2008 HYUNDAI SANTA FE Complaints

FUEL GAUGE SHOWS DIFFERENT MEASUREMENTS AFTER STARTING THE VEHICLE. FULL TANK OF GAS MAY SHOW ON THE GAUGE AS EMPTY. THE NEXT TIME MAY SHOW 1/2 A TANK OF GAS. HAVE TO TRACK MILEAGE TO KNOW WHEN TO GAS UP. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE ENGINE RPMS INCREASED EXCESSIVELY AS THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE BRAKES FAILED TO RESPOND AND THE VEHICLE WAS PLACED IN NEUTRAL IN ORDER TO STOP THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHERE THE FAILURE WAS UNABLE TO BE REPLICATED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 95,000. *TR

MY 2008 SANTA FE LTD THAT SUFFERED A LOSS OF THE LEFT REAR QUARTER GLASS, INCLUDING THE FRAME MOLDING, WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY A FEW DAYS AGO. THE GLASS COMPANY STATED THAT IT APPEARED TO HAVE ACTUALLY BREAK OFF OF THE BOLTS AND SIMPLY FLY OFF THE VEHICLE. THE ONLY THING LEFT ON THE VEHICLE WAS THE URETHANE ADHESIVE, WHICH WAS STRETCHED OUT AROUND THE BACK OF THE QUARTER PANEL. ANOTHER INTERESTING NOTE IS THAT WHILE INSPECTING THE RIGHT REAR QUARTER GLASS, IT APPEARS TO BE SUFFERING FROM THE SAME PHENOMENON, AND MAY COME OFF AT ANY TIME. I CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP, WHICH INFORMED ME THAT MY AUTO IS OUT OF WARRANTY AND THAT THERE ARE NO RECALLS FOR THIS ISSUE AT THIS TIME. CONSIDERING THAT MY AUTO INSURANCE DEDUCTIBLE IS $500, I WAS FORCED TO PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT OUT OF POCKET FOR $338.55. *TR

OVER THE PAST TWO MONTHS OR SO MY FUEL GAUGE KEEPS FLUCTUATING DRASTICALLY. IT STARTED ONCE I HIT APPROX 62,000 MILES. IT IS OFTEN INACCURATE AND FREQUENTLY DROPS 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 TANK FOR NO REASON. I CANNOT TRUST IT AT ALL. ITS DANGEROUS BECAUSE I COULD RUN OUT OF GAS AT ANY POINT WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT'S TRULY IN THE TANK. THE ONLY WAY TO KNOW IS TO TRACK THE MILEAGE WHICH BECOMES VERY DIFFICULT IF MORE THAN ONE PERSON IS DRIVING THE CAR. *TR

THE FUEL GUAGE INCLUDING RANGE AND MILEAGE FEATURES ARE ERRATIC AND CREATE A FALSE READING ON THE ODOMETER DASH READINGS. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS AS I CAN NOT TELL WHAT THE TRUE AMOUNT OF FUEL IS LEFT IN THE SUV. THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WHICH HYUNDAI CORP. HAS KNOWN ABOUT AND REFUSES TO ANNOUNCE A RECALL. *TR

AT ABOUT 62,000 MILES THE FUEL GAUGE STARTED TO ACT ERRATICALLY. IT WOULD BE INCONSISTENT WITH THE ACTUAL AMOUNT OF FUEL THAT WAS IN THE TANK. FINALLY, IT READS EMPTY ALL OF THE TIME AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STAYS ILLUMINATED. I WAS QUOTED UPWARDS OF $800 FROM FUCILLO HYUNDAI OF SYRACUSE NY. NOW I HAVE TO RELY ON THE TRIP ODOMETER TO CALCULATE THE AMOUNT OF FUEL I HAVE. THIS ISN'T SO MUCH FUN WITH 3 CHILDREN ON BOARD. *TR

I PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE IN JANUARY OF 2009. SINCE THE BEGINNING OF JANUARY 2013, THE FUEL GAUGE IS WORKING OFF AND ON. WHEN I FILL MY TANK, THE FUEL GAUGE STOPS WORKING FOR DAYS. EVERYTIME THE GAUGE IS NOT WORKING THE ENGINE CHECK LIGHT COMES ON. I HAVE TO RELY ON MILEAGE TO DETERMINE FUEL USAGE. *TR

FUEL GAUGE DOES NOT WORK. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON WHEN THE FUEL GAUGE STOPPED WORKING. DRIVING ON AN INTERSTATE TRAVELING 65 MPH, MY SANTE FE STOPPED ACCELERATING AND SHUT DOWN ALMOST CAUSING A MULTICAR ACCIDENT. *TR

THE FUEL GAUGE ON OUR '08 HYUNDAI SANTE FE HAS RECENTLY BECOME ERRATIC. IT FLUCTUATES WIDELY (25-50%) OVER THE COURSE OF A FEW MINUTES WITH THE CHECK ENGINE AND LOW FUEL INDICATORS ALSO PERIODICALLY LIGHTING. IT HAS BECOME SO UNRELIABLE THAT WE ARE NOW RELYING ON THE ODOMETER READINGS TO ESTIMATE FUEL LEVELS. SEARCHING THE INTERNET, THIS APPEARS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS VEHICLE AND RELATES TO WEAK PINS IN THE ORIGINALLY INSTALLED FUEL SENDERS. THERE ARE SEVERAL REPORTS THAT THE APPARENT PROBLEM IS FIXED IN THE REPLACEMENT PART (VISIBLY LARGER PINS) WHICH MAKES ME QUESTION WHY THE COMPANY WOULD NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR REPLACING A CLEARLY DEFECTIVE PART. OUR VEHICLE HAS APPROXIMATELY 70,000 MILES ON IT. *TR

I TURNED ON THE CAR AND NOTICED THAT THE GAS GAUGE WAS SHOWING EMPTY AND THE ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON - I HAD JUST FILLED THE TANK UP THAT MORNING SO I KNEW I HAD PLENTY OF GAS. THE RANGE INDICATOR WAS JUST DASHES -NOT NUMERIC AS IT SHOULD BE. THE GAUGE THEN WOULD RISE UP AND THE RANGE WOULD CHANGE AND THEN IT WOULD GO DOWN AND THE RANGE WOULD CHANGE - THIS CONTINUALLY HAPPENED. I WENT TO MY MECHANIC AND HE SAID TO ZERO OUT THE ERROR AND KEEP AN EYE ON IT. THE NEXT MORNING THE SAME THING. NOW WE ARE BEING TOLD THAT THE FUEL LEVEL SENSOR IS NOT WORKING AND IT WILL COST BETWEEN 600-700 TO FIX THIS! I TOO HAVE READ ON MANY WEBSITES THAT THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT OCCURS BETWEEN THE 60K - 70K MILEAGE RANGE AND THE PARTS GUY AT HEALEY HYUNDAI IN BEACON, NY TOLD ME - OH YEAH WE ARE GETTING TONS OF THESE COMPLAINTS, THAT IS WHY WE STOCK THIS ITEM! IF HYUNDAI IS AWARE OF THIS ISSUE, WHY AREN'T THEY RECALLING THESE VEHICLES? ARE THEY WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO NOT BE AWARE OF THEIR ACTUAL GAS GAUGE AND HAVE THEIR CAR STALL OUT AT 55 MILES AN HOUR?? COME ON HYUNDAI - WE ARE LOYAL BRAND BUYERS AND THIS IS OUR 4TH HYUNDAI (SECOND SANTA FE) DON'T BECOME LIKE THE REST OF THE CAR COMPANIES AND NOT GIVE A [XXX] - FIX YOUR PROBLEMS AND YOUR CONSUMERS WILL STAND BY YOU! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR