10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
7 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
44,706 miles

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problem #25

Dec 062020

Santa Fe

  • 130,000 miles
All three lights ABS, ESC, and dbc on dash came on same time after replacing drivers side head light bulb. Wheel speed sensor and traction control impacting the driveability.

- Peachtree Corners, GA, USA

problem #24

Apr 152020

Santa Fe

  • 80,000 miles
My ESC, dbc, and ABS warning lights all illuminated at the same time this morning. There are many complaints of this happening on numerous Hyundai forms. Folks have been told to replace hubs, sensors and assorted other pieces. Most do not work costing hundreds of dollars. My particular vehicle had the lights come on maybe 6 or 8 months ago. Go off and come on again and off again. I've ignored them not noticing any driving impact. But the car is warning me that it isn't safe to drive the car. This is not a one of or two or three issue. This from another owner;all three light illuminated on my 2011 Santa Fe so I changed my front right ABS speed sensor which was the cause of the lights, but the dash lights are still illuminated. Took it to the dealer and they said there is a short in the ABS system wiring harness. What's the cost to fix? $4500 really! I think a recall is due for this problem.

- Port St Lucie, FL, USA

problem #23

Jan 142019

Santa Fe

  • 124,000 miles
While driving on a busy street, I slowly turned a corner and suddenly lost my power steering and brakes and the engine stalled out. I immediately turned off the engine, sat briefly blocking the heavy traffic, after being slightly shaken in the incident, started it up again and proceeded to park and get lunch. After lunch, the car started up ok, I got on the road and shortly after, I noticed the engine light come on so I immediately limped into a nearby car repair place. They determined that there was very heavy sludge clogging the oil filter, even though we had regular maintenance on the vehicle and never had any engine indicators ever come on before. They cleaned out the sludge in the engine and replaced the filter and pump. Now that I am reading about everyone's engine problems with oil not getting into the engine, and after hearing on tv about Hyundai refusing to recall my particular car, I am very afraid to continue driving it, since recently I have experienced twice a certain sluggishness/dragging with a slight knocking feeling in the steering wheel. I noticed this effect twice after having driven the car at speeds of 60-70 mph for a long period of time. Each instance, I slowed to the side of the road, checked to see if I could see anything obvious, which I didn't, started up again onto the highway. The weird dragging and shimmy continued, so I drove at or under 50 mph until it slowly dissipated and went back to what felt normal. I was very disappointed to find out that there is no recall on my Hyundai santafe 2012, we bought it second-hand from enterprise car sales. I rely heavily on this vehicle to drive 2 1/2 hours each way at highway speeds to care for my elderly mom's needs in baltimore. I don't want to die on the highway before my mom dies in the nursing home!

- Piney Point, MD, USA

problem #22

Jan 182019

Santa Fe

  • 125,000 miles
While driving the engine would decelerator then cut out. I can be on the highway going speed limits of 70 or on a side street going 30 or under. It even happened when I pulled out of my drive way and drove down my street (4 houses down) and got to my cul-de-sac and all power shut down. Neighbor had to stop to avoid hitting me because I was rolling and could not stop. All power to steering wheel and brakes would be non operational. I have to manually pull the wheel to one side to avoid traffic, causing an accident, or from being hit by head on traffic. The first occurrence was in February of 2017 and the most recent was January 18th on my way home from work. It has happened to us over a dozen times and found blogs that state that Hyundai denies that this is happening.

- Maple Grove, MN, USA

problem #21

Oct 012018

Santa Fe

  • 16,000 miles
My ABS lights are on and won't go off. I had it checked for 80$ to get told it is a sensor in the rear hub of tire that is not reading the tire speed. They want 500$ to repair it.

- Clearwater, FL, USA

problem #20

Oct 202018

Santa Fe

  • miles
"takata recall" my ABS lights are on and will not go off as well as the downhill light moving and stationary. The mechanic said it is a sensor in the left rear hub that needs to be replaced.

- Clearwater, FL, USA

problem #19

Sep 242017

Santa Fe

  • 128,000 miles
Started car, noticed the following dash lights were on: ABS ESC downhill braking checked online and found that Hyundai recalled 1.7 million vehicles for this problem (defective brake lamp switch) up to 2011. I'm concerned that my 2012 car has the same issue, even though my VIN is not included in the recall. These lights stay on no matter if moving or stationary.

- Concord, NC, USA

problem #18

May 282017

Santa Fe

  • 16,000 miles
We have had 3 separate instances when our SUV stalled and the engine shut down when proceeding to drive once a stop signal changed. The most recent occurred yesterday when we made a right turn onto us 101 from steiner street in sf. The power steering went out, the brakes failed and the engine shut down. The car restarted once I got it back into park. It was a harrowing experience on this busy street

- San Francisco, CA, USA

problem #17

Jan 172017

Santa Fe

  • 86,700 miles
Takata recall I brought my car 1 year ago I've been doing maintenance oil change, tune up on my car, however it started making some type of ticking noise when I brought it back to the dealership I was told I could pay for a new engine or drive the car until it breaks down. I don't have any money for a new engine. I put 5000 dollars on the car for a down payment. Im also financin it at this time. Also the breaks making a squeaky sound in I know my breals are good.

- Bayonne, NJ, USA

problem #16

Sep 052016

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 36,000 miles
As early as last summer, my 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe started to (intermittently) accelerate when I stepped on the brake. Frankly, I thought it was related to the sandals I was wearing. I thought I was occasionally stepping on the gas and the brake at the same time (I have very big feet -- size fifteen). The problem stopped when I switched shoes (which also corresponded to the end of summer). The problem came back intermittently this summer and is now repeatable. When I am going down a steep hill at speeds over about 20 mph, the engine RPM's increase when I step on the brake. It does that while in gear and while in neutral. Obviously, if the drive train is in gear, the engine "fights against" the brake; if the drive train is in neutral, the engine revs. If the engine is in neutral or is shifted into neutral after the acceleration starts, the engine races until I let off the brake. It has gone as high as 4-5 K RPM before I let off the brake. All that's required to get the car to return to normal idle is that I pump the brake (let off the brake all the way -- I can immediately re-apply the brake and the problem won't happen again). I have identified a stretch of road near my house where the problem always occurs. Driving East at the end of walnut street at the intersection of walnut and boston hill circle, near South street in shrewsbury, MA 01545, it problems always replicates. It also always happens at the bend in the road while going down hill on boston hill circle... updated10/13/16...video available

- Shrewsbury, MA, USA

problem #15

Apr 282015

Santa Fe

  • 35,587 miles
Today April 28, 2015, my mother, daughter and I were coming home from running an errand, when we came to are house we pulled up and went in reverse to pull into the drive way like normal so we can park the car in the garage. When we pulled in we were going just 5mph. Then suddenly when my mom was pushing the brake the stop and put the car into park. The car out of no where lurched and crashed into are washer, water heater, and caused the back windshield to shatter. An we have had this car for 3 years and its always the same routine, so were very shook up on how this could happen. Even though this happened at a resident im filing this since it could happen anywhere to another car.

- Boca Raton, FL, USA

problem #14

Sep 212014

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 24,870 miles
On two separate occasions, my 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe stalled, for no apparent reason, causing loss of steering, wheel control, and brakes. On the first occasion, I was driving through a mall parking lot. While making a left turn and attempting to drive down a row of parking spots, my car stalled and I was unable to turn the steering wheel, brake or guide the vehicle. On the second occasion, I was turning left down the street to my home. Again, without warning, the car stalled, various light eliminated on the dash, and I lost complete control of the vehicle. I had no advanced warning and the car otherwise seemed to be running normally.

- Brea, CA, USA

problem #13

Jun 152014

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 72,917 miles
My family has a 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe. We started experiencing problems with the vehicle stalling while driving in 2013. The car stalled multiple times on city streets and once on the highway. When the car stalls, the driver loses power steering and brakes. It is a very dangerous situation. After the third time the car stalled we took it in for service in April of 2013 to the local Hyundai dealership. The technician ran a complete diagnostic and said he could not find anything wrong with the vehicle. We refused to take the car at that time and insisted on more testing. They did find a problem. They replaced/repaired the etc-actuator and gasket-throttle body. The car ran fine until last week when it started the same problems again. It has stalled four times in the last week. The latest stall happened today when my girlfriend was driving the car at around 30 mph. It also stalled last night when I was driving it home at about 25 mph. I was able to get to the side of the road and put the car in park. I turned the key and it started right up again. When it stalled on me, I lost power steering and power brakes. The time of the incident was 9:48pm and the mileage on the car was 72,917. It was very scary. We are taking car to Hyundai dealership today for repairs. We do not want to drive this car anymore. It is unsafe and a hazard.

- Santa Barbara, CA, USA

problem #12

Jun 012014

Santa Fe

  • 65,000 miles
I was turning right into a parking space, applied the brakes and the vehicle surged/accelerated. It went over a curb and hit another vehicle. When it stopped I looked down and my foot was indeed on the brakes, to the floor. A similar thing happened twice before. I was turning onto another street and the car felt like it surged. Fortunately both times there was no one in the other lane or in front of me.

- Germantown, MD, USA

problem #11

May 122014

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 25,000 miles
After performing a brake inspection I notice deep grooves within the rear brake rotors. This is not only premature brake wear but this is due to the rear brake calipers locking up.

- Delray Beach, FL, USA

problem #10

May 242014

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 12,250 miles
This is the second incident. The first was in September 2013. Both times I was traveling at 15 mph when the car engine stalled and I lost steering power and braking power. I was able to pull over to side of road and put car in park it then restarted. Engine warning light came on both times. I call Hyundai customer service and was told to have car towed to closest dealer which is over 60 miles from me. They are not sure if I will be reimbursed for towing fees this far.

- Edgartown, MA, USA

problem #9

Dec 152013

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 23,000 miles
Please investigate the Hyundai line of cars. I was driving this car that I owned. I had just driven 140 miles, and I was on city streets making my way to the inlaws. I stopped at a stop sign and as I accelerated and proceeded to make a right turn on to another city street, the engine completely died. I noticed it when my power steering locked up, I had no brakes and I was headed right toward a home's front door. I was able to stop the car when it hit the curb dead on. I then put the car in to park and turned the car back on and it fired up right away. I really believe that Hyundai has the same problem as GM. There was nothing wrong with the car after that and I could not duplicate the incident. I traded the car in a few days later because I refuse to drive it. If you google the problem, I was able to trace it back at least 11 years. How can you trust a car that where the engine will just turn off sporadically. Dealership claims "they've never heard of such a thing..." lies. The know about it, they just haven't done anything about it. I seriously think there needs to be an investigation in to this vehicle. I saw stories of peoples Hyundai dying on the freeway. They could have been killed. One lady said that she was told next time it happens to leave the car as is and they will tow it and check it out. They towed it after it died and nothing. That's what leads to me believe that in this vehicle, the key can also become disengaged while driving. Similar if not exactly to the problems with the GM. I beg of you to investigate!!!

- Roseville, CA, USA

problem #8

Mar 102014

Santa Fe 4-cyl

  • 43,220 miles
While traveling on state park road greenville SC, a mail truck was stopped in road. As I applied the brakes, the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. I swerved off the road to avoid hitting the truck. I side swiped several trees causing approx. $5000 worth of damage.

- Marietta, SC, USA

problem #7

Feb 052014

Santa Fe

  • 15,000 miles
TL- the contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph and coming upon a red light, the contact attempted to stop the vehicle by applying the brakes. The contact indicated that while pressing the break pedal the vehicle initially slowed down but the vehicle would not stop causing the vehicle to crash into the rear of a second vehicle. No injuries were reported. A police report was taken at the scene. The contact also indicated that the airbags did not deploy during the crash. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified and no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 15,000. Jft

- Murfreesboro, TN, USA

problem #6

Jul 022012

Santa Fe

  • 4,700 miles
Engine died when slowing down - coming to a stop or making turns approximately 8 times since the time of purchase. First time was when coming down an incline to a stop sign. The next time happened when making a turn around a corner on a residential street. Since that first time, service dealer checked for recalls, but there were none., it randomly happens, normally when slowing down from traveling speeds of 45 mi/hr or slower. I have been doing more highway driving and I am starting to get scared that this could be a real safety issue. The next time I brought this up to the dealer, May 2013, the service dealer check computer for codes but didn't find any. Now, when I brought in for maintenance in August 2013, same thing, mentioned it had died 2 times since May 2013, all in similar situations and randomly/computer checked and no codes.. today, September 7, 2013. It just happened again and this time as I was making a right hand turn from a busy street (45 miles/hr when it died- no power steering. Good thing I was able to come to a stop before crossing the median into oncoming traffic and no one was right behind me. I was able to restart the engine and drove very cautiously home! plan on bringing it in and leaving it with the dealer asap.

- Elk Grove Village, IL, USA

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