If you haven’t gotten a whiff of what’s brewing down at Hyundai headquarters, there’s a something a bit, erm… unpleasant about the way the new Hyundai Palisade smells inside after a few thousand miles. For months, a number of owners of the South Korean marque’s flagship SUV have been playing a prolonged game of “who farted?” in an attempt to identify an awful, unidentified odor in the cabin, described as a pungent mix of old produce and used socks that gets worse in hot weather.
But relief is in sight. The Drive can now report that Hyundai has finally admitted it’s the one that dealt it. Trouble is, the automaker doesn’t know exactly what “it” is, at the moment.
“We are aware of the concern and are currently in the midst of the investigation, which includes identifying and validating a fix.” Hyundai said in a statement to The Drive. “Once a repair method is confirmed effective a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) will be released to provide direction to our dealer body on how to resolve the concern.”
Translation: Yes, we know our crossover smells, but we’re not sure why yet. You can bet Hyundai is now working diligently to determine just that. Members of the Palisade community appear be pointing fingers at the premium Nappa leather seat material, as cloth-seat models are seemingly stink-free, while the headrests have also been blamed by some. Then again, the initial Cars.com report that prompted our story found the smell seemed to come from inside the seatback itself.
Whatever the source, lowering the windows and hoping for it to go away doesn’t seem to work, so affected owners will have to wait until that dealer fix is ready. In the meantime, at least it’s not cold out yet?
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