Hyundai Santa Fe Complaints

8,019 consumer complaints on file.

#11752903July 26, 2026
BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
There are two main causes of concern that have occurred numerous times. The first is a driver attention alert will flash on the screen very frequently, which is very distracting to the driver. It says you should take a break but will come on very frequently right after starting driving and seems to be due to someone squinting their eyes. The second is that when sensors get blocked or dirty it will flash messages about the parking system, not being active while you were driving the vehicle, which is a huge issue and very distracting, especially considering that it’s a parking system that you are not using because you’re actively driving the vehicle. These notifications need to be able to be disabled or should be adjusted to not do this.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11752584July 24, 2026
POWER TRAIN, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Vehicle went into limp mode while driving on the freeway and then would not go past 30 MPH even after pulling over and restarting it. At first there were no errors but after a restart the following warning showed up: "Park with engine On to charge battery". Everything worked fine earlier that day.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11752511July 23, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
sunroof shattered completely without any force of impact. The glass appears to have imploded.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11752368July 23, 2026
POWER TRAIN
The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while pulling out of the driveway and approaching a stop sign, the message "Check Transmission Oil Immediately" was momentarily displayed. The dealer was contacted and informed the contact that the vehicle could not be diagnosed unless the message was displayed. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving approximately 35 MPH the following day, and the engine power was reduced. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The driver contacted Bluelink and was advised to pull over safely. Bluelink and the dealer advised the driver to tow the vehicle to the dealer for assistance. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V746000 (POWER TRAIN); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered to cover half the cost of the repair. The failure mileage was approximately 74,900.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11752203July 22, 2026
POWER TRAIN
Transmission was replaced under warranty by Hyundai in Nov 2024. Engine was replaced at 100600 miles in Nov 2025. Issues with the transmission were happening at that time but ignored by dealership as issues related to failing engine. Our mechanic confirmed in April that transmission was failing and told us to go to Hyundai. We went to dealer in April 2026. They confirmed transmission needed to be replaced. They were going to contact Hyundai USA. We received no updates despite many calls to the dealer. We had to call Hyundai USA directly. They opened a case. Dealer finally called and took car in and requested good faith repair by Hyundai USA. Hyundai USA responded 2 weeks later and is not covering anything. They replaced our transmission in Nov 2024 with a refurbished transmission that they NO LONGER MAKE. Clearly due to the fact that the refurbished part doesn’t work. They now want me to pay $8000 to repair transmission. My car has been maintained on schedule by my mechanic. All paperwork available. I have had Toyotas, Hondas and chevys that have lasted close to 20 years. This has been a horribly disappointing experience. And I now need to buy a new car for my 17 year old instead of handing down. I will NEVER buy another Hyundai. I want everyone to be aware of my experience. Disgusting customer service by Hyundai USA.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11752261July 22, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
Less than 10 month old Santa Fe Calligraphy suddenly started flashing warning signs like Check Drivers Assistance System, Check Headlight LED, Check door assistance system. It comes on randomly, sometimes when the car is running, sometimes when the car is stopped. It flashes these warnings rapidly. When it is going on, the side view cameras stop working. One time when this was happening, I was at a stop light and it automatically went to park. It has happened multiple times so far. I have 2 children ages [XXX] and [XXX] that I drive around with and am concerned about safety. I have taken it to two different service centers at 2 different dealerships based on recommendation from Hyundai and they have not been able to replicate the problem hence they can't find the diagnostics of what is wrong. We have opened a case with Hyundai. The case number is XXX The case manager is [XXX] [XXX] I have taken videos of it whenever it has happened. I am not sure how to upload it as your documentations only allow photos. I am sharing the photos with you. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11752272July 22, 2026
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
With my 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe SEL, at Cold start the coolant gage on the digital cluster always shows 2-3 bars on the gauge and once the vehicle is put into drive (at least 30-45 seconds start up), the coolant gauze immediately increases in temperature reading without full drive (15 feet after gear placed in Drive). This may be improperly reading the coolant temperature and the OEM thermostat may be defective from manufacturer build. This can cause improper cooling and increase engine failure due to overheating.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11752271July 22, 2026
POWER TRAIN
I purchased a 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe SEL with 16,087 miles that has a the 8-speed Wet Dual-Clutch Transmission (DCT) stutters to catch gear properly while accelerating from low speeds and back to high, example driving onto a highway ramp and matching speeds with ongoing traffic). Unfortunately, there have been multiple fears and risk of safety where accidents almost occured due to the transmission not catching the engines rotational speed to exact, causing slow to no acceleration. This is very dangerous and unsafe to not be considered under investigation. This unresolved issue will deteriorate the clutch and transmission itself over time. HELP!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11751764July 21, 2026
POWER TRAIN, ENGINE
The vehicle has gone into a limp mode unexpectedly while driving on the highway at 60+ mph. The car immediately stopped driving and went into limp mode and cannot go over 30 mph. It was taken to a service dealer. They could not replicate the problem, therefore the vehicle was given back as undiagnosed. This next incident occurred and almost caused an accident, and that was on, again driving on the beltway around Columbus, OH. The car went from 70 mph to 30 mph. The vehicle stayed at 25 to 30 mph the entire time. Could not get it to do anything else. Drove cautiously on the side of the road and got to the dealership after driving 30 minutes at 25 mph. Dealership ended up saying the transmission needed replaced. It has been at the dealer for 3 weeks waiting on a transmission
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11751822July 21, 2026
ENGINE
Driving on highway no warning lights appeared the car made a loud pop noise and heavy smoke appeared from under the hood. Immediately pulled over and noticed all of the oil poured out and was nasty looking. The car was up to date on oil change. My car was towed home and bone dry no oil and no coolant the engine now had loud knocking and needs to be replaced for failure. The car was looked at by independent mechanic. Miles on the car are 152010. I had no warnings and up until the issues the car was serviced and cared for.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11751827July 21, 2026
ENGINE
On July 4, 2026, I was driving 2.5 hours from home. My car stopped after about an hour of travel. The car shook and the check engine light came on as the car shut down. There were no warning lights on in my vehicle. I have oil change records. My car had burned through all the oil in an hour. This is not a new problem with this model Hyundai. Every group I went to discuss the problem online all had customers who reported their vehicles suddenly started burning oil quickly which resulted in damaged motor with no warning lights in the dashboard. I had to have my car towed from out of town to the dealership. The dealership that said I had extended warranty on parts of the motor. However upon checking the motor, they said it wasn't covered. I filled out a claims report with Hyundai motors who looked into the problem and also said it's not covered under warranty. This is a known issue of Hyundai with a failure to warn of low oil in the car's warning center. This is a fault of Hyundai. I've taken good care of my car and just paid $1000 for new tires on July 2, 2026 before my trip. The dealership quoted me a price of $3500 to replace the motor with a used one. It would also require 16 hours of labor which I Believe is $200 an hour. I believe they should replace the motor due to faulty systems. My car has 107,000 miles on it, but whenever I've gone to have it checked out, everything checked out fine even at the dealership. Also, this is a known issue that Hyundai is refusing to address with their customers.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11751838July 21, 2026
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
I own a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2.4L (VIN: [XXX]). On XXX, my vehicle received Campaign 9C2 (ECU software update for Theta II emissions improvement). Shortly after this update, I began experiencing a drivability issue that did not exist beforehand. Description of the issue: The problem occurs only after the vehicle has been sitting long enough for the engine to become completely cold, typically overnight. During approximately the first 1/4 mile of driving, the vehicle intermittently jumps, surges, or lurches while accelerating normally. Once the engine warms up, the symptom completely disappears and the vehicle drives normally for the remainder of the trip. There are no warning lights, no check engine light, and no diagnostic messages. The Hyundai dealer has had the vehicle for nearly a week but has been unable to reproduce the concern. Because the issue only occurs during the initial cold start and first portion of the drive, I am concerned that it may not have been tested under the same conditions in which I consistently experience the problem. I am not claiming that Campaign 9C2 caused the issue, but the timing is notable because the symptom began only after the ECU update was performed. I am requesting Hyundai's assistance in determining whether: - the ECU update was installed correctly, - any required adaptation or relearn procedure is incomplete, - there are any related Technical Service Bulletins or software updates, or - additional diagnostics should be performed during a true cold-start drive with live data recording. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11751706July 21, 2026
AIR BAGS
I was quoted $3,000 to replace defective mat sensor in seat so that the airbag light will go off and my vehicle can be inspected. My family can’t afford this fix and I’m stressed out and do not know what to do. My vehicle was not in an accident nor was anything done that would cause damage and result in this fault. I am aware that the 2019 Santa Fe has an extended warranty for this exact defective mat sensor. My 2020 has the identical setup and failed just past the standard mileage limit. Because this is a critical SRS safety system that prevents my airbags from working properly I request help form the NHTSA. I read online a lot of owners are in my same situation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11751769July 21, 2026
BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING
When i select (R) reverse my camera does not come on. It started as just a flashing screen, but does not come on. It has come on momentarily while I am (D)driving. it has flashed a green screen before.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11751503July 20, 2026
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
I am currently burning through 2.5 quarts of oil approximately every 800 miles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11751040July 17, 2026
VISIBILITY
The contact owns a 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00M000 (Visibility); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11751222July 17, 2026
VISIBILITY/WIPER
Depending on the angle of the vehicle and the sun, around the heads up display the sun will reflect off of the plastic causing a thick bar of light on the windshield. This can make it very hard to see while driving and is right in the line of sight. Brought the car to the dealership and was able to reproduce it under the right conditions with another vehicle of the exact same model. In attached photos, it shows the glare in 3 different spots. It's all depending on the angle of the sun and vehicle but it's all across the heads up display.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11751090July 17, 2026
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
I am submitting a second and more urgent safety complaint regarding the Driver Monitoring and Driver Assistance systems in my vehicle. I previously reported this same core defect: the system falsely fails to recognize my face, sounds repeated warnings, and disables driving assistance while the vehicle is moving. Despite that prior complaint, the defect remains, and the seriousness of the danger has clearly not been recognized or addressed. This defect has now placed my life in immediate danger. While I was driving, the system falsely determined that it could not properly see my face. It sounded repeated warnings and then abruptly disabled driving assistance. That sudden withdrawal of assistance created a near-crash situation. I was attentive and was not experiencing a medical emergency. The danger was created by the system’s false detection and defective response. A safety system should reduce danger. This system detected a supposed problem and made the situation more dangerous by removing the assistance that was helping keep the vehicle under control. Had this occurred beside a concrete barrier, near stopped traffic, in a construction zone, on a curve, or next to a large truck, the result could have been a fatal collision. I could have been killed because of this system defect. When a driver cannot be verified, the vehicle should maintain lane control, reduce speed, activate hazard warnings, and perform a controlled safe stop. It should never abruptly withdraw assistance and create a more dangerous condition. I request that NHTSA investigate why a previously reported life-threatening defect remains unresolved and require Hyundai to correct this system logic before someone is seriously injured or killed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11750737July 16, 2026
TIRES
First tire blowout- 6/3/26- on Ohio turnpike tire just blew. No nails / no pothole/ no reason back passengers side Second tire blowout - 7/4/26 on laurel street Pittston ( paved road, hit small bump in road. Nothing unusual) tire just blew out. Front drivers side). No nails no reason) Third tire issue -7 /16/26 large bubble noticed on back drivers side . Going to try to drive it to get ANOTHER new tire. After investing this on the internet, this is a know problem with the pitelli scorpion tire on the calligraphy model. We were never notified . Recommendation in line is to Replace all 4 tires! We just patio 1300.00 for the other 2 new ones which are apparently not safe. We no have to get a tire We were lucky that the 2 blowouts did not cause us to get in an accident or cause injury to someone. It’s only a matter of time and hundai will have a major suit in their hands I am going to file a complaint with Hyundai and the attorney general and anyone else I can think of. People need to be warned and they need to pay for new tires tie me plus the ones I already replaced Ethan now need to get rid of. If you Google you will see this had been a known problem previously reported to Hyundai
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11750493July 15, 2026
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
After having the Service Campaign 9C2 ECU SOFTWARE UPDATE FOR THETA II EMISSIONS IMPROVEMENT, TSB 26-01-013H-2 done, my vehicle started having driveablity issues. On a normal, cold start the engine's RPMs go up really high, so I take my foot of the gas and the revs drop, almost stalling the car, and then the car bucks. I put my foot back on the gas pedal, and the engine revs really high again and takes off. If I try to drive normally, the car bucks and runs rough. My car also revs a lot higher during highway driving, than it did before the update. All of this is also causing terrible gas mileage. My car did nothing like this until I had the 9C2 update.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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