HESITATES WHEN TAKING OFF. JERKS AT ABOUT 10 MPH AND THEN AGAIN AT ABOUT 20 MPH BUT NOT AS BAD AS AT 10 MPH. HESITATES WHEN GIVEN GAS AFTER JERKING. FEELS AS IF I HAVE GOT TO ABOUT 10 MPH THEN SLAMMED ON MY BREAKS BEFORE IT WILL START TO GO AGAIN. I'M SCARED TO TRY AND PULL OUT INTO BUSY TRAFFIC. I AM WORRIED I WILL GET HIT DUE TO NOT BEING ABLE TO DEPEND THAT IT WILL GO WHEN I'M TRYING TO GO.
2017 Hyundai Santa FE complaints
Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2017 record →
I AM EXPERIENCE A HESITATION IN THE ACCELERATION FROM EITHER A DEAD STOP OR A ROLLING STOP. WHEN THE ACCELERATOR IS PUSHED, THERE IS A 1-2 SECOND DELAY IN POWER. THE ENGINE APPEARS TO CUT OUT AND THEN IT KICKS IN AND TAKES OFF. THE FIRST HAPPENED WITH 50 MILES ON THE CAR AND HAS HAPPENED OVER TWO DOZEN TIMES OVER THE NEXT 3700 MILES. NOT ONLY IS IT VERY ANNOYING, BUT HAS BEEN DANGEROUS WHEN TRYING TO ENTER A LANE TO GET UP TO SPEED WITH TRAFFIC.
VEHICLE HESITATES WHEN ENTERING FLOW OF TRAFFIC FROM A STOP OR A TURN.
THE VEHICLE :"CHOKES" OUT AT LOW SPEED OFTEN WHEN TURNING A CORNER OR FROM A SLOW START. I TOOK THE VEHICLE INTO THE DEALER AND THEY RAN DIAGNOSTICS AND DECLARED THEY DETECTED NO PROBLEM. HOWEVER, THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTS AND MAY CAUSE AN ISSUE IF ACCELERATION IS REQUIRED.
IN THE AFFECTED VEHICLE, THE WIRES IN THE CAN WIRING HARNESS ASSEMBLY AND AIRBAG WIRING HARNESS ASSEMBLY MAY BE DAMAGED BY THE PASSENGER SEAT'S HEIGHT ADJUSTER MECHANISM. A METAL 3RD PARTY POWER INVERTER WAS POSITIONED UNDERNEATH THE PASSENGER SEAT. PRIOR SEAT ADJUSTMENTS CAUSED THE SHEATH AROUND THE HARNESSES TO BECOME BARE, EXPOSING THE ELECTRICAL WIRING. THE METAL POWER INVERTER BECOME LODGED AGAINST THE WIRING CAUSING A SHORT IN THE WIRING AND CAUSING THE ENTIRE VEHICLE'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM TO FAIL. THE EPB (ELECTRONIC PARKING BREAK) BECAME ENGAGED AND IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE. ALTHOUGH ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE 3RD PARTY POWER INVERTER WAS UNDER THE SEAT, THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN DRIVEN 4 TIMES WITH IT UNDER IT, TOTALING LESS THAN 800 MILES. IT IS NOT KNOWN HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE FOR THAT BOX TO RUB AGAINST THE SHEATH ON THE HARNESS AND BARE THE WIRING, THEREFORE IT IS SUSPECTED THAT THE POWER SEAT ADJUSTER CAUSED THE WIRES TO BECOME BARE AND THAT RECALL #141 SAFETY CAMPAIGN #16V145000 MAY NOT HAVE BEEN PROPERLY RESOLVED. WE BELIEVE THE SEAT ADJUSTER CAUSED THE WIRES TO BECOME BARE, PRIOR TO THE INVERTER BEING PLACED UNDER THE SEAT. THE INVERTER WAS POSITIONED SUCH THAT IT WASN'T MAKING CONTACT WITH THE BARE WIRE, UNTIL THE SEAT WAS ADJUSTED ON 7/2/2017. THE CAR WAS NOT DRIVEN ON 7/3/2016. THE INCIDENT OCCURRED ON 7/4/216 AS THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN ACROSS RAILROAD TRACKS. IT IS BELIEVED THE INVERTER WAS THEN JARRED AGAINST THE BARE WIRE, CAUSING THE SHORT. THE DEALERS
BRAND NEW VEHICLE (1600 MILES) HESITATES WHEN I GO FROM A COMPLETE STOP AND START TO ACCELERATE AT LOW SPEEDS. MAINLY NOTICE IT WHEN TAKING A CORNER. IT SEEMS AS IF IT HAS TROUBLE SELECTING THE GEAR AND ONCE IT DOES, IT LURCHES FORWARD. DANGEROUS WHEN PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC AS THE HESITATION PUTS YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD JUST A LITTLE TOO LONG FOR COMFORT. ALSO, MY TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT WILL COME ON AROUND CERTAIN CORNERS AND LEAVES ME WITHOUT CONTROL OF THE CAR. ALSO ANOTHER SAFETY ISSUE AS AGAIN THE CAR HESITATES OR LOCKS UP BECAUSE OF THIS FEATURE AND DOESN'T ALLOW ME TO DRIVE FORWARD AS I WISH. IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER WITHOUT ANY RAIN AND DEFINITELY NO SNOW ON THE GROUND (I'D SAY PERFECT ROAD CONDITIONS) SO NO REAL REASON WHY MY TRACTION CONTROL SHOULD BE TURNING ON AROUND CORNERS. VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS ISSUE! ALSO, I SHOULD NOTE THAT THESE ISSUES HAVE BEEN HAPPENING LONG BEFORE 1600 MILES. I NOTICED THEM THE FIRST WEEK OR SO THAT I TOOK THE VEHICLE HOME SO DEFINITELY LESS THAN 500 MILES AS I BOUGHT IT NEW. FOR A BRAND NEW, FAIRLY EXPENSIVE VEHICLE I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO FEEL LIKE MY CONFIDENCE IN IT'S BASIC PERFORMANCE IS COMPROMISED.
WHEN DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR AT SPEEDS LESS THAN ABOUT 10MPH, THE VEHICLE HAS A VERY SIGNIFICANT HESITATION/ENGINE STUMBLE - ABOUT 2 SECONDS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS COMPLETELY NON-RESPONSIVE AND BOGS DOWN. HAPPENS EVERY TIME AT LOW SPEED TURNS, AND IS DANGEROUS WITH VEHICLES BEHIND. OWNED A 2014 HYUNDAI SANTA FE SPORT 2.0 TURBO AND NEVER HAD AN ISSUE WITH IT. I HOPE AND PRAY THEY CAN FIX THIS ISSUE BECAUSE THIS VEHICLE HAS A LOT TO OFFER BUT THIS PROBLEM TAKES AWAY FROM ALL OF IT. ALSO RECEIVED A SURVEY FROM HYUNDAI ENGINEERS AND IN THE "ENGINE" CATEGORY THE ONLY COMPLAINT TO PICK FROM WAS "ENGINE STUMBLES" COINCIDENCE OR ARE THEY WORKING TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE?
2017 SANTA FE SE 3.3L V-6 (3 ROW) FREQUENTLY HESITATES/STUMBLES BADLY WHEN GIVEN NORMAL ACCELERATION AT 5-15 MPH. WHEN SLOWING DOWN OR ROLLING STOP, VEHICLE SEEMS NOT TO DOWNSHIFT FROM 3RD GEAR TO 2ND GEAR CORRECTLY. CAR IS UNRESPONSIVE FOR 1-3 SECONDS, THEN THERE IS A DELAY AND LURCHING FORWARD AS THE CAR FINALLY DOWNSHIFTS AND ACCELERATES. I HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF DANGEROUS CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE THE CAR STUMBLED JUST AS I WAS ACCELERATING TO MERGE WITH FASTER TRAFFIC. THE SELLING DEALER DROVE THE CAR AND COULD NOT FIND A PROBLEM OR AN ERROR CODE IN ANY OF THE ONBOARD SYSTEMS. PROBLEM OCCURS IN ALL 3 DRIVE MODES. PROBLEM BECAME VERY NOTICEABLE AT APPROXIMATELY 200 MILES. CAR NOW HAS 1300 MILES. PROBLEM HAS NOT IMPROVED OR CHANGED SINCE I PURCHASED THE CAR NEW IN APRIL, 2016.
TRANSMISSION NOT DOWN SHIFTING WHEN RE THROTTLING OUT OF CORNERS AS IN TURNING AND WHEN TRYING TO CROSS TRAFFIC, YOU SLOW DOWN THAN HIT THE GAS AND IT FEELS LIKE IT'S IN A HIGH GEAR ,YOU SLOWLY CREEPS OUT INTO ON COMING TRAFFIC WAITING FOR THE DOWN SHIFT TO PUT YOU INTO 1 ST GEAR SO YOU WON'T BE KILLED BY ON COMING FLOW, VERY DANGEROUS, VEHICLE ONE WEEK OLD
FROM STOP, OR NEAR STOP, ENGINE CUTS OUT (STUMBLES) DURING NORMAL ACCELERATION.
TRANSMISSION HESITATES BADLY FOR ABOUT 1-2 SECONDS BEFORE GOING INTO GEAR TO MOVE CAR AFTER COMING TO COMPLETE/ROLLING STOP OR IN SLOW TURNS. TRANSMISSION DOES THIS ONLY INTERMITTENTLY. THIS CAN BE DANGEROUS FOR MERGING INTO TRAFFIC ON HIGHWAY OR STREETS DUE TO FACT THAT CAR WILL NOT RESPOND IMMEDIATELY TO DRIVER ACCELERATION INPUT. THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM SINCE WE BOUGHT THE CAR BRAND NEW 3 WEEKS AGO.
ON APRIL 15, OUR BRAND NEW SANTA FE WAS INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. WHILE DRIVING IN LOW SPEED TRAFFIC SUDDENLY, WHILE MY FIANCE REAR ENDED SOMEONE. TO THIS DAY SHE CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPENED. SHE IS A CAREFUL DRIVER, DOES NOT SPEED AND KNOWS THAT THE AREA WERE SHE WAS DRIVING IS HIGH TRAFFIC AND WAS COMING UP TO A RED LIGHT. BOTH OF HER HANDS WERE ON THE WHEEL AND SHE WASN'T ON A PHONE OR ANYTHING. SHE BELIEVES SHE HIT THE BREAKS, AND AS STATED BEFORE STILL DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. AFTER READING THESE COMPLAINTS WE ARE WONDERING IF WE HAD THE SAME ISSUE AS SOMEONE ELSE WHO REPORTED AND IS THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT. WE FIGURED WE WOULD REPORT THIS. WE ARE ALSO WONDERING IF OTHER PEOPLE ARE HAVING SIMILAR ACCIDENTS SINCE THERE HAS BEEN A MAJOR ISSUE GETTING PARTS TO REPAIR SAID CAR (CAR HAS NOW BEEN OFF THE ROAD FOR 11 WEEKS MOST PARTS REQUIRED FOR REPAIR HAVE BEEN EXTERNALLY BACKORDERED AND HYUNDAI HAS BEEN EXTREMELY UNHELPFUL TO HELP US GET OUR CAR REPAIRED). THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE LUNGED FORWARD, WHILE SLOWLY DEPRESSING THE BREAKS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. UPDATED 11/2/2017*JS
I HAVE A 2017 SANTE FE LIMITED ULTIMATE AND WHEN SLOWING DOWN TO BETWEEN 10 TO 15 MPH AND THEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE THE 3.3 LITER MOTOR 6 SPEED TRANSMISSION HESITATES WHEN DOWN SHIFTING FROM 3RD GEAR TO 2ND GEAR. THIS HESITATION LEFT ME IN INTERSECTIONS A FEW SECONDS LONGER THAN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MAKING THE CARS COMING FROM THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO ME. I'VE BEEN TO TWO HYUNDAI DEALERSHIPS AND AFTER TEST DRIVING THE CAR WITH ME THE HYNDAI MECHANICS TOLD ME THIS WAS THE WAY THE CARS WERE DESIGNED AND WITHOUT CODE LIGHTS COMING ON THEY COULD NOT FIX THE CAR. HEARING THIS FROM HYUNDAI MECHANICS WAS NOT CONFIDENCE INSPIRING TO LEARN THAT WITHOUT A CODE LIGHT COMING ON THEY COULD NOT FIND OR FIX A PROBLEM. ALSO AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS IF YOU STEP DOWN ON THE GAS TOO FAR THE CAR WILL DOWN SHIFT TO MUCH AND THE MOTOR WILL REV UP TO 6000 RPMS RESULTING THE CAR NOT ACCELERATING. I HAD A 2011 SANTE FE GLS WITH A 6 CYLINDER MOTOR AND IT SEEMED TO BE MORE RESPONSIVE THE TRANSMISSION FOR THAT YEAR SEEMED BETTER MATCHED FOR THE MOTOR AND WORKED FLAWLESSLY. HOPEFULLY HYUNDAI FINDS A FIX/UPDATE FOR THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT TO LIKE ABOUT THIS CAR.
I HAVE A 2017 HYUNDAI SANTE FE LIMITED ULTIMATE AND WHEN A PASSENGER SITS IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AND DOES NOT HAVE THERE SEAT BELT FASTENED NO AUDIBLE WARNING SOUND ALARMS TELLING THEM TO FASTEN THERE SEAT BELT. I HAVE GONE TO A HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP AND THE MECHANIC TOLD ME THAT THE AUDIBLE ALARM ONLY GOES OFF IF THE DRIVER DOESN'T HAVE THEIR SEAT BELT FASTENED. THIS DOES NOT SEEM RIGHT TO ME THEY ALSO TOLD ME THAT THEIR IS NO RECALL ON MY VEHICLE FOR THIS PROBLEM. I CALLED HYUNDAI CUSTOMER SERVICE ( 800 633-5151) AND THEY TOLD ME THE SAME THING THAT THEIR IS NO RECALL ON MY VEHICLE FOR THIS PROBLEM. ALTHOUGH I DID READ ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE THAT THEIR WAS A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM. I'M GETTING VERY FRUSTRATED WITH HYUNDAI.
PURCHASED NEW ON APRIL 17TH OF THIS YEAR. VEHICLE CONTINUALLY HAS A PROBLEM ACCELERATING FROM LOW SPEED....ROUGHLY BETWEEN 2 AND 10 MILES AN HOUR. IF YOU SLOW DOWN BUT DO NOT COME TO A COMPLETE STOP THE VEHICLE WILL HAVE A LONG PAUSE THEN LURCH INTO CORRECT GEAR. RENDERS CAR NEARLY UNDRIVEABLE AT LOW "PARKING LOT" TYPE SPEEDS. DEALER STATES THAT WITHOUT A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT THERE IS NO PROBLEM. CLEARLY THERE IS SOME SORT OF PROBLEM AS EVERY COMPLAINT I SEE IS REGARDING THIS EXACT SAME ISSUE. HYUNDAI NEEDS TO FIX THIS OR I WILL TERMINATE MY LEASE AND SEEK REIMBURSEMENT FOR MONEY SPENT ON THIS VEHICLE.
WHEN DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR AT SPEEDS LESS THAN ABOUT 10MPH, THE VEHICLE HAS A VERY SIGNIFICANT HESITATION - ABOUT 2 SECONDS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS COMPLETELY NON-RESPONSIVE. HAPPENS EVERY TIME AT LOW SPEED TURNS, AND IS DANGEROUS WITH VEHICLES BEHIND.
WHEN SLOWING DOWN THEN ACCELERATING TO A HIGHER SAY (SAY IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC) THE TRANSMISSION FREQUENTLY LUGS AND STRUGGLES TO SELECT A GEAR, RESULTING IN A SIGNIFICANT ACCELERATION DELAY. THIS POSES A SAFETY ISSUE AS A DELAY IN ACCELERATION COULD LEAD TO A COLLISION. THIS HAS BEEN AN ISSUE SINCE THE CAR WAS NEW.
I BOUGHT THE VEHICLE ON 5/7/16. ON 6/2/16 I WAS DRIVING ON HIGHWAY 395 WHEN I NOTICED SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THE CAR STARTED LOSING POWER AND EVENTUALLY DIED. WHEN I GOT IT PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD I NOTICED FLAMES COMING OUT FROM THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE. I GRABBED WHAT I COULD AND GOT OUT OF THE CAR. WITHIN 5 MIN THE FRONT OF THE CAR WAS ENGULFED IN FLAMES. I HAD APPROXIMATELY 675 MILES ON IT. I HAVE CONTACTED HYUNDAI BUT THEY HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO ME. I ORDERED A COPY OF THE POLICE REPORT BUT HAVE NOT RECEIVED IT YET. I HAVE PICTURES THAT I HAVE ATTACHED. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THIS HAPPENING TO OTHER PEOPLE. THANKFULLY I DIDN'T HAVE GRANDKIDS IN THE CAR, I'M NOT SURE I WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET THEM OUT.
THE CAR APPEARS TO HESITATE UPON ACCELERATION FROM A LOW SPEED, MOST NOTICEABLY COMING OUT OF TURNS. THE HESITATION IS RANDOM AND JERKS THE CAR FORWARD AND BACK. I TOOK IN FOR SERVICE AND THEY SAY NO FIX IS AVAILABLE. DEALER SAID IT WAS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE BUT A SATISFACTION ISSUE. THAT IS A FALSE STATEMENT, AS IT IS INDEED A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE. OTHERS HAVE INDICATED A SIMILAR PROBLEM AS WELL IN THE SANTA FE ONLINE FORUMS (HTTP://WWW.SANTAFEFORUMS.COM/ACCELERATION-ISSUES-T10953.HTML?S=8588CA5231ADDA19BDA5C53064AE9CC8&T=10953)
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. WHEN THE CONTACT DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED AGGRESSIVELY. THE CONTACT CONTINUED TO DEPRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL MULTIPLE TIMES FOR THE VEHICLE TO STOP. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED, BUT THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE COULD NOT BE FOUND. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 4,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
WHILE IN SLOW SPEEDS, THE TRANSMISSION STRUGGLES TO SELECT THE PROPER GEAR. CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO ACCELERATE FASTER TAN NORMAL, SPECIALLY WHILE TURNING AFTER REDUCING SPEED. YOU HAVE TO CONTROL THE ACCELERATION USING YOUR DRIVING EXPERIENCE, HOWEVER THIS IS NOT SAFE AT ALL. TESTED USING, ECO, NORMAL AND SPORT DRIVING MODES, THE ONLY TIME I COULDNT REPRODUCE THE ISSUE WAS WHILE ON SPORT MODE (I WANT TO DRIVE ON ECO WHILE IN THE CITY) HOPEFULLY HYUNDAI WILL TACKLE THIS ISSUE.
THERE IS A RECURRING ISSUE WITH THE TRANSMISSION WHERE IN LOW OR SLOW SPEED SITUATIONS WHEN YOU APPLY POWER THE TRANSMISSIONS STUTTERS OR STUMBLES. IT IS MOST PREVALENT WHEN TURNING IN AN INTERSECTION ACROSS ONCOMING TRAFFIC WHERE YOU NEVER QUITE STOP OR WHEN ROLLING AT STOP SIGN. WHEN YOU APPLY THROTTLE THE CAR SHIFT LOGIC SEEMS CONFUSED AT WHAT GEAR TO GO INTO SO IT JUST SITS THERE OR LURCHES, THEN TO GET GOING YOU HAVE TO APPLY FULL THROTTLE SO IT PICKS THE CORRECT GEAR TO ACCELERATE IN. THE CAUSES A HIGH SPEED REACTION IN THE VEHICLE, WHICH IS NOT SAFE EITHER. THIS VEHCILE HAS THREE DRIVING MODES. THE DEFAULT, NORMAL SETTING. ECON, AND SPORT. SPORT SETTING SEEMS TO CORRECT THIS SAFETY ISSUE, BUT IT HAS TO BE TURNED ON EACH TIME THE CAR IS RESTARTED. SPORT MODE THEN LOCKS OUT OVERDRIVE SO YOU MUST THEN PHYSICALLY RETURN THE CAR TO NORMAL MODE TO GET IT TO RETURN TO 6TH GEAR OR OVERDRIVE. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING MORE THAN 23 YEARS AND HAVE HAD PROBABLY 40 DIFFERENT VEHICLES, THIS TRANSMISSION RENDERS THE VEHICLE NEARLY UNDRIVABLE IN SOME SITUATIONS. IN CERTAIN SCENARIOS WHEN YOU REALLY NEED THE VEHICLE TO ACCELERATE IT MAY NOT AND YOU MAY BE HIT BY ONCOMING TRAFFIC, A TRAIN ETC. THIS HAS BEEN AN ISSUE SINCE THE CAR WAS DRIVEN OFF THE LOT.
Reading these
NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Full record for the 2017 Hyundai Santa FE → · Every Santa FE year → · How the figures are calculated →