A 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe was involved in a front end impact. The vehicle was taken to a local body shop for repairs. In the normal course of repairs, the shop replaced the components of the supplementary restraint system and sent the vehicle to the local dealer to check for error codes and to reset the system. One of the error codes would not clear. The dealer, in Washington state advised the repair shop and us that pursuant to a tsb,01-90-013, Hyundai recommends that the wiring harness also must be replaced in addition to the standard parts of the airbag system, when the air bags are deployed. There was no direct damage to the wiring harness and this appears to be some unique requirement designed into the harness by Hyundai. It is unclear why this is required or what unique feature was built into the harness that demands the replacement of the entire harness. This added requirement adds an additional $6,767.75 to the repair cost over and above the regular collision related cost. Whereas this requirement is unique to the new 2010 Santa Fe model and is not function required during the standard replacement of air bags in any other vehicle that we are aware of, we must ask is this a defect, is this simply a design feature to enhance profit from repairs or is there some unique feature to the wire harness design that serves some other purpose or function? any information would be appreciated.

- Seattle, WA, USA

2010 Hyundai Santa Fe SE / owned 5 1/2 weeks / 824 miles. Started vehicle late morning, preparing to drive out of the garage. Smoke began pouring from the A/C vents. Immediately turned off the engine & got out of vehicle. Called 911 for fire department. Smoke continued for couple of minutes after the engine was turned off. Evident from the smell it was an electrical malfunction/burn. Firemen confirmed this. Firemen checked under the vehicle & the engine compartment, but no evidence of smoke, fire or burn in either location. I had vehicle towed to the dealership. No conclusion at this time.

- Navasota, TX, USA

On Tuesday, June 8, 2010 I was on a busy interstate highway with fast moving traffic and my car lost all power while traveling at 70 mph. Fortunately, I was able to barely glide the sante fe to the shoulder and stop without incident. Follow up: 3 pm visited Hyundai service center and was told that it was not a throttle problem. They are in contact with ca service to determine cause of problem. Friday, 6-11-10 after complete testing of all circuits, Hyundai declares no source of problem. Auto was picked up at 4:30 pm Hyundai assistant service manager: Bob wood Hyundai case # 3982284 the specifics are: "SUV was purchased 8/09 and currently has 5200 miles. ?cruise control was on but not engaged. ?gas tank indicator on one-half. "with my foot on gas pedal the initial instinct was that the engine had lost all power. Opressing harder on gas pedal had no reaction. Othere was an opening in traffic and with the SUV forward inertia I was able to just reach the road shoulder. Oobserved that red indicators were on (battery, oil) ?reset transmission selector to park, turned off key. Ofirst restart-nothing happened osecond restart SUV started and I did not turn off until reaching home. Obviously, this is a serious life threatening situation that needs to be researched thoroughly and corrected.

- Sarasota, FL, USA