Complaint volume
188 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2019 Hyundai Santa Fe Complaints
188 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe, grouped by component category.
188 Total complaints
16 Crash reports
11 Fire reports
10 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are engine, unknown or other, structure. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 16 crash reports, 11 fire reports, 10 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 65 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 22,351 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to engine, unknown or other, structure?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2019 Hyundai Santa Fe
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe complaints?
16 Crash
11 Fire
10 Injury
0 Fatality
16 Towed
9 Medical attention
What are the most common 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe complaint categories?
ENGINE 38
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 29
STRUCTURE 12
POWER TRAIN 11
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 8
AIR BAGS 6
STEERING 6
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 5
SEAT BELTS 4
188 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2024 | ENGINE | There is a system in the car that starts and stops engine, supposedly only at lights to save on fuel. Mine has stopped in the middle of a highway on my way up to Tahoe. Luckily I had just left light and only driven enough to reach the speed of about 10 miles per hour so the cars behind me were able to stop and not hit me. I had to completely turn the car off, put in park and restart car to get it to operate. It has stalled out like a stick shift would if not handled properly, but it is an automatic transmission, on numerous times. Sometimes this will cause the vehicle to completely shut down and sometime it will sputter for a few minutes and then slowly pick speed up and stop. The IGS button to turn this feature on and off when you get into the vehicle will sometimes stay off (not supposed to) and sometimes turn back off as it is supposed to each time the vehicle is turned on or off. It doesn't register as a recall, but I have done my research and saw that at one point you guys had done an investigation into this exact problem with my car. It doesn't show up on diagnostic and it doesnt do this every time I drive. So I have no way to show mechanics the isues. But this puts my life and anyone in my cars lives at risk. Not to mention any cars behind me if this happens on the highway again. I dont know what to do :( Can you please help me? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | ENGINE | Oil Pan leaks after an oil change. Oil pan has a hairline crack just below the drain plug after normal tightening of the plug. Excessive oil was found on my driveway. No obvious engine damage, considering the vehicle was only moved from one spot to the other. The dealer stated the oil pan isn't covered under warranty. I simple internet search revealed there was a high number of complaints. It was a "Do It Yourself repair." The cost to fix was to replace the oil pain, new tools and 5 quarts of oil. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | STRUCTURE | 2019 Hyundai the white paint is peeling. It was not caused by road damage. I asked the dealership and was told I was past the warranty due to my mileage. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | At various times the vehicle will not start. It takes multi times to to start the vehicle. The starter and battery have been tested and both are in excellent condition. Both key phob batteries have been replaced and the vehicle at times won’t start but the dash lights turn on. After twice of trying to start the breaks get really stiff. I’ve learned if I get out of the vehicle and open the hood and close it the car will start then any other time getting out and back in it does not start. I even placed the key phob in the designated location of the battery died and still won’t start. The check engine is not on either. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | On August 24, 2023, I was walking to my car, a 2019 Santa Fe in my driveway. The back windshield spontaneously shattered! It was only 70 degrees out and I had my window cracked open a bit. The noise sounded like a gun shot. I was extremely fortunate that I was not behind the windshield or that I was driving. I have no explanation as to what happened. I called my insurance company, and the windshield is being replaced by Safelite on Tuesday, 8/29/23. However, I have to pay for $483 for a new windshield, my deductible is $500. I am more concerned about safety. I have seen other complaints about Hyundai windshields. Please Hyundai address this issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS | The Airbag light keeps coming on and saying it’s not activated, the wiring also keeps blowing out brand new headlights due to faulty wiring. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | the systems forward collision and lane departure warning are randomly turned off. Dealership is not aware of how to fix | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | ENGINE | Engine Failure. Engine stalls during deceleration. If it doesn’t stall while braking, it immediately stalls around 5 mph when I come to a stop sign or red light. Vehicle start/stop button will not work to start the vehicle back up. It is to sit for 10-20 minutes and then it will start. If I don’t let it sit, it gives me a message on the dash that the vehicle is already on/running even though it is not. I have done regular maintenance and have had it serviced 4 times for the same issues. It has 126,000 on it. The dealership said it was the oxygen sensors and spark plugs. We had those fixed and the problem continued. The dealership is now wanting me to pay $11,000 for a used motor to be installed. Check engine light keeps repeating oxygen sensor malfunction. This has been happening since July of 2022. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | On May 20,2023 my 2019 Hyundai Santa Ultimate turbo died while I was sitting at a red light in the far right lane in an extremely busy street. Car was running perfectly fine prior to it dying. For almost 15 mins my car wouldn’t turn over. Then it just started it right up. Took it home my husband checked for any codes, nothing. I checked the Blue Link app, no issues detected. On June 29th at approximately 9:08AM my car dies again while sitting at a red light. Next to an off ramp to an extremely busy freeway. I’m almost in a full panic the car restarts up. Within 5 mins it dies again. This time blocking a drive way to a driveway at a gas station. All 3 times were identical. All three have no warning. No indicator warning lights and nothing detected in the blue link app. Can’t get it to do it again. So frustrating. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FIRERELATED | On June 28th at approximately 1130pm, my son was involved in a single vehicle accident. Upon impact with the tree the car immediately burst into flames | Crash: Yes Fire: Yes Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Adaptive Cruise Control Automatic Emergency Braking Blind Spot Warning Forward Collision Warning Lane Departure Warning Lane Keeping Assistance Parking Collision Warning Rear Cross Traffic Warning Every one of these lights are going off in the car. I’ve taken it twice to the Hyundai dealership. Both times they have not been able to figure out what is wrong with it even with the OPD it’s not showing any issues or fault codes a technician has even had the car for one week went through every single sensor, cable, battery, alternator fuses and didn’t come up with any results. He returned the car back to me completely baffled and unable to fix the issue. Please email at[ XXX] For photos and video which I cannot add here on this website through mobile. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | TRAILER HITCHES | The contact owns a 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V181000 (Trailer Hitches) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | ENGINE | While driving, the engine stalled out/cut off while the car remained on. I had to push the brakes completely to re-engage the start button. The engine turned off and the check engine light came on, but turned back off once the engine restarted. The car never turned off when the start button was pressed, just the engine. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The forward collision avoidance system is malfunctioning and shuts down the traction and stability control systems making the vehicle more vulnerable to collisions. Multiple attempts to repair this system have been unsuccessful | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | TRAILER HITCHES | The contact owns a 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving at approximately 25 MPH. The contact stated that the vehicle caught on fire while they were driving on the street. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The fire department was on the scene and filed a report. The husband had extinguished the fire using a fire extinguisher. The contact had received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V181000 (Trailer Hitches) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact had taken the vehicle towed to a local dealer, where it had not been diagnosed. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000. VIN tool confirms parts not yet available. | Crash: No Fire: Yes Towed | 30,000 |
| Apr 2023 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that on various occasions while driving at various speeds with the automatic START/STOP function activated, the vehicle started losing motive power while the brake pedal was depressed. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving from a complete stop. The vehicle was able to restart. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed that the valve cover gasket needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that the All-Wheel Drive (AWD) warning light was intermittently illuminated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 75,500. | Crash: No Fire: No | 75,000 |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | These Hyundai's & Kia's are being stolen left & right across the nation....Hyundai needs to fix our vehicle with an alarm system. We haven't heard anything!!! We owe on the car and if it gets stolen or ruined, we still will have to pay on this vehicle. Also, on top of it all, it will be ruined; and from what we see on TV, they can't even get the parts to fix them. Our SUV is not worth anything now due to those stealing these vehicles because of the Tic Toc videos. Those videos should be banned anyway and taken off so no one else can learn to do this horrible theft. If we can ever get another vehicle, it won't be a Hyundai. This has made us very upset that we haven't heard anything from Hyundai nor there seems to be nothing happening regarding this issue. Why isn't the government pressuring this company? We don't see anything being done. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving from a stop signal, the vehicle experienced a delay while accelerating. The contact stated that the vehicle was jerking without warning. The contact stated that on another occasion while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently made a sudden stop without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 34,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 34,000 |
| Feb 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Caught on fire while driving | Crash: No Fire: Yes | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER,VISIBILITY | Panoramic sun roof glass exploded and shattered as I was driving down the highway on a 50 degree F cloudy day. There was no known object that struck the roof nor did we hit a bump in the road or anything. The sound was like that of a shotgun blast. I've seen other posts and settlements for earlier Hyundai vehicle makes and models where warranty was extended to cover a defect causing this. But my 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe damage is not being covered under warranty since it is a couple thousand miles over the 60,000 mile warranty. Hyundai service reported there was no object or damage found to indicate it was caused by something impacting the vehicle. My concern is what will prevent the replacement glass from breaking again if the defect causing it to happen is not fixed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | STRUCTURE,VISIBILITY | I was at a traffic light (stopped) and all of a sudden my sunroof exploded with no rhyme or reason behind it and glass shattered everywhere on top of me. Nothing was thrown at it and no other vehicles were around me to have any debris thrown up onto it. I got out and inspected the sunroof and found that there was no object imbedded on, in, or near the sunroof that would lead me to believe anything hit it. I contacted the Hyundai dealership about this and they will not cover it under warranty. I believe this is a quality control issue with faulty engineering of the sunroof and upon looking at other Hyundai forums, I found that others have reported the same thing occurring to their vehicles of the same make and model and the pictures of their damage look identical to my damage. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER,VISIBILITY | • What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? When ambient temperature is at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, sufficient heat is not produced from the vehicles defroster to keep the windshield from icing. Also, sufficient heat is not produced to keep vehicle occupants warm. A Hyundai dealership confirmed the problem and replaced the thermostat, but the problem still persists. • How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Visibility through the windshield cannot be maintained. Also, the cabin temperature is insufficient for safe transport of young children. • Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes. • Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? It has been inspected and confirmed by a Hyundai dealership. The problem persists and has been an issue since the vehicle was purchased in 2019. The first winter that the vehicle was operated during (2020) was when the problem first presented. • Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? The water temperature gauge on the dash board “bounces” back and forth while driving the vehicle when the ambient temperature is at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. This has been reported to Hyundai corporate –Hyundai case # 19328435. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ENGINE | Car just stopped working one day. First oil on spark plugs got them changed then the coil packs now oil is on the air filter. Car drivers really hard and doesn't shift properly. Took dealership and they aren't really helping or even trying to diagnose my car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ENGINE | I purchased a pre-owned certified 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe from a Hyundai dealership on 10/13/2020 and the vehicle had 21,770 miles. Then on 10/25/2021 (vehicle mileage was 31,950), I was driving my vehicle on the onramp to i-10 West lanes at Gessner Road. As I was accelerating at 40 mph to enter the freeway, my car engine seized and immediately I lost the ability to accelerate since the engine died. I immediately pulled over and had my car towed to the local Hyundai Dealership, HUB Hyundai Mitsubishi West. The Hyundai Dealership Service Manager, Daniel Castillo (832-739-6353), inspected my vehicle and after an inspection of the engine/underside of the vehicle, Hyundai found no damage or impact on the vehicle or the underside of the vehicle besides a missing drain plug. Their analysis concluded that the full result of the mechanical issue with the engine was a result of the missing drain plug which caused the oil to leak from the engine. Hyundai denied the warranty on the engine citing due to the drain plug issue is a direct result of a third party, Brake Check, that recently changed the oil (See attachment). The Brake Check Store #545 (11564 Westheimer Road, Houston TX 77077) had conducted recent oil changes performed on the vehicle on 12/8/2020 when the vehicle had 24,300 miles and on 5/5/2021 when the vehicle had 27,681 miles. I filed a claim (#3419328-1) with Brake Check for the damages however after 5 months of correspondences I was denied since I could not prove they did anything and the drain plug was missing. I also tried to file a claim with my personal auto insurance carrier, Progressive, however I was denied since the claim did not involve an accident. There was no warning lights that ever appeared on my dash prior to the incident. However, when I did go home that evening, I noticed a fresh large oil stain on my driveway were my car had previously be parked. The oil stain just occurred that day (See attached photo) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | POWER TRAIN | Was driving my 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe and it completely shut off when I was stopped at a red light. Super scary! I could not get the vehicle to start again and had to call police to help. Had my hazard lights on but still felt very unsafe because there was traffic that had to go around my vehicle. Tow guy was able to get it to start again but said the transmission felt jerky. The vehicle was towed back to my home. Then the next day the vehicle was able to start and seemed fine. I had a friend drive it to the dealership while I followed behind in another vehicle. Half way there, it did the exact same thing. Was stopped at a red light and it turned off. The reason felt like a hard shift to the transmission. The engine would start but it would not shift to drive. It had to be pushed out of traffic. A few people stopped their vehicles to help push. After it was pushed to a safe spot, I had it towed to the nearest Hyundai dealership. The dealership service tech thought it just needed a new starter. He installed the starter and some update software and claimed it was fixed. Picked up the car, drove it home and it seemed fine. The next day I needed to use this car to drive my three children to school (one of my kids has special needs). I felt the transmission jerking half way there and by the time we (thankfully) made it to the school parking lot, it did a hard shift and died. That could have been very scary and unsafe if we were stuck in traffic and it died! I had it towed back to the dealership. This time around the service tech said it needs a new transmission. It’s a 2019 vehicle with 40,000 miles. It shouldn’t need a new transmission. I don’t feel safe driving this vehicle, especially with my three children! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |