Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai. Hyundai Motor Company KRX: 005380 KS) is recalling ~568,580 2020-2025 model-year Palisade SUVs. The seat belt buckles in the driver, passenger, and second-row window seats may fail to latch. Seat belt buckles that fail to latch may not properly restrain occupants in a crash, increasing the risk of injury. The recall was prompted by a growing number of customer complaints the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defect Investigations. ZF Lifetec in India is the supplier of the defective buckle.
In the mandatory safety recall documents made public by NHTSA today Hyundai said, “Customers may notice a lighter than normal audible “click” during the fastening process and/or a recessed push button on the buckle housing. Additionally, if the seat belt becomes unbuckled, the Palisade is equipped with visual and auditory notifications for all seating positions within the vehicle.”
Passengers are advised to insert the belt firmly into the buckle with a quick and direct motion, pulling on the belt to confirm the seat belt is fully secured, until the recall remedy is performed. Dealers will inspect and replace the seat belt buckle assemblies, as necessary, free of charge as require by U.S. Safety Regulations.
Owner notification letters are not expected to be mailed until 10 November 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai’s number for this recall is 283. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved are searchable on NHTSA.gov. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-888-275-9171) or go to www.nhtsa.gov about NHTSA Recall Number 25V607 or 25V-607.
Chronology
- August 7, 2024: NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE24-021) to investigate complaints related to seat belt latching performance on certain model year 2020-2023 Palisade vehicles.
- October 16, 2024: HMA’s North America Safety Office (“NASO”) submitted its final response to ODI’s information request associated with PE24-021.
- November 2024: Joint recovered part reviews were conducted by ODI and HMA at Hyundai’s Safety Test Investigation Lab (“STIL”) facility, followed by additional reviews at NHTSA’s Vehicle Research and Test Center (“VRTC”).
- October 2024 – March 2025: HMA NASO provided regular updates regarding its investigation to ODI during recurring bi-monthly safety investigation review meetings.
- March 26, 2025: NASO met with ODI to review part returns analyses, refreshed market data, and its strategy for recovering additional parts.
- April 3, 2025: Hyundai decided to initiate a warranty extension policy for seat belt buckles on model year 2020-2025 Palisade vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. Hyundai subsequently initiated a request for additional warranty parts returns to support further analysis by the buckle supplier, ZF Lifetec.
- April – May 2025: NASO held regular meetings with ZF Lifetec to review parts analysis findings. A total of 400 seat belt assemblies were sent to ZF Lifetec for study.
- May 2025: Hyundai launched Warranty Extension (Z06), providing 15-year/150,000-mile coverage for all LX2 (Palisade) seatbelt buckles.
- May 7, 2025: NASO met with ODI to review updated investigation findings, including part analyses and testing results.
- May 2025 onward: NASO and ODI held weekly meetings to review updated field data and investigation progress
- June 2025: NASO visited the ZF Mexico plant to assess supplier quality processes in preparation for a future visit to the ZF India plant.
- July 9, 2025: ZF shared findings from a manufacturing audit of Microtech (Tier 2 latch guide supplier), revealing that its injection molding process was outside of manufacturing guidelines.
- July 11, 2025: 69 parts were sent to HMC for verification of ZF’s findings: latch guides with out-of-specification features. HMC’s analysis confirmed ZF’s findings.
- July 18, 2025: NASO reviewed initial Design of Experiments (“DOE”) results with ZF, which indicated that latch guides with out-of-specification features could increase friction within the buckle. Additional DOE iterations with additional samples and permutations were planned to assess and understand the impact of the increased friction.
- July 20, 2025: NASO and ZF Lifetec conducted a joint visit to the ZF India plant to review manufacturing processes and quality systems.
- July 30 – Aug 11, 2025: ZF Lifetec noted a spike in buckle warranty claims during colder months. NASO, ZF Lifetec and HMC conducted tests confirming that extreme cold temperatures could adversely affect the buckle performance.
- August 13, 2025: NASO met with ODI to provide an investigation update, including ZF Lifetec’s findings, preliminary DOE results, and remaining action items. Concurrently, ODI shared results from independent testing of exemplar seat belt buckle assemblies conducted at the VRTC.
- August 26, 2025: NASO and ZF Lifetec reviewed expanded DOE results, confirming the latch guide as the primary contributor to increased friction.
- September 4, 2025: NASO convened it’s North America Safety Decision Authority (NASDA) to review its complete investigation findings and decided to conduct a safety recall of potentially affected U.S. market vehicles. To date, Hyundai is aware of 546 unique reports received from September 4, 2019, through July 9, 2025, alleging degraded latching performance of seat belt assemblies used in the subject vehicles. None of these reports involve crashes, injuries, fatalities, or fires.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Bad Seat Belts – Hyundai Recalls 568,580 Palisade SUVs
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai. Hyundai Motor Company KRX: 005380 KS) is recalling ~568,580 2020-2025 model-year Palisade SUVs. The seat belt buckles in the driver, passenger, and second-row window seats may fail to latch. Seat belt buckles that fail to latch may not properly restrain occupants in a crash, increasing the risk of injury. The recall was prompted by a growing number of customer complaints the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defect Investigations. ZF Lifetec in India is the supplier of the defective buckle.
In the mandatory safety recall documents made public by NHTSA today Hyundai said, “Customers may notice a lighter than normal audible “click” during the fastening process and/or a recessed push button on the buckle housing. Additionally, if the seat belt becomes unbuckled, the Palisade is equipped with visual and auditory notifications for all seating positions within the vehicle.”
Passengers are advised to insert the belt firmly into the buckle with a quick and direct motion, pulling on the belt to confirm the seat belt is fully secured, until the recall remedy is performed. Dealers will inspect and replace the seat belt buckle assemblies, as necessary, free of charge as require by U.S. Safety Regulations.
Owner notification letters are not expected to be mailed until 10 November 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai’s number for this recall is 283. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved are searchable on NHTSA.gov. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-888-275-9171) or go to www.nhtsa.gov about NHTSA Recall Number 25V607 or 25V-607.
Chronology
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.