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

While driving home on the highway from our sons hockey game at about 8:30 pm we were going about 60 mph when the car made a noise and began smoking and as we were trying to pull over on the side of the highway noticed by the reflection of a passing car that the engine on our vehicle was on fire under the vehicle. We had to evacuate the vehicle quickly and get our children out on the side of a busy highway with fire showing under the front end of the car.

NHTSA ODI 11734049

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

Engine seizure happened while driving and the engine caught on fire. The car was well maintained and had been up-to-date on all recalls.

NHTSA ODI 11582964

While I was stopped at a stoplight turn lane in my 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe sport, smoke started to come out of my engine. I removed myself from the turn lane and got my car into a parking lot, and within a minute, flames appeared from the engine. I do not recall a warning light alerting me, as I was focused on getting the car to a safe place. I called 911 and the fire dept put out the flames as it consumed the front of my car. The whole engine area is toast, so not sure of the cause, and insurance will be processing the claim as a 100% loss. I was up to date on my service/recalls and the car had just hit 90,000 miles. We had recently checked fluid levels, so that was fine, but I did notice when driving the day before and that morning on my way to my destination, that the engine/ car seemed to be a little off or running a little rough. That may have been the precursor to the engine fire I experienced.

NHTSA ODI 11555030

The car's engine oil indicator does not turn on. I noticed a drag in the engine while driving, checked the oil and it was really low. I got an oil change. I noticed it again and this time there was no oil left in the engine. No light had gone on at all. It has been only less than 3 months since the oil was changed, I added oil and called hyundai. It has been nearly impossible to get my car looked at by Hyundai or have them look at the issue as there are no appointments available when this happened. It happened again recently. I am concerned that this will cause my engine to have issues. Today, I looked this problem up on the internet and found that there is a recall for this exact issue by the manufacturer, but not on my model/year. How do I get protection? Yes my car is available for inspection if needed.

NHTSA ODI 11523234

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

Car began to smoke from engine compartment. Stopped car in a driving lane on interstate 78 where construction barriers had closed both shoulders. Car then burst into flames. Car was a total loss before fire trucks were able to arrive. Just prior to the fire the Warning light for the abs system malfunction appeared on the dashboard.

NHTSA ODI 11503664

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

On November 14, 2022 at approximately 0800 while traveling 495N in Massachusetts from Cape Cod my 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe with 109,000 miles experienced catastrophic engine failure. I was maintaining a speed of approximately 70 MPH when without waring the 3.3L V6 engine stalled and made loud clunking noises while smoke filled up the cabin of the vehicle causing me to cough and choke, my visibility was also diminished. I was fortunate enough to pull the vehicle to the right side of the highway and did cut someone off because I panicked and could not see almost causing a serious crash. The vehicle was then towed to a Hyundai dealership in Raynham, MA. The service advisors tried helping me with getting a new engine replacement from Hyundai Corporate, Corporate would not honor their demands and now I'm without a vehicle for myself to get to and from work and for my family so they can attend school, doctors appointments and social events.

NHTSA ODI 11494097

This will be my second report to the NHTSA. I was originally told my car needed a new engine, but then it was confirmed that was not the issue since the car started and drove just fine, the recall for the ABS mod was brought up to two different Hyundai dealerships and their corporate office, I requested if it could not be fixed to buy back my car. It was denied. My car then caught fire while driving, resulting in my husband almost dying on the highway. Fire shot from the bottom of the car up into engulfed flames within seconds…and then blew. Determined it was an electrical engine fire. All could have been avoided if Hyundai had just listened to my concerns and checked my ABS. However due their refusal to do so, and refusal to inspect my engine for the recall, my family, kids included were put at risk. It seems to be happening all over the world with these cars and NOTHING is being done.

NHTSA ODI 11476720

Engine lost power while on freeway and a piston fired through the engine producing a hole and causing fire to travel through the exhaust system.

NHTSA ODI 11472053

The owner had just left the driveway and was driving up the neighborhood block at low speed in the vehicle when another driver motioned that there was a problem with the car, pointing at the driver's side wheel well. The owner immediately pulled to the curb, exited the vehicle, and saw smoke pouring from the vehicle. Grabbed purse and moved a safe distance away. Spontaneously the car caught fire under the engine before the fire truck arrived 8 minutes later. Huge flames shooting from under the hood were captured on both video and photos. The car is a total loss. Had been well maintained.

NHTSA ODI 11441826

The engine in our 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe SE 3.3L V6 has always had problems with lag/ hesitation when accelerating from a stop from the very beginning of ownership (first owner). This was always dismissed by Hyundai's mechanics as not actually existing, although it did lag constantly. I know many other have reported similar issues so, I include this only that it could potentially be an early sign of a manufacturers defect leading to larger problems later? Now, we regularly change the oil in our Santa Fe and have never seen a single warning light outside of tire pressure warnings. But on 7/29/21, with our vehicle just out of warranty at 112k miles, while accelerating to freeway speed from an on ramp at 60 mph multiple warning lights came and at the same time there was a very large bang from the engine and a large amount of smoke came from under the hood, enough to seriously affect the vision of drivers behind me. There was a very rapid lose of speed and I also observed things falling from the vehicle in the rearview. I luckily managed the vehicle to the shoulder and quickly got out. I thought vehicle was on fire, it may have been, the smoke kept up for 5-10 minutes. At this point the car would not start or run and a large pool of oil and or coolant formed underneath. It was towed to a Hyundai dealer and the prognosis was a broken connecting rod that had blew a large maybe 5" diameter hole through the bottom of the engine. And now, despite providing proof of recent oil changes, Hyundai has dismissed any manufacturing issues from causing the issue and sighting the problem was from lack of maintenance because of sludge in the engine. Although to my understanding sludge can also be produced rapidly when contaminants, like coolant, from bad valves or head gaskets, enter the oil. When I asked about this the technician literally just didn't answer. So, now we currently owe $7k on a vehicle needing repairs at the quoted price of $8-$14k and Hyundai has closed our case.

NHTSA ODI 11431571

Smelled smoke at a stop light. Continued when light turned green. Pulled over about 30 car lengths later because smoke was coming in the vents. Jumped out of car and ran. Within 2 minutes, entire front engine was completely engulfed in flames. No indicator light came on before. Car was driving perfect.

NHTSA ODI 11419067

I BOUGHT THE VEHICLE ON 5/7/16. ON 6/2/16 I WAS DRIVING ON HIGHWAY 395 WHEN I NOTICED SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THE CAR STARTED LOSING POWER AND EVENTUALLY DIED. WHEN I GOT IT PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD I NOTICED FLAMES COMING OUT FROM THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE. I GRABBED WHAT I COULD AND GOT OUT OF THE CAR. WITHIN 5 MIN THE FRONT OF THE CAR WAS ENGULFED IN FLAMES. I HAD APPROXIMATELY 675 MILES ON IT. I HAVE CONTACTED HYUNDAI BUT THEY HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO ME. I ORDERED A COPY OF THE POLICE REPORT BUT HAVE NOT RECEIVED IT YET. I HAVE PICTURES THAT I HAVE ATTACHED. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THIS HAPPENING TO OTHER PEOPLE. THANKFULLY I DIDN'T HAVE GRANDKIDS IN THE CAR, I'M NOT SURE I WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET THEM OUT.

NHTSA ODI 10874600