10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
8,979 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.

2018 Hyundai Santa Fe engine problems

engine problem

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2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Owner Comments

problem #5

Feb 032022

Santa Fe

  • miles

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

I was at the Tim Hortons drive-thru stopped behind a car in front of me the car in front of me started to go to the order window, as I let off the brake to start to go my suv took off full speed! I hit the brakes as hard as I could and the car kept moving forward like the throttle was stuck at full acceleration. I wasn't even hitting the gas pedal, after my vehicle struck the car and continued to smash into the car while I was holding a brake I put it in neutral and then the car finally came to a stop. I had 5 children in the car. And I am seeing this being an issue in alot of hyandai vehicles. And alot of complaint with this same issue. If this would have happened on the hiway it could have possibly killed or Injured someone. I am scared to death to drive the vehicle again.

- Fredericton , AL, USA

problem #4

Aug 222021

Santa Fe

  • miles
This will be the fourth time our vehicle has to go to the dealer. We purchased this car in April of this year and the car has lived more at the dealer service department than with us. The first time, the car started smoking and left us stranded. The dealer changed out the fuel injectors. When it randomly started smoking it smelled strongly of gas and we were scared that the car would catch fire. The other times were due to the car not accelerating as it should on the highway making it quite difficult to merge and speed up as needed on the highway. This time, it's the same thing. The car does not want to shift gears and it's very dangerous when you are trying to accelerate to get to the right speed and you have cars coming in close from behind and there is no way to signal to them that the car is having trouble shifting. This problem started again yesterday. The check engine light turned on yesterday as well and we took the car to Autozone to scan it. the only code that came up was abs. The car just got towed to the dealer yet again but I have lost hope that they will be able to fix the issue as they have failed 3 times already. (one of these times the dealer failed to refill my radiator coolant after the flushed it causing the car to overheat as well and the car ac malfunctioned as well as a result.

- Orlando, FL, USA

problem #3

Oct 042019

Santa Fe

  • 40,123 miles
Slow to accelerated I have to re press the pedal just to try an speed up on the highway im getting honked at trying to go up hills I have to press it to the floor to go up hills an it idles out an its very dangerous to drive on the freeway I cant go past 50mph an I use sport mode its dosnt help it this should be a recall in all the Hyundai cars.

- Washington, DC, USA

problem #2

Oct 062018

Santa Fe

  • 4,638 miles
When driving on a back road going about 35-40 mph, all of a sudden the rpms spiked way up and the car started shaking. As I pressed the gas pedal the car would barely move but the rpms would go extremely high. Every time I had a stop light and tried accelerating once the light turned green the car would barely move and rpms would just keep reving up real high. I was afraid I was going to get hit or rear ended. Huge safety concerns.

- Derry, NH, USA

problem #1

May 172018

Santa Fe

  • 135 miles
Driving @60 w/cruse on going down a hill engine RPM's suddenly jump from 2000 to anywhere from 3000 to 5000 RPM's and the only way to stop engine racing is to tap the brakes to disengage cruse. Also vehicle will not speed up when turning a corner, like the transmission doesn't down shift.these both happen all the time.vehicle has less than 800 miles.

- Lower Burrell, PA, USA

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