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

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

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

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 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

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

Driving along a highway and the motor blew. It had enough oil in it as I had checked it that morning before leaving for a family reunion.

NHTSA ODI 11549703

Oil Consumption to Rod Bearings; yes can be inspected but have to pay $280 just for inspection. While driving on the freeway my car abruptly slammed in speed from 65mph to 20 causing a lot of near miss rear ending and me to pull off the freeway! No, I don't trust my local dealer due to the money making scheme they have! A mechanic I know had discovered that my vehicle has been eating the oil too quickly and upon the inspection has noted that the spark plugs, knock sensor and my rod bearings were needed to be replaced due to the oil burnout! There was no warning! The car slammed to 20 mph and my check engine light began to blink, when it did and I was able to pull over the code it read was 'P1326' which I've not had issues with since I bought the car back in 2020!

NHTSA ODI 11548026

2015 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport all recall repairs made. Catastrophic engine failure in March 2020. Hyundai took vehicle in to replace engine, called me a liar when I gave them towing receipt. Never got an apology, took 3 years to get the $35 towing fee back. Hyundai had another recall- don't park in garage- fire could occur and they changed out fuse. During this time my dash instrument panel still worked but after recall, I could not change from Jan 1, 2000 to current date. Hyundai told me to take it up with them during the next recall. I did and they took 4 days to tell me that it was a bad sim card in the large display and it would cost me $600. Hyundai has ignored 4-5 letters to their corporate HQ in California and have provided much disservice and do not care about customers, service nor support. They adjusted the transmission so that it jumps or shudders under load going up a hill. There is no sense wasting time dealing with local, mid Atlantic or National Hyundai representatives as they do not care about quality, service so I have instructed loved ones to buy Honda or Subaru instead of Hyundai or Kia. I want to write to South Korea HQ of Hyundai but that does not seem to work. Hyundai HQ- 10550 Talbert Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92728 0850, USA is worthless. Their head of customer service told me that she is the highest ranking person with whom I will deal with as she accused me of lying to her about my $35 cash tow, plus my insurance payment and a $10 tip. I could not get an apology nor anyone from Hyundai Corp to deal with this customer dis-service representative. I guess I am lucky that the car is still working with transmission shuddering but a new engine almost 60k miles ago. I will trade in shortly and supplement my kids payments to buy anything but Hyundai or Kia products in the future. Heck when I bought it the dealerships first oil change took 3 hours as they lost the car and never provide the free car wash. Total rip off and they don't care

NHTSA ODI 11547216

Car has been dealer maintained. Driving on the highway, the engine lost a rod and engine is now dead. Car has 101k miles. Dealer said it was out of warranty and cost would be out of pocket to replace engine. Only issues before blown engine was slight engine oil consumption. Nothing significant.

NHTSA ODI 11546099

We have had issues with our 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited that culminated in effectively lose of the car. The engine has a knocking, and is leaking coolant now. This started with the car sometimes sort of stuttering when you press the gas, or sometimes sudden lose of power while driving. It now sounds like a rod may. E bad, I’m no expert. Hyundai has said I need a new engine. The car which I bought new in 2015, has 116k miles on it. It has been well kept. I have older Hyundais that still have great engines at much higher mileage. I am registering this complaint, because it seems strange to loose an engine of a well maintained car at 116K miles. I know there are investigations and recalls on the smaller Santa Fe engines. But I suspect there is an issue with the larger 3.3L engine too. I’m registering the complaint so attention can be garnered for the 3.3L engine too. I suspect I’m not the only one with 3.3L engine having an issue. Regards

NHTSA ODI 11543701

Loud knocking noise in engine Had to have a tow

NHTSA ODI 11542441

Vehicle has been consuming oil between oil changes. Recently the ABS, Down hill assist, and traction control lights came on. We took it to the dealer and were advised it was a wheel speed sensor in the passenger rear, but they wanted over $600 so we did not repair. Two days later all the lights went off and we had no issues. A month later I drove to Florida, checked and filled the oil with a little over one quart. On my way back the RPM shot up to close to 6K, the engine light started flashing, oil and battery light came on, and the car lost all power qnd started shuttering. There was a strong burning smell when we pulled over, that may it hard to breathe. As of writing this we were told it sounds like the engine has seized, but they are 5 months out on looking into it.

NHTSA ODI 11542203

Warning light for catalytic converter came on and said it was knock sensor mechanic said engine problem and Hyundai is aware.

NHTSA ODI 11541405

Engine major failure during driving. Engine blew with all manutance on date.

NHTSA ODI 11540891

Husband was driving on interstate in Indianapolis, Indiana on 8/18/2023. Went to pass another vehicle and suddenly lost power. Was able to get pulled over on the shoulder and had car towed to repair shop. Mechanic advised motor seized up, unable to get the engine to even turn over. No warning lights, oil was only a quart low and have always maintained my vehicle. Have taken in for all recalls and regular maintenance. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but he was driving in rush hour traffic, with construction in the area. This could have been a very bad situation. Hyundai needs to do what is right and fix the issue. I now have to buy a new car and really not in a financial situation to do so!

NHTSA ODI 11539514

My 2015 Santa Fe V6 AWD engine had 2 pistons seize up while driving. NO warning lights. I bought the Car with approximately 75K Miles and by 85k miles engine lights came on and engine was losing power. Local mechanic spent $2K trying to fix it but could not. Sent to Hyundai dealer where I purchased it. I spent another 2K (they covered about 3K as Hyundai would NOT cover repairs so dealer did). After month without the car, I got it back. 15k miles later (just as car turned over 100k miles) the car engine began making strange noise but no warning lights. Called AAA and thought we could make it 3 miles to repair shop but engine died in traffic. A second engine request from different Hyundai dealer was denied as "out of warrenty". No oil was leaking (and just had it changed!), no sign of issues of any kind, it just blew. Lucky no one was injured and was able to get to side of the road. I feel they issue should have been fixed at 85K and there must be a real piston issue in this vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11539399