2019 Hyundai Santa Fe Reliability Report

The engine shuts off at stoplights and will not restart, often after idle stop-and-go turns it off. Some failures come very early, between 1,000 and 5,014 miles, and a recall covers starter replacement and a software update. Other cars stall while driving, start poorly in cold weather, or need several tries to start even after a new battery and alternator. Driver-assist warnings light up together, and dealers find no fault codes. Headlight fuses keep blowing. One car caught fire while driving, and some owners waited months for a fire recall remedy.

Electric power steering cuts out or the wheel locks up while driving, in one case at about 2,000 miles. Fixes often mean a new steering column, and some dealers replace several parts without solving the problem. Lane keeping assist can jerk the wheel hard, fight the driver, or pull the car out of its lane while warnings flash. Blind-spot and collision system warnings come on and stay on until the car sits for hours. One crash involved the engine revving out of control while braking and steering did not respond.

White paint peels, bubbles, and lifts off in sheets, mostly on the hood, without any impact damage. Pearl White cars are named specifically, and dealers often refuse coverage because the car is past warranty. The panoramic sunroof shatters on its own, sometimes at highway speed and sometimes while parked, with a loud bang and glass falling into the cabin. Dealers have declined to cover the sunroof under warranty. A smaller complaint involves a liftgate that will not open from outside and only beeps three times.

Many of these complaints are about recall 22V056000, with owners waiting months because parts were unavailable. The automatic braking system also brakes hard with nothing ahead, at speeds up to 80 mph, and sometimes pulls the car left. Those failures show up early, at 1,656 and 7,000 miles, and dealers cannot reproduce them. Other reports describe a brake pedal that does not respond and ABS that activates at low speed and lengthens stopping distance. In one crash, the brakes failed and the vehicle filled with smoke, then caught fire.

Airbags fail to deploy in serious frontal and side crashes. Most of these complaints involve injuries, including broken ribs, a broken sternum, and concussions. The side curtain airbags sometimes inflate only partway, so the occupant's head hits the window glass. In one rental car, the airbag did not deploy after the car struck a concrete wall in snow. Another complaint says the passenger airbag shuts off when the rider sits on a back-support cushion, and Hyundai declined to change that setting.

Seat belt buckles fail to latch or lock, and the driver's side buckle is named more than once. In one report, the buckle gets harder to latch securely in cold weather and the seat belt warning light stays on. That failure came at about 85,000 miles, and the dealer did not repair it. A separate complaint lists unsatisfactory passenger belts and sharp front door corners that cause cuts. The complaint count here is small at 4, but an unlatched belt is a direct safety risk.

The car accelerates on its own while creeping into a parking space. The engine revs, the brakes do not hold, and the vehicle jumps curbs and hits poles, pipes, fences, or barriers. All 4 complaints involve a crash, and one car was declared a total loss. Airbags did not deploy in several of these impacts. Dealers have not been able to duplicate the failure, and one owner reports it happening twice within 18 months.