2011 HYUNDAI SANTA FE Complaints

THIS IS A FOLLOW UP TO THE COMPLAINT I MADE ON 5/13/2013. AT THAT TIME MY VEHICLE WAS AT THE DEALERSHIP TO TRY TO DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM I HAD BEEN HAVING WHICH WAS THAT MY CAR WOULD RANDOMLY STALL WHILE MAKING A TURN, WHETHER LEFT OR RIGHT. WHEN THIS HAPPENED THE PANEL WOULD LIGHT UP LIKE CHRISTMAS AND EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE BRAKES WOULD CEASE TO WORK. I HAVE TO COAST TO A SAFE LOCATION (IF POSSIBLE) TO TURN OFF CAR AND THEN RESTART IT. I HAVE BEEN VERY FORTUNATE THAT ME OR MY FAMILY HAVE NOT BEEN HIT WHEN THIS HAPPENS. UPDATE TO LAST REPORT: MY CAR STAYED AT THE DEALERSHIP FOR 3 WEEKS HOWEVER THE PROBLEM WAS NOT DUPLICATED. THEIR SOLUTION (HYUNDAI USA AND MY DEALERSHIP) WAS TO REPLACE THE THROTTLE BODY. EVERYTHING WAS FINE UNTIL THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED ON 1/19/2014. I DON'T THINK HYNDAI USA WILL BE SATISFIED UNTIL THERE'S FATALITIES UNFORTUNATELY. *TR

WHILE ACCELERATING FROM A TRAFFIC LIGHT, VEHICLE DROPPED SPEED WHILE I ACCELERATED. IT COASTED ALONG AT 1-2 MILES AN HOUR. THE CHECK ENGINE, ANTILOCK BRAKE AND 4 WHEEL DRIVE 'SKID' INDICATORS ALL LIT UP ON THE DASH BOARD. I HAD TO GUIDE THE VEHICLE TO A SAFE STOP BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AFTER CLEARING A DANGEROUS INTERSECTION. THIS HAS OCCURRED FOUR ADDITIONAL TIMES AFTER THE DEALERSHIP ASSURED ME THIS PROBLEM HAD BEEN RECTIFIED. IT IS PRESENTLY AT THE DEALERSHIP AFTER HAVING BEEN TOWED IN FOR THE FIFTH (5TH) TIME. THIS CAR NEEDS TO BE REPLACED BY THE DEALER. *TR

I WAS DRIVING MY HYUNDAI 2011 SANTE FE AT ABOUT 30 MPH ON A CITY ROAD. SUDDENLY, I FELT THAT I WAS CUT OFF, THERE WAS NO CONTROL ON BRAKE OR THE STEERING WHEEL (BOTH WERE TOO HARD TO OPERATE). SO, ALL I COULD DO WAS TO DRIVE STRAIGHT, AND I WAS LITERALLY CROSSING SOME BUSY STREETS (LUCKILY, THERE WERE NO CARS WHEN I WAS CROSSING THESE STREETS) ON RED SIGNALS, WITH MY BLINKERS ON. LUCKILY, MY CO-PASSENGER KEPT COOL AND SUGGESTED IF I COULD OPERATE MY PARKING BRAKE, AND I TRIED THIS, AND MY CAR SLOWLY CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. AT THIS MOMENT, I PUT MY CAR ON PARK, TURNED OFF THE ENGINE. WHEN I TURNED IT BACK ON, I DROVE BACK TO A SAFE PLACE (IN A MILE), CALLED ROAD SIDE ASSISTANCE AND GOT IT TOWED TO THE NEAREST HYUNDAI DEALER. THE DEALER FOUND NO MAJOR BREAKDOWN (!!!) OR ANY INACTIVE LOG ON THE CAR COMPUTER (!!!), ONLY REPLACED A BRAKE LIGHT (WHICH WAS UNDER RECALL FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS) AND DECLARED THE CAR TO BE 'SAFE TO DRIVE'. IT IS STILL VERY SCARY TO DRIVE THE CAR (IT HAS BEEN ABOUT A WEEK NOW AFTER THIS INCIDENT), BUT NOT SURE IF HYUNDAI WILL HAVE AN ANSWER TO THIS. *TR

NOTE: IT IS AT PRETTY MUCH ALL SPEEDS AND NOT JUST 55 THAT THE VARIATION CAN BE SEEN BETWEEN DEVICES AND THE VEHICLE. I PURCHASED THIS USED WITH 29K MILES ON IT. I NOTICED ON THE DRIVE BACK FROM MD TO PA THAT THE SPEED ON THE SPEEDOMETER WAS DIFFERENT THAN MY TOMTOM GPS. A FRIEND WAS DRIVING IN A SEPARATE CAR AND SO I CALLED THEM AND TRIED TO IDENTIFY THEIR SPEED TO MINE AND IT SEEMED OFF TO THEIRS AS WELL. I TOOK THE CAR INTO THE HYUNDAI DEALER IN THE NEXT MONTH OR SO TO ASK THEM TO ADJUST THE SPEEDOMETER TO WHICH I WAS TOLD IT CANNOT BE ALTERED. WELL HERE I AM OVER A YEAR LATER AND EVERY SINGLE GPS BASED SYSTEM I HAVE PUT INTO MY CAR, ANOTHER TOMTOM, MY SONS GARMIN, MY WIFE'S GARMIN, MY NEW GARMIN AND MY PHONE ALL ARE IN SYNCH WITH EACH OTHER. THE PROBLEM IS THAT MY SANTA FE IS ALWAYS STATING I AM TRAVELING ABOUT 3 MPH FASTER THAN ALL THESE OTHER DEVICES. IF THIS IS THE CASE THEN THIS WOULD SHOW A HIGHER NUMBER OF MILES BEING DRIVEN THAT WHAT IS ACTUALLY OCCURRING. I DRIVE 20-25K MILES A YEAR AND THIS WOULD MOST DEFINITELY ADD UP OVER THE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE THUS SHOWING ME TO BE OUT OF WARRANTY SOONER THAN WOULD BE EXPECTED. WHY DOES EVERY ELECTRONIC DEVICE SHOW THE SAME SPEED BUT MY CAR IS TELLING ME I'M GOING FASTER? *TR

WHILE DRIVING AT SLOW SPEED 10-15 MPH AND BRAKING THE CAR COMPLETELY STALLED, ONCE WHILE TURNING LEFT AND ONCE WHILE GOING STRAIGHT. LOSS OF POWER STEERING AND POWER BRAKES AND NARROWLY AVOIDING HITTING ANOTHER VEHICLE. NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND NO CODES STORED. *TR

MY ENGINE HAS STALLED AT SEVERAL OCCASIONS BEGINNING AROUND APRIL 2013. THE FIRST 2 EVENTS HAPPENED AS I WAS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT. I PUT MY FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR AND NOTHING HAPPENED I HAD TO RESTART THE CAR TO GET IT MOVING AGAIN. THE CAR HAS ALSO STALLED TWICE WHILE I WAS REVERSING INTO A PARKING SPOT AND ONCE AS I WAS TURNING A CORNER I LOST CONTROL OF THE STEERING FUNCTION IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. AS RECENTLY AS OCTOBER 2013 THE CAR STALLED AGAIN WHILE STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT. ALL OF THESE EVENTS HAPPENED AS I WAS STOPPED OR MOVING AT A LOW (LESS THAN 10 MPH) RATE OF SPEED. *TR

VEHICLE HAS STALLED IN TRAFFIC WHEN DRIVING UNDER 10MPH AND ALSO WHEN AT A STANDSTILL AT A FOUR WAY INTERSECTION. TOOK THE VEHICLE TO HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP 5.13.2013 AND A THROTTLE BODY PART WAS ORDERED AND INSTALLED 5.21.2013. VEHICLE AGAIN STALLED TWICE AT LOW SPEED AND ON 10.11.2013 (MILEAGE 37,710) AN ECM UPGRADE WAS DONE. YESTERDAY,10.26.2013, THE CAR STALLED AGAIN. *TR

9/26/13 - WHILE GOING UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF A PARKING STRUCTURE AT A SLOW SPEED, THE VEHICLE STALLED. PUT IT INTO PARK AND RESTARTED IT AND DROVE IT TO A PARKING SPOT. LATER THAT DAY WAS ABLE TO DRIVE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP; THEY HAVE HAD IT FOR 4 DAYS (2 OF WHICH WERE OVER THE WEEKEND). NO CODES REGISTERED IN THE COMPUTER SYSTEM; THEY ARE WAITING TO HEAR FROM A HYUNDAI TECH. ACCORDING TO RESEARCH ONLINE, THIS IS A COMMON (AND DANGEROUS) PROBLEM WITH THE SANTA FE. PRIOR TO THIS EPISODE, ON 2 OTHER OCCASIONS (9/13/13 AND 8/3/2012), WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT 70MPG AND 50MPH RESPECTIVELY AND LOST POWER AND THE ABILITY TO KEEP OR INCREASE MY SPEED AND HAD TO PULL OVER AND GET TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP, BOTH TIMES. THIS TOO APPEARS TO BE COMMON AMONG ONLINE FORUMS FOR SANTA FE'S. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE ENTERING A PARKING AREA AT 10 MPH, THE BRAKE FAILED TO ENGAGE AS THE BRAKE WARNING LIGHT FAILED TO ILLUMINATE. THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO AVOID A CRASH HOWEVER, CRASHED INTO AN ICE EMBANKMENT. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED INJURIES TO BOTH HANDS. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER 13V113000 (EXTERIOR LIGHTING, SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC) LETTER WAS RECEIVED AFTER THE CRASH. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 25,000.

FIRST OF ALL I KNOW OUR 2011 HYUNDAI SANTA FE IS NOT MADE IN USA, IT IS A KOREAN 2.4 L, 7 SEATER BOUGHT IN PANAMA. I WROTE TO THE HYUNDAI COMPLAINT WEBSITE AND THEY VERY POLITELY ANSWERED THAT THE CAR WAS A NON-US MODEL AND THEY SENT ME A LINK TO A WEBSITE WHERE I COULD FILE THE COMPLAINT. I DID IT BUT I HAVE NOT RECEIVED AN ANSWER, YET. MY FIRST PROBLEM AFTER THE CRASH WAS THE UNAVAILABILITY OF PARTS FOR REPAIRING THE CAR. I FILED A COMPLAINT WITH OUR LOCAL CONSUMER AUTHORITY HERE IN PANAMA. OUR CAR WAS IN THE SHOP FOR MORE THAN 9 MONTHS, ITS RUNNING NOW BUT STILL SOME PARTS MISSING. THE ISSUE IS THAT AFTER GETTING THE CAR BACK FROM THE SHOP I RECEIVED A CALL FROM OUR LOCAL HYUNDAI DEALER (PETROAUTOS) TELLING ME ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN OF THE FAULTY BRAKE SWITCH (JUST AS IN THE US MODELS) AND THAT I HAD TO TAKE THE CAR TO THE DEALER. SO I LOOKED UP IN INTERNET AND I FIND SEVERAL RECALLS RELATED TO THE BRAKES. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER AND THEY CHANGED THE SWITCH. SO IM WONDERING IF THIS WAS RELATED TO THE CRASH BECAUSE I ALWAYS HAD MY DOUBTS OF WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I BRAKED THAT DAY. FINALLY THERE WAS A CRASH AND ALTHOUGH I KNOW THIS MAY ONLY BE FOR YOUR INFORMATION OR FILES, AND THAT YOU CAN'T HELP ME; PLEASE TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT FOR YOUR EVALUATIONS. THANKS.