2017 Hyundai Santa FE
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 967 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the highest complaint count among 25 Santa FE model years with reports.
Of the 2017 reports, 14 involved a crash and 23 involved a fire. 18 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Service brakes, hydraulic, antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip, control unit/modulePark outsideFeb 3, 2022
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Santa Fe, 2017-2018 Santa Fe Sport, 2019 Santa Fe XL, and 2014-2015 Tucson vehicles. The Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) module could malfunction and cause an electrical short, which could result in an engine compartment fire.
An engine compartment fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury.
Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will replace the ABS multi-fuse, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 31, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 218.
Campaign 22V056000 on NHTSA.gov
Engine and engine cooling, engineSep 20, 2017
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2017 Santa Fe vehicles equipped with 3.3L engines. The crankshaft assemblies may have been produced with surface irregularities in the crankshaft pin, causing engine bearing wear.
The engine bearing wear may cause the vehicle to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Hyundai will notify all owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the engine, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 6, 2017. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 168.
Campaign 17V578000 on NHTSA.gov
Latches/locks/linkages, hood, latchJun 5, 2017
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2013-2017 Santa Fe and Santa Fe Sport vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the secondary hood latch actuating cable may corrode and bind, causing the secondary hood latch to remain in the unlatched position when the hood is closed.
If the hood is not securely closed or the primary latch is inadvertently released and the secondary latch is not engaged, the hood could unexpectedly open while driving, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will replace the secondary latch cable, free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2017. Owner's may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-671-3059. Hyundai's number for the recall is 163.
Campaign 17V358000 on NHTSA.gov
Tires, pressure monitoring and regulating systemsMar 6, 2017
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2017 Santa Fe Sport vehicles. The affected vehicles have a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) that may not have been set in the correct mode during vehicle assembly, and therefore will not provide an appropriate warning in the event of an underinflated tire. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."
An underinflated inflated tire can increase the risk of a crash.
Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will replace the TPMS sensors, free of charge. The recall began March 31, 2017. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-800-633-5151. Hyundai's number for the recall is 159.
Campaign 17V142000 on NHTSA.gov
Electrical system, wiringNov 21, 2016
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Tucson vehicles manufactured May 19, 2015, to November 14, 2016, and 2017 Santa Fe vehicles manufactured November 28, 2015, to November 14, 2016. The affected vehicles may be equipped with an accessory trailer hitch wiring harness that, due to a malfunction of the tow hitch module, may result, in the trailer brake lights being constantly illuminated. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, " Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."
If the trailer brake lights stay illuminated while being used, other drivers may be confused, increasing the risk of a crash.
Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will replace the affected accessory trailer hitch wiring harnesses, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin January 13, 2017. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-800-633-5151. Hyundai's number for this recall is 153.
Campaign 16V842000 on NHTSA.gov
Seat belts, front, warning light/devicesMar 10, 2016
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Santa Fe vehicles manufactured September 1, 2015 to February 12, 2016. In the affected vehicles, the wires in the front seat belt buckle harnesses may be damaged by the seat's height adjuster mechanism, resulting in a failure to provide an audible warning when front seat occupants do not fasten their seat belts. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
Without a warning to remind the front seat occupants that their seat belts are not buckled, they may forget to buckle their seat belt, increasing their risk of injury in the event of a crash.
Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and reroute the wires in the front seat belt buckle harnesses to their proper locations, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on April 27, 2016. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-800-633-5151. Hyundai's number for this recall is 141.
Campaign 16V145000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: engine
668 reports, newest first. Show all
Electrical system, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Mar 10, 2024
Vehicle has intermittent engine stalling, but is still running. Possible dangerous situation if making left turn with oncoming traffic. This has happened to many times since my owner ship. Bought this car used. I am 2nd owner. 33k mi when purchased in 3-2021
Other or unspecified, Engine, Mar 8, 2024
I was driving down the highway when my vehicle shut off. After pulling off on the highway and opening the hood, there was a notice that the engine had overheated. Upon inspection, there was no oil nor any coolant left in the engine. I have records to demonstrate regular maintenance, and oil changes every 5000 miles
Engine, Mar 5, 2024
2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Ultimate with 88K miles experienced knocking while driving. Immediately stopped and was towed to dealership. Dealership diagnosed failure of rod bearing on cylinder 1. Motor could have seized up and caused accident on highway. Dealership has inspected. No lights or warnings present when this occurred.
Engine, Mar 3, 2024
My wife was driving our kids to school and got onto the highway when the vehicle lost power. There were no warning lights before the engine failure. The engine stopped running and she was just able to coast off of the highway. The check engine light came on as well as the high temperature and other warning lights. My wife turned the car off and let it sit for a couple of minutes while she called for help. When she started the car again there was no check engine light or other warning lights. She drove the kids to school but noticed the car was lacking power. I met her at the kids school and plugged in my OBDII reader and no issues were logged on the ECU. I drove the car to the dealership and the car had very little power. The dealership looked at the vehicle and a couple of days later they told us that we needed a new engine because ours was knocking due to failed crankshaft bearings. The block, pistons, and heads were replaced by Hyundai under warranty and not available for inspection. The dealer said that they had over 20 cars at their dealership with failed engines. It took the dealer 7 months to replace the motor under warranty due to the high volume of failed engines and difficulty finding a replacement engine. Hyundai settled a lawsuit on their Theta-2 engine (4cy) however ours is a Lamda-2 engine (6cy). The vehicle never showed a low oil warning, engine knock warning, or check engine light prior to failure. We recently sold the vehicle and saw the dealership didn't report the engine replacement on the carfax (image with short block replacement). They only listed the block replacement and didn't disclose the engine replacement. I provided example from a similar vehicle on autotrader with a carfax showing similar vehicle that I believe had an engine failure without full disclosure. Hyundai has vehicles on the road that have faulty engines that don't give warnings before failure. Hyundai dealers are not reporting the engine replacements fully to avoid a recall.
Engine, Mar 3, 2024
Engine stalled multiple times while driving. Took it to the dealer, and the entire intake side camshaft bank and all 4 phasers had to be replaced. Engine only has 128K miles on it and has been serviced on schedule, so this should not be occurring.
Power train, Engine, Mar 1, 2024
My wife was driving down the freeway to work during morning commute when her 2017 Santa Fe just lost power, was only able to go maybe 20mph which during an early morning Bay Area commute is very dangerous... No engine light or any warning lights, this lasted for a couple miles until the next exit she pulled off still no warning indicators showing, she turned off the car for a few minutes, then turned it back on to continue to work there was still almost no power but no indicators on the dash, finally after a few minutes started driving normal again. The next day when she was on her way to work, she started getting an oil light, I drove 45min to her job checked and oil level was fine, turns out oil pressure sensor was bad. After that was replaced everything seemed normal for around 1month or so then noticed excessive oil consumption, needing to add 1qt every 1500-2000 mi, no oil leaking onto out driveway and can't see any oil leaks visually around engine. Oil consumption has gotten progressively worse, we keep it topped off every couple weeks. No we are getting check engine light and tapping sound on passenger side of engine. Codes P0346, P0021 and P0087, power is fine but tapping sounds bad and worried of failure while driving.
Engine, Feb 28, 2024
Catastrophic engine failure.
Engine, Feb 28, 2024
Oil changes up to date and all of a sudden oil is gone, no leaks per the servicer. Engine started knocking but it is not one that is on recall. No low oil warning lights came on or anything. Now its costing half the price of the value of the car to repair which is over $7k and its not yet paid off and I got this vehicle 08/2022. This is just sad and no on can tell me why this is doing this on so many vehicles with my car vin range.
Engine, Feb 26, 2024
Failed crankshaft rod bearing
Engine, Feb 25, 2024
Engine bearing failure, sudden and without warning. Engine started to use oil between oil changes. Loud knocking started suddenly during starting and then continuous knock while running. Identical with issues related to recall 168, but my VIN does not show that recall effects my vehicle.
Engine, Feb 23, 2024
Purchased Sante fe .August 2020.cash purchase I had the vehicle check by dealership several times regarding oil leakage ,, oil consumption..july 2023 stranded in texas after oil pressure switch replaced but no oil was put back in car.. [XXX] stranded in AR with children. The ENGINE BLEW AT exactly 100000MILES.failed Engine, towed car back to Missouri ....Napleton Hyundai indicated there is a warranty on the Engine only for Rod ?. Failed engine is a failed Hyundai consumer affairs .denied claim but agreed the car still has an e Engine warranty..only if rod is blown? The #3valve burned up no compression? July 2020 a recall was in place for the engine... August I purchase the vehicle with NO knowledge of possible Engine failure or recall.. Napleton informed and offered $500.00 towards a 12000.bill Now is 2024. I am without ,my life savings . Without a vehicle. My everyday has been disrupted .Napleton Hyundai cars are not safe .I am glad I was not traveling at night.when the car suddenly Died..it could have been a tragedy. Thank you please look into how safe and reliable the used cars are if not safe..used Hyundai SHOULD NOT BE SOLD..THANK YOU INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Engine, Feb 20, 2024
While driving at approximately 70MPH. The car went into limp mode. slowing down and eventually coming to a stop, after towing the car to a mechanic. we found out that a valve broke in the cylinder head damaging the Cylinder and engine block. Engine and Cylinder head needs to be replaced.
Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Feb 20, 2024
Vehicle gave no indication oil level was low. Traveling I24 East, the vehicle began to stall, preventing any speed above 40MPH. After settling along the shoulder of the highway I checked the Oil reservoir which was completely empty. No indication was given that Oil was needed. Vehicle had not met the Month or Milage requirement for needed oil change.
Power train, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Feb 19, 2024
Oil compsumption noted and leakage noted by mechanic. Informed me could cause a fire in engine compartment. Unsafe to drive. I rented a car. . Engine burning oil, high oil consumption, oil leak. Reported to Hyundai. Took vehicle to Kerry Hyundai, Alexandria, Ky. Was informed that Hyundai won’t take care of it. Filed a complaint. Mediation through The Better Business Burrau. Claim was denied. I was not driving the car for a couple weeks. I am guardian of 2 school age children transporting to and from school and activities and was concerned for our safety. Took vehicle to Superior Hyundai, Cincinnati, Ohio for an oil change and reported an oil leak. Was informed there was no oil leak. Had oil changes at Valvoline, Newport,Ky, No report of oil leak. Walmart, Ft Wright ,Ky pointed out leak from oil pan. Replaced oil pan. Check engine light came on. Took vehicle to Konen’s Pittstop , Bellevue, Ky who repaired oil leak. Continued oil check for consumption. Again check engine light illumination. Recently Replaced spark plugs & wires, catalytic converter. Engine running rough. Valves going bad. If car stalls on highway an accident could occur. Hyundai has a recall in the same year and make but not for those manufactured in the state of Alabama. The dealership inspection was about a year ago at Kerry Hyundai, Alexandria, Ky. They only recommended oil changes. I cannot afford the additional engine repairs. Hyundai has prior knowledge of the engine defect and refuses a recall thereby endangering peoples lives.
Engine, Feb 16, 2024
This vehicle hit 100,000 miles and starting not running normally. After stalling out in the middle of an interstate with a baby and elderly parent, the car had to be towed to a mechanic. Mechanic said the internal engine is failing, timing belt, timing crankshaft are going along with excessive oil consumption. The check engine light came on directly before stalling and breaking down which gave no time to try to pull off the road. Hyundai will not help seeing as how this vehicle has TWO warranty’s that expired just 1k miles ago. This is a danger to us, the owners, because we could’ve easily been involved in a major accident on an interstate due to this engine failing out of the blue. The manufacturer has not diagnosed the issues because they want $250/hr to diagnose.
Engine, Feb 15, 2024
While driving my 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport at approx 50 mph, i notice the vehicle sputtering & slightly jerking as I was going up an incline on a tall bridge. I barely made it to the top when the engine light came on & the engine failed & thankfully was able to coast downhill & pull off on the side of the road. I tried several times to restart the car to no avail. I had the vehicle towed to my mechanics shop. I had already been warned by them during an oil change that my vehicle was using excessive oil & to be watchful of that which I had been. I was using about 2 quarts of oil per week prior to t he engine failing. There were NO LEAKS, the oil was just blowing through. After changing all cylinders, the engine was still not working and I was told a new engine would be needed. (I had had cylinders replaced BEFORE I knew this was going to be such a big deal) I had the vehicle towed to Hyundai Dealership in Daphne AL where weeks and weeks of inspections and negotiations went on, all to be denied repair or replacement. Hyundai knows this engine is a problem but will use any excuse to get out of replacing it. Time to file a complaint. There are MANY out there just like me, just not enough to have an official recall I guess. A recall should definitely be considered. My car has been sitting for 4 months while I tried to negotiate with Hyundai but now I have no choice but to buy an engine & have it installed. VERY FRUSTRATED!
Power train, Engine, Feb 15, 2024
I first brought my car into a Hyundai certified service center after my car shook violently and my check engine light started flashing at me. I had to pull over on the side of a busy highway which is a safety risk on it's own. the Hyundai service center "fixed" my car and I was on my way. this was In September of 2023. on February 14th 2024 the same thing happened leaving me stranded on the side of another busy highway during rush hour traffic. I got the car towed to a dealer and they are telling me I need to replace my engine since there is a malfunction with the exact same parts that they replaced in September. In September They pretty much rebuilt my engine and now, less then 6 months later, they are telling me my engine is shot and needs to be replaced. How could $6,000 worth of engine parts fail after less than 6 month? not only is that not stable financially for anyone who owns one of these vehicles, it is a huge safety risk! even if I do replace the engine in my car, when will it go out again? 5 months? maybe 6 if I am lucky? at least the last 2 times, I was lucky enough to be in the right lane already and make it to the side of the road in time. What happens if that is not the case next time?
Engine and engine cooling, Feb 14, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving and accelerating from 10-30 MPH, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving and depressing the accelerator pedal, and while starting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the engine had failed. The mechanic determined that the engine needed to be replaced, and the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V578000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer was contacted and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000.
Engine, Feb 9, 2024
While driving in rush hour on interstate 75 on my way to work, my 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe completely shut off without any warning lights or indication of any problems. I had to drift without power in my vehicle to the far right shoulder over 4 lanes of traffic. I was towed to a Hyundai dealership who confirmed my engine seized due to a rod bearing issue. A rod was thrown due to engine wearing bear.
Engine, Feb 7, 2024
Urgent Petition for Rulemaking and Safety Investigation into Hyundai 3.3L V6 Lambda II Engine Failures. See Attachment For Details
Engine, Feb 3, 2024
1. the emission control symbol has come on 2 or 3 times recently, mechanic says they don't show a problem and owner's manual says not to drive until this problem has been resolved. I have oil leaking on driveway, had it back in 3 times for that and they don't find anything. I have had fuse for accessories replaced twice and first time I try to charge phone it blows the fuse. Had this car since 2019.
Engine, Feb 2, 2024
This incident involved our 2017 Sante Fe XL V6 with Lamda II engine with 61,000 miles. Up until this incident, we have had zero issues or warnings from the car of any problems. My husband was driving and slowing as he was approaching a light, while without any warning, the car stopped responding (electrical shutoff and gas would not accelerate). This was in the middle of a two-lane road with speed limits of approximately 40mph. Luckily, there were no others around him at the time of the incident. Upon taking it to an independent dealer, they diagnosed the issue with an engine knock and told us we needed a new engine. After transporting to the Hyundai dealer, they indicated it was a timing issue and needed to replace all CVVT and timing components. They did not investigate the knocking sound and admitted the repair of the CVVT could still result in the engine failing. I mention this because it is clear this engine issue is widespread and known. And yet, despite knowing this, this Hyundai dealer was willing to knowingly put me, my family, and the general public at risk for a more catastrophic engine failure in heavy traffic. Until Hyudani is forced to address this issue, this will continue to put countless lives a risk.
Engine, Jan 31, 2024
Catastrophic engine failure while driving - engine rod punched a hole through the engine. Up to date on oil changes, no lights on until it happened.
Engine, Jan 30, 2024
The vehicle has a very significant oil consumption issue. We are putting oil in every couple weeks but there is no sign of oil leaking out of the car. While driving the car on the highway one day, the car started to sputter and shake badly. We took the car to a mechanic and we were told the compression in #4 was shot. We just had the car inspected at the local dealership a month prior and nothing was indicated as being wrong.
Engine, Jan 29, 2024
Noticed a slight loss of power on a 4 hour road trip. When we stopped for gas the vehicle was shaking at lower rpm and the engine light came on at that point. I took it to a mechanic within 45mins of noticing the issue and it was scanned and a few other tests. Mechanic said cylinder 6 was misfiring, spark plug was covered in oil and compression test showed less than 20 psi. He said we were lucky to make it into town like that and we did not get stranded as there is poor service where we were. I had to get the vehicle towed approx 300km and sort out rides for my family along with a vehicle full of hockey gear and a weekends worth of clothes food. The problem has not self corrected. I will be taking it to my local mechanic to get a 2nd opinion. Currently the vehicle will continue to sit in my front yard until Hyundai wants to fix it for free.