Aug 13, 2012Engine
THE ENGINE STALLED THE 4TH TIME. DEALERSHIP COULD NOT REACH A DIAGNOSIS AND UNABLE TO FIX IT.. *TR
NHTSA ODI 10470435
Home · 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport · Complaints
What 352 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
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)
228 of 352 complaints match · Engine · clear filters · page 10 of 10
Aug 9, 2012Engine
I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY, AND NOTICED A TICKING SOUND. OVER 2 MILES IT BECAME PROGRESSIVELY WORSE UNTIL IT WAS A LOUD KNOCKING. I HAD TO EXIT ONE FREEWAY, AND MERGE TO ANOTHER, BEFORE I COULD GET TO AN ACTUAL EXIT. UPON TRYING TO ACCELERATE TO SPEED TO MERGE, THE KNOCK BECAME SEVERE, I LOST COMPRESSION, AND THE SUV DIED. THERE WAS A PUFF OF SMOKE OUT OF THE EXHAUST AND I ROLLED TO THE SHOULDER. AFTER BEING TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP I FOUND OUT THAT THE #4 ROCKER ARM HAD SHOT THROUGH THE ENGINE BLOCK CAUSING A HOLE IN THE ENGINE. *TR
NHTSA ODI 10470030
Aug 7, 2012Engine
THE VEHICLE ENGINE STALLED RANDOMLY DURING DRIVING, TOTAL 4 TIMES, ALMOST CAUSING 4 ACCIDENTS. THE DEALER MECHANIC INSPECTED THE VEHICLE BUT COULD NOT FIND THE CAUSES FOR THIS PROBLEM AND THEREFORE WAS UNABLE TO FIX IT, LEAVING THE VEHICLE IN A STATUS WITH TREMENDOUS SAFETY CONCERNS. *TR
NHTSA ODI 10469577
Working with the data? Download all 352 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 23, 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 Sport verdict →