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.
I am original owner of a regularly maintained 2008 Hyundai sante fe (45,000 miles). On a Jan 2011 trip from tx to mi the car lost power at night while traveling 70 mph on the interstate highway. The engine light came on, the car was still running, but pressing the gas pedal did nothing, the car coasted to a stop and eventually stalled completely. Maneuvering to the shoulder without power was very risky and scary. Once stopped the car easily restarted only to lose power again 10 miles down the highway. The oil light stayed on between both episodes. We quickly found a hotel for the night. The next morning the engine light was off and the problem didn't resurface until now. In the past three weeks we have lost power five times while driving between 40 mph and 55 mph. The Hyundai service department has had the car for two days and diagnostics is not identifying any problem and so we've been told there is nothing they can do. Another problem is that the computer onboard should be registering a "history" when the engine light comes on, but it isn't. there is no "proof"! the Hyundai repair manager is telling us to return if the problem happens again. I am afraid to drive this car. This is a very dangerous situation and a solution needs to be found before it causes an accident.
While driving home recently on a 70 mph 4 lane highway at approx 11 pm our 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe suddenly loss power while climbing a small grade. The check engine light, ESC and traction lights all turned on, the engine was still running but we could not maintain speed, I immediately turned on the hazard lights and looked for somewhere to pull off the road unfortunately I was on the inside lane just passing a semi-truck and trailer, there was a guardrail next to the inside lane so I had to wait for the semi to pass before I could merge to the outside lane to pull off to the right, by the time I was able several vehicles came from behind and two vehicle slammed on their brake to avoid hitting our vehicle. I was lucky to not be rear ended and had just enough momentum to get to the shoulder. I noticed that the vehile was not running correctly and shut off the engine. I checked all fluids and made sure that all belts and hoses were in good order, there were no visable issues. I restarted the vehicle and all lights reset except the check engine light. I slowly drove the vehicle to the closest exit and the vehicle did the same as the first time cutting out and losing power but I was off the highway by now and safely in a parking lot. This vehicle we have owned since new and have had all services done at Hyundai dealers according to the manufacture's prescribed maintenance schedules and the vehicle has only 35,700 miles on it. The vehilce was towed to the closest dealer and to my surprise the service department knew about this issue because of 2 tsbs (tsb09-fl-003-2, tsb-10-fl-010)(NHTSA item numbers: 10032793,10034649) that were existing on this vehicle that can cause this failure. I seriously think that this kind of failure should be a recall rather than just a tsb if it is a known issue with the vehicle to prevent possible crashes in the future.
In November 2010, vehicle at est. 29,000 mi. Car lost all acceleration. Was able to pull of on side of shoulder on highway. Car would not regain acceleration despite being turned off, etc. Throttle sensor changed. March 2011, vehicle at est. 31,000 mi. Same problem. While on highway, car lost all acceleration. Rpms jumped high, engine roared in response but car would not accelerate. Again, taken to dealership.
Safety defect with horn activation in emergency situations. Excessive pressure on the steering wheel horn pad is need to activate the horn. This has happened numerous times when a potential collision /close call situation occurred. The central area of the steering wheel contains the driver air bag integrated with the horn activation subsystem. The manual pressure needed to activate the horn is what I believe is excessive and appears to be greater as you move away from the center of the horn-pad to the edge of the pad. I have asked the dealer numerous times about fixing this but he claims this in not possible. There is no adjustment available on this equipment. I've compared the amount of pressure needed on my Hyundai Santa Fe to my 1999 Lexus rx 300 and the Santa Fe requires much more pressure than the RX300. Both my wife and I have requested the dealers service managers to do something to reduce the amount of pressure but they have responded w/ the comment there is nothing that can be done.
The contact owns a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that the vehicle has been at the dealer for two months because the air bag light and door locks were not working properly. The dealer is currently stating that they have to rewire the entire vehicle. The vehicle has not yet been to the repair shop for the air bag light to be repaired. The part was ordered, but it did not remedy the failure. The doors have been repaired unsuccessfully approximately six times. The failure mileage was 300 and current mileage was 3,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Sterling Heights, MI, USA