2008 HYUNDAI SANTA FE Complaints

MY 2008 SANTA FE WITH 109,000 MILES SUDDENLY SHUT OFF ON ME WHEN APPROACHING A STOP SIGN. THE STOP SIGN WAS ON A SLIGHT TURN AND I NEVER REALIZED IT UNTIL I HAD NO POWER STEERING AND SAW ALL THE LIGHTS LIT ON THE DASH. I PUT CAR IN PARK AND IT RESTARTED WITH NO ISSUES. LATER THAT DAY I WENT TO START THE CAR AND ENGINE MADE A LOUD CLUNK SOUND AND CAR SHOOK FOR A SECOND. I DECIDED NOT TO DRIVE IT THAT DAY. IT HAS BEEN 3 DAYS SINCE THE FIRST SHUT DOWN AND SO FAR THE CAR HAS BEEN RUNNING LIKE NORMAL. CALLED HYUNDAI AND MADE NOTE OF MY COMPLAINT BUT DIDN'T SEEM TO KNOW ABOUT THIS ISSUE OR SO MAYBE THEY ARE NOT AT LIBERTY TO SAY IF THEY HAVE. THEY NEVER GAVE ME AN ANSWER EXCEPT TO TAKE IT TO A DEALER TO SEE IF THEY CAN DIAGNOSIS THE PROBLEM. I SEE RECALL WAS PUT OUT FOR THE 2010-2012 MODEL YEARS BUT NOT FOR OLDER MODELS.

OUR GAS GAUGE SHOWS EMPTY, AND THE FUEL LIGHT STAYS ON, ALL THE TIME. THIS OCCURS EVEN AFTER WE FILL THE CAR UP. THIS OCCURS WHETHER THE CAR IS STATIONARY OR RUNNING. WE HAVE TO TRACK OUR FUEL LEVEL BY KEEPING TRACK OF THE MILEAGE. ALSO, IF WE TURN THE CAR OFF WHEN FUELING, IT WILL NOT TURN BACK ON. WE HAVE TO TRY OVER AND OVER AGAIN UNTIL IT TURNS ON. WE HAVE FOUND THAT IF WE LEAVE THE CAR RUNNING WHILE FUELING, IT USUALLY STAYS RUNNING; HOWEVER, A LOT OF TIMES, THE CAR STOPS RUNNING AND THEN, WE STRUGGLE TO GET IT STARTED AGAIN. THIS IS OUR 2ND SANTA FE (OUR FIRST WAS A 2004, WITH WHICH WE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM). IF HYUNDAI DOESN'T DO SOMETHING TO FIX THIS PROBLEM, THIS WILL BE OUR LAST HYUNDAI. THIS IS DANGEROUS ON MANY LEVELS, AND AS WE ALL CAN SEE, THERE ARE CURRENTLY ABOUT 350 OTHER 2008 SANTA FE OWNERS WHO HAVE POSTED ON THIS SITE WITH THE SAME PROBLEM, THIS IS AN OBVIOUS SAFETY DEFECT, AND NEEDS TO BE RECALLED. ALSO, I NOTICED SOMEONE ELSE MENTIONED THEY CHANGE LOW BEAMS ABOUT ONCE A MONTH. WE TOO, ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. WE HAVE CHANGED MORE HEADLAMPS IN THIS CAR THAN WE HAVE IN ALL OF OUR CARS COMBINED OVER 40 YEARS.

FUEL GUAGE SHOWS FALSE READING, ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON WHEN TANK IS FILLED AND SHOWS EMPTY READING. GUAGE WILL START RISING AFTER MANY MILES (ONE HUNDRED OR MORE). FUEL GUAGE WILL DROP TO EMPTY. CAR IS STATIONARY WHEN FILLING, BUT GIVING FALSE READINGS WHEN MOVING ANYWHERE. WE NEVER KNOW WHEN WE ARE GOING TO RUN OUT OF GAS. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND SHOULD BE RECALLED!

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. WHILE HAVING THE VEHICLE ROUTINELY INSPECTED FOR EMISSIONS, THE VEHICLE FAILED DUE TO A FAULTY FUEL GAUGE. THE CHECK ENGINE INDICATOR ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING, BUT THE DETAILS COULD NOT BE PROVIDED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 102,129.

WHILE DRIVING ON A CITY STREET (APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH), MY CAR SUDDENLY DISPLAYED THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT AS WELL AS THE "ECS OFF" INDICATOR AND AT THAT SAME TIME, I WAS NO LONGER ABLE TO ACCELERATE AND MY CAR SLOWED TO A STOP. I PULLED OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, TURNED THE CAR OFF FOR A FEW MINUTES AND THEN RESTARTED WITH THE SAME RESULTS. WHEN I RESTARTED, THE "ECS" INDICATOR WAS NO LONGER LIT, BUT THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT REMAINED ON UNTIL THE DECELERATION OCCURRED AGAIN AND THEN BOTH LIGHTS WERE ILLUMINATED. WHEN I SEARCHED THE INTERNET FOR WHAT COULD BE THE CAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM, I FOUND THAT MANY OTHERS WITH THIS SAME MAKE, MODEL AND YEAR HAVE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR ISSUES SO I THOUGHT IT WAS BEST TO FILE A COMPLAINT.

IN JULY/AUG OF 2015 MY GAS GAUGE AND MILES-TO-EMPTY INDICATOR STARTED GOING CRAZY. I WOULD FILL THE TANK WITH GAS BUT THE GAUGE READ EMPTY. WHILE DRIVING, THE MILES-TO-EMPTY INDICATOR WOULD CONSTANTLY, RAPIDLY CHANGE FROM 200 TO 40 TO 68 TO 113 TO WHATEVER SO I COULDN'T TELL HOW MUCH GAS I HAD LEFT. I TOOK THE CAR IN FOR AN OIL CHANGE AT HYUNDAI ON AUG 8, 2015 AND ASKED THEM TO ALSO LOOK AT THE GAS GAUGE. HE SAID THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO UNTIL THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. THE ENGINE LIGHT FINALLY CAME ON AT THE END OF NOVEMBER 2015 SO I TOOK THE CAR IN 12/10/15, AND THEY SAID THEY HAD TO REPLACE TWO FUEL SENSORS IN THE GAS TANK. WHEN THE PROBLEM INITIALLY STARTED, I HAD ABOUT 64000 MILES ON THE CAR.

LIKE SO MANY OTHERS, MY FUEL GAUGE IS COMPLETELY NON FUNCTIONAL. I HAVE RUN OUT OF GAS IN THE MIDDLE OF HEAVY TRAFFIC AND NOW JUST FILL THE CAR UP WEEKLY TO AVOID ISSUES. THIS IS CLEARLY AN ENGINEERING ISSUE GIVEN THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH IT OCCURS IN THIS VEHICLE.

HYUNDAI DEALER SAID MY BALL JOINTS WERE BAD, $750.00 FOR REPAIRS, HYUNDAI HAS RECALL I WAS NOT NOTIFIED. DRIVERS AIR BAG ILLUMINATED, GOING IN FOR REPAIR FRIDAY COST UNKNOWN. AGAIN I WAS NOT NOTIFIED ABOUT RECALL. I HAVE TO PAY FOR REPAIRS BECAUSE I WAS NOT NOTIFIED ABOUT RECALLS.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CONTROL ARM AND WHEEL BEARING SEIZED AND WERE UNUSUALLY WORN. THE MECHANIC WAS UNABLE TO REPLACE THE TIRES DUE TO THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 122,644.

THE FUEL LEVEL SENSORS IN THIS CAR HAVE FAILED. REGARDLESS OF THE AMOUNT OF GASOLINE IN THE TANK, THE FUEL GAUGE READS THAT THERE IS NO FUEL, AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT REMAINS "ON" AT ALL TIMES. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE IT CAN LEAD TO A SITUATION WHERE THE DRIVER RUNS OUT OF FUEL (SINCE THE FUEL GAUGE IS NOT ACCURATE) AND THE CAR STALLS IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC. THAT HAS NOT YET HAPPENED TO ME, BUT IT COULD. BASED ON A SHORT INTERNET SEARCH FOR OTHERS WHO HAVE HAD A SIMILAR ISSUE, AND DISCUSSING THE ISSUE WITH LOCAL AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR SHOPS, THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR THIS VEHICLE. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE ON THE NHTSA SITE THAT THIS COMMON PROBLEM HAS LED TO A RECALL, BUT I BELIEVE THAT IT SHOULD. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND CONSIDERATION. *TR