10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
10,193 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #11

Jul 112016

Santa Fe

  • 500 miles
The vehicle :"chokes" out at low speed often when turning a corner or from a slow start. I took the vehicle into the dealer and they ran diagnostics and declared they detected no problem. However, the problem still exists and may cause an issue if acceleration is required.

- Wesley Chapel, FL, USA

problem #10

Jul 082016

Santa Fe

  • 500 miles
Brand new vehicle (1600 miles) hesitates when I go from a complete stop and start to accelerate at low speeds. Mainly notice it when taking a corner. It seems as if it has trouble selecting the gear and once it does, it lurches forward. Dangerous when pulling out into traffic as the hesitation puts you in the middle of the road just a little too long for comfort. Also, my traction control light will come on around certain corners and leaves me without control of the car. Also another safety issue as again the car hesitates or locks up because of this feature and doesn't allow me to drive forward as I wish. It's the middle of the summer without any rain and definitely no snow on the ground (I'd say perfect road conditions) so no real reason why my traction control should be turning on around corners. Very concerned about this issue! also, I should note that these issues have been happening long before 1600 miles. I noticed them the first week or so that I took the vehicle home so definitely less than 500 miles as I bought it new. For a brand new, fairly expensive vehicle I shouldn't have to feel like my confidence in it's basic performance is compromised.

- Turners Falls, MA, USA

problem #9

Jun 282016

Santa Fe

  • 825 miles
Transmission not down shifting when re throttling out of corners as in turning and when trying to cross traffic, you slow down than hit the gas and it feels like it's in a high gear, you slowly creeps out into on coming traffic waiting for the down shift to put you into 1 St gear so you won't be killed by on coming flow, very dangerous, vehicle one week old

- Martinsville, IN, USA

problem #8

May 012016

Santa Fe

  • 200 miles
2017 Santa Fe SE 3.3L V-6 (3 row) frequently hesitates/stumbles badly when given normal acceleration at 5-15 mph. When slowing down or rolling stop, vehicle seems not to downshift from 3rd gear to 2nd gear correctly. Car is unresponsive for 1-3 seconds, then there is a delay and lurching forward as the car finally downshifts and accelerates. I have had a number of dangerous circumstances where the car stumbled just as I was accelerating to merge with faster traffic. The selling dealer drove the car and could not find a problem or an error code in any of the onboard systems. Problem occurs in all 3 drive modes. Problem became very noticeable at approximately 200 miles. Car now has 1300 miles. Problem has not improved or changed since I purchased the car new in April, 2016.

- Aurora, CO, USA

problem #7

Jun 302016

Santa Fe

  • 55 miles
When depressing the accelerator at speeds less than about 10mph, the vehicle has a very significant hesitation/engine stumble - about 2 seconds when the vehicle is completely non-responsive and bogs down. Happens every time at low speed turns, and is dangerous with vehicles behind. Owned a 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe sport 2.0 turbo and never had an issue with it. I hope and pray they can fix this issue because this vehicle has a lot to offer but this problem takes away from all of it. Also received a survey from Hyundai engineers and in the "engine" category the only complaint to pick from was "engine stumbles" coincidence or are they working to resolve this issue?

- Ocala, FL, USA

problem #6

Jun 172016

Santa Fe

  • 15 miles
Transmission hesitates badly for about 1-2 seconds before going into gear to move car after coming to complete/rolling stop or in slow turns. Transmission does this only intermittently. This can be dangerous for merging into traffic on highway or streets due to fact that car will not respond immediately to driver acceleration input. This is an ongoing problem since we bought the car brand new 3 weeks ago.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

problem #5

Apr 202016

Santa Fe

  • 200 miles
I have a 2017 sante fe limited ultimate and when slowing down to between 10 to 15 mph and then trying to accelerate the 3.3 liter motor 6 speed transmission hesitates when down shifting from 3rd gear to 2nd gear. This hesitation left me in intersections a few seconds longer than I should have been making the cars coming from the opposite direction dangerously close to me. I've been to two Hyundai dealerships and after test driving the car with me the hyndai mechanics told me this was the way the cars were designed and without code lights coming on they could not fix the car. Hearing this from Hyundai mechanics was not confidence inspiring to learn that without a code light coming on they could not find or fix a problem. Also at highway speeds if you step down on the gas too far the car will down shift to much and the motor will rev up to 6000 rpms resulting the car not accelerating. I had a 2011 sante fe gls with a 6 cylinder motor and it seemed to be more responsive the transmission for that year seemed better matched for the motor and worked flawlessly. Hopefully Hyundai finds a fix/update for this problem because there is a lot to like about this car.

- Staten Island, NY, USA

problem #4

Apr 182016

Santa Fe

  • 100 miles
Purchased new on April 17th of this year. Vehicle continually has a problem accelerating from low speed....roughly between 2 and 10 miles an hour. If you slow down but do not come to a complete stop the vehicle will have a long pause then lurch into correct gear. Renders car nearly undriveable at low "parking lot" type speeds. Dealer states that without a check engine light there is no problem. Clearly there is some sort of problem as every complaint I see is regarding this exact same issue. Hyundai needs to fix this or I will terminate my lease and seek reimbursement for money spent on this vehicle.

- Lathrop, CA, USA

problem #3

Apr 012016

Santa Fe

  • 200 miles
When slowing down then accelerating to a higher say (say in stop and go traffic) the transmission frequently lugs and struggles to select a gear, resulting in a significant acceleration delay. This poses a safety issue as a delay in acceleration could lead to a collision. This has been an issue since the car was new.

- Gresham, OR, USA

problem #2

May 032016

Santa Fe

  • 300 miles
While in slow speeds, the transmission struggles to select the proper gear. Causing the vehicle to accelerate faster tan normal, specially while turning after reducing speed. You have to control the acceleration using your driving experience, however this is not safe at all. Tested using, eco, normal and sport driving modes, the only time I couldnt reproduce the issue was while on sport mode (I want to drive on eco while in the city) hopefully Hyundai will tackle this issue.

- Ny, NY, USA

problem #1

May 022016

Santa Fe

  • 50 miles
There is a recurring issue with the transmission where in low or slow speed situations when you apply power the transmissions stutters or stumbles. It is most prevalent when turning in an intersection across oncoming traffic where you never quite stop or when rolling at stop sign. When you apply throttle the car shift logic seems confused at what gear to go into so it just sits there or lurches, then to get going you have to apply full throttle so it picks the correct gear to accelerate in. The causes a high speed reaction in the vehicle, which is not safe either. This vehcile has three driving modes. The default, normal setting. Econ, and sport. Sport setting seems to correct this safety issue, but it has to be turned on each time the car is restarted. Sport mode then locks out overdrive so you must then physically return the car to normal mode to get it to return to 6th gear or overdrive. I have been driving more than 23 years and have had probably 40 different vehicles, this transmission renders the vehicle nearly undrivable in some situations. In certain scenarios when you really need the vehicle to accelerate it may not and you may be hit by oncoming traffic, a train etc. This has been an issue since the car was driven off the lot.

- Anchorage, AK, USA