By Harrison Pray
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Jeff Ebsch walked into his garage at 5:30 in the morning the day after Christmas to find his 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe on fire.
“I could just see thick black smoke coming up. And I could see it coming here. I looked underneath, and there were flames shooting out,” Ebsch said.
Ebsch grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the flames before they spread to the rest of his garage.
“We had eight other people in the house sleeping. The whole car could’ve gotten on fire and then started the house on fire,” he said.
Ebsch later learned his vehicle was under recall for fire risk. The problem stems from an electrical short in the tow hitch harness. The recall affects more than 570,000 Hyundai Santa Fes from 2019 to 2023 with towing packages.
Ebsch said he was never notified about the recall. When he checked the government’s recall website, his VIN didn’t show up initially.
“We did some research. By ND law, it’s buyer beware, but it would be nice if there was some way that we as buyers could more easily know about the information,” Ebsch said.
Since dealerships aren’t required to notify owners, drivers can check for recalls by going to nhtsa.gov/recalls and entering their VIN, which can be found on the dashboard or driver’s side door.
The recall was issued in March 2023.
