5.5

fairly significant
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
16,457 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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problem #11

May 012024

Santa Fe

  • miles
I am the original owner almost at the end of my powertain warranty. At 93 - 94,000 I started to notice whe accelerating, like a distinct shift into different gears at anywhere between 5-7miles and in incrediments up to 40-45 mph. I have brought to the dealer and this week, will be the four time, which they keep telling me if they can not get a code or necessarily re enact there is nothing they can do. I currently have 97,000 and am bringing it back in this week. PLease help.

- Elk Grove Village, IL, USA

problem #10

Feb 251992

Santa Fe

  • miles
My driver side passenger door will not open from the inside or the outside. You can hear the locking mechanism lock and unlock, however the door is stuck shut. It locked my 2 year old in. Put her in, drove about 15 minutes down the road then was no longer able to open her door. This is obviously not safe for anyone of any age. There are multiple forums of multiple people with the same issue with a malfunction of Hyundais doors. Hyundai needs to make their vehicle safe.

- Buena Vista, VA, USA

problem #9

Jun 212024

Santa Fe

  • miles
June 21, 2024. During travel at high speed (70mph) on NYS Thruway, engine began making loud noise. sounded like something was loose and flapping. WITHOUT WARNING- no instrument warning lights came on, engine seized and power stopped. At no time during my drive did I observe any instrument warning lights. I was able to get over to the side of the road. The temperature gauge remained unchanged. I was concerned about fire in the engine and got as far away from the car as possible. I was 200 miles into my 300 mile journey. After waiting over an hour to have my car towed to the dealer, I was told that there were 3 Hyundai's with similar issues the week before and that the car would likely need an engine replacement due to "excessive oil consumption". This issue is a safety risk as it could have resulted in catastrophic engine fire, as well as safety issues on the Thruway with other cars and lots of traffic. Engines are backordered. Dealer did a full inspection and submitted paperwork on June 28, 2024 to Hyundai for a decision on whether this is covered under warranty. I was told we would have an answer within a few hours. Have been assigned a "liason" with Hyundai and have been in regular contact. However, Hyundai has asked for an additonal time in order to make a decision. No word as of July 11, 2024.

- Southborough, MA, USA

problem #8

May 052023

Santa Fe

  • miles
I was driving about 60-65 mph on the interstate, and with no dashboard lights illuminated, the car started making a loud clanking noise. Without warning, there was 1 additional loud noise and the engine froze, excessive smoke came from the front of the car and underneath the car. I pulled over to the side of the road. There was an oil trail behind the car and under the car. The car is now being inspected by our local Hyundai dealership and awaiting warranty approval.

- Durham, NC, USA

problem #7

Mar 022022

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 100,000 miles
The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 MPH, the vehicle independently came to an abrupt stop. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The vehicle was diagnosed with alternator, battery, and starter failures. The vehicle was repaired three times. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

- Harrisburg, PA, USA

problem #6

Sep 222021

Santa Fe

  • miles
Vehicle lost complete control of steering, as it felt "loose" during a left turn at an intersection. Vehicle could not be controlled by steering wheel causing me to drive into oncoming traffic lanes until vehicle slowed to a stop.

- Ontarioq, CA, USA

problem #5

Apr 012021

Santa Fe

  • miles
My vehicle is available for inspection upon request. On multiple occasions the fluid in coolant reservoir has drained out. There is no visible signs of coolant on the under carriage nor is there a puddle on the floor of my garage and no warning lights have come on. In the span of approximately 2 weeks the fluid dropped 1/4 of an inch. Hyundia of Wesley Chapel (in Wesley Chapel, Fl) has had my vehicle on two occasions for this issue. They documented a lose of pressure in the coolant system of 10psi after an extended pressure test on a cold engine. Various other tests were performed but the source of the loss of coolant has not been found. The vehicle also intermittently experiences a loss of power when trying to accelerate from a full stop. The above mentioned dealership has not been able to replicate this issue either.

- Lutz, FL, USA

problem #4

Aug 222021

Santa Fe

  • miles
This will be the fourth time our vehicle has to go to the dealer. We purchased this car in April of this year and the car has lived more at the dealer service department than with us. The first time, the car started smoking and left us stranded. The dealer changed out the fuel injectors. When it randomly started smoking it smelled strongly of gas and we were scared that the car would catch fire. The other times were due to the car not accelerating as it should on the highway making it quite difficult to merge and speed up as needed on the highway. This time, it's the same thing. The car does not want to shift gears and it's very dangerous when you are trying to accelerate to get to the right speed and you have cars coming in close from behind and there is no way to signal to them that the car is having trouble shifting. This problem started again yesterday. The check engine light turned on yesterday as well and we took the car to Autozone to scan it. the only code that came up was abs. The car just got towed to the dealer yet again but I have lost hope that they will be able to fix the issue as they have failed 3 times already. (one of these times the dealer failed to refill my radiator coolant after the flushed it causing the car to overheat as well and the car ac malfunctioned as well as a result.

- Orlando, FL, USA

problem #3

May 282020

Santa Fe 4-cyl

  • 15 miles
One day for no apparent reason the bsd system stopped working.

- San Lorenzo, PR, USA

problem #2

Apr 252020

Santa Fe

  • 81,000 miles
The rear camera has a blue screen this is known for Hyundai Santa Fe sport. Also my SUV ran hot while driving. The SUV is only 2 years why is the antifreeze/coolant ran out. It was bone dry. Talk to car shop and I was told that the water pump usually ho out on the Hyundai Santa Fe sport. Also my SUV act like it dont want excellarate and switch gears especially when turning.

- Euclid, OH, USA

problem #1

Sep 142018

Santa Fe

  • 15 miles
Occasionally stalls when stopped & take off & turn right or left at a slow speed..one T ime died completely able to pull over & restart engine. Happens on city streets. The dates it stalled are 9-14-18 10-5-18 10-18-18 11-16-18 11-28-18 12-04-18

- Alamogordo, NM, USA