10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
0 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.

2021 Hyundai Santa Fe fuel system problems

fuel system problem

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2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Owner Comments

problem #9

Feb 262024

Santa Fe

  • miles

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

While driving and must stop due to traffic light, stop sign or intersection and the auto start is on as soon I lift the foot foot from the brake pedal to continue driving the vehicle stumble and it completely stop the engine while the vehicle transmission is still in drive. In order to start again I have to switch transmission to park and turn key ignition switch to start vehicle, it start again and I can continue. While driving and must stop due to traffic light, stop sign or intersection and the auto start is on as soon as I lift the foot from the brake pedal to continue driving the vehicle stumble and it completely stop the engine while the vehicle transmission is still in drive. When I take the vehicle to the dealership the Service writer writes on the computer but they do not allow me to see a copy of what I am reporting. I like my vehicle, I just want it to be fixed and me and my two daughters be safe when needed after a mandatory stop due to traffic signs, intersection driving through or any other emergency stop and go due tragic and or road condition.

- Patillas , PR, USA

problem #8

Sep 132023

Santa Fe

  • miles
During low speeds the car stalls out which could cause a safety issue for my family

- Medina, OH, USA

problem #7

Nov 292022

Santa Fe

  • miles
While driving 80 mph down the highway my brand new vehicle shut off completely, the entire car lost power. In another instance I was going around a roundabout and my acceleration completely went out, my son was in the back seat and another car had to jump the curb to avoid crashing into us. I met a woman in the dealership who has been waiting over a year for her recalled tow hitch to be fixed. When it rains or snows the forward safety systems shut off and the alert repeats extremely distracting on your dash, like sounds, red flashing lights, over and over again. You have to constantly hit the ok button while driving to get it to go away.

- Glenwood Springs, CO, USA

problem #6

Dec 072022

Santa Fe

  • miles

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

There were two warning (?) "bings" from the instrument cluster and then vehicle completely lost power and would not exceed maybe 2 MPH. Vehicle had forward drive, but no willingness for engine to speed up beyond idle speed. Was like this for several city blocks until I was able to restart at a traffic light and then it resumed normal operation. Did not notice any warning lights and no messages popped up in the instrument or vehicle display. Just the two "bings" before power loss. This is actually the second time this has happened. Last time was while accelerating on a freeway onramp, but vehicle corrected itself more quickly and without need for restart.

- Seattle, WA, USA

problem #5

Sep 232022

Santa Fe

  • miles
This SUV has been plagued with issues, and yet after 5-6 visits to the dealership, they don't seem to be able to fix them all. The vehicle (2.5T AWD) currently has around 14k miles and within the past month the gas pedal suddenly became unresponsive, worst of all while carrying my kids and wife in the car. Coming to a dead stop to cross an intersection, went to accelerate to join traffic and the car wouldn't accelerate. Last time on 9/23 when I almost got into a head-on accident while making a left turn as the car barely moved into the first of three incoming lanes, would not accelerate and so forced me to quickly hit reverse, outrageous! Other three times while making a right turn. Auto engine-off has been disabled on all occasions (hate it); two times happened while driving on smart mode, another one on comfort and another one on sport mode. Car has been always using Mobil, Shell or Chevron gasoline. Which also brings me to another point, the vehicle suddenly started consuming crazy amounts of gas, currently at 16mpg for the past 4 full tanks! The vehicle was dropped off at dealership on 9/26/22 and already filed for Lemon Law in FL as this is absolutely unreliable and dangerous to carry my family on. According to manager at Rick Case Hyundai of Davie, an update for the transmission just came out this week after a recall and so they were going to reprogram. I am still getting rid of this p.o.c.

- Plantation, FL, USA

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problem #4

Mar 022022

Santa Fe

  • miles
While traveling 70 mph the vehicle had a sudden loss of engine and battery output performance while driving and began losing speed despite the accelerator being fully depressed. There was a very rapid decrease in speed, and no warning chime activated per manual. -??Check Hybrid System. Stop Safely, triangle warning displayed.-?? Observed battery indicator rapidly deflecting left and right. The vehicle would not accelerate and had to be coasted through four lanes of traffic to get to the shoulder of the highway. While on an SOS call with Bluelink, who was unable to see the location of my vehicle, Oil Light illuminated, and a message on the dash said -??Check Battery Discharge.-?? After the first Bluelink Operator was unable to assist in dispatching a tow truck due to the inability to see the vehicle-??s exact location, the second Bluelink Operator was able to assist and dispatch a tow truck to the location and tow the vehicle to the closest dealership. The vehicle could not be turned on or placed in neutral. Was given a jump start to place in neutral to tow. Upon arrival at the dealership, the key fob would not register inside the vehicle for the service manager and technician to move with the tow truck operator. The vehicle was evaluated by the dealership and the only reported issue was a signal error that was present when the vehicle arrived at the dealership after being towed. Dealership reported radar was not vertical and contributed that to the cause of loss of acceleration on the highway despite not having identified it before or being a result of being towed. I requested this be reported if truly the cause since that could be catastrophic. The matter was considered resolved by the dealer since it couldn-??t be duplicated. This unknown, continued sudden loss of output power, acceleration, and electrical power is a Serious Safety Defect and significant impairment to the vehicle, posing a fatal risk for the operator and other motorists on the road. Occurred at 24618 miles.

- Chesapeake, VA, USA

problem #3

Aug 112021

Santa Fe

  • miles

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

While I was traveling 70-75 mph the vehicle had a sudden loss of engine and battery output performance and I began losing speed. There was a very rapid decrease in speed, and no warning chime activated per manual. -??Check Hybrid System. Stop Safely, triangle warning displayed.-?? The vehicle would not accelerate despite pressing the gas pedal all the way to the floor and had to be coasted off the interstate through three lanes of traffic to get to the shoulder. No fault indications were present in the Bluelink app despite warnings present on the dash. Mileage was 6506 at the occurrence, vehicle was in Smart. Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Keep Assist were being utilized, when disabled acceleration did not return. I was advised to turn off the car and turn it back on due to no faults present via remote troubleshooting tools and no dealership within 150 miles, and the vehicle resumed operating okay. After taking it for service at the next available -??emergency slot-?? two weeks later at my local dealership and the car being there for one week, they reported condition could not be duplicated, the vehicle is operating to the manufacturer's specifications. I noted my serious concerns and that a serious safety defect that allows a vehicle to lose all acceleration on the highway and the vehicle not sounding a warning chime can lead to dangerous scenarios on the road and I was assured there was nothing wrong with my vehicle and it would not occur again as it was operating within manufacturer specifications. The vehicle did have a subsequent failure of this same type at a later date. It was not investigated by anyone other dealership. The manufacturer failed to address the loss of acceleration concerns when requested. No chime activated but should have received one per manual. A safety warning was present on the dash, -??Check Hybrid System. Stop Safely-?? service warning triangle. I am unsure how long it appeared before the loss of acceleration due to no chime.

- Chesapeake , VA, USA

problem #2

May 062022

Santa Fe

  • miles
This vehicle hesitates to a dangerous degree when trying to accelerate from a stop or rolling stop. When pressure is applied to the gas pedal, the vehicle will not accelerate until nearly a whole second later. This delay in response has created dangerous situations where merging onto a road in a predictable and smooth manner is crucial (i.e. turning right at a red light, a 4-way stop). I did not notice this problem during my test drive, but now at almost 10,000 miles, the problem has become more pronounced. No warning messages in the gauge display. The vehicle has not been inspected by police, manufacturer, or insurance representative.

- Silverdale, WA, USA

problem #1

Sep 272021

Santa Fe

  • miles
Car would not start; battery was too low to activate lights or locks, let alone starter. An attempted jumper cable connection to an older car was insufficient to make the motor turn, even after just running the assist car while connected for 20+ minutes. A subsequent jump from the AAA 2000 Ah jump pack did work although their -??test-?? indicated battery state-of-charge and state-of-health to be less than 30%. Their obvious recommendation was battery replacement and, with the vehicle now running, a drive to the dealership was attempted. At the first intersection a full vehicle stop engaged the engine Stop-Start function, but without sufficient battery for the -??Start-?? part. Not only would the vehicle not restart but there was insufficient battery power to put the transmission into PARK nor engage the emergency brake to prevent the vehicle from rolling into busy cross-traffic; only the service brake worked. Fortunately, a nearby motorist recognized the emergency and placed rocks under the tires to prevent the vehicle from rolling forward. The vehicle was towed to the dealership where the battery was replaced without significant comment on the total failure of nearly all systems in the event of battery failure. The outcome of this major battery failure could have been catastrophic as the ONLY system even marginally functional was the non-power-assisted service brake.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

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