10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
11 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
9 / 3
Average Mileage:
40,868 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.

2009 Hyundai Santa Fe engine problems

engine problem

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2009 Hyundai Santa Fe Owner Comments (Page 2 of 3)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #31

May 252014

Santa Fe 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 14,956 miles

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

The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the accelerator pedal became stuck to the floor and was unable to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that there was carbon build up in the throttle body causing the throttle to stick. The manufacturer was not made aware of problem. The approximate failure mileage was 14,956. Updated 8/12/14

- Lemont, IL, USA

problem #30

Jun 022014

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 8,900 miles
The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai sante fe. The contact stated that while driving 70 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated to 90 mph. The contact mentioned that the transmission was able to shift into neutral but the vehicle failed to shut off. Also, the contact stated that he attempted to engage the brakes but the vehicle failed to stop. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 8,900. Updated 09/15/14 updated 1/7/2015

- Lexington, KY, USA

problem #29

Apr 292014

Santa Fe

  • 65,000 miles
I had made a left hand turn and went to accelerate and the vehicle kept accelerating and the engine revved up, I tried to push the brake to slow the vehicle down and it would not slow down or stop. The engine revved up and finally after a few moments the gas pedal came unstuck. The car slowed down and I pulled over. Later that day my son drove the vehicle and it happened twice to him when he went to accelerate he said it just kept accelerating and he said he kept hitting the brakes until the care went back to normal. I did take it to the dealership where they said nothing was wrong with my vehicle. I did do a google search and it seems that other owners of the 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe reported the same exact problem.

- Eden, UT, USA

problem #28

Dec 282013

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 90,000 miles

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

Entered horseshoe casino parking garage and turned into parking level. As I followed Ford Taurus, Hyundai engine changed from normal speed to a roaring acceleration in an instance. I couldn't brake it to a stop and it rammed the rear end of the Taurus. Damage to the sante fe was limited to front bumper damage while the back end of the Taurus was driven forward and torn up. My husband thought the cruise might have gone on; but, he decided the acceleration was too rapid for the cruise. He was in the passenger seat. We drove home without any further trouble.

- Newburgh, IN, USA

problem #27

May 072013

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 78,000 miles
The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate, the accelerator pedal would become stuck and in order to release it, the brakes needed to be engaged simultaneously. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 78,000 and the current mileage was 86,000. Updated 01/07/14

- Niantic, CT, USA

problem #26

Nov 042013

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 61,000 miles
Driving my wife's car around 40 mph and for no reason the car started accelerating to a high rate of speed and I had to lay on the brake but when I took my foot off the brake it again started accelerating at a high rate of speed. I put the car in neutral and the engine was racing very high I shut the car off and started it again and it was back to normal. I am concerned that this will happen again. Talked to Hyundai service and they could not give me an answer.

- Hoffman Estates, IL, USA

problem #25

Sep 272013

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 56,830 miles

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

Was going about 70 mph around topeka Kansas when the vehicle lurched, then the ESC, engine and chassis lights flashed. Immediately afterwards the car lost all propulsion. Fortunately I was by an off-ramp, but could of gotten in an accident which such a sudden deceleration. Managed to get to an autozone store to check the fault. The fault came up as the throttle position sensor (tps). Managed to get it to the dealership in topeka. They fixed in within 10 minutes, but after completing my trip back to Colorado noticed the car is lurching again in lower speed, in-town traffic...very dangerous!!! will be contacting the dealership in Colorado on Monday morning!! had a similar problem two years ago, took it into the dealership and they said they couldn't find a problem with it. Guess they won't be satisfied until the warranty period ends and someone gets killed.

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

problem #24

May 182012

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 26,000 miles
Driving on highway, ESC light & check engine light illuminated, car lost power. After approximately 2 minutes, car restarted and retained power for approximately one year. This year, the car has duplicated the same problem 4 times within a month, and when foot on brake in drive, the car surges so badly that at times I thought someone had bumped the rear of car. I took to dealer today and they replaced the throttle position sensor under warranty. This was very much a safety concern, would often happen this year when vehicle was slowing, so that making a left turn put me in a dangerous situation.the replacement of the throttle sensor seems to have remedied the problem.

- Yukon, OK, USA

problem #23

Feb 032013

Santa Fe

  • 30,000 miles
I was on a return trip of 5 hours or so each way which I took at about 30,000 miles on the odometer, and noticed a very pronounced drop in power and acceleration capability quite suddenly. It was as if some wiring or hose had come loose under the hood. A few months later, when the problem had not changed at all in over 3000 miles of day-to-day driving, including a daily stint (to work) of maybe 12 miles each way on the freeway which entails accelerating up the on-ramp into the flow of traffic, I still could feel the difference in acceleration and response time while accelerating. When I took the Santa Fe in for a normal oil change, I reported to the dealer these symptoms, and asked to have it checked out. They changed the oil, and checked out the computer readouts for the vehicle, and said there were no problems detected by the computer at that time, but when this type of behavior on the vehicle occurred, it was most often due to the fuel filter being all clogged up, although that still might not be the problem. They quoted me a price of $270 to change the fuel filter, and after I asked if there was any coupon discount for this service ever thru their dealership, the service manager gave me a coupon book for a flat rate off depending upon how much was being paid for. (it amounted to maybe $25 off this service.) they did not have time that day to change it out, so I decided to check out both whether there had been any complaints, service reports, or recalls about this fuel filter, and that is what led me here to make this complaint about both the cost of this replacement and the poor prognosis of it solving the acceleration problem. I am going to check with a repair place I feel confident in about their cost to do this replacement. Hopefully, it will be much less.

- Sunland, CA, USA

problem #22

Mar 262013

Santa Fe

  • 27,430 miles
Upon entering the highway at 55 mph my 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe took off and the gas paddle got stuck for 15 - 20 seconds even though it felt like a life time. I stumped on brake pedal and tried to pumped the brake pedal to no avail. The RPM on my car was registered at 6-7 and the engine was very loud. I got the car to stop by placing the transmission in the neutral position. I called the nearest dealer to my home to make an appointment and they were not able to duplicate the problem. So to them there was no problem with my vehicle. To me and my two daughters this experience is a nightmare and the car is unsafe to drive. Since 2002 I bought 5 Hyundai cars (2002 sonata, 2003 Santa Fe (daughter in law drives), 2004 Santa Fe (son drives), 2004 Santa Fe (daughter drives) and my car 2009 Santa Fe. As you can see from my multiple purchases I loved driving and owning Hyundai Santa Fe's. I am very upset because we could have died! I am even more upset that Hyundai will not stand behind their products and make excuses so they will not have to make repairs. The $$$ must be worth more than peoples lives. The Hyundai dealer in North East philadelphia even had the nerve to blame me because he said not replicate the incident and it was not in the cars computer. Shame on you Hyundai, shame on you dealers. This is the last Hyundai that I will ever own, I will no longer recommend any of your cars to anyone but I will share my story with them. You lost a customer and I will join any class action suit and I will call the tv stations to report this problem. I do not think that anyone should die before you fix the problem - what about you Hyundai? peoples lives or $$$$$. I am planning on replacing the throttle position sensor and getting rid for the car. I do not want another near death experience.

- Philadelphia, PA, USA

problem #21

Sep 202009

Santa Fe

  • 11,900 miles

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

The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that when attempting to accelerate, the vehicle would not respond. The vehicle was taken to dealer for diagnostic testing where it was determined that the cause of failure was inconclusive. The vehicle was not repaired. Three years later the contact complained of an abnormal noise from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to dealer for diagnostic testing who stated that the failure was caused by the rear brakes, which were worn to the screws. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance because the dealer ruled that the failure was caused by normal wear and tear. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure and current mileage was 11,900.

- Wheaton , IL, USA

problem #20

Sep 102012

Santa Fe

  • 45,000 miles
The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while attempting to engage the brakes, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The brakes were applied but the vehicle would not respond. As a result, the contact crashed. The police were present and a police report was filed of the incident. The contact sustained a hematoma and the vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 45,000.

- Graston, WV, USA

problem #19

Oct 202010

Santa Fe

  • 15,546 miles
Incident 1: (10-20-2010) driver side head light was fogging up constantly. Dealer replaced the head light under warranty. Incident 2: (02-22-2011) upon fill-up of the gas tank, just before it was topped off, there was a series of clunking noises. After taking it to the dealership, the gas tank was replaced. Incident 3: (05-01-2011 approx.) upon removal of the cabin air filter cover, the little plastic parts that are squeezed to remove the cover broke, which wouldn't allow the cover to go back on. The dealer replaced the part and I have not yet replaced the filter yet. Incident 4: (11-12-2011) driving 60 mph down the highway, I heard a loud banging noise coming from the engine compartment. As I was pulling over to check out the situation, the car lost power steering and air conditioning! my serpentine belt broke! after it was towed, the dealer replaced it, along with belt tensioner and idler pulley! incident 5: (07-30-2012) I was coming up to a stop light and upon deceleration, the check engine light and ESC off light came on. After coming to a complete stop, the RPM gage showed 1100 RPM and it felt like the vehicle wanted to move as if I was pressing the accelerator. When I did try to accelerate, there was no power to accelerate ( the engine was still running, etc, but when I pressed the accelerator, I could only move a few miles per hour.) I pulled over and shut the vehicle off for a few minutes. I started it back up and the check engine light remained on, and I gained acceleration power. I took the vehicle to the dealership. They determined I had a faulty throttle position sensor as well as brake light switch and both were replaced by the dealer. [current mileage on vehicle after all incidents: 48,897]

- Huntley, IL, USA

problem #18

Mar 112012

Santa Fe

  • 20,000 miles
The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. While traveling 55 mph, the contact attempted to accelerate and noticed that the pedal had become stuck to the floorboard, causing the vehicle to accelerate uncontrollably. In order to stop the failure the contact had to place her foot under the accelerator pedal and lift the pedal off of the floor. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that the failure could not be duplicated. The VIN was not available. The current and failure mileages were 20,000.

- Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, USA

problem #17

Aug 312011

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • miles
Recently while driving the car seems to hesitate then has a minor acceleration. It seems as if its about to stall but catches and accelerates or increases to original speed. This is concerning especially when it occurs during rush hour traffic. In addition, I had to replace the battery at 24, 348 miles as the car died on me twice while traveling. I purchased a battery from O'rielly auto parts as it was closer to my home. The dealer would only state that battery failure has occurred with less than 30,000 miles on the sante fe however since I didn't bring my car to them the battery is not covered under warranty. It is unbelievable that battery life is this short.

- New Orleans, LA, USA

problem #16

Aug 232011

Santa Fe

  • 26,572 miles
On Monday, August 22, as I was driving down pewaukee road, I decided to get in the left lane to pass a semi truck. Suddenly I hear the car engine revving and the car's speed was accelerating. As there was a car directly in front of me and the semi truck to the right, I was pressing on the brake as hard as I possibly could. The car was hard to control and for a brief time I was in the on-coming traffic lane. All I could think of is get on a side road. The car would not react to the brakes. I turned onto a side road, aimed my car at a road sign and steel bollards on the side of the road so they could at least stop the car, threw the car in park and turned the key off (I am not sure in which order I did the last 2 steps). Fortunately the car coasted to a stop. The engine was making a winding noise. Hyundai roadside service picked up the car. Their service manager indicates they can not replicate the problem. It was suggested I had the floor matt bunched up under the gas and brake pedals. Give me a break! I'm not a complainer. This is the first time I have ever lodged a consumer complaint. But I was scared to death at the time and I am very hesitant about getting back in that car tonight (my husband is picking it up from arrow Hyundai). I am not concerned about hurting myself -- I don't think I could ever get over it if I hurt someone else because of this car. So Hyundai can't replicate the problem. Did anyone think they would be able to" the question is what is Hyundai doing about a problem that seems to be very documented on the internet. What is Hyundai going to do when a sudden acceleration problem kills someone" Hyundai did nothing for me. They initially seem very perplexed about such a problem. However, today when my husband arrived with a hand full of printed blogs all they wanted to say was they couldn't replicate the problem but would document the problem. I don't trust that they will so I am documenting the problem myself.

- Nashotah, WI, USA

problem #15

Aug 092011

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • 18,900 miles
I get acceleration problem in my Hyundai Santa Fe 2009., whenever my car gets slow it see car it going by it self even thou my foot in my the break. It also gives my feeling that car is stops and go something like car is jerking off. I even see lot of other people having the same problem. In March 201, my wife got in to the accident because of the acceleration problem. But, we did not realize that at that time. And, my wife told me that was the problem but we did not believe it at that time. Now, we are facing more problems. Dealers are not doing anything. They just told me that they don't see the problems. Can you guys really do something about this, before somebody gets killed or get in to the accidents. Hope you consider our genuine complain about acceleration problem complain for Hyundai Santa Fe 2009.

- Morrisville, NC, USA

problem #14

Jun 052011

Santa Fe 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 22,000 miles
The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact was backing into a parking space when she tried to accelerate slightly, the vehicle accelerated unexpectedly. The contact crashed into two parked vehicles before they were able to shift into neutral gear and stop the vehicle from accelerating. The contact didn't mention if there were any injuries. The vehicle was unable to be driven because of the way the wheel was turned and stuck. The vehicle was towed to a dealer and then to a body shop. The vehicle had not been inspected. The failure and current mileages were 22,000. Updated 07/21/11 updated 07/22/11

- Westfield , MA, USA

problem #13

May 192011

Santa Fe

  • 22,000 miles
The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai sante fe. While driving 35 mph, the contact stated that he applied pressure to the accelerator pedal an the pedal remained stuck in the open throttle position. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where they performed a diagnostic test but was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was aware of the failure and the contact was awaiting a response. The current and failure mileages was approximately 22,000.

- Garner, NC, USA

problem #12

May 032011

Santa Fe

  • 18,000 miles
The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving 3 mph at a stop light there was sudden acceleration up to 60 mph. The accelerator pedal extended to the floor. The brake pedal and the emergency brake were applied at the same time and the vehicle slowed down. After fifteen minutes the vehicle was driven to the contacts residence and then towed to the dealer. The vehicle was in the dealers possession when the complaint was filed. The failure mileage was 18,000.

- Chicago, IL, USA

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