2013 Hyundai IX35 Pricing and Specs

It sounds like you’re on the right track with the transmission, Melissa. Transmission oil goes black when it starts to pick up bits of burnt clutch and band material shed by the gearbox’s internal parts. If that’s happening, there’s also a good chance that the transmission is worn and that’s causing the lack of acceleration and slipping you’re experiencing.

This sort of problem can be caused by low transmission fluid levels, a worn out pump or just plain old wear and tear. A check of the torque converter’s health would also be a good idea, but on the surface, it sounds like the transmission is ready to be rebuilt. Have the vehicle scanned and see what faults – if any – are thrown up by the computer. It could be something simple, but the black transmission fluid tends to tell a different story. It should be a nice, clear red colour.

Finding critical safety information like this online can be fraught with danger. There are simply too many self-appointed geniuses out there who have little to no idea of what they’re talking about. Other times, you’ll be unwittingly reading about a vehicle specification from overseas that isn’t relevant to us, even though the badge is the same. And getting a bum steer on something like towing limits has awful potential consequences. Stick with websites like CarsGuide that you can trust.

On that basis, the Hyundai iX35 in question has a towing capacity of 750kg for an unbraked trailer and a 1600kg limit for a braked load. The tow-ball down-load limit is 140kg, the Gross Vehicle Mass is 2170kg and the Gross Combination Mass (the vehicle, trailer and all its occupants and luggage) is 3770kg. And just to cover all the bases, the factory roof-rack has a 100kg limit.

Checked against your choice of camper-trailer, you’ll find that the electrically-braked Road Trotter camper has a tare mass of 1090kg and can be loaded to a combined trailer-and-luggage weight of 1500kg. Its tow-ball download figure of 90kg is within the Hyundai’s capacity as well.

Cars generally have a set of protocols that shuts down the entertainment and other systems to avoid the car’s battery going flat. If, for example, you were listening to the radio without the engine running, eventually, the car would switch the radio off to maintain the charge in the battery.

It’s quite likely that the message you’re seeing is something to do with this process. Why doesn’t it send the message every time? Perhaps it only does so after short runs where the battery isn’t fully recharged after starting the car. Maybe your battery is starting to feel its age. See if you can find a pattern to the message appearing; short runs, cold weather, wet weather, air-conditioning on or off, etc.