Hyundai Palisade Literally Stinks, Many Owners Complain
The Hyundai Palisade, which replaces the late Santa Fe XL, is a great new product from the Korean automaker. Along with the Kia Telluride, it ranked third among midsize SUVs in our 2020 Best Buy awards.
Of course, the Palisade is not perfect. Fuel economy could be better, the turning radius is fairly wide and there are a certain number of hard plastics inside.
Apparently, it also suffers from… bad odour.
That’s what many owners have been complaining about online for the past few months. The team at Cars.com first reported the problem following a long-term test drive of the Hyundai Palisade.
Some compare the smell to garlic or rotten produce, others talk about hot garbage, really bad breath or old worn socks—enough to mask that desirable new-car scent.
The definitive source has yet to be found, but many claim it comes from the available beige-coloured Nappa leather seats and/or headrests in top-line trim.
On a Palisade forum, one user wrote: "I isolated the headrests overnight in the garage; and on my car at least, it's not coming from the headrests themselves, which smell fine. The smell still seems like it's coming from inside the seat cavity from the open holes from where the headrests mount."
Even after nearly a year of owning the SUV, the smell just won’t go away, owners report.
In statements made to a couple of U.S. media including Car and Driver and The Drive, Hyundai said it is aware of the problem and has opened an investigation in order to find a fix. When it does, a Technical Service Bulletin will be released to provide direction to Hyundai dealers on how to eliminate the foul smell for good.
If you own a Hyundai Palisade and have experienced something like that, we’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
