CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe apparently has a problem with the engine stalling while driving.

In a 2-page letter to Santa Fe owners from August 2014, Hyundai claims the engine stalling only occurs under a "specific set of operating conditions".

However a class action lawsuit filed around the same time details multiple claims from Sante Fe owners that claim the engine stalling happens at any time, under any conditions.

Although the model year range in the lawsuit is 2010-2012, the stalling complaint trend hasn't shown up in our data for the 2010 model year. Both the 2011 & 2012 Santa Fe model years DO show a significant defect trend of the engine stalling.

Currently we're not rating the 2010 Santa Fe as "bad" or "poor". Just be aware of this potentially serious problem.

7.7

pretty bad
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
6,065 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2010 Hyundai Santa Fe transmission problems

transmission problem

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2010 Hyundai Santa Fe Owner Comments (Page 3 of 3)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #4

Jun 082010

Santa Fe

  • 5,200 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On Tuesday, June 8, 2010 I was on a busy interstate highway with fast moving traffic and my car lost all power while traveling at 70 mph. Fortunately, I was able to barely glide the sante fe to the shoulder and stop without incident. Follow up: 3 pm visited Hyundai service center and was told that it was not a throttle problem. They are in contact with ca service to determine cause of problem. Friday, 6-11-10 after complete testing of all circuits, Hyundai declares no source of problem. Auto was picked up at 4:30 pm Hyundai assistant service manager: Bob wood Hyundai case # 3982284 the specifics are: "SUV was purchased 8/09 and currently has 5200 miles. ?cruise control was on but not engaged. ?gas tank indicator on one-half. "with my foot on gas pedal the initial instinct was that the engine had lost all power. Opressing harder on gas pedal had no reaction. Othere was an opening in traffic and with the SUV forward inertia I was able to just reach the road shoulder. Oobserved that red indicators were on (battery, oil) ?reset transmission selector to park, turned off key. Ofirst restart-nothing happened osecond restart SUV started and I did not turn off until reaching home. Obviously, this is a serious life threatening situation that needs to be researched thoroughly and corrected.

- Sarasota, FL, USA

problem #3

Jul 232010

Santa Fe

  • 1,500 miles
I have the 2010 Santa Fe banging problem - started about a month after I bought it only happens about 1 per week - dealer claimed they never heard of it before - looked at me like I was some sort of crazy fool. I described it as -- it feels like someone bumped into me from behind - the first few times it happened wife & I actually looked out of the back window expecting to see the car that had rammed us. I really figured the car was going into gear or something - mine is the AWD model - I thought maybe it was sending some power to the rear wheels. For about a week every time I would leave home & start the Santa Fe I would look under the vehicle - then one day it happened as I was looking under. The engine starts - then the vehicle shakes to the point the muffler bangs into the rear of the frame - that is what makes it feel like something hitting the back end. Have just started to notice a strange feeling - normally would only happen when we were leaving home - and slowly turning the corner on our street - when the transmission shifts from 1-2 it was like the road was a washboard. Today it did the same thing coming home on a 2-3 shift. I talked to Hyundai customer service when I had the car in for service and the dealer could find nothing wrong - they offer no help - the old - if it does not register a code on the computer or unless the dealer can duplicate the problem - we will not do anything. Per Hyundai customer service I am the only person in the world with these problems but I go online and find hundreds of people with the same problem. At very slow speeds when the car shifts from 1st to 2nd it will bang or shift so hard it feels like the car was rear ended...

- Fishersville, VA, USA

problem #2

Jul 192010

Santa Fe

  • 3,500 miles
I have a 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe AWD. We bought the car with 8 miles. After one week we started to notice a banging sound when the car would shift at low speeds, sometimes it was so severe the car would jerk forward violently. We have taken it to the local dealer twice and they tell us there is nothing wrong. Today my wife was coming home from work and slowed down to let some kids cross the street, as she was slowing the car banged and jerked forward so violently she thought she was going to lose control and hit one of the kids! I was just looking online for other complaints and there are a lot, complaining about the same problem. Something needs to be done about this, or someone is going to be killed!!! by the way, thanks for the Honda Odyssey brake recall, I sent in a complaint about that, you folks are great! thanks for your time.

- Centerton, AR, USA

problem #1

Apr 172010

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 870 miles
2010 Hyundai Santa Fe V6 AWD limited I put the key in the ignition to start it, and the vehicle lunged forward approximately 6 inches. The vehicle was in park when I started it. Luckily my foot was near the brake, so I instinctively slammed on the brake. I do not know how far it would have gone if I had not depressed the brake pedal. Luckily the vehicle in front of me was far enough away, also lucky that there was nobody walking between my vehicle and the one in front of mine. I took it to sport Hyundai Dodge, they were very nice. They put it on their computer scanner, and of course it did not come up with any problem codes. Luckily I do not have remote start on this vehicle, because who knows where the vehicle might end up. I was also lucky that I was actually seated in the vehicle and not leaning in to start it. Hopefully this was a fluke situation and will never happen again. However, I will have to remember to start this vehicle with the brake depressed if there is something in front of my vehicle. Toyota depended on their computers too, which never came up with any error codes either, and they thought the customer was at fault, and look where it got them!

- Egg Harbor Township, NJ, USA

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