What 253 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Hev

During routine vehicle operation when entering an interstate highway, , the vehicle developed a loud knocking sound from engine bay along with high RPM abnormal shifting. Vehicle was stopped as soon as possible in the safety lane when it stalled and shut off. No warning lights were present during the time of failure. Vehicle was towed to home of residence.

NHTSA ODI 11590910

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.

NHTSA ODI 11588817

I own a 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited Ultimate and without any warnings or incidents experienced engine failure. The Hyundai dealer told me I need a new engine at the cost of $23,000.00. I know you have received complaints and are investigating these engines. I was driving the car at the time and lost power.

NHTSA ODI 11586605

engine replacement can be avoided you should use fuel injector cleaner every 3000 miles, sediment clogs injectors, and pistons which fuel leaks into oil pan, causing oil/fuel mixture to burn, creating overheating, which leads to oil burning, and eventually engine seizing. If you use fuel injector cleaner every 3000 miles this will prevent needing to replace motor.

NHTSA ODI 11579512

My wife was driving the vehicle on Monday afternoon and everything was fine and today she started the vehicle and the engine started to sound weirdly, she called me over the phone and she popped up the hood like I told her and she put her phone near the engine gave a little gas and I heard like there was no oil in it, she turned the vehicle off like I told her to do, waited like 5 minutes For the oil to settle and the oil level was half. I'm waiting for tomorrow Wednesday the 27th of March to call any Hyundai dealer near me to see what they say about this situation.

NHTSA ODI 11579628

Out of the blue, the engine started knocking badly. Immediately pulled over and checked engine oil which was extremely low. (This was odd since I regularly check oil levels and keep up with oil changes.) I happened to be very close to an oil change shop, drove over and they did an oil change. They found silver and gold metal shavings in the old oil and topped off with new oil. The knocking was muted but came back by the time I got home. I have not driven the car since. Seems to have the same fate as many other Hyundai vehicles in the current recall, but this has the 3.3l engine. I've also found there is a petition to add the 3.3l engine to the recall.

NHTSA ODI 11579373

Engine with rod bearing failure occurred at 108k miles. No check engine light warning came on to notify with engine knock sound as the only indicator that there was a mechanical issue. Regular oil changes have been done on the vehicle however oil levels were low when checked on the day of engine failure (no low oil light came on). 3.3 L V6 engine is not covered under Hyundai’s KSDS Software Update (Campaign 966) and extended warranty however issue is the same as other covered models and years.

NHTSA ODI 11579416

The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was notified and confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11578785

While driving down the highway the engine stopped. Towed it to a mechanic. They told me the engine seized up and that this was happening alot with Hyundai vehicles.

NHTSA ODI 11578412

I have a Hyundai Santa Fé XL 3.3L 2015. I had a real danger situation with my family some months ago, when I had to pull over on a Highway after engine failure. I have this car for 11 months and all my maintenance records. Car died while I was driving putting me and my family in a danger situation. Not alerts or warnings signs. The car just died. I towed the car to a Hyundai Dealer, and after 3 weeks they reached out to me telling my engine is gone and there is no coverage/warranty/recall for that. After some research on-line I found thousands of people describing exactly the same issue. Major engine failure without any warning even with all schedule maintenance on date. I pretty confident that I am being victim of this knowing Hyundai issue and they don't care to keep people life in danger.

NHTSA ODI 11577076

The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he observed smoke emanating from the engine compartment, prompting him to pull to the shoulder of the roadway. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed flames originating near the firewall. The contact was able to extinguish the flames himself with a fire extinguisher. No warning lights were illuminated. A fire report was filed. A police report was not filed, and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V303000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic), and the VIN was included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 126,000.

NHTSA ODI 11576910

The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the panoramic moonroof suddenly shattered, raining shards of glass down on the vehicle’s occupants. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 128,000.

NHTSA ODI 11575636

Oil consumtion issue. Same issue on their 4 cylinder motor. No indicator to tell you there is low oil. Engine fails. In addition, they do not manufacture the engine for replacement. I was instructed, by law they have to manufacture parts for 10 years. It is within 10 years and they haven't made parts for this motor for some time now. I request that this be investigated, as from searching the internet there are many people that have similar issues with the 3.3 liter engine. Hyundai should be force to recall them, just like they did for the 4 cylinder. In addition, their ingition system is flawed and can be easily stolen. Yet another reason why they should be forced to recall the vehicles.

NHTSA ODI 11575030

Recent cold weather starts in the morning (40-50 degrees fahrenheit) have caused my car to have poor or stalled acceleration. It will occasionally not go past 20 or 40 mph while the RPMs rev high. The DTC error code would read P2565 as a pending code. An independent mechanic changed out my transmission fluid and switched out my boost pressure sensor but the problem is still there. Hyundai says that they need to replicate the problem but it does not occur when I take it to them so it's very hard to have this intermittent issue diagnosed by them. This is a very dangerous issue in my opinion if your cars engine revs high without accelerating and can potentially cause serious accidents and injury. I know I'm not the only person experiencing this issue as I've read on online forums of other car owners describing the same issue. Please issue a safety recall before someone is seriously injured or dies as a result of this intermittent issue.

NHTSA ODI 11571466

Premature failure of engine that was regularly maintained. Vehicle started sounding louder than normal and stalled spontaneously while driving, stopping in the middle of an intersection. No warning lights illuminated prior to incident. Vehicle had started again when prompted to finish traveling to destination. Oil was checked at destination and was low by 1.5 quarts. Vehicle was towed to nearest Hyundai dealership. Vehicle has now been at dealership for almost 5 months. Tech stated that internals were extremely clean upon inspection but that oil port to 1 or more cylinders may have been blocked, causing burning or premature ware and failure. No metal shavings were found in oil according to tech, and engine still turned freely. Hyundai corporate has agreed to cover 90% of cost to replace motor and offer a 12 month /12,000 mile warranty.

NHTSA ODI 11569023

My 2015 Santa Fe Limited with 44,000 miles developed a knocking sound coming from the engine. No lights appeared on the dashboard, no low oil pressure warning, etc. I was able to drive it to my local dealership, but the brakes were very jerky and the car shut off when I pulled into the parking lot. I was told I needed a new engine, but was denied Hyundai paying for it because the 5 years/100,000 mile warranty had expired. I called corporate and pointed out many instances of excess oil consumption, recalls, and extended warranties due to engines. I was told that my engine didn’t qualify and I would have to pay to have it fixed. I was also given a phone number for a class action lawsuit because Hyundai knows of these kinds of engine problems on my make and model.

NHTSA ODI 11567671

My power steering failed without notice while driving. This has happened several times. The first time I just happened to need to pull off the highway because my 4 year old had to go to the bathroom and couldn't hold it. It went out as soon as I exited the highway and entered the parking lot. The steering became very hard and heavy to move and then just locked up. If I hadn't gotten of the highway when I did it would have happened while driving on the highway with my two young sons which could have resulted in a bad accident. I had no prior warning. It just happened unexpectedly. We thought maybe it was the battery so we replaced the battery with a brand new one but about a month later it happened again when I was backing out of my garage. I was afraid of driving it so I just parked it back in the garage. It is available for inspection. It has not been inspected by anyone yet. The problem just started about a month ago.

NHTSA ODI 11565541

My 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe sport with 15,643 miles is consuming a lot of oil. I am having to add engine oil on a weekly basis.

NHTSA ODI 11564826

My 2015 Santa Fe has metal in oil so my engine not working it went out

NHTSA ODI 11563965

The engine caught fire and the vehicle is a total loss. Acceleration became inconsistent at time of the incident while driving on the freeway. Once that was noticed, and at a speed of 50mph, I immediately heard a loud clicking noise coming from the engine. ALL warning lights also immediately went off. I noticed white smoke and pulled over on the freeway. Once parked, black smoke was emerging from the engine. I exited the vehicle to safety and within 30 seconds, flames emerged from the vehicle. The vehicle maintenance was kept current during the 7 months of ownership. There were no prior warnings of any issues before the incident occurred.

NHTSA ODI 11563641

The blue link on all older models is not being supported which cause the screen to become stuck on loading screen. This is a visibility and safety issue because it cause blue link to reload and bright lights to flash as you are driving at night every time it reloads. It is a distraction from the road if you shut it off completely you have no access to radio or sound. The issue it cannot be fixed unless you pay for manual update but you have to it working to actually get the update to run. There are many forums discussing the issue

NHTSA ODI 11554870

Hello, I'm not sure if this is something that you would handle or not. My husband and I have a Hyundai Santa Fe (husband-2015, Mine - 2013). We both bought the vehicles used and haven't had any major problems until about a year ago when both of our vehicles started drinking motor oil like people drink water. We don't have any signs of a leak anywhere. We had taken it to the Hyundai Dealerships and other mechanics and both say that Hyundai has been known to have this problem. Many years ago, I had a Hyundai Sonata which I bought brand new around 2003 and had it for many years. I never had this problem. After doing my research, I have seen where other people have had this problem with their Hyundai vehicles. I emailed several people about our situation, one being [XXX] , and received a response from Hailey, Customer Service Specialist with Hyundai Motor America and her response was for us to have Oil Consumption Testing done. She said that it would be our responsibility to pay for the testing and any repairs that need to be done since we're past the warranty and the years of our vehicles. From what the dealership and other mechanics keep saying, I feel it should be a recall for this problem due to Hyundai being aware that this has been a problem with their vehicles for years. I've known people to have cars much older than ours that never had an oil consumption problem such as this. Also, from what I read, this Oil Consumption Testing is a process that is done in stages which can be costly. Plus this Oil Consumption problem can lead to our engine dying without us knowing when it will die. With this problem, we don't have any warning that our motor oil is low or empty for our oil light will either blink or don't come on at all. I have seen mine blink, but by then the oil was already gone. My husband's oil stick had burnt and he purchased another one from Hyundai. The new one is now burnt and mine is burnt as well. This is a safety hazard. I feel that Hyundai shoul INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11553172

On October 7, while driving on the interstate, the engine started rattling, then stopped completely, causing me to drift across lanes to get to the shoulder. Upon restarting the car, the check engine light was flashing and the car was in limp mode. After bringing it to a shop, they diagnosed the P1326 engine code, where I was instructed to drive the car on the back roads to the nearest dealership, 50 miles away. The dealership confirmed that the engine needs to be replaced. One month prior to this incident, a P0420 code appeared (catalytic converter needs to be replaced). I had not yet replaced it, since the part is on backorder. My go-to auto shop is still waiting for the catalytic converter to come in. The car currently has about 137,000 miles on it, and has been serviced and inspected regularly. If the engine needs to be inspected, the car is currently awaiting a new engine at the dealer. It will take several months for the dealer to replace the engine, so the car should be available. My safety and the general public's safety was put at risk when my car became difficult to control when the engine stopped unexpectedly while driving at highway speeds on the interstate.

NHTSA ODI 11551817

2015 3.3 engine santa fe motor seized 115,000miles, no lights, no low oil indicator, no check engine light, no noise except 6minutes prior!

NHTSA ODI 11551494

Engine light coded 1326 on July 28, 2023. Car engine was replaced Aug- September 20, 2023. September 27 the engine light coded 0263. October 4 the engine light coded 0263. October 5 the engine light coded 0263 October 13 the engine light coded 0263.

NHTSA ODI 11549888