2008 HYUNDAI SANTA FE Complaints

GAS GAUGE STARTED TO MALFUNCTION. ALSO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON. GAS TANK IS FULL AND IS REACTING WILDLY. DEALER SAYS IT'S A $650 FIX. THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL !!! SAFETY ISSUE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION HOWEVER THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 11V472000 (AIR BAGS). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE ISSUE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 73,000.

BACK IN APRIL, MY SANTA FE ALSO HAD THE FUEL GAUGE ISSUE. IT ALSO BEGAN FLUCTUATING WILDLY AND THE RANGE COMPUTER WAS ALL OVER THE PLACE. THE DEALER TOLD ME IT WAS PART OF THE FUEL PUMP AND THAT I HAD TO REPLACE BOTH OF THEM, WHO KNEW IT HAD TWO. IT COST ME $1,583.80 TO FIX. THEY TOLD ME IF I DIDN'T FIX IT, THE CAR COULD JUST LOSE POWER AND WE WOULD BE STUCK ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THIS SHOULD DEFINITELY BE A RECALL!!!! NOW, MY SANTA FE HAS THE AIR BAG LIGHT ON. THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THIS BACK IN 2011, WHICH I DEFINITELY RECEIVED LITERATURE FROM HYUNDAI ABOUT IT. YESTERDAY, THE DEALER FIRST TOLD ME THAT RECALL DIDN'T EXIST. THEN THEY TOLD ME IT DIDN'T APPLY TO MY MAKE OR MODEL, NOR DID IT APPLY TO MY VIN. THEY WANTED TO CHARGE $350 TO FIX THE CLOCK SPRING ASSEMBLY. I REFUSED SINCE I KNOW THIS WAS RECALLED. I'M GOING TO TRY AND CONTACT THE CORPORATE OFFICE OF HYUNDAI ABOUT THIS. IN THE MEANTIME, I DON'T HAVE A DRIVER SIDE AIR BAG IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT. THANKS HYUNDAI. STAY AWAY FROM HYUNDAI VEHICLES!!!! *TR

THE FUEL GAUGE ON DASH HAS BEGUN FLUCTUATING WILDLY EVEN WITH FULL TANK OF GAS. NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT YET BUT BASED ON WHAT I HAVE READ I AM ANTICIPATING A PROBLEM CODE COMING SOON. MY RESEARCH IS POINTING TO THE FUEL LEVEL SENSOR ATTACHED TO THE FUEL PUMP. HOWEVER, ONLY THE WHOLE ASSEMBLY APPEARS TO BE AVAILABLE AND AS SUCH, IT IS HIGHLY COSTLY TO CORRECT. HYUNDAI SHOULD PROVIDE A RECALL FOR THIS DUE TO THE HUGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM. IT HAS ALSO BEEN NOTED THAT THIS HAS CAUSED VEHICLES TO STALL WHILE ON THE HIGHWAY - THIS HASN'T HAPPENED TO ME YET BUT CERTAINLY INCREASES MY CONCERN. *TR

UPON TURNING THE ENGINE ON, MY GAS GAUGE SHOWED EMPTY WHEN I KNEW THERE WAS MORE GAS THAN THAT. THEN IT STARTED TO FLUCTUATE UP AND DOWN . I CHECKED MY RANGE INDICATOR AND IT WAS BLINKING THE WORD "RANGE" (WHICH NORMALLY DOESN'T) AND THE NUMBERS WERE DASHES ONLY. AS I CONTINUED TO DRIVE MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. IT SHOWED QUARTER TANK THEN EMPTY AND BACK TO SOME GAS. THE RANGE INDICATOR STARTED GOING UP AND DOWN IN NUMBERS AS WELL. I PUT GAS IN JUST TO SEE IF IT HELPED BUT DIDN'T, SHOWING ABOUT 30 MILES FLUCTUATION IN THE RANGE INDICATOR. I CHECKED SOME FORUMS AND APPARENTLY IT IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM FOR SANTA FES 2008 RIGHT AS THEY REACH 60,000 MILES (AS THE WARRANTIES END AND IT COSTS OVER $600 TO REPAIR!). IT IS A DANGEROUS ISSUE THAT SHOULD BE A RECALL , AS IT POSES A VERY DANGEROUS PROBLEM IF A CAR RUNS OUT OF GAS ON A HIGHWAY OR ANYWHERE DUE TO THE FAULTY GAS FUEL LEVEL INDICATOR! *TR

DRIVING FROM MY WIFE'S WORK ALL THE SUDDEN THE GAS LEVEL GAUGE WENT TO EMPTY AND ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON. THE GAS TANK WAS 3/4 FULL. DROVE 1/2 A MILE AND IT MARKED 1/2 A TANK, STOPPED AT TRAFFIC LIGHT, WENT TO EMPTY AGAIN IS BEEN DOING IT FORM THAT DAY ON. AFTER TAKING CAR DEALER I WAS TOLD THE REPAIR IS ROUGHLY $680.00 . THIS IS MY 3RD SANTA FE THAT I PURCHASED 2001 2004 & 2008 AND I ONLY ENCOUNTERED SUCH PROBLEM WITH THE 2008 I HAVE SEEN VARIOUS COMPLAINS ON SUCH " PROBLEM" AND WHY IT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A "RECALL" BUT THE MANUFACTURER SEEMS IGNORE IT. *TR

I OWN A 2008 HYUNDAI SANTA FE WITH 40000 MILES THE FUEL LEVEL SENSOR NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. THE FUEL GAUGE IS NOT ACCURATE AND IS MOSTLY READS THAT THE TANK IS EMPTY. IT COST ABOUT $650 TO REPLACE . MY OPINION IS THAT THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND SHOULD BE A RECALL. IT ALSO CAUSES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO COME ON. *TR

I'M ALSO EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE FUEL SENSOR FAILING.THE FUEL GAUGE SHOWS EMPTY AND THEN LATER THAT I HAVE FUEL. I CALLED MY DEALER AND THEY TOLD ME THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM. THEY SAID AT THIS TIME THERE'S NO RECALL OUT FOR THIS REPAIR, BUT AGREED THAT THERE SHOULD BE. THIS CAN BECOME A SAFETY ISSUE AND COULD CAUSE SERIOUS INJURIES TO THE DRIVER AS WELL AS OTHER VEHICLES ON THE ROAD. I LOVE MY VEHICLE AND WOULD HATE FOR THIS TO CAUSE ME TO SWITCH IF I'M GOING TO CONTINUALLY HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THIS ISSUE. I FEEL THAT HYUNDAI SHOULD STEP UP AND THAT CARE OF THIS FAULTY PART. *JS

AFTER FILLING TANK GAUGE SHOWED EMPTY AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON. NOT SURE OF. HOW MUCH GAS I HAVE, SAFETY ISSUE. *TR

THE GAS GAUGE BEGAN FLUCTUATING BETWEEN HALF FULL AND EMPTY. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I TOOK IT TO MY NEAREST O'REILLY'S WHERE THEY TESTED IT AND SAID IT WAS A FUEL SENSOR PROBLEM. AFTER A COUPLE WEEKS IT BEGAN TO SEEMINGLY WORK AGAIN, BUT I BEGAN HAVING SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH IT A FEW WEEKS AFTER THAT. MY GAUGE NEVER REGISTERS FULL AFTER FILLING IT. SOMETIMES IT STARTS OFF AT EMPTY (LIGHT ON) BUT AS I DRIVE IT CREEPS UP TO HALF FULL. I BEGAN INVESTIGATING THE ISSUE ONLINE AND AM SHOCKED TO SEE HOW MANY OTHER 2008 SANTA FE OWNERS ARE HAVING THIS PROBLEM. OBVIOUSLY IT IS A DEFECTIVE PART ON HYUNDAIS BEHALF. I NEVER KNOW EXACTLY HOW MUCH GAS I HAVE. I HAVE TO USE MY TRIP METER TO ESTIMATE WHEN I NEED TO FILL IT. I HAVE INVESTIGATED THE COST TO FIX THIS ISSUE AND IT IS EXPENSIVE - BETWEEN $500 - $800. I BELIEVE THIS IS A DEFECT AND SHOULD BE RECALLED BY HYUNDAI. *TR