10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 3 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 3 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 3,034 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
My 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy with 14k miles showed a check-engine light. I had noticed some strange behavior in the shifting with a loss of power while driving at low gears. I made an appointment for the dealership the next morning. Was told today that the car needs a new transmission.
- Katy, TX, USA
Vehicle has just over 4k Miles on it. Several times I tried to accelerate and while the engine RPMs would increase, the vehicle would not accelerate. Very dangerous when turning right on a red light and when merging into traffic. I came close to getting T-Boned on 4 occasions, and rear-ended on 3 occasions. This vehicle is not reliable and puts passenger lives in danger. Today the "Shifter System Malfunction-Service Immediately" warning came on and I was not able to shift into any gear and the vehicle put itself into neutral. Looking at the forums, this has been a problem throughout the Hyundia vehicle lineup for years with the DCT transmission. I don't understand how they can continue to sell these vehicles when there is a known safety issue with the DCT transmission. I have tried to contact Johnson Hyundia in Cary NC and left multiple messages with the service dept, but they have never returned my calls.
- Holly Springs, NC, USA
when I tried accelerate, the car jerked and then the transmission began to slip and I coasted to a stop. I cranked the car and slowly began to drive the car while it felt like the transmission was slipping. My first thought was that the transmission was low on fluid but later found that this is a sealed transmission. Luckily there was no traffic during this incident. There was no warnings lights or any warnings whatsoever.
- Warner Robins, GA, USA
I purchased a new 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe and on multiple occasions when trying to accelerate the vehicle has failed to go above 30 mph. I have put on about 6,000 miles. When I pull over and restart the car. The issue seems to resolve. This is quite dangerous when trying to get on the highway or accelerate to pass for myself, passengers in the car and others. The dealer has not been able to repeat the issue. No warning or error codes appear. After repeated returns to the dealer, the dealer has now refused to review the vehicle without a $200 charge to investigate. I am happy to make the vehicle available for inspection.
- Spring, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at 75 MPH, the vehicle stalled and decelerated to 25 MPH as several warning lights flashed on the instrument panel. After multiple attempts, the contact managed to restart the vehicle and drove to her destination. The contact sustained severe emotional trauma due to the failure but did not seek medical attention. The contact drove the vehicle to the dealer where they informed her that the throttle body was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 2,689.
- Chesapeake, VA, USA
While driving under normal conditions with vehicle in Drive, transmission shifting into Neutral with no driver input or action and the engine remained running. Transmission indicator remained in Drive, and engine would rev, without forward propulsion. This occurred three times is close proximity, within 30 minute period. Each time, shutting down the vehicle, waiting approximately 5 minutes to restart, the vehicle would then shift into Drive normally and move under power. There were no warning messages or indicators prior to or during the three episodes. Dealer was unable to diagnosis any errors, even using GDS. If the vehicle had been moving at highway speed or on a more congested roadway, this could have posed a significant safety risk to the occupants and any nearby vehicles, as the driver may have not been able to safely pull off the roadway when the vehicle lost propulsion (shifted to neutral).
- Charlotte, NC, USA
Car was purchased January 21st had 3000 mile on it when service was needed for these issues. On march 23rd as I started driving my car wouldn't go above 30 mph, when pressing on the gas pedal the car wouldn't accelerate, the rpm gage would go to 4 but engine wouldn't make noise car wouldn't speed up. I put the car in park and back in drive with no improvement. I pulled off at a gas station restarted the car and it was fine. During this time the auto on off button was orange on the cluster which I had never seen it that color before. Was looked at by the dealer but wasn't reproducible. Not sure the cause, but safety was in jeopardy due to not being able to go with speed of traffic. Also a couple weeks after purchase brakes began to squeal, took car to dealer on march 28th was told brake pads were sanded and cleaned, upon leaving dealer brakes continued to squeal, car is now back at dealer, supposedly needing front rotors and pads replaced. Dealer won't drive car until rotors replaced. Safety was in jeopardy cause of possible brake failure and resulting accident.
- Wilmington, OH, USA
2023 Hyundia Santa Fe bought brand new from the dealership. During the course of the last month and a half the vehicle has done things with unknown origin. The panic alarm will randomly go off when the vehicle is turned off, no one is in it, or even near it. By locking the vehicle with the remote, the alarm will tend to go off about 20-30 seconds after the vehicle is locked and will sometimes not stop until the vehicle is restarted. The transmission will shift very roughly almost to the point that it feels like you are driving a manual transmission vehicle. The transmission lags in gears between 60-70 miles per hour and you feel a very rough back and forth shifting with in the transmission. Next the emergency break would engaging and then not releasing or reengaging when parked on a hill, flat service or anywhere. The break light on the dash would light up, blink, then it would go off, making it unknown if the emergency break was acting engaged or not. The dealership I purchased it from did replace the EMS module along with breaks and rotors on the vehicle. The auto shut off or the idle shut off will also randomly work, and not work. it will cut on and off even if the button is pressed to shut it off or prevent it from coming on. Now the air condition, along with the heat and heated seats has started to not work, randomly cut on, will not cut off etc. While driving i have had the heated seats turn on, along with the heat and not go off, nothing would cut off until the vehicle was physically turned off and restarted. No codes have ever been displayed or found by the dealership.
- Hope Hull, AL, USA
- Cedar Hill, TX, USA