10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
176 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.

2023 Hyundai Santa Fe drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #25

Jul 052024

Santa Fe

  • miles

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

There is an extreme amount of hesitation/delay from when you depress the accelerator and when the vehicle accelerates. I have had multiple incidences (both from a complete stop and while already moving) where I depress the accelerator and there is a concerning amount of lag time before the vehicle initiates movement. This has almost led to multiple accidents. This defect happens in all drive modes. This issue appears to have gotten worse over the time we have owned the vehicle. We did not notice this issue earlier on. We bought the vehicle brand new in Dec. 23.

- Castle Rock, CO, USA

problem #24

Jun 222024

Santa Fe

  • miles
Several times lately of extended crank. Saturday evening, car had been parked for 4 hours, did remote start and had extended crank of about 2 seconds. Car ran for about 3 minutes before we left. We left home and hit main road, tried to accelerate and vehicle seemed to go into limp mode. Would keep cutting the fuel out if tried to accelerate even above 40 mph. No check engine light came on. Put in neutral, could not get above about 3500 rpm. Vehicle was in smart mode where decides which mode to be in (normal, fuel economy or sport), when would try to accelerate it would try to change to sport as it knew power was not there. Was on a 6 lane highway and could not get up to speed. Finally was able to pull to side of road, shut engine off, waited a few seconds, restarted and issue went away, still no check engine light. I have contacted my local dealer, they said they have seen on another vehicle, was not sure of outcome, having service manager call me. Lots of complaints online forums of similar issues.

- Parrish, FL, USA

problem #23

May 182024

Santa Fe

  • miles
As I was driving today my Santa Fe Hybrid lost all power while on the road. The hybrid battery gauge went from 3/4th full to empty in 20 second and I could not get the vehicle to move. Thankfully there was no one behind me and I could safely pull off. When I stopped and restarted the car, the system said ready to drive but the car wouldn't move

- Haslett, MI, USA

problem #22

Jan 102024

Santa Fe

  • miles

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

See attached document for complaint

- Geneseo, IL, USA

problem #21

Mar 172024

Santa Fe

  • miles
In a parking lot at a church I slowed down, going 1 mile per hour or less. Upon taking my foot off the accelorator to put my foot on the brake pedal, so I could come to a complete stop, the moment my foot came off the accelorator, the engine reved up and lunged forward at about 10 mph. I was suprised and took an extra second to apply the brakes. In the mean time, my car went over the curb, grass and onto the side walk, a good 10 feet. If anyone had been on the side walk, I would have hit them. Additional information: the transmission was in "Snow Mode", it was snowing and cold outside. Attached photo shows tire tracks of the incident.

- Billings, MT, USA

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problem #20

Jan 132024

Santa Fe

  • miles
4 times there has been an error message with a large P symbol and a red triangle on the dash board. The large P is surrounded by a yellow circle and it says below to check P Button. This is an intermittent situation and does not always do it when at the dealer, BUT they have witnessed it. They tried 2 fixes but neither worked. I am concerned since there is a red triangle at the bottom of the dash that this is a serious issue. Hyundai will not expedite this and will not allow me to speak to anyone about it that might be able to explain what might be causing this issue. Customer service just says we couldn not replicate the problem. I told them I understand this. I WISH to know what is causing the computer to send this message and they will not tell me or look into far enough to determine what it is. I am not driving the vehicle until they can tell me if it is a safety issue or not and they will not do that.

- Ottawa, OH, USA

problem #19

Oct 302023

Santa Fe

  • 1,700 miles

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

The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving 50-65 MPH, the vehicle stalled and decelerated to a complete stop with several unknown warning lights flashing on the instrument panel. The vehicle was restarted and operated normally. The contact drove the vehicle to the dealer where several fault codes were reset. The contact continued to experience the failure and returned to the dealer where the dealer replaced the throttle assembly and later replaced a front camera with a hard code. However, the contact stated the failure persisted. The vehicle was with the dealer but was not repaired. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and provided the contact with a case number and a case manager to assist with the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,700.

- Bonita Springs, FL, USA

problem #18

Dec 112023

Santa Fe

  • miles
While parking my 2023 Hyundai Sante Fe, I hard pressed the break and pushed the Park button. The engine revved up and the vehicle took off instead of going into park; smashing into a building. The parking block was 6ft from the building. The engine accelerated to a high enough speed that it totaled the vehicle completely out. The engine code readings after the vehicle was towed to a repair shop was P0112 and P0114. The mechanic says that's the initial cause of the accident. The insurance reps are supposed to be following up on the mechanics diagnostics currently. There were no warning lights or anything on before the issue occurred as this was a brand new vehicle with only 8,000 miles on it.

- Columbus, OH, USA

problem #17

Feb 012024

Santa Fe

  • miles
While merging into the highway at approximately 49 to 52 mph, acceleration was applied to merge into the highway between moving vehicles. The vehicle responded by greatly increasing the rpm but not applying the power to the wheels. The engine revved up with very little acceleration. After 5 to 8 seconds, the power was finally transferred to the wheels and the vehicle sped up. The vehicle behind me had to apply the brakes since I basically cut them off. This was the second incident of this type.

- Peoria, AZ, USA

problem #16

Jul 242023

Santa Fe

  • miles
This same scenario has happened 3 times since I purchased this vehicle - first event at mileage of 6273, 2nd event @ 7586 miles, and 3rd event @ 12,506 miles. All events were the same - while driving, dash board light start to flash and the vehicle looses all ability to accelerate. For each event, we have been able to coast out of traffic, turn the car off & restart. Once the car is restarted the acceleration works again, but the check engine light remains on along with an error code of P065312 Possible Power Train Issue. We have been very fortunate each time that we were on a road where we were able to coast out of traffic, but if this happened on a busy Interstate or Hwy traveling at high speeds we could have been rear-ended. The vehicle has been to the dealership twice for service and no problems have been found. The vehicle will be returned to the dealership tomorrow for 3rd service attempt.

- College Station, TX, USA

problem #15

Dec 092023

Santa Fe

  • miles

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

vehicle fails to accelerate, engine is -??sputtering-?? and making a rattling sound and battery is draining to nothing on the freeway driving at normal speeds. vehicle is lurching and engine does not appear to be shifting as it should - car losing power and failing to accelerate despite being full of gas. transmission doesn-??t feel like it is shifting properly. vehicle only has 8000 miles.

- Tacoma, WA, USA

problem #14

Sep 302023

Santa Fe

  • miles
My 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe have a recall to fix the trailer hitch, since that I notice some issues with the shifting with a loss of power while driving, my car is 15k miles and showed a check-engine light. I made an appointment for the dealership the next morning. After two days, I was told that the car needs a new transmission. After 3 days still waiting for the car to be fix.

- Cedar Hill, TX, USA

problem #13

Oct 092023

Santa Fe

  • miles
My 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy with 14k miles showed a check-engine light. I had noticed some strange behavior in the shifting with a loss of power while driving at low gears. I made an appointment for the dealership the next morning. Was told today that the car needs a new transmission.

- Katy, TX, USA

problem #12

Oct 022023

Santa Fe

  • miles
Vehicle has just over 4k Miles on it. Several times I tried to accelerate and while the engine RPMs would increase, the vehicle would not accelerate. Very dangerous when turning right on a red light and when merging into traffic. I came close to getting T-Boned on 4 occasions, and rear-ended on 3 occasions. This vehicle is not reliable and puts passenger lives in danger. Today the "Shifter System Malfunction-Service Immediately" warning came on and I was not able to shift into any gear and the vehicle put itself into neutral. Looking at the forums, this has been a problem throughout the Hyundia vehicle lineup for years with the DCT transmission. I don't understand how they can continue to sell these vehicles when there is a known safety issue with the DCT transmission. I have tried to contact Johnson Hyundia in Cary NC and left multiple messages with the service dept, but they have never returned my calls.

- Holly Springs, NC, USA

problem #11

Sep 032023

Santa Fe

  • miles
when I tried accelerate, the car jerked and then the transmission began to slip and I coasted to a stop. I cranked the car and slowly began to drive the car while it felt like the transmission was slipping. My first thought was that the transmission was low on fluid but later found that this is a sealed transmission. Luckily there was no traffic during this incident. There was no warnings lights or any warnings whatsoever.

- Warner Robins, GA, USA

problem #10

Apr 042023

Santa Fe

  • miles
I purchased a new 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe and on multiple occasions when trying to accelerate the vehicle has failed to go above 30 mph. I have put on about 6,000 miles. When I pull over and restart the car. The issue seems to resolve. This is quite dangerous when trying to get on the highway or accelerate to pass for myself, passengers in the car and others. The dealer has not been able to repeat the issue. No warning or error codes appear. After repeated returns to the dealer, the dealer has now refused to review the vehicle without a $200 charge to investigate. I am happy to make the vehicle available for inspection.

- Spring, TX, USA

problem #9

Jun 142023

Santa Fe

  • miles
On nine separate occasions between mid-June 2023 (mileage appx. 600) and July 21, 2023 (mileage 1994), my vehicle lost power (decrease or loss of power and/or hesitated, sputtered, or stalled) when I was accelerating from a stop or slow speed. During these times, I have noticed that the air conditioner starts blowing only warm air. The only way to correct the issue has been to turn off the engine and then restart it. No error codes have ever been generated, and only twice did warning lights come on (engine oil light and battery light). I will upload my documentation file (to date) with the specifics of what happened along with dates and mileages this has happened. This happened one time on the freeway; I had to pull over to the side to stop/restart my engine. It was very unsafe and put my family at risk. This is a significant safety issue, and I do not feel comfortable driving because if I pull out into traffic and experience this loss of power, I could easily get hit by oncoming traffic. The vehicle has been at the Hyundai dealer since July 5, 2023 (three weeks tomorrow), and it is still there. They had not been able to replicate the problem. I went to pick up the vehicle on July 21, 2023, and as soon as I left the parking lot, the problem happened. I did a U-turn to come back to the dealer, and the vehicle lost all power. I had the vehicle in reverse, and there seemed to be no engagement of the transmission. Even with the gas pedal pushed all the way to the floor, there was no engine revving and no movement of the vehicle. The Hyundai technician and service advisor came to see the issue firsthand (since they had not been able to replicate it). The issue was only resolved when the vehicle engine was turned off and restarted. The vehicle remains at the dealer for further testing. Yes, I will gladly make my vehicle available for inspection upon request.

- Atwater, CA, USA

problem #8

Jul 012023

Santa Fe

  • 2,689 miles
The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at 75 MPH, the vehicle stalled and decelerated to 25 MPH as several warning lights flashed on the instrument panel. After multiple attempts, the contact managed to restart the vehicle and drove to her destination. The contact sustained severe emotional trauma due to the failure but did not seek medical attention. The contact drove the vehicle to the dealer where they informed her that the throttle body was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 2,689.

- Chesapeake, VA, USA

problem #7

Jun 142023

Santa Fe

  • miles
This is related to Complaint Number 11526621 filed June 13, '23. Today I experienced the same issue described in my previous complaint but under different circumstances. I was at an intersection of two 2-lane highways, one going east-west and the other going north-south, and was facing oncoming traffic as I waited for a gap in the oncoming traffic that would allow me to make the left turn. Once a gap appeared (perhaps 4 or 5 car lengths long), I pressed the accelerator to turn left but there was zero propulsion for about 2 seconds. I was simply stalled in the path of the oncoming traffic. At the end of the 2 second delay, as the vehicle transitioned from EV (electric) to internal combustion (gasoline) mode of propulsion, my vehicle GRADUALLY accelerated just enough to allow me to complete the turn; however, I came very close to being broadsided by the oncoming traffic. This is a dangerous fault of the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid vehicle and needs to be addressed asap! There is obviously something wrong with the EV/internal combustion synchronization/communication causing the momentary loss of power!

- Big Canoe, GA, USA

problem #6

Jun 122023

Santa Fe

  • miles
The issue I'm about to describe has occurred multiple times during the seven (7) months I've owned the vehicle - including again today. In all cases, I was attempting gradual acceleration to merge onto a highway or high-traffic street (e.g., when exiting a mall parking lot onto a busy city street). When I press the accelerator nothing happens - NO power whatsoever for at least two seconds! And on three of these occasions, I was almost broadsided by oncoming high-speed traffic! I've reported this issue to my dealership (both sales and service) and their response was that this is a known problem with the Hyundai hybrid models BUT that there is NO fix available nor, to the best of their knowledge, is there one in the process of being developed! As stated above, there is sometimes as much as a 2-second delay from when stepping on the accelerator (even when fully depressing) to when the vehicle slowly starts to accelerate. And there are no warning lights to indicate that there is a problem. I've observed that in all cases when this issue occurs, it does so when the power train is transitioning from the EV (electric) mode to the internal combustion mode of propulsion. This should NOT be a difficult issue for Hyundai to resolve and should be addressed with utmost urgency before someone is seriously injured or killed! NHTSA - please intervene by directing Hyundai to launch an immediate recall campaign to resolve this very dangerous issue, or offer to refund the affected owners' purchase price!

- Big Canoe, GA, USA

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