What 941 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Hev

While driving, the vehicle lost its brakes and rolled to a stop on [XXX] at that point the vehicle compartment began to fill up with black smoke and soot and flames started to come out of vents. My daughter immediately grabbed her dog and exited from the vehicle to a safe spot away from the car. Within 10 seconds the vehicle exploded and erupted into a 20 ft fireball. If my daughter would have hesitated she could have been killed. Hyundai inspected the vehicle and found nothing conclusive except that this problem has been documented in other Incidents. The vehicle was declared to be totaled. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11636163

I bought this vehicle and there was a complete break down malfunction due to the ABS module system! This lack of due diligence caused both myself and my 7 year old to unwillingly enter a vehicle that put our lives at risk and a near death experience that still traumatizes my daughter until this day who refuses to enter any vehicle! This is an unfortunate mistake on your end and there is no where near enough compensation that will ever withdraw the fear from my innocent child’s eyes anytime I need to drive her to school, or basketball practice, or anywhere to run our daily errands and live a normal life! I have nothing else to add except I expect compensation for a safe vehicle and compensation necessary to help my child, my innocent child to get through this fear!

NHTSA ODI 11520592

My lane departure and collision warning did not work when I crashed into a car head on and totallled my vehicle. I had not yet received my recall maintenance, nor did I know about both recalls. Only the first. Not only that but lane assist did not work and the airbag did not go off. Despite totaling the car, how did they not go off?????

NHTSA ODI 11508838

I was accelerating on the highway and my RMPS shot the whole way up over 7,000 then bottomed out. I lost speed so I pulled over. Another car pulled over to inform me my car was on fire. I turned the car off and the fire went out. The car was towed to Blaise Alexander (dealership) in Altoona, PA. The mechanic reported that a connector rod went through the oil pan, engine block, and brake starter. He kept repeating to me "I've never seen anything like this before". He reached out to Hyundai to ask if they would cover repairs (starting at $13,790). Hyundai said no. I believe this incident was more than mechanical, and is related to the open recall. I attempted twice to have my car repaired under the recall but the dealership "didn't have the part".

NHTSA ODI 11495138

The contact owned a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while coming off the highway ramp she saw smoke coming from the hood of the vehicle. A witness stated there was fire coming from the hood. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact pulled over to the parking lot and the vehicle would not stop. The contact let the vehicle slow down until she hit a bump and safely jumped out of the vehicle. There were no injuries and there was no medical attention needed. The fire and police were there to file a report. The fire department extinguished the fire. The vehicle was deemed a total loss. The vehicle was towed to a city pound. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V056000 ( Engine Compartment Fire) was referenced. The failure mileage was 124,000.

NHTSA ODI 11465477

The contact owned a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the traffic stopped and the brake pedal was applied but the vehicle failed to stop. As a result, the contact crashed into an unknown vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The air bags deployed. A police report was filed. There was no reported fire or injuries. The vehicle was towed to an independent lot. The vehicle was deemed a total loss by the insurance company. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 33, 000.

NHTSA ODI 11460560

I went to a drive through car wash. Put my car in neutral and it drives your car through the wash. Once it was done I changed to drive and tapped lightly to get out. I was going to have the car wash attendant wipe down my car. As I approached him my brakes wouldn’t work and the car continued to accelerate despite not pressing down on the gas pedal. None of my electrical lights were working. It took me onto a busy street in Chicago and kept accelerating at full speed. I was trying to brake, put it into neutral or drive, use emergency brake system and nothing was working. I was swerving to avoid hitting other cars or pedestrians. I erratically drove about 1.5 blocks until I hit another SUV. All my airbags deployed. My full trauma work up was negative at the hospital. I am not sure if anyone sustained major injuries in the other car. I filed an insurance claim and my car was deemed a total loss. Insurance company thinks there was definitely an electrical shortage but did not further investigate. They said it would take more money to investigate the cause rather than paying a lump sum for car. I filed a claim case with Hyundai 2 days after the accident. The initial representative said a case manager would call within 5-7 business days and would like the car preserved in case of investigation. I have called over 5 times and have never received a call back nor an initial call from the case manager assigned. There was no active recalls out at the time and the car was serviced a month prior at a Hyundai dealership. Since the accident occurred we received a new recall that the anti-lock brake system could malfunction and cause an electrical short. But according to recall notice there is still no remedy available.

NHTSA ODI 11460464

The contact owned a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while at a stop light, smoke was present coming from under the hood. While attempting to pull over to park, the brakes suddenly failed and an explosion occurred within the engine compartment causing flames from under the hood of the vehicle. The contact exited the vehicle and called the fire department who came to the scene an extinguished the flames. During the incident no injuries were reported, the vehicle was destroyed and towed away and a police and fire report was taken at the scene. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The day after the incident the contact received a recall notice from the manufacturer for the NHTSA Campaign Number 22v056000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the recall which included a fire hazard. The failure mileage was 54,000.

NHTSA ODI 11459713

ON APRIL 15, OUR BRAND NEW SANTA FE WAS INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. WHILE DRIVING IN LOW SPEED TRAFFIC SUDDENLY, WHILE MY FIANCE REAR ENDED SOMEONE. TO THIS DAY SHE CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPENED. SHE IS A CAREFUL DRIVER, DOES NOT SPEED AND KNOWS THAT THE AREA WERE SHE WAS DRIVING IS HIGH TRAFFIC AND WAS COMING UP TO A RED LIGHT. BOTH OF HER HANDS WERE ON THE WHEEL AND SHE WASN'T ON A PHONE OR ANYTHING. SHE BELIEVES SHE HIT THE BREAKS, AND AS STATED BEFORE STILL DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. AFTER READING THESE COMPLAINTS WE ARE WONDERING IF WE HAD THE SAME ISSUE AS SOMEONE ELSE WHO REPORTED AND IS THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT. WE FIGURED WE WOULD REPORT THIS. WE ARE ALSO WONDERING IF OTHER PEOPLE ARE HAVING SIMILAR ACCIDENTS SINCE THERE HAS BEEN A MAJOR ISSUE GETTING PARTS TO REPAIR SAID CAR (CAR HAS NOW BEEN OFF THE ROAD FOR 11 WEEKS MOST PARTS REQUIRED FOR REPAIR HAVE BEEN EXTERNALLY BACKORDERED AND HYUNDAI HAS BEEN EXTREMELY UNHELPFUL TO HELP US GET OUR CAR REPAIRED). THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE LUNGED FORWARD, WHILE SLOWLY DEPRESSING THE BREAKS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. UPDATED 11/2/2017*JS

NHTSA ODI 10881942