Hyundai Santa FE

Which Hyundai Santa FE years should you avoid?

Going by 7,693 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Hyundai Santa FE years to avoid are 2017, 2007, 2019, 2013 and 2008.

• 2017972 complaints, 4.3× a typical Santa FE year, most often about the engine.
• 2007684 complaints, 3.0× a typical Santa FE year, most often about the airbags.
• 20192.9× the usual share of fires, crashes and deaths for a car of its age (13 fires, 16 crashes).
• 2013605 complaints, 2.7× a typical Santa FE year, most often about the engine.
• 2008541 complaints, 2.4× a typical Santa FE year, most often about the fuel and propulsion system.

1 more year cleared the same bar; it is marked in the table below.

Better bets: among years old enough for a low count to mean something, the 2021 drew the fewest complaints without an unusual share of serious ones.

Too new to judge: 2025 and 2026. Complaints take a few years to arrive, so a new model year looks better than it is.

How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →