2007 HYUNDAI SANTA FE Complaints

WHILE IN A PARKING LOT, I STOPPED AT A STOP SIGN BY PUTTING MY RIGHT FOOT ON THE BRAKE. AS MY FOOT WAS ON THE BRAKE, THE ENGINE REVVED UP AND THE CAR BEGAN MOVING FORWARD. WITHOUT REMOVING MY RIGHT FOOT FROM THE BRAKE PEDAL, I PUT MY OTHER FOOT ON THE PEDAL AND SHIFTED TO NEUTRAL (THE VEHICLE HAS AN AUTOMATIC). THE REVVING UP IMMEDIATELY STOPPED AND EVERYTHING APPEARED NORMAL ONCE AGAIN. I DROVE BACK TO MY HOME, ABOUT SEVEN MILES, WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. I HAVE NOT INFORMED THE LOCAL HYUNDAI DEALER YET WHO LAST DID A 90,000 MAINTENANCE ON IT 8/27/2014. THE VEHICLE HAD 88,496 MILES ON IT. *TR

2007 SANTA FE LIMITED 6 CYL 3.3L. OIL IS LEAKING FROM VALVE COVER GASKET KILLING THE ALTERNATOR AND BATTERY AND THE MOTOR. LIGHTS FLASH ON DASH SEAT BELT LIGHT, BATTERY LIGHT, ESC , TPMS. REPLACED BATTERY IN THE DARK AT FIRST. I SAW THE SAME ISSUES WITH A NEW BATTERY. THEN RESEARCHED AND SAW SIMILAR ISSUES POINTING TO VALVE COVER GASKET LEAKING OIL ONTO ALTERNATOR. I CHECKED THE VALVE COVER IN THE LIGHT AND SAW THE LEAK IMMEDIATELY AND THE ALTERNATOR COVERED IN OIL. IF THE 2007 VERA CRUZ IS GETTING A RECALL FOR THIS EXACT SAME ISSUE AS OF AUG 1ST 2014, THEN THE 2007 SANTA FE SHOULD AS WELL AS OTHER YEARS OF SANTA FE'S. DEALERSHIP WANTS $900 PLUS TAX TO FIX THIS. ALSO HAD TO REPLACE THE FUEL SENDING UNIT -THAT WAS $700 IN JAN OF 2013 AND THERE ARE TONS OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THAT ONE TOO. I STILL SMELL GAS WHEN I FILL THE TANK FULL AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON DUE TO THIS. I CAN AND HAVE PROVEN IT USING A OBD CODE READER TO RESET THE CODE, FILL THE TANK AND BINGO CODE IS BACK LIKE THE FUEL CAP IS LOOSE BUT IT IS NOT AND THE INTERIOR SMELLS OF GASOLINE TILL THE FUEL LEVEL IS REDUCED. *TR

2 THINGS ARE CONCERNING. ONE, WHEN DRIVING OVER SMALL CRACKS, BUMPS IN ROADWAY THE SUSPENSION MAKES A NOISE THAT MAKES ME THINK IT IS UNSTABLE. IT IS ALSO A LOUDER THAN AVERAGE NOISE, COMPARED TO PAST VEHICLES THAT I HAVE OWNED. SECOND, DRIVING AT SPEEDS BELOW 60 MPH, EVERYTHING IS NORMAL. ONCE SPEEDS ABOVE 60 ARE REACHED, THE STEERING COLUMN SHAKES AND VIBRATES. THE NOISE DESCRIBED EARLIER IN PARAGRAPH ONE IS HEARD. ALIGNMENT AND BALANCING ARE NORMAL. TIRE TREAD IS ALSO NORMAL. NEITHER OF THESE TWO ARE ACCEPTABLE AND IN MY OPINION IS A RISK. *TR

WHEN TRAVELING BETWEEN 10-20 MPH, THE CAR UNEXPECTEDLY WILL SHIFT AND ACCELERATE FOR A BRIEF MOMENT. THEN THE LIGHTS ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WILL FLICKER AND THE CAR WILL SHUT OFF, LOSING POWER STEERING AND POWER TRAIN CAPABILITIES. THERE IS NO ISSUE WITH THE BATTERY OR ELECTRICAL PANEL OR THE TRANSMISSION. IT HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES, ALWAYS WITHOUT WARNING. *TR

SAME OIL LEAK AS PROPOSED RECALL FOR OUR 2010 VERA CRUZ WITH THE SAME ENGINE (V6). *TR

ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 30TH, 2014, I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY IN MY 2007 HYUNDAI SANTA FE WITH MY FAMILY AND CHILDREN ON BOARD AT 60 MPH WHEN ALL OF THE WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD FLASHED ON AT THE SAME TIME. THE VEHICLE STARTED TO SHAKE, THE ENGINE STALLED AND BOTH THE STEERING AND BRAKES SUDDENLY BECAME VERY HEAVY TO OPERATE. LUCKILY I MANAGED TO VEER OFF THE FREEWAY BEFORE IT COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN ON A LIVE HIGH SPEED LANE AND ORDERED A TOW TRUCK FROM MY AUTO CLUB. THE HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP TECHNICIAN ADVISE THAT THE CAUSE OF THIS BREAKDOWN WAS AN OIL LEAK FROM A VALVE COVER GASKET ONTO THE ALTERNATOR, CAUSING IT TO FAIL. THE BATTERY WAS ALSO AFFECTED BY CHAIN OF EVENT. THIS CASCADING CHAIN OF BREAKDOWN IS A SYSTEMIC FAILURE AND THIS DEFECT IS NOT PARTICULAR TO ONLY MY CAR BUT IS RAMPANT WITH THE HYUNDAI SANTA FE OWNERS. ANY INTERNET SEARCH WITH " SANTA FE 2007 LEAKING VALVE COVER GASKET " WILL TURN UP COUNTLESS RESULTS. IT IS ALSO THE SAME TYPE OF FAILURE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN RECALLED FROM ANOTHER HYUNDAI SUV, THE VERACRUZ AS IT WAS BUILT ON A HYUNDAI SANTA FE PLATFORM. I WAS LUCKY THAT I DIDN'T COME TO A COMPLETE DEAD STOP WITHOUT WARNING ON A LIVE FREEWAY LANE AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED AS THE RESULT WOULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC FOR ALL INVOLVED. LINK TO HYUNDAI VERACRUZ RECALL WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. HTTP://WWW-ODI.NHTSA.DOT.GOV/ACMS/CS/JAXRS/DOWNLOAD/DOC/UCM459247/RCDNN-14V415-5243P.PDF KIND REGARDS, *TR

WHILE MERGING INTO TRAFFIC FROM A STOP SIGN, I BRIEFLY PRESSED THE GAS PEDAL NEARLY ALL THE WAY DOWN. THE CAR ACCELERATED BEYOND THE 45 MPH SPEED LIMIT AFTER RELEASING THE PEDAL. I PRESSED THE BRAKES AS HARD AS I COULD BUT THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. I PANICKED BECAUSE I WAS HEADING FOR A STOP LIGHT. MY WIFE AND I WERE SECONDS AWAY FROM A HIGH SPEED COLLISION. I SHIFTED THE CAR INTO THE NEUTRAL POSITION WITH THE BRAKES FULLY APPLIED. THE ENGINE RACED UP TO HIGH RPMS. I LOOKED AT THE PEDAL AND IT WAS DEPRESSED NEARLY ALL THE WAY DOWN WITHOUT MY FOOT ON IT. I PUT MY FOOT UNDER THE PEDAL AND LIFTED UP. THE PEDAL SPRUNG ALL THE WAY UP AND THE ENGINE RPMS WENT BACK TO IDLE VALUES. THE CAR QUICKLY SLOWED. I WAS ABLE TO STOP THE CAR JUST BEFORE THE INTERSECTION. I PULLED OFF THE ROAD TO EXAMINE THE PEDAL. THE DRIVERS SIDE CAR MAT HAD SLIPPED OFF ITS RETENTION POST AND HAD MOVED ABOUT 4 INCHES FORWARD SO IT WAS UNDER THE GAS PEDAL. THE END OF THE CAR MAT WAS CURLED UP SO IT WAS ELEVATED ABOUT 1 INCH ABOVE THE FLOOR CARPETING. WITH THE ENGINE OFF, I PUSHED THE GAS PEDAL DOWN BY HAND AND IT GOT CAUGHT UNDER THE CAR MAT AGAIN. AFTER REMOVING THE MAT, I PUSHED THE GAS PEDAL DOWN MANY TIMES (ENGINE OFF) AND IT ALWAYS WORKED CORRECTLY. THE DRIVERS SIDE CAR MAT RETENTION POST SYSTEM HAS NEVER WORKED WELL. THE FLOOR MAT FREQUENTLY SIDES OFF THE POST, AND THE MAT MOVES FORWARD. THE USED MAT IS NOW STIFF ENOUGH TO HOLD THE GAS PEDAL DOWN IF THE PEDAL IS PUSHED UNDER THE CURLED END OF THE MAT. A SECURE CAR MAT LOCKING DEVICE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PART OF THE ORIGINAL MAT RETENTION SYSTEM. HYUNDAI SHOULD FIX THIS PROBLEM. I AM NOT COMPLETELY SURE WHETHER SOME OTHER MECHANICAL OR ELECTRICAL PROBLEM HAD CONTRIBUTED TO THE STUCK GAS PEDAL. FRANKLY, WE ARE FRIGHTENED OF THE CAR THAT NEARLY KILLED US, AND DONT LOOK FORWARD TO DRIVING IT AGAIN EVEN WITHOUT THE CAR MAT.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. WHILE DRIVING 70 MPH, THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FAILED AND CAUSED THE CRUISE CONTROL AND BRAKES TO DISENGAGE. THE BRAKE LIGHTS FAILED TO ILLUMINATE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS PREVIOUSLY REPAIRED ACCORDING TO NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 09V122000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC), BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE STOP LAMP SWITCH NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED AND THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 80,000.

THE SUN VISOR IS DEFECTIVE AND FALLS DOWN WHEN DRIVING CAUSING A SAFETY HAZARD. THE FUEL SENSOR IS DEFECTIVE AS WELL. *TR

THE GAS GAUGE JUMPS ALL AROUND. I CAN FILL THE TANK UP AND THEN IT WILL SAY EMPTY. DON'T EVER KNOW HOW MUCH GAS IS IN THE CAR EVER. I CALLED THE DEALER THAT I BOUGHT THE CAR AT AND THEY GAVE ME THE RUN AROUND ABOUT GETTING IT FIXED. I HAVE TO PUT GAS IN THE CAR EVERY OTHER DAY DUE TO THE GAS GAUGE NOT WORKING PROPERLY. *TR