[naveen.raju]

*Potential Warning to other Creta Owners*

It all started when I noticed loss of traction occasionally when I took spirited U turns. The traction control light blinked and I noticed the wheels slipping. This happened couple of times. I found this strange since my car was running on brand new tires and haven't noticed this before. Went alright for few weeks.

Then one day, like any other normal start I noticed the ABS and traction control light lit for about 30 seconds. Kept the car running, referred the manual and it clearly stated that you can continue to drive the car and the "normal braking won't be affected" and towards the end they mention to take it to the service center. I decided to leave for office and take it to the service station later that week.



Days went by without any issues. Then the inevitable happened. Was on our way to the service station with my cousin. It was a busy evening with speeds below 10kmph or less in b2b traffic. Was crawling along and on seeing the traffic standstill, applied the brakes as usual so as to bring the car to an halt. To our surprise or should I say horror, the brake pedal was hard as a rock (was like there was a brick under the pedal). And there was this loud grinding noise (ABS kicking in). There was absolutely no warning on the instrument cluster when this happened. Knew there would be an impact so swerved to the left so as to minimize the damage to the car in front. Unfortunately, the collision couldn't be avoided and hit the left side of the car. The A Star took all the damage here and just a minor scratch on the Creta.





The ones marked in the box are from this accident. The bottom one was already there. Most of it can be buffed out. Just a minor spot where paint is missing.



Immediately got down and we apologized the other driver. Was surprised to see a calm gentleman and assured him that all repairs will be paid by me. Exchanged numbers and transferred the cash to him the next day. Well, that issue was solved but what the hell happened to the brakes! We decided to drive back home and let the car be towed to the service station the next day. On the way, the brake pedal did get stuck few times like earlier and had to manage with the handbrake.

Puzzled, I consulted with few mechanics from FNG's and they confirmed that it's due to the faulty ABS sensor. But an electronic failure leading to such a drastic mechanical issue was something that was very hard to digest. The car was taken to the service station the next day and they confirmed that 2 ABS sensors were faulty. They confirmed that the issue will be resolved once this was replaced. They promptly took care of the request and delivered the car as promised. This happened about a month back and looks like the issue has been taken care of (touch-wood).

I had actually discussed this few guys and once who drive some high end German cars. The reason for this - Have seen many German cars driving effortlessly without any issues with the christmas lights lit on the instrument cluster. Our Jetta had the ABS sensor light on and we were able to drive the car with no issues. Same case with my uncle's other German cars.

Anyhow, my concern is even if it's the electronic issue that caused the issue, why don't Hyundai come up with a fail-safe measure to override this. An electronic failure leading to a temporary brake failure is totally unacceptable. High time they update their manual and include this if they are unable to redo this process. Currently in their manual, in case of any warning light, asking the owner to take it to the service center is treated as the lowest priority. Heard that in the elite i20, the car won't start (for ones with push button start) in when the ABS sensor warning is lit. Not entirely sure of this but they should implement something of that sort across all the cars.

So at present, what I can say is ABS Sensor Light = No brakes or brake failure. DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

just a minor scratch on the Creta.

Lucky that you were not driving at speed when this happened. Would suggest you do ask ASC to check airbag and SRS circuit as well, just to ensure that everything is working fine.

the brake pedal was hard as a rock (was like there was a brick under the pedal). And there was this loud grinding noise (ABS kicking in)

Did ASC check the master cylinder? This to me sounds like a problem with the master cylinder, which is a very common issue in Mahindra cars. Would suggest you get the master checked and get some brake bleeding done to be on the safer side.

[GTO]

A manufacturer like Hyundai hasn't done anything about this? I remember even RavenAvi mentioning this problem in his Creta & there are some other posts on the Official Review thread too.

Thanks for sharing, Naveen! Moving your post to a new thread.

If this was the USA, Hyundai would be staring at a class-action lawsuit already.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

I have this issue with the Xcent SX(o) used by parents back in hometown as well - but thankfully, there are no braking issues faced so far. Only repeated ABS sensor failures.

ABS warning comes up often and we have had the rear sensors checked and replaced twice already. Had asked the SA to provide a root cause instead of blindly suggesting a replacement once again - and they seem pretty clueless. Was planning to go and have a detailed discussion with the service centre during my next visit to hometown.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

I had actually discussed this few guys and once who drive some high end German cars. The reason for this - Have seen many German cars driving effortlessly without any issues with the christmas lights lit on the instrument cluster. Our Jetta had the ABS sensor light on and we were able to drive the car with no issues. Same case with my uncle's other German cars.

In a Vento which I owned I experienced loss of normal braking power when the ABS light lit up. The pedal required more force for the same expected retardation compared to when the ABS light was not lit. This happened while driving on the highway and I was expecting the ABS light to come up for the next sensor to be replaced. This is a VW issue on early model cars when 1 sensor is replaced rest of the 3 will eventually need replacement but the dealership will not replace rest of the 3 proactively but instead waits for ABS light to come up (for each sensor) to initiate warranty procedure.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Days went by without any issues. Then the inevitable happened. Was on our way to the service station with my cousin. It was a busy evening with speeds below 10kmph or less in b2b traffic. Was crawling along and on seeing the traffic standstill, applied the brakes as usual so as to bring the car to an halt. To our surprise or should I say horror, the brake pedal was hard as a rock (was like there was a brick under the pedal). And there was this loud grinding noise (ABS kicking in). There was absolutely no warning on the instrument cluster when this happened. Knew there would be an impact so swerved to the left so as to minimize the damage to the car in front. Unfortunately, the collision couldn't be avoided and hit the left side of the car. The A Star took all the damage here and just a minor scratch on the Creta.

Shocking to hear about this accident & you are lucky that all this happened at low speed & no one was injured.

I had actually discussed this few guys and once who drive some high end German cars. The reason for this - Have seen many German cars driving effortlessly without any issues with the christmas lights lit on the instrument cluster. Our Jetta had the ABS sensor light on and we were able to drive the car with no issues. Same case with my uncle's other German cars.

The ABS, Traction Control, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System etc. is controlled by a single sensor called the (Wheel Speed Sensor), each wheel has one & the wheel speed sensor failing is a common problem in F Chassis BMW's (specially the 3 series).

In case of a failure of this sensor all lights light up in this way;



BUT, never have the brakes been jammed in the BMW. Infact you can drive normally too at highway speeds.

I really dont think a failed ABS sensor can jam the brakes, it may just disable the ABS, traction system. Hence, there should be more to it than just a sensor failure, hope Hyundai India personally get involved in this case & make sure other Creta owners dont suffer.

[KMT]

As we are so used to driver aids and ABS we have forgotten old stuff like pumping the brakes.

The ABS sensor failing must have casused the brakes to apply too lightly at the given pedal pressure. Our muscle memory will prevent us from hammering the brake at the first instance.

Its really fortunate that no one was injured.

I have faced this sensor failure twice on a F30 320d. In the second instance it went into 'safe' mode and I had to crawl and still the TCS kept kicking in intermittently.

[petroguzzler]

Originally Posted by karan561

Hence, there should be more to it than just a sensor failure, hope Hyundai India personally get involved in this case & make sure other Creta owners dont suffer.

I think that the brake booster would have failed too and that lead to the pedal becoming rock hard.

[Sankar]

ABS equipped braking system also has EBD electronic brake force distribution which can vary the braking force applied on each wheel independently. When ABS is working EBD is also functional and by varying the brake force on each wheel it helps to retard the vehicle much more efficiently.

When ABS is not working EBD also stops functioning. With no electronic help to vary the braking force on each wheel it will take more pressure on the pedal to slow the vehicle down.

Brake servo is a mechanical component powered by vacuum (engine or pump) with no electronics (in most cases anyway) and it works even when ABS is not functional. But due to the now non functioning EBD the amount of force now needed on the pedal to slow the vehicle often catches the driver unawares which lead to panic instead of standing on the pedal.

[petroguzzler]

I'm not an expert, but I don't think that the ABS and the EBD system have any impact on the force needed to be applied to the brake pedal. The force required solely rests on the brake booster system.

[RavenAvi]

The fact that the Creta has a serious brake issue is well known to many initial Creta owners, including me.

It was also one of the major reasons I decided to sell off the car.

Apologies for not highlighting it in my ownership report of Lazarus, because too many things were happening at the same time, and also I had an extremely good offer back then. I had detailed the entire experience(s) to the new owner before sending the car with him, and he had said he would get it pursued and fixed.

I had shared about the incident in the Facebook group dedicated to the Hyundai Creta, though.

I'll just quote from my other posts in various other threads back in 2016-17:

Imagine a surgery patient lying down in the rear seat (my mother, fresh out of the hospital with hernia surgery 7 days back), and at a speed of around 80-ish on the highway, the brakes stop working. By the time the brakes kick in, I swerve and go off the road to avoid crashing into an Alto in front of me.

Most of them happened last year on the highways, at speeds of 80+.

Seeing a slower vehicle in front of me and some traffic coming from the opposite direction, I dab the brakes to slow down a bit so as to stay behind and then overtake the slower car once the coast is clear.

Surprise + big alarm - brakes don't bite!

I press again frantically, no response.

Then I start the pump action on the brake pedal and it grabs the wheels suddenly in the 2nd or 3rd attempt, which I am guessing is the ABS kicking in. The feeling imparted to my right foot by the brake pedal at this moment is exactly like - I have put my foot on a bunch of small, loose pebbles on a beach/river bed, which dispersed/crumbled under it.

By this time, I have already gotten too close to the car in front. I now have a choice to either turn to the right (towards incoming traffic or open road) or to the left (run off the road) to avoid hitting the car in front.

Ma (riding with me in those moments) thought I was driving rashly and beyond control. If only she knew!

Got the brakes/wheels thoroughly checked at dealership A.S.S. They reported that all was fine, cleaned the brake discs/drums and returned the car back. Feedback was that the brakes tend to behave like this sometimes, erratically, once in a blue moon. But this was happening very frequently for my taste. And it wasn't acceptable.

Hyundai was/is aware of this. No solutions/improvements yet. At least to my knowledge.

It was like wrestling with the car for absolute control.

The ABS unit, however iffy it's feedback was, actually kicked in at just the right second for me to keep my Creta under control and not veer off into dangerous territory. Thankfully I wasn't at any higher speeds than 80-85, else it would have been bye-bye.

After the surefire brakes of my 2 Honda Citys before the Creta, this was the least expected issue in the modern-day Hyundai. I think it has more to do with the ABS unit of Hyundai than the brakes, per se.

Both Hondas were excellent in braking. Never ever faced any issues in braking, even in emergency situations.

One of my friends owns the Creta CRDi SX(O) and he faced this same exact situation once too. So I don't think it's limited to petrol Cretas only.

In his case, it happened only once in his 2 years of ownership so he has dismissed it as an one-off incident.

Original post (Hyundai Creta Facelift starts testing in India EDIT: Launched at Rs. 9.43 lakhs)

Link to Facebook post

We, a group of the initial 2015 Creta owners, had started an online petition highlighting the same:

https://www.change.org/p/hyundai-mot...-hyundai-creta

It was shared on all social platforms by around 500 of us Creta owners. I was told back then that Hyundai India is well aware of this braking issue in the Creta. No updates on whether they fixed it or not. Once I sold off my Lazarus, I stopped pursuing the issue.

[McLaren Rulez]

Please move this thread to the homepage! Multiple cars under different owners all showing clear signs of a serious safety issue. I don't know what they're smoking at Hyundai to think this is even remotely acceptable.

[padmrajravi]

This thread deserves the homepage. My Xcent SXO AT also had its ABS sensors replaced multiple times under warranty. But I never faced any issue with lack of brake bite. But then the Xcent came with only ABS and not EBD I think. At least EBD was never advertised with Xcent as far as I remember.

[venkyhere]

I can think of only two possibilities :
1. ABS sensors failed, but coincidentally the brake booster went kaput
OR
2. only ABS sensors failed, and the ECU firmware which manages ABS/EBD, went into panic - it just wouldn't let the brakes be applied (which could explain the rock hard pedal, since the hydraulic fluid has no place to "move" due to this). Sounds too basic an issue, but never know, could be a monumental goof-up in the firmware - instead of permanently enabling brakes - it is permanently disabling brakes - when encountered with two ABS sensors malfunctioning.

[navy68]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Days went by without any issues. Then the inevitable happened. Was on our way to the service station with my cousin. It was a busy evening with speeds below 10kmph or less in b2b traffic. Was crawling along and on seeing the traffic standstill, applied the brakes as usual so as to bring the car to an halt. To our surprise or should I say horror, the brake pedal was hard as a rock (was like there was a brick under the pedal). And there was this loud grinding noise (ABS kicking in). There was absolutely no warning on the instrument cluster when this happened. Knew there would be an impact so swerved to the left so as to minimize the damage to the car in front. Unfortunately, the collision couldn't be avoided and hit the left side of the car. The A Star took all the damage here and just a minor scratch on the Creta.

Hi..sorry to hear about the incident and happy that you got away with a minor damage. The same happened to me in December 2018 wherein the brake pedal when pushed went in like a knife through cheese with absolutely no resistance,followed by the ABS jarring notice with zero braking and crashing into the car in the front. The hyundai service centre and the customer care just didn't give a damn about my complaints. No responses from them till date.