What 604 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Hev

I was driving the vehicle on the left lane of the freeway and the acceleration suddenly gave out. The car began to slow even when I pushed on the gas. Heat gage was fine and no lights went on. I quickly got over 4 lanes of traffic to the next exit and was able to pull over to the side of the road. White smoke began to billow out of the hood on the offramp and all the emergency light indicators came on at once. I turned the car off and the smoke turned black. I popped the hood and flames leapt out from under the hood. I jump out of the car and ran, leaving everything behind. I got safety away from the car and called 911. All of this happened within 2 minutes of losing acceleration. I typically have my two children in car seats in the car for school drop off and, [XXX] , they weren't with me. The fire overtook the front quickly and spread to the main cabin. By the time the fire department arrived (appx. 5-7 min) the car was completely engulfed. Nothing was salvaged. There is a fire report with the fire department. The police were not called. The car had gone through a full inspection and oil change one month prior and had no warning signs or issues. I lost a number of things in the car, including my purse, work items, kid's items, car seats, etc. Just after the incident, I developed a cough and severe headache that lasted two days. I also twisted my knee while running away, exacerbating an old injury. I am also dealing with acute mental health symptoms and am seeing a psychologist. I have not yet returned to work due to brain fog and exhaustion. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11581902

My car engine compartment fire while parked in front of my condo

NHTSA ODI 11551311

The vehicle started to stall and smoke started to come from the engine compartment. People started yelling the vehicle was fire. Vehicle stopped in the road and burst into flames. Fire department and police were called to scene. Vehicle was a total loss.

NHTSA ODI 11463549

We pulled off the highway to get gas and noticed smoke coming from the hood. We immediately parked at the gas station and my husband, our dog and I got out of the car and within minutes the entire front of the car was in flames. Several passersby stopped and sprayed the fire with their fire extinguishers. We called 911 and the fire department quickly arrived and put out the fire, but the entire front of the car was destroyed. The front of the car melted along with the windshield from the intense heat. The police inspector came and inspected the car and took photos. The car was then towed and our insurance company took possession of the car. There were no warning lights or messages prior to the failure. The only thing we noticed was a slight hesitation in power as we climbed a hill several times in the half hour preceding the failure. My husband, my dog and I would have been in mortal danger from the fire if we had not stopped immediately and gotten out of the car. The safety of other people nearby had also been at risk if the fire department had not arrived so quickly to put out the fire as the smoke began as we were entering the gas station and parked about 50 feet from the gas pumps to escape the vehicle. We have no idea what caused the fire. The engine had been replaced by Hyundai due to a defect that had caused it to fail about 2 years prior to the current failure.

NHTSA ODI 11420699

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. THE CONTACT STATED THEY WOULD HEAR A KNOCKING COMING FROM THE ENGINE OF THE VEHICLE AND THE CHECK 20V1442TH SMOKE BENG SEEN DUE TO A FUEL INJECTOR FAILURE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT EXCESSIVE SMOKE WOULD COME OUT FROM THE EXHAUST OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A CERTIFIED MECHANIC WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE ALTERNATOR AND FUEL INJECTOR FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE FAILURES CONTINUED. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP (HUNTINGTON BEACH HYUNDAI ADDRESS: 16751 BEACH BLVD, HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA 92647 PHONE: (714) 594-5604) WHO DIAGNOSED THE VEHICLE WITH THE DIAGNOSTIC CODE FAILURE: P0299, WHICH, STATES THAT THE VEHICLE'S UNDER BOOST TURBOCHARGER HAD FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPAIRED. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEN REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND OPENED A CASE REGARDING THE MATTER. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 131,000.

NHTSA ODI 11319845

THE CAR WENT OF FIRE ON HIGHWAY

NHTSA ODI 11318025

I OWN A 2013 SANTA FE AND I HAVE HAD SEVERAL ISSUES WITH IT, THE ENGINE BEING REPLACED DUE TO FAILING WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, IT WAS SERVICED WITH A FEW OTHER ITEMS DEALER FOUND TO BE NEEDED FOR SOME RECALLS. BUT NONE I CAN RECALL FOR SURE WAS REGARDING THE ENGINE ITSELF, WILL NEED TO CHECK SERVICE RECORDS. THEN LATER IT WAS THE FUEL PUMP(INJECTOR) NEED TO VERIFY SPECIFICS, BUT GAS FUMES AND SMOKE COMING FROM THE ENGINE AND THIS WAS REPLACED, THEN LATER AGAIN HAD TO TAKE IN AGAIN FOR REPAIR DUE TO SERVICE ERROR OF TUBING BEING BENT ECT WHEN INSTALLED, NOTICED THE HIGH AMOUNT OF GAS FUMES AND SMOKE FROM THE ENGINE AND INTO THE CABIN. THIS WAS A FEW MONTHS AGO, THEN NOV 9 2018 MY CAR CAUGHT FIRE AND WAS DESTROYED BY FLAMES. I HAD JUST SECONDS TO PULL THE CAR OVER AND PUT IN PARK, GRAB MY 6 YEAR OLD SON AND GET OUT BEFORE FLAMES COVERED THE ENTIRE ENGINE THEN THE ENTIRE CAR. I WAS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD AND PULLED OVER ON THE SIDE OF THE STREET. I WOULD LIKE TO START AN INVESTIGATION REGARDING THIS MATTER, I FEAR I AND MY SON COULD HAVE DIED DUE TO THIS KNOWN AND NEGLECTED ISSUE THESE SANTA FE'S HAVE BEEN HAVING. I HAVE HAD THE CAR SERVICED AT THE DEALERSHIP SO I WILL BE ABLE TO SUPPLY THE SERVICE REPORTS AND THE CASE NUMBER FOR THE WILLIAMSON COUNTY SHERIFF REPORT OF THE FIRE AND OTHER DOCUMENTS NEEDED. MY CELL [XXX] PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE IF I MISS YOUR CALL AND EMAIL INSTRUCTIONS AND OR INFORMATION NEEDED TO MOVE FORWARD. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ODI 11150942

WHEN DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY, VEHICLE LOST POWER AND SHUT OFF, SMELLED AND SAW SMOKE COMING FROM THE VENTS. PULLED TO SIDE OF ROAD AND OPENED HOOD TO CHECK ENGINE AND FLAMES SHOT OUT, CLOSED HOOD AND TRUCKERS RAN OVER WITH FIRE EXTINGUISHERS AND CALLED FIRE DEPARTMENT. WITHIN 5 MINUTES VEHICLE WAS TOTALLY ENGULFED AND FIRE DEPARTMENT HAD ARRIVED AND COULD ONLY PREVENT FLAMES FROM SPREADING TO SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT. VEHICLE WAS TOTALLY CONSUMED BY THIS CATASTROPHIC FIRE. CALLED HYUNDAI CORPORATE OFFICES IN CALIFORNIA TO REPORT IT AS THE VEHICLE IS UNDER WARRANTY AND WAS ASKED 'WHAT DO YOU WANT US TO DO?'. RECEIVED THE IMPRESSION THAT THEY WERE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS.

NHTSA ODI 10748982