There may be a serious problem with the Hyundai Palisade, the brand’s third-best-selling SUV. The Palisade’s seat belts may unintentionally unlatch while driving, and now the government is looking into it. Seatbelts randomly unlatching sounds pretty bad, if you ask us.
Automotive News reports that an investigation has been opened into the Palisade by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). According to the agency, it received 37 complaints regarding instances of latched seatbelts becoming unlatched. The complaint details that some 332,288 units of the 2020-to-2023 model year Palisade could be affected.
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 37 complaints alleging inadvertent unlatching of seat belts in model year (MY) 2020-2023 Hyundai Palisade vehicles manufactured by Hyundai Motor America. The complaints allege that without warning, the seat belts sometimes inadvertently unlatch, increasing the risk of injury due to full loss of seat belt protection in the event of a crash.
Searching around the internet shows this is a serious issue, and has been for awhile. Back in 2022, one owner on a Palisade forum said the problem was affecting the seat belts on the second row of their Palisade:
Once this happened while driving the seat belt popped out and I had to stop the vehicle to fix it. The seat belt appears to be weak and will not stay locked in and will certainly not stay locked in under pressure. The second row buckles have me ready to trade my car in.
Earlier this year, another owner detailed on Reddit how, even after the seatbelt in their Palisade was re-latched after it unlatched, it unlatches again:
My second row seats have now started to disengage while driving. We have gotten to the point where we now pull on the seat belt to make sure it has fully clicked into place, but the damn thing still pops out after a few minutes driving.
Currently there’s no fix for the problem. Auto News says with this being in the probe stage, it’s a point where the agency is collecting data from the automaker on things like injuries and warranty claims. Only after this phase will the investigation move into the next stage, where it’ll either be closed or moved into a full on recall.