2025 Hyundai Santa Fe: What to check before buying

On hybrid models, the 12-volt battery drains overnight. The car is left locked and dark and needs a jump or a tow. Most reports come early, between about 900 and 4,300 miles, and one comes at 18,531. Dealers often replace the battery first. In one case the fix also needed a new hybrid starter generator and a relay pack that was back-ordered. Other reports describe a dark instrument cluster and screen, a shifter that stays in Neutral or ignores Park and lets the car roll, limp mode with a Hybrid Power Control Unit warning, and phantom braking.

Cruise control shuts off mid-drive when the driver-attention camera loses sight of the driver's eyes. The car can then slow sharply at highway speed, and following drivers see no brake light. Common triggers are sunglasses, prescription glasses, and sun glare. The monitor can't be turned off while smart cruise is on. Some cars show a constant system-failure message that disables cruise. Separate reports describe hybrid limp mode holding speed to 10 to 35 mph. One crash with an injury followed unintended acceleration from a stoplight.

False inattention warnings chime every few minutes even when the driver is looking ahead, and they often cancel adaptive cruise control. Several reports say the car braked hard or slowed down on the interstate after an alert. One owner counts three hard-braking events in nearly 8,000 miles. Sunglasses and some prescription glasses are the most cited triggers, but alerts also happen without them. Dealers and Hyundai often say the system works as designed. One owner says technical service bulletin 25-GI-001H did not fix it.

Shifting and power delivery fail in several ways. The car can get stuck showing a "gear already selected" message and refuse to shut off. It can slip into Neutral and roll, or hold a low gear while revs climb. Hybrids go into limp mode with top speeds of 10 to 25 mph, and some cars rev past 5,000 rpm without gaining speed. Other reports include stalling, hesitation from a stop, a check-transmission-oil warning, and communication fault codes starting at 67 miles. One car needed a new catalytic converter. Another needed a new transmission after a whistle that started at 16,500 miles.

The washer nozzles spray too low and can't be adjusted, so the upper windshield stays dirty in snow, with bugs, and at highway speed. Wipers stop working, sometimes after snow builds up. One driver's-side wiper failed twice in three weeks. Windshields crack without impact or keep cracking, and one owner reports heavy streaking in rain at night. The rearview camera image can go blank. Safety Recall 25V-808 covers this through the camera harness. One owner had a minor backing crash before getting the recall repair.

Factory tires fail early. Sidewalls bulge or blow out between about 1,500 and 7,500 miles. Most reports involve the factory Pirelli Scorpion MS 20-inch tires, which also cause vibration at highway speed. Replacing two tires did not always stop the shaking. On one AWD SEL with Goodyear Assurance tires, the rear tread wore faster than the front and measured 3/32 inch at 6,172 miles. Dealers have declined to help, and Pirelli wants the tire shipped in for inspection before covering it.

Stiff, squeaky steering shows up after 10 to 20 minutes of driving with steering assist, or right away on cold days under 50F. Clearing it takes a full stop and restart, and dealers struggle to reproduce it. Other reports describe the wheel jerking right during a turn and sending the car over a median. Another describes a hybrid shutdown with a vibrating wheel that happened four times in 7 months. One owner also reports repeated overnight battery drain.

In rear-end crashes, belts come loose or detach from the seat. Both reports involve the vehicle being hit from behind while stopped. In one, the driver's belt stopped working and separated from the seat, the air bags did not deploy, and the car was totaled. In the other, a passenger's belt came loose near the waist. Two occupants in that crash were hurt, one with a concussion.