2023 Hyundai Santa Fe: What to check before buying

The car suddenly loses power or will not accelerate, often stuck at 20 to 35 mph while dashboard lights flash. Restarting usually brings back normal driving, and dealers often cannot reproduce the problem. Some reports blame a defective throttle body or cite electronic throttle codes. Others describe rough, lagging shifts or a transmission stuck in one gear. Most cases start early, between about 900 and 15,241 miles. One transmission failed completely at 68,000 miles. Separate crash reports say the car surged or rolled after being put in Park, hitting a building and a garage door.

Horn failure is the main problem. Both horns quit, often around 20,000 miles, and replacement horns can fail again. One owner reports four failures, and another paid out of pocket for a repeat repair. Owners note that a dead horn can fail state inspection. Other reports describe sudden power loss with battery and engine-off warnings, auto stop-start failing to restart the engine at a stop, and one complete electrical shutdown while reversing. False automatic emergency braking at highway speed also shows up here. One rental caught fire about 8 hours after it was parked.

Sudden stalls while driving lead this category. The car shuts off or drops to about 10 mph, with check engine, oil pressure, and charging system warnings and a prompt to shift to N and restart. Restarting usually clears it, and dealers often find no codes. Hybrid owners report sudden EV system failures on the highway. Other complaints cover throttle hesitation, low-speed lag from the dual-clutch transmission, a coil failure at 7,500 miles, oil consumption, and a leaking fuel injector that soaked the starter. One report says cruise control pushed the car past 110 mph.

Front rotors warp, sending shudder through the steering and the front end when braking from highway speed. It can start within the first few months of ownership, and some dealers resurface the rotors more than once. Other owners say the brakes apply themselves on the highway, the pedal sinks or locks, the ABS grabs and grinds, or the pedal is stiff on the first start of the day. In one crash with 4 injuries, a pulsating pedal failed to stop the car while parking. In one case, a wheel speed sensor was found to be the cause.

Automatic emergency braking engages at highway speeds with nothing ahead. The car slows hard, which puts it at risk of being rear-ended. Some events jerk the steering wheel or pull the car to the left. Other owners see a collision-system warning, after which the accelerator stops responding until the car is restarted. Dealers usually find no stored codes and cannot identify a cause. A smaller group of reports describes the opposite problem: forward collision warning that stays silent when it should alert.

Smart cruise control misbehaves in several ways. It can brake hard while moving into a passing lane next to a semi, climb 20 mph past the set speed, or shut off suddenly with a radar-blocked message in winter grime. One owner ties new phantom braking to a software update. Other reports describe sudden loss of accelerator power on the highway, including hybrids that show Check Hybrid System and red battery warnings. Repairs mentioned include an accelerator switch, a wheel speed sensor at 22000 miles, and a fuel injector at 44000 miles.

Belts fail to latch, come unlatched while driving, or do not lock in a collision. In one rear-end crash report, the driver's belt did not tighten and the driver's head hit the steering wheel. In another, a child in the second-row middle seat was thrown toward the center console under braking. With only 3 complaints there is no clear pattern, but every report involves a restraint that did not hold an occupant.

Both complaints in this category come from crashes. In one, the air bags did not deploy after the car went into a guardrail, and the driver adds that emergency braking and lane keeping did not activate. In the other, the air bag deployed in an intersection collision and caught fire within seconds. Both crashes caused injuries. Two reports are too few to show a pattern.