2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz: What to check before buying

Sudden loss of power is the main failure, often while merging or speeding up onto a highway. The transmission stops shifting, revs climb with little speed, or the truck goes into limp mode. Sometimes a transmission warning appears and sometimes nothing does. Dealers often cannot reproduce it, and several trucks get replacement transmissions, some before 20,000 miles. Other reports describe shuddering, hard shifts, and misfires traced to fuel injectors. One crash report describes a parked truck rolling forward while a "Shift To Park" message showed.

The clearest pattern is misfires and rough running traced to failing fuel injectors. It comes with a check engine light, shaking when accelerating, and reduced power. Some trucks need several injectors replaced over repeat visits, and dealer waits stretch to weeks. Early reports describe the engine shutting off mid-drive under 500 miles, knocking on cold starts, and power loss that a restart clears. Two owners report punctured or leaking radiators that dealers called road damage, not a warranty defect.

Stalling and sudden power loss at highway speed come up again and again here, often with no warning light. Sometimes the truck will not restart, or it restarts and runs rough. Other reports describe a backup camera that goes black about half the time and an idle stuck at 1200 RPM. Owners also report every dash warning light coming on at once and road-hazard alerts repeating after a navigation update. Several owners describe a fire risk from the tow hitch wiring, with advice to park outside and no repair available yet.

Weak low beams are the main complaint. Owners with halogen and with LED headlights say the beams reach only a short distance or have a dark spot or shadow in them. That makes night driving on unlit or curvy roads hard. Automatic headlights also switch on under shadows and overpasses, then stay on for a while and dim the dash. Dealers generally say the lights are operating as designed and offer no fix.

The truck will not accelerate past roughly 20 to 35 mph, even with the pedal pressed. Sometimes the engine revs high while speed stays flat. Most cases show no warning light and clear after shutting the engine off and restarting, which makes them hard for a shop to reproduce. The main risk is being stuck at low speed on a highway on-ramp. Other reports describe adaptive cruise and other driver-assist features shutting down, in one case after a front license plate was installed.

Fuel injectors fail repeatedly, causing hard starts and a rough, struggling idle. One owner reports a third injector failure, two on the same cylinder, with under 80,000 miles on the truck. The latest one fell outside warranty. Other reports cover an evaporative emissions vent valve stuck closed and a fuel door actuator that jams so the tank cannot be opened or closed properly. Owners also describe losing power while driving and coasting to the roadside.

No airbag deployment in a crash is the issue in all 3 complaints, and each one involves injuries, 4 in total. Reports include a box truck hitting the front and driver side at about 20 to 25 mph, and a chain collision at 40 mph in which the driver hit the steering wheel. One driver says the seat belt also failed to hold. Hyundai told one owner the impact was not severe enough to trigger deployment.

Automatic emergency braking engages for no reason, including at 62 mph and in abrupt stops on an empty freeway. Other reports describe every driver-assist warning firing one after another while the air conditioning stops blowing cold. Lane assist also steers the truck off the road or across double yellow lines. Dealers find no cause, and sensor updates do not stop the problem. One report puts the failure at 30,000 miles.