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 was driving my white Hyundai Santa Fe limited, 3.3L, 6cyl SUV home from work at approximately 4:30 pm eastern standard time. I was driving on the expressway at 70 mph when the engine suddenly shuts down and I lose steering control and brakes, veering onto a narrow shoulder and into a slope that sent my SUV into a swamp ditch, submerging the SUV up past the floorboards. My insurance claim specialist notified me that the vehicle was a total loss, and paid a claim payout and settlement far less than the amount still owed on the vehicle. It is my opinion that a cyber-attack signal sent to the SUV's engine immobilizer switch, shut down the engine without warning, electronically. This can be accomplished from any hand held device, mobil phone, lap top computer, satellite feed, etc. All that is required is a VIN number, and any signal to the engine immobilizer switch can shut down the engine dangerously at highway speeds. This has happened at lower speeds of 20mph, where I would just turn the ignition key, the SUV would start the engine, and I would proceed. However, at highway speeds, I did not have this option.
The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that the brakes failed due to corrosion. The failure occurred three times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician explained that due to the cold weather, the calipers and brackets corroded and jammed. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Vehicle was being driven and pulled in to driveway of home to a controlled stop by pressing the brake pedal. At which point, vehicle suddenly accelerated and crashed through the closed garage door and proceeded at accelerating speed into garage and hit a wall (wooden beams and sheetrock walls) separating interior of garage and interior of kitchen area of home. Vehicle came to a stop against the wall with brake pedal continuously pressed down. When attempting to shift into park, it resisted and key also would not come out. Emergency brake was pressed at this time and after several failed attempts, vehicle finally was able to shift to park and key was able to come out to turn vehicle off. Vehicle caused damage to garage door and interior wall of home.
Rear left wheel had high pitch screeching sound at 50-55 mph tap the brakes and it would quit momentarily and then start screeching again. Stopped and checked wheel on right and left side. Right side was lukewarm to the touch and left wheel was too hot to keep hand on it. I took it to local mechanic and he showed me the pads on the left wheel and they was white from excessive heat because they were not released back from the rotor. Pads had to be pried out instead of normally coming out easy. Extremely rust corroded cleaned up all rust on pads and bracket and they work fine now. I drove Santa Fe about 60 miles and never heard it no more.
- Russell Springs, KY, USA
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I was driving about 30 mph after driving about 6 miles at 55 mph and I heard a high pitched squeak. It changed when I applied the brakes. I later stopped and felt the wheels and the right rear was hot. Took the vehicle to the dealer and they determined it was brake pads that were corroded/stuck. They wanted $100 to fix the problem. I got the impression that this happens quite often. I think it is dangerous. In my opinion this could cause a fire. The brakes are not made to run this hot. It should also be covered under their 5 year/ 50,000 mile warranty and they claim it is not.
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
I was pulling into the parking space in a parking structure. I was already pressing the brake and just began to press it a bit harder to stop the vehicle in the parking space. Just as I gave the brake pedal a bit more pressure, my car sped forward, jumping a cement wheel stop in the parking space, crashing me into the wall of the parking structure. The force of hitting the wall threw the car backwards where the wheels got stuck between the wheel stop and the wall. Hitting the wheel stop then sent my car back into the cement wall; rebounding off of the wall this second time, the car was propelled over the wheel stop and finally stopped moving.the cement wall was cracked and very precarious to those using the sidewalks underneath. My car has significant damage to the front end. Two people on staff at the parking structure saw the entire thing and asked 'what happened?" one of the witnesses said he saw my brake lights on right before it sped up and flew into the wall. Called Hyundai and learned that there is a recall on my car. Although this recall states that it is to replace some sort of brake light switch, the lady at Hyundai said that this type of acceleration was listed as one of the problems caused by this 'switch' that has to be replaced. I told Hyundai that I am now scared to drive my car until it is checked to fix any problems that are going on with the brakes/acceleration. They were so nice! they invited me to make an appointment at any dealership and have it inspected - at my cost. I just can't believe that they are so unconcerned. Anyway, that is Santa Fe tale of woe. Would appreciate help with dealing with Hyundai to get this resolved; or at least have them check it out for no charge.
At 32,000 mile the rear driver's side wheel smelled hot, brake dust residue visible and squealing coming from this driver's side rear wheel. Found that the driver's side rear outside brake pad was worn down to metal. Driver's side inside pad and passenger rear pads, both inside and out were fine with hardly any wear on them.. Hyundai dealer said it is normal for rear disc pad to wear this uneven and for caliper's to stick on causing this. I feel this is a defect in either design or quality of parts as other Santa Fe owners are also experiencing this at even lower mileage. Dealer wants you to pay $60 to have your disc brakes cleaned and adjusted (what is there to adjust?) why do only Hyundai Santa Fe brakes need this unheard of service" why is it only occurring on the driver's side for me and other owners" disc brakes should not act this way.
While driving, driver's side rear wheel generating a screeching noise and a burning smell. Checked tire and both the tire and wheel rim were red hot. Took to Hyundai dealer. Said calipers not sliding properly. They claim on Santa Fe's you have to bring them in for service (the calipers) every 10K or so, as the rear calipers have a tendency to freeze. I checked the internet, and there are numerous postings on Hyundai Santa Fe owners having similar problems. Also an article in this week's hartford courant auto section of a consumer with a similar problem. If I had not pulled the car over and checked this out thoroughly, I could have had a blowout as the hot tire would have exploded. There may be a defect in Santa Fe calipers. A safety recall may be in order.
While traveling I heard a high pitch squealing noise. Unsure of what the noise was, I took the Santa Fe to my mechanic. He checked the brakes and showed me that the rear driver side brake housing did not move as freely as the others. His suggestion was to not drive more than about 2 hours at a time because there is the possibility of the brake system heating up and catching fire. Since the tire is right by the gas tank, that tells me there is a significant safety hazard. Any fire near gasoline has the potential to... I have seen many similar complaints on line and feel this is a manufacturing defect.
This incident occurred at night time. About 10 min from a cold start, I turned onto the 210 fwy. There was a 270 degree downhill turn (a steep curve) so I had the brakes on while doing 15 mph. Half way into the turn, I suddenly lost brake and steering wheel froze. With some effort, I managed to turn the steering and stop the car. The engine died without warning. Later I sent the car to dealership but they could not reproduce the event.
The contact owns a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, a squeaking noise was heard. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnostics. The technician stated that the rear brake shoes were corroded. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 19,000.
Vehicle has been owned for 35 months and has 25,968 miles. Dealership refuses to repair/replace metal to metal contact of lr brakes under warranty. This is 2nd occurrence. 1st occurrence was rr on 6/13/2011 @ 15,771 miles which was repaired under warranty. Rotor turned and new brake pads installed. A rusty (defective mfgr) rattle clip which snaps into the caliper bracket causes brake pads to hang up or not retract after applying pressure and drag excessively causing premature brake pad wear/failure at half of normal pad life expectancy. This should be a class action case nationwide. Make Hyundai replace under warranty the defective rusty part to prevent premature brake wear and/or failure. Rear disc brakes should easily last 50,000 miles or more.
We have been complaining about the brakes on this car since we bought it. The brakes have been making noise when you depress the pedal. We were told by the dealer that it was the "breaking in" period. The brakes were making loud noises and not working correctly when we brought the vehicle in for service on Sept 12, 2011.the rear brake pads were sticking to the rotors overheating the rotors. The pads and rotors had to be replaced. We just brought the vehicle in again for service and the indication is the all the brakes may need to be replaced. This is at 22,000 miles. There is a serious problem with the brakes in the car and the dealer can only explain that it is due to the hills in our town and that the brakes are no longer made of asbestos. I never replaced my brakes in other cars until I had between 35K & 45K miles and I have lived in this town for 30 years. I believe the "breaking in" period for the brakes is broken! Hyundai should step up to the plate and correct the problem. There seems to be a many complaints about the rear brakes.
My 2009 Santa Fe would squeak while driving, but the noise stopped when brakes were depressed. At the dealership I was told that the rear brakes were hanging and the rotors were rusted. My car only had 26,627 miles. I have had many cars with a lot more mileage and never had this happen. This problem was not covered and the dealership did the following: Machined rear rotors and lubricated slide rails, remachined rear rotors, removed and cleaned calipers and all hardware. This was on 10/4/2011. Fast forward to the end of July 2012 and my car is making noise when depressing brake. On 08/9/12 with only 37,843 (approx 10,000 miles later) the dealership told me that my rear brakes were shot and needed to be replaced. I am now finding that these cars have numerous complaints about rear brakes but none of it is covered. I also need new tires and from what I am reading about the rear brake problems this is also contributing to the wearing out of the tires. Hyundai needs to address these problems and since the 2011 Santa Fe has brake recalls, I feel that the earlier models with these problems should be taken care of and paid for by the manufacturer. Brakes are important and could potentially cause a bodily harm. This is not something that should be ignored.
Rear brake pads are sticking due to known issue with Hyundai. Parts are corroded causing rear pads to ride against rotors causing excessive wear and heat wheel/tires are running excessively hot and pads are wearing out within a few thousand miles. Dealer told customer of kit to replace problem but not covered under warranty.
Right rear break started to squeal when applied for slow down to stop. When starting to proceed it will drag for a couple hundred feet and stop. Again when brake was applied, same thing started over. While checking on the computer about this problem, many others have complained of the same problem. I will bring back vehicle to dealer and see what there bull[xxx] answer will be. I will also be bringing this letter, as I have never gotten any recall notices of this. SUV has only 24,600 miles. Also just a added complaint the tires have worn down on inside edge as vehicle is for long straight trips mostly and have been rotated and balanced every 5,000 miles. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Port Richey, FL, USA