2023 HYUNDAI SANTA FE Complaints

Vehicle stalled while driving — unsafe loss of power. While driving at normal speed, the vehicle suddenly shut off without warning and the electrical system malfunctioned. I had to pull over and restart car. This created a dangerous situation and could have caused a collision. Prior to this incidenct, the vehicle had intermittent electrical issues during startup (flickering electronics). This is the first time the car has experienced during driving, and is now at the Hyundai dealership. The car has been reported as unsafe to drive. This appears similar to other Hyundai stalling/power loss issues and may indicate a developing safety defect. Requesting investigation.

We were at full stop with Auto Hold feature enabled. Car lurched / jumped forward with no depression of the gas pedal. This caused us to strike the car in front of us.

The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving and decelerating to approximately 10 MPH onto an exit ramp, the vehicle suddenly stalled and failed to restart. The contact noticed that there was blue smoke coming from the exhaust pipes, and several unknown warning lights and messages illuminated, including the Check Engine warning light. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who diagnosed that a fuel injector had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 35,652.

I am submitting this formal safety complaint regarding a structural defect in my 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid that I believe poses a safety concern and warrants federal investigation under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (49 U.S.C. § 30101 et seq.). The vehicle exhibits a persistent and recurring structural creak originating from the pinch weld area adjacent to the hybrid battery storage compartment — specifically at a metal-on-metal contact point above the rear driver-side wheel well. The noise presents most prominently at low speeds over uneven surfaces, driveway transitions, and speed bumps. The root cause, as identified by service documentation and owner community reports, is a manufacturing defect in the pinch weld construction where two metal body components make contact due to insufficient clearance tolerances. This affects the structural integrity of the body-in-white in proximity to the hybrid high-voltage battery system. III. SAFETY SIGNIFICANCE I am reporting this as a safety concern for the following reasons: •The defect involves structural body components adjacent to the high-voltage hybrid battery storage compartment. Any degradation of body structure in this area presents a potential risk of battery exposure, puncture, or damage in collision scenarios; •The metal-on-metal contact at the pinch weld constitutes an ongoing structural stress point that may accelerate fatigue and cracking of load-bearing body components over time; •The defect is present across a statistically significant number of 2023 Santa Fe Hybrid units based on online owner community documentation, suggesting a manufacturing pattern rather than an isolated anomaly; •Multiple authorized Hyundai service centers have been unable to provide a permanent repair, indicating the defect is systemic and not addressable through routine service procedures; •The proximity of the defect to hybrid drivetrain components warrants evaluation for potential regulatory compliance

I was driving down the road and came to a stop at a stop light. After accelerating again my car lost the ability to increase speed above 20 miles/hour and would not shift gears. I was heading to the turn lane to get on the interstate and quickly had to change lanes to find an area to pull over as I could not reach highway speeds. I turned the car off. I turned the car back on and the problem resolved. This is the second time this has happened. I have seen this problem mentioned dozens of time on Reddit message boards including Hyundai buybacks on some of these vehicles. It doesn't sound like Hyundai has any idea what is causing this issue. This issue should be looked into further.

While running errands around town, I noticed my 2023 Sante Fe 2.5T was sluggish shifting out of first gear into second. The RPMS revved to about 3K before the transmission shifted into 2nd. I didn't notice any problem shifting into 3rd and above. I drove to a gas station for fuel and shut off my car. When I started it and began to drive, I received an immediate warning to take the car to a dealer and the check engine light came on. The car had the same problem getting out of 1st gear at each of the traffic signals I got caught at on my way to the dealership about 2 miles away. The following day, the service department contacted me and determined I needed a new transmission due to the failure of the Dual Clutch electric high pressure oil pump in the transmission. They submitted a parts request and Hyundai approved a refurbished DCT warranty replacement. The transmission only has 50200 miles on it I am second owner but the car was a CPO so I have full warranty coverage. I was given a loaner under Hyundai' warranty provisions. My main concern is that although this vehicle is a 2023 Sante Fe, it was put in service around August of 2022 and would therefore have the same transmission as the 2021 and 2022s covered under Hyundai recall 236, but this has yet to be acknowledged as far as I know. Please investigate my situation and consider further requirements of Hyundai! Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Hyundai Corporate is refusing to ground or provide alternative transportation for a documented, warranty-covered engine cooling fault (Code P2181), creating a highway stalling risk. Hyundai's legal compliance team reviews these logs daily.

My vehicle activates the emergency braking system while driving. It has happened several times now, almost causing a collision. I took it to the dealership, they held it for a week and gave it back to me telling me they could not find anything wrong with it. They did not fix anything at all. It has since done it once more.

Shifter malfunction has appeared since I bought the vehicle new. Once I took it in, they said it was the software. The vehicle now skipped and hesitate in the lower gears. When in high gears ride fine. But once it stops and start driving again, lower gears won’t drive properly. Drives with hesitation and skips.

Two unsafe scenarios in past two months: 1) Driving 80 mph, engine misfire, vehicle will not accelerate past 1 rpm, had to drive home from out of town with very slow acceleration, dangerous to not be able to accelerate efficiently on highways 2) Driving 55 mph, all driver safety systems malfunction, accelaration completely disabled, had to coast to safe stopping point. Restarted vehicle and could drive home with check engine light on, incredibly dangerous for car to lose all ability to accelerate in the middle of a highway.