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.
Clock spring is defective/broken. This could be very dangerous as the airbag may not deploy in the event of an accident. Hyundai has used this exact part on other vehicles that have had issue and have recalled/extended the warranty to cover. Hyundai however won't fix this very dangerous issue on the Santa Fe and even wanted almost $200 just to look at the car even though the part is very obviously broken.
I was driving my 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS (Lambda II, V6 3.3L, 104k miles) late at night with my wife, daughter (age 2), and son (age 6 months). No notification lights alerted me to any problems. We missed our turn on the highway and had to drive through a neighborhood with a high crime volume. We stopped at a red light and the engine seized. When the light changed, I tried to start the car, but the engine wouldn't budge. We were stranded in the dark in a dangerous area. I said to my wife, "This is one of the worst places and times for a car to go kaput." Two good samaritans with car knowledge stopped to help. First, they tried charging the battery. No luck. Then they checked the oil. To our surprise, the oil tank was nearly empty (again, no notification lights alerted me, and we never saw leakage). We tried filling it with oil, hoping it might solve the engine seizure. No luck. I had it towed to my family's mechanic. Once he checked it, he immediately realized it needed replacement (once it turned on, it was making knocking sounds). He said a new engine would cost $10k-€"more than half of the car's value at the time of purchase. I called Hyundai corporate, and they said to bring it to my local dealer to get examined. They checked it and chose not to repair, giving a pretty nondescript reason for denial. They wouldn't give many details; they just said the motor suffered a mechanical failure, showed sludge, and needed to be replaced. They quoted me $9k for a USED engine. Later I learned that countless others have experienced the same problems with this vehicle. I'm preparing paperwork to seek help from higher-level Hyundai mechanics. I will update NHTSA if their response is helpful or not. I believe Hyundai and Kia are in deep water with many GDI engines from the last decade. Countless others have reported similar engine failures; a whole Facebook group documents it (FB search "Engine Failure- Kia/Hyundai"). Here's praying NHTSA swoops in and enforces a recall.
My 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport broke down while driving home on 5/30/2022. No active warning lights at time of incident. Vehicle slowed down while driving on interstate and lost the ability to accelerate. A noise was made (may have been considered knocking). Once parked on the side of the highway, nothing happened when START/STOP button was pressed except random lights across dash (NO WARNING LIGHTS). Vehicle did not appear to be ON. Vehicle had to be towed to local Hyundai dealership. Dealership replaced the starter, performed an engine diagnostics, then parked vehicle on lot. The vehicle caught fire on 6/20/2022 after service tech exited it; considered a total loss. The vehicle was inspected by Hyundai Dealership representative, owner's insurance company, and vendor for Hyundai Motor America. HMA ruled incident as No Root Cause for engine seizing: no fault of workmanship nor manufacturer. In addition, in January 2022, this vehicle went into LIMS mode, no active warning lights were observed, and the same dealership replaced Knock Sensor. The vehicle passed engine diagnostics test.
Drivers side rear passenger door lock became inoperable. Door will not lock or unlock with key fob or from the drivers door arm rest door lock/unlock switch. Door lock on the door panel does not move positions when fob or door lock switch is operated. Door lock within the door handle on the inside is in between the locked and unlocked position. If the silver lock on the door is either pushed or pulled, the door lock will function. Power lock does not work.
- Olathe, KS, USA
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I was driving to pickup my dog from daycare centre and when I arrive to house, put my car in Park then a huge amount of smoke came out from the front hood of car. The smoke got bigger and bigger within 30 seconds I couldn't see anything from front of car and around driver's seat. There was no Hazard alerts or signs on my car that my car was overheating. There was no signal or emergency shut off on the car when the overheating began. My boyfriend was in car at time. My dog was walking outside with daycare caretaker when a flame started on Driver's side engine. The flame lit and sparked into a huge flame. I ran out of car while my boyfriend yelled for everyone to back away from car before it explodes. The flame grew and engine bursted into flames, a loud explosion followed. I did not have any time to even gather what was going on before my eyes, I was trembling in shock and could not speak clearly. Immediately, I called police to come put out the fire. The fire department was transferred into my phone call. I was able to give address and they arrived on scene within 3-4 minutes. Fire department put out the flames with a water hose. The car was completely damaged, falling apart into pieces, front hood was on fire to the back seats, doors were on fire, steering wheel was gone, entire front dashboard and chairs were melted and gone in pieces. I started feeling sick and overwhelming stressed.
Driving on interstate felt car stall pulled to side of the road placed in park. Looked under hood noticed car hot checked oil and was completely dry. I know for a fact there had not been any leakage prior that was on the ground where I parked and none under where I pulled off road. Not one check engine light or low oil light had came on prior or during the time of the car stalling. Called tow truck to have it taken to dealership where they turned it back on after I advised of issue and that it shouldn't be turned on they said they had to to know what it was doing and the engine at that point was making loud knocking noise. I was told engine would have to be replaced. I was told I'm not the only one that has had this issue with this model car but there is no recall so it would be out of my pocket even though there is a "known issue". This was dangerous as it stalled in middle of interstate and left me stranded. Also, I got regular oil changes and was actually on my way to appt to have oil changed and never had been told that I was leaking or ever low on oil by dealership either. If looked up the known issue is with oil consumption. Dealership still cannot explain where yhe oil leaked from or went to.
One day Im driving to work and out of the blue, my car stereo stopped working, it turns on but no sound comes out of it. Tried replacing amplifier, speakers etc, nothing worked. After that, my car wouldn't start several times a month, had to jump start it frequently for about 4-5 months. Eventually it became if I didn't turn on my car atleast once a day, it would die and need to be jumped. So Ive been jumping my car almost every 2-3 days for the past month & 1/2.. Changed the battery multiple times. Took it to different mechanics and dealers, NOBODY knew what the issue was. Apparently something is draining my battery and no one knows how to figure it out!
The vehicle is in excellent condition with all maintenance complete. Starting intermittently at approximately 40,000 miles, and now consistently since 49,000 miles, 3 warning lights illuminate on the dash simultaneously; 1: ABS warning light, 2: TCS warning light, 3: Hill Assist warning light. Reading the codes with a code scan tool indicates the Right Rear Wheel Speed Sensor has a short circuit, an open circuit, or has failed, or the wire connector has failed. If the ABS or TCS systems are not functioning, there is a higher risk of crash. This is a very common problem according to simple google searches, and affected vehicles should be recalled and repaired.
The engine started knocking like a rod maybe. It was sitting over night no previous issues and when I started it that was the noise it was making. Just bought the car in July of 2020
Recently brought up a Hyundai sante fe 2.0T and now shortly after purchasing the rear view/back camera no longer works. Just a black screen when put into reverse. I see it's a extremely common problem post on forums all over the web. It's not a necessity but could be hazardous given the moment it decides to quit.
I purchased my 2014 Santa Fe sport from Ford motor sales located@10700 Ford road dearborn, Michigan in October 2020. After a week of driving it back and forth to work, it started not accelerating and I kept smelling like something was burning in it. I took it back and forth to the dealership for this same issue now the engine is knocking and the oil wont stay in it either, after its been changed too. Im heartbroken and its christmas and I have no transportation at all to get to work for me and my family. I'm a frontline worker for the covid-19 team here in Michigan at the be well medical center for biotech laboratories and can lose my job if I dont get this fix immediately. This recall explains alot thats why my poor truck is dying. Please help
It was indicated by a letter from Hyundai motor America that the brake system on this car can possibly react to a electrical short in the anti-lock brake system, causing a fire within the engine compartment. Therefore a recall was initiated, but a solution for repair, for the past 4 months, is not yet available. It is my opinion that a car with this condition is not safe to drive and therefore Hyundai should furnish a loner car for the period it takes to make a safety repair or replace the car. The consumer referenced recall 21V-303. The consumer inquired about the purpose of the recall.
Battery only five months old and something is bringing the battery down. Alternator has been checked as well as several other things including the battery. Nothing can be found that could bringing the battery down. Vehicle hadn't been started in 24 hours when this happened twice
11/21/2020 around 12 pm we were pulling out on to the highway in heavy Saturday traffic in between roswell and norcross. As we were accelerating to get onto the road the engine seized and we couldn't get the car to respond. The pedal was being pushed to the floor and the car wouldn't respond. There were no dashboard warning lights or any loud engine noises to say there was an issue. No smoke or steam. We were able to direct the car onto a side street but the car stopped in the middle of the side street. The car electronics started going crazy, the navigation screen and interior lights kept turning themselves on and off like it was a computer rebooting. We smelled something burning so I turned the car off and we got out of the car.. I let the car rest for a few minutes and tried to turn it back on so we could get it in to a safer position and get help but the car wouldn't restart. We even tried using the battery jumper box to try to get it restarted but it wouldn't respond. Had the car towed to the dealership. This car has a theta gdi engine that is currently part of a recall but when I look up my VIN the recall doesn't show up.
The contact owned a 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe sport. The contact stated that the vehicle was at stand still on the inside of the garage, when she heard an abnormal noise and she started to smell smoke odor. The contact stated her daughter noticed fire under the vehicle. The contact stated she saw an unknown leak dripping under the vehicle and was expanding the fire. The contact stated part of her house also caught fire. The fire depart was able to extinguish the fire. A police and fire report was filed. The contact stated no one was injured or seek medical attention, but did feel shortness of breath due to the smoke. The vehicle was not drivable. The vehicle was totaled. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired as of yet. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was attempted to be contacted but had not been able to speak to anyone. The failure mileage was approximately 93,000.
The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving 55 mph, the ABS warning light was illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 20V520000 (service brakes, hydraulic). The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was contacted however, no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 114,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Oil leak from valve cover gasket onto alternator causing complete electrical system failure. Vehicle very quickly lost all power including power steering and brakes, brake/hazard/indicator lights, and ignition while traveling at highway speed in heavy traffic. Extremely high severity potential harm from this failure mode, which was the subject of previous service campaigns for older Hyundai vera cruz and Santa Fe with same 3.3L V6 engine platform. Unacceptable to have occurrence of this known design issue with later model production.
Engine ''2014 Hyundai Santa Fe limited. 3.3L 6 cyl fwd. I own this vehicle. I recently read about the class action suits against Kia and Hyundai regarding engine failures and fires. Https://www.ncconsumer.org/news-articles/settlement-reached-with-Hyundai-Kia-in-class-action-lawsuit-alleging-engine-damage-fires.html. I have filed a complaint about our 2017 Kia soul that has an engine failure. When reading this article I noticed under the new defect investigations paragraph that 2011-2014 Hyundai Santa Fe's have also been listed for possible problems. However, it does not list or further define if it is only for the 2.0 L motors and may not include the 3.3 L. our Hyundai Santa Fe had an issue in the past. It took the dealer a month to define and repair. It was completed under the mfg. Warranty and I believe finally a recall. The fuel line would collapse when you depressed the fuel pedal starving the engine of fuel. This caused a loss in power and forward momentum that became unsafe to drive. At this time, it is starting to do the same thing. After reading this article, I am concerned about a possible engine failure in the future now that my warranty has expired with the manufacturer. I would like to have my vehicle included in any future recalls (there is not one now) that may involve this specific motor and vehicle. Also, I have had problems with the sunroof, the entertainment electronics, and ac/heating electrical cab controls. Many error messages are written in the Hyundai language. The dealer stated they needed to change out the onboard computer for a list price of $2,600. The second-row seat heaters have failed after the warranty and have hardly ever been used. Dealer wanted over $600 plus labor to replace each seat.
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- West Allis, WI, USA