2015 Hyundai Santa Fe UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
The driver's door is stuck, it cannot be opened.
While driving, there was a very loud pop, following by the sound of glass shattering. I was unable to tell which window was broken since it was dark outside (early morning before sunrise), but I could hear wind coming into the car. I pulled over and inspected my car, and that is when I noticed that the middle portion of the panoramic sunroof was completely shattered. Fortunately, the inside cover was closed, otherwise the glass would have fallen on top of my head & covered me in broken glass from the sunroof, as well as the front and rear seat passengers. I am grateful that my children were not in the car with me when this occurred. My safety was at risk 1), due to the loud pop/explosion sound which startled me & caused me to swerve while driving. 2) the shattered glass falling from the sunroof onto my head and the rest of my person, as well as any passengers, could have caused serious injury especially if glass had fallen into the eye of anyone inside of the vehicle, especially the driver. This could have endangered others by causing me to collide with another motorist on the roadway. Prior to the shattered sunroof, there were no warning signs to indicate anything like this would happen. No warning lamps, no visible defects, issues, or other symptoms of failure were present before this occurred. The issue of exploding sunroofs has been a well-known issue with Hyundai vehicles with panoramic sunroofs and resulted in a recall for some models of Hyundai. I contacted a local dealership after my incident, and he was aware of the unexpected shattering of the sunroofs, but advised that my vehicle was out of warranty, and that my model year was not included in the recall group, and therefore it was not covered for the incident. There are many online forums that discuss this issue for various Hyundai vehicles in the USA & Canada, including class action lawsuits regarding the issue. Photos taken of the damage for insurance claim. Stress marks seen in photos.
Hello. My sunroof glass was shattered while I was driving with a large boom sound. My vehicle has a total mileage of less than 70000 miles an it was under extended warranty. Hyundai refused to bear the repair cost.
Was driving and it just quit with smell from under hood
Summer of 2020,my engine needed to be replaced for an unknown reason, that work was done at the Herb Chambers Hyundai service department. On 4/22/2022 my car hesitated to start, it did start, I traveled about 12 miles and my engine light came on. I traveled about 3 more miles and then my car stalled in the middle of the highway, I headed to the breakdown lane very quickly. As soon as I put the car in park, the car started to smoke, I ran down the highway on foot, called 911, I turned around and my car was engulfed in flames. This whole incident went awry very quickly, about 5 minutes. I am writing in as I was offered $16000.00 as a settlement for my vehicle and all losses from Hyundai. My insurance company is offering about $1500.00 more than Hyundai. Hyundai is not even performing an inspection which was not what they communicated initially. I was told an inspection needed to be done prior to any settlement decision. Their is a known recall, I understand, recall #205, which I had not yet been notified of. I want to reiterate that no inspection on Hyundai's part was done to confirm damage/recall issue. At this point I do not have a vehicle and not in a position to buy a new car.
The driver side door latch stopped working. The door cannot be opened from the inside OR the outside. This is a huge safety risk. In an emergency, not being able to exit the vehicle could put the driver and entire car at risk of injury and death. Consider having two child seats in the back, and the child locks active. This leaves one functioning door. And if this mechanism failure is systemic, consider multiple latch failures in conjunction. Multiple passengers would have extreme difficulty exiting the vehicle safely, especially in exigent circumstances.
While driving my car on the highway, the entire electrical system shut-down including my cruise control, GPS, radio etc. Also on this same trip, the engine completely stopped (also while on the highway). Luckily I was just turning off an exit ramp and was able to barely steer it to the side of the road. The starter light was still on, but the vehicle was completely dead. Had to punch the starter light again to turn it off and then back on again. A second incident occurred while my husband was driving my car in the city just this past week. Driving on streets (not highway driving) and the car shut down unexpectedly 4 different times: once climbing a hill; once trying to pass another driver; twice for no reason. I've taken this to the dealer since it's still covered under extended warranty but since they can't find any issues, the next time I take this in it will cost me money. Of course, since the engine completely stops, nothing is recorded with sensors or computers. Help please.
At around 55,000 miles, my family vehicle displayed signs of concern by rattling and shaking- especially when I would turn the vehicle. When bringing it for regularly oil maintenance my mechanic had me listen to clear signs of distress within the engine. Knowing I drive my two children with me regularly in this vehicle, he asked me to bring it to Hyundai’s local dealership. On 3/12/2020, I waited approximately an hour and a half to be seen for my scheduled appointment only to be shooed away and told there is no issue. Nobody bothered to run testing or evaluate the issue besides a quick walk by. 7 months later, the problem has worsened and continues to leave me worried that my children and I will be left stranded due to an unreliable engine. The shaking has worsened and the car has produced concerning smells of burning. Hyundai finally admitted that I do need a new engine, but since I am not the original owner, they are not providing replacement. Hyundai engines appear to be a problem in many instances, and I fear this is another situation. Engine failure at 55,000 miles on a 5 year old car is unacceptable and proves safety is not on the forefront of Hyundai’s mission. I appreciate any assistance recalling Santa Fe engines on the 2015 model so the many families who drive this vehicle can do so safely.
On 5/28/21, while driving vehicle noticed a knocking/banging when in reverse then also began when driving. Took to local Midas dealer and was told rear differential gear was broken and needed repaired. Upon further research, Midas discovered that an upgraded coupler had been replaced on other Hyundai Santa Fe's as the old coupler wasn't protecting the gear. The coupler on my vehicle was therefore not protecting the gear in the rear differential causing it to break in half. I work in a manufacturing company (Honda of America) and could not miss work due to strict attendance policies. Local Hyundai dealership could not assist me in repair asap so had no choice but to have it repaired with Midas so that it would be ready for me to drive to work on Monday. Filed case with Hyundai to ask for reimbursement since vehicle wasn't recalled for defective coupler. They advised me to take to a local Hyundai dealership to ensure work was performed properly and correct parts were used. This cost us an additional $99 on top of the $5066 for the repair. Hyundai then told us after having the local dealership look at the work performed that because we didn't have it repaired at authorized dealership they could not provide assistance. After not accepting this response, I escalated the issue and was told Hyundai Consumer Affairs would contact us. We have yet to hear from them on any type of financial help with this costly repair that was through no fault of our own. This is a truly awful customer experience with Hyundai and am pursuing for some or all financial reimbursement.
the remedy shown for the current recall is the same as the last recall. my vehicle was inspected as per last recall recommendation and no action was performed by the dealer. why is hyundai still using the same the same remedy as per recall 194 CUSTOMERS CAN CONTINUE DRIVING THESE VEHICLES; HOWEVER, DUE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF A FIRE ORIGINATING FROM THE ABS MODULE WHILE PARKED, HYUNDAI RECOMMENDS PARKING THESE VEHICLES OUTSIDE AND AWAY FROM STRUCTURES UNTIL THE RECALL REMEDY IS COMPLETED. HYUNDAI PLANS TO NOTIFY OWNERS TO BRING THEIR VEHICLES TO THE NEAREST HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP FOR INSPECTION OF THE ABS MODULE AND IF NECESSARY, REPLACEMENT WITH A NEW ONE. IN ADDITION TO ABS MODULE INSPECTION, THE ABS MULTI-FUSE WILL BE REPLACED WITH A REVISED ONE TO MITIGATE THE RISK OF A FIRE CAUSED BY AN INTERNAL ELECTRICAL SHORT. THE REMEDY PROCEDURE WILL BE PERFORMED AT NO CHARGE TO THE CUSTOMER. HYUNDAI WILL PROVIDE REIMBURSEMENT TO OWNERS FOR REPAIRS ACCORDING TO THE PLAN SUBMITTED TO NHTSA ON MAY 16, 2018.
A PORTION OF THE SUNROOF INEXPLICABLY SHATTERED. THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY AND PARKED AT THE TIME, THOUGH THERE WAS NOTHING ABOVE, AROUND OR EVEN NEAR THE VEHICLE TO CAUSE THE DAMAGE.
WHILE DRIVING MY HYUNDAI SANTA FE DOWN A HIGHWAY AT NORMAL SPEED, THE PANORAMIC SUNROOF ON THE VEHICLE SHATTERED. THERE WERE NO CARS AHEAD OF ME TO CAUSE A ROCK TO FLY INTO THE ROOF AND CRACK IT. THERE WAS AN EXTREMELY LOUD POP SOUND WHEN THIS ISSUE OCCURRED. THIS HAPPENED WHILE MY FAMILY AND I WERE DRIVING BACK FROM A HOLIDAY TRIP. READ ONLINE THAT MANY OTHERS ARE HAVING A SIMILAR SITUATION WITH THEIR PANORAMIC SUNROOF ON THEIR HYUNDAI SANTA FE.
THE SCREEN ON THE GPS UNIT CRACKED AS I WAS CLEANING IT. I HAD THE CAR FOR 10 MONTHS WITH 7000 MILES ON THE CAR. HYUNDAI HAS REFUSED TO REPLACE THE UNIT. I AM UNABLE TO DOWNLOAD UPDATES, THE CONTINUITY IS BROKEN. THE CAR WAS PARKED AND IN MY DRIVEWAY AS I WAS CLEANING IT.
THE ELECTRONIC KEY SYSTEM OF THIS CAR HAS A BIG FLAW. THE DOORS DO NOT LOCK EVEN AFTER MULTIPLE ACTIVATION THROUGH THE LOCK BUTTON OF THE ELECTRONIC KEY WHEN THE ENGINE IS LEFT RUNNING . THE BEHAVIOR IS UNLIKE OTHER CARS SUCH AS NISSAN ALTIMA, WHICH LOCKS THE DOOR.S. THIS BEHAVIOR MAKES IT MUCH MORE LIKELY FOR SOMEONE TO INADVERTENTLY WALK AWAY FROM THE CAR WITH ENGINE RUNNING LEAVING THE DOORS UNLOCKED.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe has 14 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.