2025 Hyundai Santa FE
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Electrical system is the leading concern among 134 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 23rd highest complaint count among 25 Santa FE model years with reports.
Of the 2025 reports, 5 involved a crash. 4 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Seat belts, front, anchorageApr 6, 2026
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Hyundai Ioniq 6, 2023-2026 Genesis G90, 2024-2026 Hyundai Santa Fe, and Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid vehicles. The driver and passenger seat belt anchors may detach.
A detached seat belt anchor will not adequately restrain the seat occupant, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
Dealers will inspect and reinforce or replace the seat belt anchors, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed beginning May 29, 2026. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460 and Genesis customer service at 844-340-9741. Hyundai's numbers for this recall are 298 and 032G. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov April 8, 2026.
Campaign 26V218000 on NHTSA.gov
Air bags, side/window, curtainNov 21, 2025
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025 Tucson, 2025-2026 Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Hybrid, and 2026 Genesis GV70 vehicles. The side curtain air bags may not have been installed properly, which can cause the air bags not to deploy as intended.
Side curtain air bags that do not deploy as intended increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Dealers will reinstall the side curtain air bags, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed beginning December 29, 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's numbers for this recall are 289 and 029G. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on November 22, 2025.
Campaign 25V809000 on NHTSA.gov
Back over prevention, display functionNov 21, 2025
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2024-2025 Santa Fe and Santa Fe Hybrid vehicles. The rearview camera may not have been installed properly, which can damage the wiring harness and cause the rearview camera image not to display. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."
A rearview image that does not display reduces the driver's view behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will replace the camera wiring harness, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed beginning January 15, 2026. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 288. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on November 22, 2025.
Campaign 25V808000 on NHTSA.gov
Electrical system, starter assemblyOct 2, 2025
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2024-2025 Santa Fe vehicles. The B+ positive terminal cover on the starter motor assembly may be improperly installed, which can cause an electrical short during a crash.
An electrical short increases the risk of a fire.
Dealers will inspect and reinstall the starter motor terminal cover, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed beginning October 22, 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 285. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 4, 2025.
Campaign 25V659000 on NHTSA.gov
Engine and engine cooling, critical fastenersAug 26, 2025
Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Tucson and Santa Fe vehicles. The connecting rod bolts in the engine may have been improperly tightened, which can cause a loss of drive power and engine damage, possibly resulting in an oil leak.
A loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash. An oil leak in the presence of hot engine components can increase the risk of an engine compartment fire.
Dealers will replace the engine, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 23, 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 281.
Campaign 25V549000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints
134 reports, newest first.
Power train, Jul 1, 2025
I have had issues with my dual-clutch transmission slipping gears in multiple ways while driving; most commonly while in drive and going downhill the tachometer will aggressively rev when just idling and without pressing the accelerator. Also, when trying to reverse out of a parking space on an incline or decline multiple times I have rolled forward as if in neutral and receiving no power to back the vehicle in reverse. Previously owned a 2023 sonata with similar transmission issues and blew a cylinder on the highway within a year of ownership(engine knocked out while driving about 65 and just lost power and had to pull over on side of highway. Went to dealership yesterday for regular maintenance and told them about transmission issues. They checked vehicle for any tcu updates and there were none. Test drove it and said it was driving normal. I know it’s not driving normally/safely. What can I do?
Electrical system, May 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and taking her eyes off the road ahead, there was a warning chime and a red warning light illuminated, advising the driver to "Consider taking a Break". The contact stated that the safety feature is the Driver Monitoring: Camera/Sensor and the safety feature was activating while turning her head or moving her eyes from looking ahead. The contact stated that the chime was loud and was distracting while driving. The contact stated that the failure was almost constant. The contact called a local dealer and was advised that the system could not be deactivated. The dealer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the issue. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 700.
Other or unspecified, Apr 11, 2025
When approaching red light at low speed, about 3mph, the engine cut off in traffic, "apply brakes" or similar, started strobbing across the screen and then it said to put in park. The pedals were not working for brakes. Car came to a stop and put it in park and started it again. The Sante Fe has 3150 miles on it. No other issues.
Electrical system, Service brakes, Apr 10, 2025
Vehicle fails to appropriately recognize when it is put in Park. The dash shows a "P" indicating the vehicle is in park, but emits a continuous beeping sound with a message on the dash that reads, "Auto Stop is Off. Shift to P or N and start engine manually." However, when pressing "P" as it states I must do, it then reads, "Gear already selected," before returning to the previous message. This is all while a "P" is illuminated and beeping is continuous. Throughout this time, if the brake is released, the car begins driving forward as though it is in Drive, not Park. I have 3 separate videos of this happening.To answer the above questions: The vehicle has repeatedly been inspected by a Hyundai dealership and each time I am told the issue cannot be replicated. I am happy to have it inspected again. It most certainly puts my safety and others at risk as it continues driving after I have engaged park. No police or insurance representatives have yet inspected it. No others warnings or messages appear before it occurs, only during. The issue first started just before 5k miles on the car and has since occurred at least 5 more times.
Vehicle speed control, Mar 16, 2025
I am unable to use speed control while wearing sunglasses due to the driver attention monitoring. It would be dangerous to drive without sunglasses.
Vehicle speed control, Forward collision avoidance, Mar 7, 2025
The sensor always goes off stating my eyes aren't on the road to the point it trys to stop the vehicle in traffic. This prevents me from being able to use cruise control because the sensor is causing issues by not detecting my eyes
Back over prevention, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 26, 2025
The Hyundai Bluelink system in my car, which interfaces with interfaces with almost all other computer-controlled systems on the car and through which software updates can be received and installed fails to work on an intermittent basis and the onboard system gives no warning when the Bluelink system has an outage or other malfunction. Large numbers of Hyundai vehicles suffered Bluelink outages beginning in early February 2025 so that system such as Collision-avoidance, emergency braking functions, and "SOS" crash notifications and owner assistance required functions cannot be relied upon. Some owners were notified by an email that their vehicles "may" have a problem and/or "might" need to have a Technical Service Bullitin done by a dealership. No distribution by model, year, or VIN and no mention of the problem as an "outstanding recall or campaign" on the MyHyundai website so that owners might be able to find out about this problem. I have tried to get answers on what the problem was, asked why the first repair campaign done on my car failed to work, why the system suddenly conncected on its own (no notice, no owner intervention to connect), and why did the system then fail again less than 40 days later. Hyundai corporate (case number [XXX]) and Hyundai Bluelink (case number [XXX]) have make promises, broken promises and fail to even provide answers and spend most of their time blaming each other. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Vehicle speed control, Forward collision avoidance, Jan 27, 2025
The forward attention warning (FAW) on the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe calligraphy can not be deactivated. Correction, it can be turned off for normal driving. For instance, driving around the city or not using smart cruise control. As soon as you turn on the smart cruise control it's reactivated and can't be turned off. The FAW does not work when using prescription sunglasses / non prescription sunglasses or if the sun is hitting the inside of the cabin a certain way. The FAW constantly flashes warnings and beeps at you even though you are looking forward and keeping your eyes on the road. If you look far down the road you shift your eyes up some, and the system beeps and flashes warnings to keep your eyes on the road. On a recent 230 miles trip I did not wear my prescription sunglasses / non prescription sunglasses and the FAW system went off at least 50 plus times and I had my eyes on the road at all times. Very distracting, I then had to take my eyes off the road to see why it was beeping and telling me to keep my eyes on the road. The FAW system actually makes for a stressful and distracting drive. At this time the FAW is useless. I took the vehicle to the dealer and the FAW is not a system that can be turned off. Hyundai needs to allow the dealers to be able and deactivate the system.
Vehicle speed control, Other or unspecified, Dec 24, 2024
Hyundai Distracted Driver feature is FAULTY and VERY hazardous! If someone puts on sunglasses to drive SAFELY, the vehicle says you ARE distracted; and cuts the cruise control and starts braking on its own. VERY BAD!!! The vehicle is almost undrivable. Many others are having their dealerships buy their Hyundai Santa Fes back because they are nearly undrivable and are a general US roadway hazard, due to the way the faulty "Distracted Driver" feature kills cruise control AND actually distracts drivers constantly ... causing very unsafe driving conditions. Might have to get our dealership to buy back our brand new 2025 Santa Fe Limited (as MANY others have already done). The Distracted Driver feature actually distracts drivers constantly AND causes unsafe and hazardous driving conditions. Please ... please ... please strongly compel Hyundai to fix this A.S.A.P., by Hyundai issuing a patch to their system update that allows drivers to turn off/disable the hazardous "Distracted Driver" feature. Hyundai Community Posts: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)