8.9

pretty bad
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
2,594 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.

2021 Hyundai Santa Fe drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Owner Comments (Page 2 of 2)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #14

Sep 232022

Santa Fe

  • miles

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

This SUV has been plagued with issues, and yet after 5-6 visits to the dealership, they don't seem to be able to fix them all. The vehicle (2.5T AWD) currently has around 14k miles and within the past month the gas pedal suddenly became unresponsive, worst of all while carrying my kids and wife in the car. Coming to a dead stop to cross an intersection, went to accelerate to join traffic and the car wouldn't accelerate. Last time on 9/23 when I almost got into a head-on accident while making a left turn as the car barely moved into the first of three incoming lanes, would not accelerate and so forced me to quickly hit reverse, outrageous! Other three times while making a right turn. Auto engine-off has been disabled on all occasions (hate it); two times happened while driving on smart mode, another one on comfort and another one on sport mode. Car has been always using Mobil, Shell or Chevron gasoline. Which also brings me to another point, the vehicle suddenly started consuming crazy amounts of gas, currently at 16mpg for the past 4 full tanks! The vehicle was dropped off at dealership on 9/26/22 and already filed for Lemon Law in FL as this is absolutely unreliable and dangerous to carry my family on. According to manager at Rick Case Hyundai of Davie, an update for the transmission just came out this week after a recall and so they were going to reprogram. I am still getting rid of this p.o.c.

- Plantation, FL, USA

problem #13

Jul 282022

Santa Fe

  • miles
Car was without power after 16 months and 7500 miles. Got it jump started. Two days after that, car would not start again. Second time jump started. Taken to the dealership (Alexandria Hyundai) where two days after that they found "nothing wrong with the car" and returned it to me. Before that, I asked them to change the battery, they denied my request and I paid out of pocket for a new battery as maybe that was the problem. One month approximately after that, car would not even open. Got it jump started again. Drove to blocks and completely and suddenly shut off in the middle of a busy intersection posing a major safety concern for myself and third parties. Involved 911 and towing. Had to spend 40 minutes depressing the brake for the car not to roll down and avoid an accident. Taken to the dealership again. 5 days after that, dealership found "nothing wrong with the car". 7500 miles inspection done in parallel "supposedly" put the tires at 35 psi per report issued but dashboard shows tires at 30 psi. Do not trust dealership, car poses significant driving and safety concern for me and third parties.

- Washington, DC, USA

problem #12

Mar 022022

Santa Fe

  • miles
While traveling 70 mph the vehicle had a sudden loss of engine and battery output performance while driving and began losing speed despite the accelerator being fully depressed. There was a very rapid decrease in speed, and no warning chime activated per manual. -€œCheck Hybrid System. Stop Safely, triangle warning displayed.-€ Observed battery indicator rapidly deflecting left and right. The vehicle would not accelerate and had to be coasted through four lanes of traffic to get to the shoulder of the highway. While on an SOS call with Bluelink, who was unable to see the location of my vehicle, Oil Light illuminated, and a message on the dash said -€œCheck Battery Discharge.-€ After the first Bluelink Operator was unable to assist in dispatching a tow truck due to the inability to see the vehicle-€™s exact location, the second Bluelink Operator was able to assist and dispatch a tow truck to the location and tow the vehicle to the closest dealership. The vehicle could not be turned on or placed in neutral. Was given a jump start to place in neutral to tow. Upon arrival at the dealership, the key fob would not register inside the vehicle for the service manager and technician to move with the tow truck operator. The vehicle was evaluated by the dealership and the only reported issue was a signal error that was present when the vehicle arrived at the dealership after being towed. Dealership reported radar was not vertical and contributed that to the cause of loss of acceleration on the highway despite not having identified it before or being a result of being towed. I requested this be reported if truly the cause since that could be catastrophic. The matter was considered resolved by the dealer since it couldn-€™t be duplicated. This unknown, continued sudden loss of output power, acceleration, and electrical power is a Serious Safety Defect and significant impairment to the vehicle, posing a fatal risk for the operator and other motorists on the road. Occurred at 24618 miles.

- Chesapeake, VA, USA

problem #11

Aug 112021

Santa Fe

  • miles

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

While I was traveling 70-75 mph the vehicle had a sudden loss of engine and battery output performance and I began losing speed. There was a very rapid decrease in speed, and no warning chime activated per manual. -€œCheck Hybrid System. Stop Safely, triangle warning displayed.-€ The vehicle would not accelerate despite pressing the gas pedal all the way to the floor and had to be coasted off the interstate through three lanes of traffic to get to the shoulder. No fault indications were present in the Bluelink app despite warnings present on the dash. Mileage was 6506 at the occurrence, vehicle was in Smart. Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Keep Assist were being utilized, when disabled acceleration did not return. I was advised to turn off the car and turn it back on due to no faults present via remote troubleshooting tools and no dealership within 150 miles, and the vehicle resumed operating okay. After taking it for service at the next available -€œemergency slot-€ two weeks later at my local dealership and the car being there for one week, they reported condition could not be duplicated, the vehicle is operating to the manufacturer's specifications. I noted my serious concerns and that a serious safety defect that allows a vehicle to lose all acceleration on the highway and the vehicle not sounding a warning chime can lead to dangerous scenarios on the road and I was assured there was nothing wrong with my vehicle and it would not occur again as it was operating within manufacturer specifications. The vehicle did have a subsequent failure of this same type at a later date. It was not investigated by anyone other dealership. The manufacturer failed to address the loss of acceleration concerns when requested. No chime activated but should have received one per manual. A safety warning was present on the dash, -€œCheck Hybrid System. Stop Safely-€ service warning triangle. I am unsure how long it appeared before the loss of acceleration due to no chime.

- Chesapeake , VA, USA

problem #10

Aug 012022

Santa Fe

  • miles
I took my car to the dealer because it hesitates when accelerating. I was told since no lights are on there's nothing they can do. This can be very dangerous as it jerks when accelerating

- Toms River, NJ, USA

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problem #9

May 272022

Santa Fe

  • miles
Got stuck at a traffic light when the idle stop and go never came back. Diagnosed as a transmission problem and the dealer-€™s going to replace the transmission.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #8

Jun 302022

Santa Fe

  • miles

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

I ran into a pretty dangerous situation while on the highway. I was driving at about 70mph picking up speed to pass a vehicle on the far left/fast lane when I suddenly noticed a loss in power (no warning, nothing!). I could hear the engine rev when stepping on the gas but the speed never picked up. I managed to stop on the far left shoulder next to the jersey barrier since there wasn't enough speed to safely get to the right shoulder. Restarting the car multiple times didn't fix the issue but the engine light came on at this point. I had to get the car towed to the nearest dealer after seeking help from the highway patrol and roadside assistance. After 3 weeks at the dealership, they told me they could not replicate the issue and asked me to take possession of the vehicle. The very next day, while on the highway, I ran into the same issue just after driving 7 miles. Again, it could have been pretty dangerous. It's now back at the dealership.

- Concord, NC, USA

problem #7

Jun 292022

Santa Fe

  • miles
I keep my vehicle backed into my single car garage. I have had 3 incidents in the last couple of months Beginning of mayish to now, where I start the vehicle, put it in drive and it does not drive. Twice it started to reverse and today it acted as though it were in neutral. I've taken video of the last 2 incidents showing that drive is selected, the dashboard and the Birdseye camera. My dealership is working to resolve but has stated to plan on my vehicle being there for awhile. This seems to be quite dangerous. When I turn the vehicle off and restart it, drive works.

- Hudson, FL, USA

problem #6

Jun 072022

Santa Fe

  • miles
Most of the time, when the vehicle stops the transmission slams and pushes the vehicle forward requiring additional breaking effort. This problem started before 5 thousand miles of use. I reported it at his first oil change and I have continued to report it. The Hyundai dealer's machine shop claims to test and verify it, they claim they have no problem or technical bulletin about it. They say this is normal for this model. My concern is that this fault ends up breaking the transmission in the middle of the avenue and having a traffic accident. There is a forum of this same model owners reporting the same problem, https://www.hyundai-forums.com/threads/2021-santa-fe-transmission-shudder.680164/page-2 apparently they don't know this website to report these problems.

- Hormigueros, PR, USA

problem #5

Apr 272022

Santa Fe 4-cyl

  • 18,500 miles
Problem #1 - At least 4 quarts of oil spewed from the oil tank and covered most of the engine for an unknown period time. There were no notifications, alerts, or any other indication concerning the oil tank having 1 or less quart of oil. Ultimately, there are at least three (3) questions that need to be addressed 1.In a 2021 Santa Fe, what would cause both the timing and valve covers to leak out at least four (4) quarts of oil out of the oil tank onto the engine. 2.Why was there no notification, alerts, or indication that the oil tank only had less than one (1) quart of oil. 3.What other damage could there have been to the engine beyond the several parts identified as needing to be replaced, that was not identified. A Chronological Order of Events is available.

- Williamsville, NY, USA

problem #4

May 012020

Santa Fe

  • 50 miles

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

The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would not immediately accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact indicated that the RPM would increase however, the vehicle would hesitate to accelerate causing a safety hazard while pulling into traffic. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 50.

- Saint Johns, FL, USA

problem #3

Jan 242022

Santa Fe

  • 10,273 miles
The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated upon attempting to drive the vehicle, she shifted into drive; however, the vehicle reversed inadvertently. The contact depressed the brake pedal and shifted into park. The contact shifted from park to drive three times but the vehicle would reverse each time or would fail to move. The RPM-€™s revved up. The "Drive-€ warning light illuminated. The contact was able to drive the vehicle after several attempts; however, the failure reoccurred a month later. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the shift actuator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,273.

- Concord, GA, USA

problem #2

Oct 222021

Santa Fe

  • miles
10/22/21, Mileage ~720, while driving on the highway I had two incidents when the car did not respond to throttle application. In the first instance while attempting to accelerate mildly on a level road the rpm went to 3500 with no acceleration. I backed off the throttle and the car resumed normal operation. In the second instance while attempting to accelerate mildly on a level road the rpm showed about 1500 with no acceleration. I backed off the throttle and the car resumed normal operation. I had no further incidents and returned home safely. There were no warning lights, messages. This is the first problem I have experienced. I think this may be a transmission problem. Similar incidents have been reported online by Hyundai owners with the wet DCT that my car has. I have not yet contacted my dealer about this problem.

- Schuylkill Haven, PA, USA

problem #1

May 062021

Santa Fe

  • miles
I bought a new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe SEL in January 2021. The vehicle occasionally will not shift out of first gear unless you slow down to almost a stop and then accelerate again. It began within the first month or two of owning. Hyundai has had it in the shop three times. Two times they said they couldn't duplicate. One time they said they showed it went to 4000 RPM's without shifting on the diagnostics before it was slowed down as I told them. They did an update on the TCU and reset the transmission on May 10, 2021. On August 4, 2021 the transmission stuck again. (It went to 5000 RPM's without shifting before I slowed it to almost a stop) This problem has happened about eight times since it began. The GM at the dealership I bought it from said Corporate wouldn't buy it back or get involved without them duplicating the problem. I emailed Hyundai consumer complaints on August 17, 2021 and on August 18 received an email stating I had a case # and would be contacted shortly. On August 24 I called Hyundai customer complaint and was told I had a case manager assigned and they had until August 31 to reply. They did not reply and on September 1, 2021 I called Hyundai complaints again and they said I did NOT have a case manager and that they had not sent it to corporate yet but someone would call me at some point. I feel Hyundai is not concerned about this dangerous problem with their vehicle or my safety. I am beyond frustrated. Jeremy Kimrey

- Liberty, NC, USA

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