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

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

I have a 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe sport and been having electrical issues at the fuse box

NHTSA ODI 11548780

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

While driving at 65 mph on an urban expressway, the engine quit without warning and would not restart. This resulted in diminished steering and braking control as well as exposure near the edge of traffic on a narrow berm of an overpass bridge. Full tank of fuel, good battery, the engine would not crank or restart. All electrical accessories work fine.

NHTSA ODI 11542427

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

Engine threw a rod. Brought it to Kearny Mesa Hyundai here in San Diego, they submitted a claim to see if corporate would grant an engine replacement and it was denied due to it being a V6

NHTSA ODI 11538542

Rod knock, engine failure. Vehicle still runs. Engine was accepted for replacement via Kearny Mesa Hyundai dealership.

NHTSA ODI 11538760

The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the ABS, hill assist, and traction control warning lights illuminated and the "BSD Cancelled" message was displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 145,000.

NHTSA ODI 11537239

On August 2, 2023 I was driving my truck and it completely shut off on me on the highway. I push the start button to turn the engine and it just keep turning like it wanted to start, but it didn't. Called the tow truck to take it to the shop, to then get a call after two days saying that they couldn't find out what was going on, because when they ran the test it didn't come back with any code. The clerk informed me that when he started my truck that next day, it cranked as if nothing was wrong. He drove it around about 15-20 minutes ,and it didn't do anything like what it had done the previous day before. I am very concerned because this could have been a bad outcome because I was in the highway on Wednesday. I need someone to further look into this matter.

NHTSA ODI 11536568

My vehicle engine seized while driving on the freeway. There was absolutely no warning. No lights for oil issue nothing flagged. I had no previous issues with my vehicle and I am concerned that I will have to pay for this myself .

NHTSA ODI 11536581

This vehicle has the 3.3L V6 engine in it. It has a blown engine due to oil consumption. We did regular maintenance to this car, including oil regular oil changes. There was no warning lights for low oil. Engine failed while my wife was driving on the highway. We had it towed to my mechanic and he found it was 4 quarts low on oil even though it had recently had routine service. Hyundai says this is not covered under warranty - I understand that MANY other Hyundai owners of the 3.3L V6 are having the same problem. Engine has 113K miles on it.

NHTSA ODI 11535015

When passing a vehicle on the highway, engine light came on and power was reduced. After, diagnose was informed of needing new engine. Took to get 2nd opinion and same thing was needed.

NHTSA ODI 11535159

During normal driving operations the car lost all power as our daughter and her 2 children were driving down the street. She called us and notified us that the car would barely run and that she had her hazard lights on and had no safe place to pull over. When she arrived back home from a few miles away the motor was making a very loud knocking and tapping noise. I immediately checked the oil in the car which we have changed on a regular basis and very recently and to our disbelief there wasn't a drop of oil on the dipstick. No indicators or warning lights had come on to tell us the oil was low. We immediately called a local Hyundai dealership, and they explained that thousands of people have experienced consumption of oil with no obvious leaks causing catastrophic engine failure in Hyundais. Upon inspection from the dealership, it was determined that the motor had spun rod bearings due to excessive oil consumption. However, we have since discovered that the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe is pending a class action lawsuit in California and no recall is current for this year and model. This could have caused serious and devastating fatalities to not only our family but others as well. Hyundai has not yet been willing to work with us for a car we purchased a little over a year ago and are still financing. The warranty did not transfer to a 2nd owner and we were not informed of this. Now the car sits at a dealership and I continue to make payments on a useless vehicle. The manufacturer of Hyundai's engine is the same for many models. However, not all models and years have had recalls yet. This puts thousands of people, like us, at risk for serious injuries, fatalities, and devastating financial loss. The public relies on their vehicles for their family's transportation and their jobs. I did my research and searched for this year, make, and model and found nothing that deterred me from finding this vehicle unsafe or unreliable. Hyundai is not in good faith protecting customers.

NHTSA ODI 11534689

Owner states his 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe developed an engine noise, and the check engine light came on. The vehicle was stopped and restarted after 30 minutes, but the engine noise continued. The dealer replaced the engine; however, the owner is seeking rental reimbursement. Also, the vehicle was crashed in the dealer's possession and determined a total loss.

NHTSA ODI 11534116

I came through car was and proceeded to vacuum area, as I approached the area I applied my brakes and car sped up jumping the curb. I tried pumping the brakes and finally brought vehicle to a stop after applying pressure. I tried to back up, but felt I was going to damage the vacuum hoses, so I pulled forward believing I had clear area to get to the other side. As I pulled forward I didn’t realize how close I was to a brick column as it didn’t appear in my side view mirror. As a result right rear door, rear quarter panel and trim were damaged.

NHTSA ODI 11531912

Engine suddenly went into limp mode and jerked steering while on the highway (engine light happened AFTER). We started about 60mph, then vehicle slowed to about 30mph in a few seconds. Almost crashed into a semi-truck trying to get my car under control, then almost caused a pileup collision behind a slow-moving traffic control vehicle. Limped into town. Engine was rattling. Found the engine to be very hot under the hood. Found oil dripping underneath (research says certain Hyundai Santa Fe were recalled for this issue). Oil was low, even though I had it topped off less than a week before. It seems this may be related to large oil use resulting in engine overheat. Mechanic later disclosed to me there was oil buildup underneath and in the engine. Towed into another city to get available mechanic. Found error code P1326. Mechanic took a couple days to determine it was NOT caused by faulty sensor. (attached invoice) Towed to another city where I could have it taken into the lot (there is a long backload of cases at Hyundai). I saw about a dozen of the exact same model as my car in the service lot waiting repair (and many similar models). Told by dealership it would take 2 months to repair and there would be a diagnosis fee. This shouldn't have happened to my car. It was relatively new and low miles for an engine failure. The result was an expensive series of expenses and extremely dangerous series of near-collisions. It has been difficult to contact and navigate Hyundai corporate for help with this. They seem to have a lot of backlogs of these problems related to my model. I get put on hold for long periods. I was assigned case number and case manager who hasn't contacted me yet. I am still without a car as of today.

NHTSA ODI 11531213

I was driving my 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe on the parkway and while changing lanes, I wanted to accelerate to maintain a safe speed. As I attempted to accelerate I noticed that the car was slowing down. There were no strange sounds or dashboard lights I was aware of but the tachometer read zero. We pull onto the shoulder and were eventually towed to my mechanic. He determined with some confidence that the engine had seized. It will be towed to a Hyundai service facility where it will be evaluated and diagnosed and possible fixed for free under the current warranty

NHTSA ODI 11529604