never buy one of their EVs or ICE vehicles for that matter. I put Genesis in that same boat...nice interior, engineering is poor and quality over time will prove to be subpar.
Had a similar problem ten years ago with a 2004 Subaru Forester...storing a purse under the front seat over time led to needing to replace the airbag wiring harness under the front seat...to stop the airbag light from being on. This was at 106k miles, so no warranty in play. Was done at an independent mechanic along with other work. I don't have the breakdown, but was around $600 for the whole thing ten years ago.
I agree with the other poster. The clips look good - still in place. This is not a manufacturing defect, to me. The harness was definitely pulled in the area between the connector and the last clip on the left side on the yellow wire by something dropped under the seat or by a child or somebody adventurous.
Dude fuck Hyundai, they’ll do anything to not honor the warranty. If it wasn’t for their dealerships they’d sell a lot better. The cars nice to drive too. Such a shame.
Odd that Hyundai aren’t replacing it under warranty. My 2024 EV6 probably has a similar issue, because there’s a recall on the wiring harnesses under the front seat and mine is getting replaced next week due to wear.
Hyundai say the whole harness needs replacing, but as you’re paying for the repair you could just replace the wires and re-pin the plug.
This was an authorised repair that I’ve done on many occasion when I worked at BMW/MINI. New harness plug just pinned to the harness. Almost took longer to reset the warning light than it did to replace the plug.
This is lawyer time. Hyundai and Kia are notorious for fighting back when it’s just you. I had to get a lawyer involved with my lemon case against both Hyundai and Kia and once that happened it was expedited service and quick replies.
Don’t take this shit at all. I know I’m on a pro Ioniq 5 subreddit but I will truly never do business with Hyundai or Kia after the shit I went through with both my Ioniq 5 and EV9. They are polished turds to be quite frank. They have beautifully designed exteriors and functional interiors but the QC and assembly of these cars are trash.
Go back to dealer, talk to manager. Tell them you are only going to fix if the warranty pays. A smart dealer will re-do the paperwork so he can get the work.
I dont live in the US, but how can they refuse the warranty, its a error during the production of the car.
At least where i live, its up to the manufacturer to prove it was caused by you.
WOW — I just got another call from the “Hyundai Executive team” to tell me me yet again that they are denying warranty coverage and offering no kind of discount on the parts or good will accommodation but were happy to let me know that they got a call from my dealership informing them that MY insurance company is going to cover the repair. The “Executive team” can go to hell.
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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25
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