Complaint volume
200 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
2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Complaints
200 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe, grouped by component category.
200 Total complaints
11 Crash reports
3 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 unknown or other, power train, engine. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 11 crash reports, 3 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 19 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 16,472 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, power train, engine?
- 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 2023 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.
2023 Hyundai Santa Fe
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe complaints?
11 Crash
3 Fire
10 Injury
0 Fatality
11 Towed
7 Medical attention
What are the most common 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 37
POWER TRAIN 21
ENGINE 15
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 13
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 9
SERVICE BRAKES 8
VISIBILITY/WIPER 7
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 6
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4
STRUCTURE 4
200 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2024 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | 1,700 |
| Feb 2024 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Incident: I have been almost rear ended numerous, numerous times despite having my turn signal on an appropriate distance from my turning point. Safety Issue: The rear signal lights are small and are only located on the bumper. The location of these signal lights are way too low for most driver's to even notice them! The signal lights also look like reflectors on the rear bumper especially in broad day light, making the detection of a signal even more difficult! I do like the Santa Fe, it is my second one, but had I known that the turn signal lights were located where they are, I would have NEVER purchased this vehicle as the risk of getting rear ended is too high. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | POWER TRAIN | 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. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 2 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | LANE DEPARTURE | Vehicle does not detect motorcycles in the blind spot. I did not look over my shoulder and began moving left with a turn signal when I glimpsed a motorcycle next to my vehicle. The motorcycle quickly swerved to the left and I returned to the right lane. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | ENGINE | Throttle randomly cuts off or hesitates. It has done it about 15 times Dealer says no problem found. There is a lot of reports on the internet of the same problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY | Sunroof exploded while traveling at highway speeds causing glass to fall into the cabin. No impact from rocks, just exploded out of nowhere. Massive loud explosions sound | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | This hard brake peddle pressure issue started out immediately on an occasional basis but now occurs almost every morning on first start of the day. Press on the brake pedal - it's very hard to deflect - and if you don't overpower it to deflect the pedal enough to activate the brake lights, it won't start. Once you get it started the first time, brake operation will be normal for the rest of the day. A specialty maintenance blog has covered this issue comprehensively. The Hyundai Maintenance website is apparently aware of this potential problem. According to [XXX] , it is likely caused by a malfunctioning brake booster or vacuum leak and recommends taking the vehicle to your dealer for diagnosis and repairs. This is apparently a common problem across multiple Hyundai models since there are several threads on this subject on [XXX] : [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] I took my vehicle to the dealer where I purchased it and left it with them for a couple of days, Said they had thoroughly tested the vacuum line and found no leaks or problems and that the vehicle was performing as designed. Don't know how serious this is, but I have concerns. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | While parking, the brakes failed. Although the brake pedal was correctly and completely depressed the car failed to stop until it hit the building causing damage to structure and injuries occurred to passengers. The brake pedal pulsated but the car did not stop. Prior to this, the brakes would sporadically pulsate while braking. There were vehicle health issues that were reported. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 4 Towed | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER,VISIBILITY | Windshield started to crack after 150 miles on the car from driver side spreading across whole line of sight. No visible or audible rock hit the windshield | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | About three weeks after we bought the SUV, a small rock hit the windshield while we were driving on the freeway, causing a quarter-sized crack. We had it repaired. A week later, two more tiny chips appeared on the windshield. We didn't even notice anything hitting the windshield, and we only drove it on city roads with normal road conditions. The windshield seems to have very soft glass and gets cracked or chipped very easily in regular driving conditions. We've never encountered windshields this weak in our 20 years of driving experience. We feel it poses a potential visibility hazard for the drivers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the Forward Collision Avoidance system erroneously activated, causing the braking system to activate and the vehicle to veer to the left. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer on several occasions due to the failure however, a cause for the failure was not determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 1,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 1,000 |
| Nov 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Upon braking hard and suddenly due to being cutoff on the interstate, it felt as if the antilock brakes did not properly engage but rather grabbed/grinded/scraped. Only when I let off the brake did they disengage. This happened the first time within 2 months of owning the car and with less than 2k miles on it, at highway speeds (65-70 MPH) and this sensation has happened probably 4 times in the 7 months I have owned the car under various scenarios of stopping quickly. In addition, it recently happened when driving 25-30 MPH and coming to a normal stop approaching a stop sign - where it felt as if the brake on the front passenger tire grabbed/grinded/scraped (but not on the 3 other tires). I have taken the car back for inspection at the dealer twice, neither time have they found any issues. In addition, one evening the stability control light flickered, sounded as if the dash was frying/sizzling with no reason - roads were not wet, no leaves, grass or other debris, etc. and speed was 25-30 - this happened twice within 3 miles. Dealer found no issue with car after performing visual inspection of wiring, check of system for code errors, nor driving test to reproduce issue. Had the brakes failed, I could have been in an accident causing serious harm to me/my passengers or whomever I could have hit. I believe the ABS system needs to be replaced or reprogrammed but the dealer refuses to acknowledge a problem exists. Online forums indicate similar (and worse) issues, also with people stating they cannot get a dealer to resolve their problems. This is a serious malfunction of either the electric or braking system in some capacity and should be fixed before people are severely injured or killed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at night with the low beam headlights illuminated, there was a dark shadow present in the top section of the illuminated light field causing a visibility hazard to the driver. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who confirmed the issue was present but informed the contact that the headlights were operating as intended. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 10. | Crash: No Fire: No | 10 |
| Nov 2023 | POWER TRAIN | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When traveling along the front collision warning system is triggered even though nothing is around the vehicle. The car remains running, but there is no response from the gas pedal. I have to coast to the side if possible or stop and turn on flashers (very dangerous on interstate highway). Once safely stopped, turning off the car and then starting again reboots the system and it runs fine until it happens again randomly. The check engine light stays on for a day, but does not light up the next morning. The dealership does diagnostics, but nothing shows up as wrong. It happens so fast there is no way to take a picture or video before the warning disappears. So far I have been lucky as this has happened at least 6 times. It is dangerous and I am terrified someone will not see flashers and run into me at highway speeds. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | ENGINE,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that on two separate occasions while driving at approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle decelerated. The check engine warning light illuminated, and a message displayed on the infotainment screen indicating “Engine System Emergency, Take Vehicle to the Nearest Dealer”. The contact was able to veer the vehicle into a parking lot where it was idled. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that no appointments were available; however, the technician used a code reader that retrieved message: “5 Volts drop to the ECM”. The contact stated that the technician then pressed the START/STOP button to restart the vehicle and reset the check engine warning light. The contact stated that he was able to drive the vehicle back to his location where he parked the vehicle. The following day he restarted the vehicle however, the failure recurred. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised that if the check engine warning light was not illuminated there was no need to have the vehicle diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 1,108. | Crash: No Fire: No | 1,108 |
| Oct 2023 | POWER TRAIN | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | POWER TRAIN | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Occasionally the cruise control when accelerating will exceed the set speed and continue to climb and I will be going 20 miles faster than the set speed and climbing. The only way to sop this is to turn cruise off, slow down and restart. My thought is it happens after I have disengaged the cruise and then when safe reengage which is done by pressing the switch straight down. In my previous vehicles I would push the control up. I may be doing this by accident and giving the system an unknown command. Whatever I am doing to create tis situation is too easy to do and creates a safety issue. this has happened multiple times. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | POWER TRAIN | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I was driving on the freeway when it sounded like an explosion inside the vehicle occurred. I was not sure what it was at first, and then I started to hear glass rattling in the sunroof area. I pulled over and looked on top of the vehicle and the sunroof glass has exploded. Nothing hit the vehicle, so heat must have caused the sunroof to explode. It was approximately 103 degrees outside per the vehicle's thermometer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | POWER TRAIN | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The front collision warning/assistance system on this vehicle does not appear to be working. The dealer claims that it is working. It seems that the protocol for testing for proper function is flawed and no one is tacking ownership of this issue. They are saying that in order to test the system a near collision must be imminent and to simulate this puts the technician at risk of injury (understandable); Nevertheless, I have been in situations where I should have at least received a warning and there was none. On a test drive by the service manager with me in the vehicle the front collision assistance was verified on and active. The cruise control function was tested and worked to adjust the speed of the vehicle appropriately which tells me that assistance is available. It appears that the either the collision sensor is not recognizing collision danger or the danger message is not getting to the warning trigger and possibly the assistance trigger. This situation should be reported to the appropriate department a Hyundai for review. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |