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What 352 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe Hev

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (352)Crash / fire / injury (41)Engine (228)Electrical system (43)Speed control (40)Brakes (28)Transmission & drivetrain (24)Steering (16)Suspension (14)Fuel system (12)Lights (12)Body & structure (7)

1 of 352 complaints match · Steering · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Jan 30, 2019SteeringBrakesEngineCrash

WHILE DRIVING THE ENGINE WOULD DECELERATOR THEN CUT OUT. I CAN BE ON THE HIGHWAY GOING SPEED LIMITS OF 70 OR ON A SIDE STREET GOING 30 OR UNDER. IT EVEN HAPPENED WHEN I PULLED OUT OF MY DRIVE WAY AND DROVE DOWN MY STREET (4 HOUSES DOWN) AND GOT TO MY CUL-DE-SAC AND ALL POWER SHUT DOWN. NEIGHBOR HAD TO STOP TO AVOID HITTING ME BECAUSE I WAS ROLLING AND COULD NOT STOP. ALL POWER TO STEERING WHEEL AND BRAKES WOULD BE NON OPERATIONAL. I HAVE TO MANUALLY PULL THE WHEEL TO ONE SIDE TO AVOID TRAFFIC, CAUSING AN ACCIDENT, OR FROM BEING HIT BY HEAD ON TRAFFIC. THE FIRST OCCURRENCE WAS IN FEBRUARY OF 2017 AND THE MOST RECENT WAS JANUARY 18TH ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK. IT HAS HAPPENED TO US OVER A DOZEN TIMES AND FOUND BLOGS THAT STATE THAT HYUNDAI DENIES THAT THIS IS HAPPENING.

NHTSA ODI 11173180

Working with the data? Download all 352 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 14, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe Hev verdict →