2023 Hyundai Santa FE
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Power train is the leading concern among 210 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 15th highest complaint count among 25 Santa FE model years with reports.
Of the 2023 reports, 11 involved a crash and 3 involved a fire. 15 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Trailer hitchesPark outsideMar 17, 2023
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2019-2023 Santa Fe, 2021-2023 Santa Fe HEV, 2022-2023 Santa Fe Plug-in HEV and Santa Cruz vehicles potentially equipped with a tow hitch harness installed as original equipment, or purchased as an accessory through a Hyundai dealership. Water accumulation on the tow hitch harness module printed circuit board (PCB) may cause an electrical short, which can result in a fire.
A fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury.
Owners are advised to park their vehicles outside and away from structures until the remedy is completed. Dealers will install a new fuse and wire extension kit as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed starting May 16, 2023. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 244. This recall is an expansion of previous recall number 22V-633.
Campaign 23V181000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints
210 reports, newest first.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Apr 30, 2024
Unknown issue, but the car has auto braked 2x on the interstate going 65mph. No cars were around me nor any objects in the road. It stated auto braking and sensors going off. Resolved itself within 60 seconds, but did almost cause me to be rear ended because a tractor trailer was quickly approaching me.
Power train, Apr 10, 2024
See attached document for complaint
Carry handle, Shell, Base, Chest clip, Buckle, Harness, Mar 30, 2024
The harness does not stay tight on the child’s chest. The harness was adjusted to the correct fit, when pulled to check the tightness the harness does not stay taught. It releases without pushing the release button
Other or unspecified, Mar 25, 2024
While driving on [XXX] at 65 MPH, without warning the sunroof spontaneously exploded and shattered. It produced an extremely loud bang, like a gunshot, startling me to where I almost lost control of the vehicle. There were no vehicles in front of us, no vehicles behind us, and nothing above us (not traveling under a bridge or overpass). We were traveling in the state of Mississippi at the time and it was 58 degrees and raining, NO HAIL was coming down ever. The dealer cannot explain why this would happen but would not cover it under warranty. The vehicle is brand new with 4,100 miles on it when this occurred. Insurance company is paying for the repair which is now complete. The shattered sunroof is thrown away but I have pictures of it right after it happened. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Structure, Mar 15, 2024
Sunroof exploded at highway speed glass was contained by interior fabric. Sounded like tire or gun shot . Was able to stop but frightened. Took to dealer and left it. Car has less than 3500 miles on it.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Forward collision avoidance, Mar 12, 2024
I have taken my vehicle back into the dealership because my car will sometimes unlock itself, I am constantly having to check the doors to make sure they are still locked and most of the time it has unlocked itself. Most of the time I hear it unlocking as I am walking away. It is very disturbing. It also beeps as if another vehicle is going to crash into me and most of the time there aren't any vehicles anywhere near me. The phone charger does not work, i have been having issues with this from the beginning. The steering wheel also says I have to put my hands on the wheel when I have them on the wheel. I have a video of the car going a lot of rpms and it barely moved, a golf cart passed me up. The car also locks up sometimes when I am backing up. I drive my parents to San Antonio for their Dr. appointments and am a little fearful of staying stranded either direction. My father is very ill and I am their driver. The dealer insists my car is the only one having these issues but I have read on reddit and other platforms of other Santa Fe's with similar issues. These issues do not occur ALL THE TIME, but this does occur at the most inconvenience time.
Other or unspecified, Mar 11, 2024
have read lot of complaints from the I Hyundai form and this is happening to my 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe that the Shifter system malfunction! Service Immediately light came on and it would not let the car park, reverse, go into neutral had to turn the car off. then car had to be restarted in order for it to go into park. the car only has 7388miles.The car is being worked on today 3/112023
Service brakes, Mar 7, 2024
Whilst driving the vehicle a number of warning lights appeared on the dashboard. This occurred after the vehicle was brought to a stop at a stop sign. There were no outside influences before or after the warnings began. The vehicle remained operable and was driving back to our residence approximately 1 mile away. I made an appointment with the local dealership to investigate the issue. The appointment was made for the following day. Whilst driving the vehicle to vehicle to the dealership on the following day the brakes became temporarily inoperable forcing me to leave the road and hit the right hand kerb. After pumping the brake pedal several times the brakes re-engaged and I was able to stop the vehicle. The dealership have explained that a rear wheel speed sensor (ABS) had failed and was sending messages to the the braking system which made the braking system inoperable. The dealership replaced the sensor and at this time the vehicle is operating as expected.
Visibility, Mar 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the panoramic sunroof exploded. The panoramic sunroof glass and the shades were closed. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 9,100.
Engine, Feb 29, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving on three occasions, at approximately 60 MPH, the cruise control was engaged, and the contact attempted to accelerate using the toggle and the vehicle accelerated to over 110 MPH. The brake pedal was depressed, and the cruise control was deactivated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 140.
Power train, Vehicle speed control, Engine, Feb 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving 50-65 MPH, the vehicle stalled and decelerated to a complete stop with several unknown warning lights flashing on the instrument panel. The vehicle was restarted and operated normally. The contact drove the vehicle to the dealer where several fault codes were reset. The contact continued to experience the failure and returned to the dealer where the dealer replaced the throttle assembly and later replaced a front camera with a hard code. However, the contact stated the failure persisted. The vehicle was with the dealer but was not repaired. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and provided the contact with a case number and a case manager to assist with the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,700.
Exterior lighting, Other or unspecified, Feb 16, 2024
Incident: I have been almost rear ended numerous, numerous times despite having my turn signal on an appropriate distance from my turning point. Safety Issue: The rear signal lights are small and are only located on the bumper. The location of these signal lights are way too low for most driver's to even notice them! The signal lights also look like reflectors on the rear bumper especially in broad day light, making the detection of a signal even more difficult! I do like the Santa Fe, it is my second one, but had I known that the turn signal lights were located where they are, I would have NEVER purchased this vehicle as the risk of getting rear ended is too high.
Power train, Feb 6, 2024, crash
While parking my 2023 Hyundai Sante Fe, I hard pressed the break and pushed the Park button. The engine revved up and the vehicle took off instead of going into park; smashing into a building. The parking block was 6ft from the building. The engine accelerated to a high enough speed that it totaled the vehicle completely out. The engine code readings after the vehicle was towed to a repair shop was P0112 and P0114. The mechanic says that's the initial cause of the accident. The insurance reps are supposed to be following up on the mechanics diagnostics currently. There were no warning lights or anything on before the issue occurred as this was a brand new vehicle with only 8,000 miles on it.
Power train, Engine, Feb 2, 2024
While merging into the highway at approximately 49 to 52 mph, acceleration was applied to merge into the highway between moving vehicles. The vehicle responded by greatly increasing the rpm but not applying the power to the wheels. The engine revved up with very little acceleration. After 5 to 8 seconds, the power was finally transferred to the wheels and the vehicle sped up. The vehicle behind me had to apply the brakes since I basically cut them off. This was the second incident of this type.
Lane departure, Feb 2, 2024
Vehicle does not detect motorcycles in the blind spot. I did not look over my shoulder and began moving left with a turn signal when I glimpsed a motorcycle next to my vehicle. The motorcycle quickly swerved to the left and I returned to the right lane.
Engine, Jan 1, 2024
Throttle randomly cuts off or hesitates. It has done it about 15 times Dealer says no problem found. There is a lot of reports on the internet of the same problem.
Other or unspecified, Visibility, Dec 28, 2023
Sunroof exploded while traveling at highway speeds causing glass to fall into the cabin. No impact from rocks, just exploded out of nowhere. Massive loud explosions sound
Power train, Vehicle speed control, Forward collision avoidance, Dec 19, 2023
This same scenario has happened 3 times since I purchased this vehicle - first event at mileage of 6273, 2nd event @ 7586 miles, and 3rd event @ 12,506 miles. All events were the same - while driving, dash board light start to flash and the vehicle looses all ability to accelerate. For each event, we have been able to coast out of traffic, turn the car off & restart. Once the car is restarted the acceleration works again, but the check engine light remains on along with an error code of P065312 Possible Power Train Issue. We have been very fortunate each time that we were on a road where we were able to coast out of traffic, but if this happened on a busy Interstate or Hwy traveling at high speeds we could have been rear-ended. The vehicle has been to the dealership twice for service and no problems have been found. The vehicle will be returned to the dealership tomorrow for 3rd service attempt.
Service brakes, Dec 17, 2023
This hard brake peddle pressure issue started out immediately on an occasional basis but now occurs almost every morning on first start of the day. Press on the brake pedal - it's very hard to deflect - and if you don't overpower it to deflect the pedal enough to activate the brake lights, it won't start. Once you get it started the first time, brake operation will be normal for the rest of the day. A specialty maintenance blog has covered this issue comprehensively. The Hyundai Maintenance website is apparently aware of this potential problem. According to [XXX] , it is likely caused by a malfunctioning brake booster or vacuum leak and recommends taking the vehicle to your dealer for diagnosis and repairs. This is apparently a common problem across multiple Hyundai models since there are several threads on this subject on [XXX] : [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] I took my vehicle to the dealer where I purchased it and left it with them for a couple of days, Said they had thoroughly tested the vacuum line and found no leaks or problems and that the vehicle was performing as designed. Don't know how serious this is, but I have concerns. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Service brakes, Dec 16, 2023, crash
While parking, the brakes failed. Although the brake pedal was correctly and completely depressed the car failed to stop until it hit the building causing damage to structure and injuries occurred to passengers. The brake pedal pulsated but the car did not stop. Prior to this, the brakes would sporadically pulsate while braking. There were vehicle health issues that were reported.
Visibility/wiper, Visibility, Dec 16, 2023
Windshield started to crack after 150 miles on the car from driver side spreading across whole line of sight. No visible or audible rock hit the windshield
Visibility/wiper, Dec 2, 2023
About three weeks after we bought the SUV, a small rock hit the windshield while we were driving on the freeway, causing a quarter-sized crack. We had it repaired. A week later, two more tiny chips appeared on the windshield. We didn't even notice anything hitting the windshield, and we only drove it on city roads with normal road conditions. The windshield seems to have very soft glass and gets cracked or chipped very easily in regular driving conditions. We've never encountered windshields this weak in our 20 years of driving experience. We feel it poses a potential visibility hazard for the drivers.
Forward collision avoidance, Nov 29, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the Forward Collision Avoidance system erroneously activated, causing the braking system to activate and the vehicle to veer to the left. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer on several occasions due to the failure however, a cause for the failure was not determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 1,000.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Nov 21, 2023
Upon braking hard and suddenly due to being cutoff on the interstate, it felt as if the antilock brakes did not properly engage but rather grabbed/grinded/scraped. Only when I let off the brake did they disengage. This happened the first time within 2 months of owning the car and with less than 2k miles on it, at highway speeds (65-70 MPH) and this sensation has happened probably 4 times in the 7 months I have owned the car under various scenarios of stopping quickly. In addition, it recently happened when driving 25-30 MPH and coming to a normal stop approaching a stop sign - where it felt as if the brake on the front passenger tire grabbed/grinded/scraped (but not on the 3 other tires). I have taken the car back for inspection at the dealer twice, neither time have they found any issues. In addition, one evening the stability control light flickered, sounded as if the dash was frying/sizzling with no reason - roads were not wet, no leaves, grass or other debris, etc. and speed was 25-30 - this happened twice within 3 miles. Dealer found no issue with car after performing visual inspection of wiring, check of system for code errors, nor driving test to reproduce issue. Had the brakes failed, I could have been in an accident causing serious harm to me/my passengers or whomever I could have hit. I believe the ABS system needs to be replaced or reprogrammed but the dealer refuses to acknowledge a problem exists. Online forums indicate similar (and worse) issues, also with people stating they cannot get a dealer to resolve their problems. This is a serious malfunction of either the electric or braking system in some capacity and should be fixed before people are severely injured or killed.
Exterior lighting, Nov 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at night with the low beam headlights illuminated, there was a dark shadow present in the top section of the illuminated light field causing a visibility hazard to the driver. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who confirmed the issue was present but informed the contact that the headlights were operating as intended. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 10.