2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Engine
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
I bought my 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe 3.3L a year and a half ago with 58k miles from a dealer in Clarksville, MD. On October 18th 2022 with 70k miles my Hyundai Santa Fe starting making a loud noise in engine so I took it to a Hyundai dealer where I was told my engine would need to be replaced and was quoted 19.1k to replace it. I'm the second owner of the car so technically not under warranty. Hyundai is paying half of repair and rental extended warranty is paying the other half and a 10 day rental. Car has been there for a month parts still aren't there and was told it could take months to get my car back.
The contact’s daughter owns a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.*TP
With no dashboard lights illuminated, the engine completely seized while driving 60 MPH on the highway. I was thankfully able to get it off to the side. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealership and is currently awaiting a warranty approval for a new engine.
I WAS PARKING THE CAR. THE CAR WAS STOPPED AND MY HAND WAS ON THE GEAR SHIFT. THE CAR ACCELERATED SUDDENLY. THE CAR JUMPED THE CURB I WAS FACING AND ENDED UP IN A GRASS MEDIAN. I HAD TO PUSH THE BRAKE VERY HARD TO GET THE CAR TO STOP.
I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AT 70 MPH AND THE ENGINE SUDDENLY SHUT OFF, IT HAS BEEN AT THE HYUNDAI GARAGE IN DUBOIS, PA FOR 3 WEEKS WAITING FOR A NEW ENGINE AND IT IS A NEW VEHICLE WITH ONLY 12.600 MILES?
A RECALL LETTER FROM HYUNDAI ON MY 2018 SANTA FE ON A KNOCK SENSOR TOOK IT TO MY DEALERSHIP THEY DID WHAT EVER THE RECALL WAS 3 MILES DOWN THE ROAD MY CAR WENT INTP LIMP MODE TOOK ME FROM 70MPH TO 30 CALL THE DEALER HAD TO LIMP IT BACK THEY HAH IT FOR 3 WEEKS HAD THE WIRE HARNESS REPLACED ASKED THEY HAD ANY TROUBLE WITH THIS AS WE WERE GOING ON VACATON THEY SAID NO HALF WAY THROUGH OUR TRIP TO SOUTH DAKOTA IT WENT INTO LIMP MODE AGAIN THIS TIME THE SPEED WAS 80MPH ON THE HIGHWAY I CALLED HYUNDAI DOESNT SEEM THEY CARE IF WE WERE KILLED OR NOT OFFERED A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS OUR VACATION WAS RUINED I DONT FEEL SAFE IN THIS SUV BUT CANT SEEM TO GET HELP FROM HYUNDAI I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER ONE
ENGINE NOISE WHEN STARTING HYUNDAI SANTA FE 2018 STATIONARY
DRIVING VEHICLE ON THE PARKWAY AT APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH, ENGINE FELT LIKE IT WAS SHUTTING DOWN, CAR STOPPED ACCELERATING, ENGINE LIGHT WAS BLINKING, SPEEDOMETER STOPPED WORKING, BLUE LINK NOTIFICATION SYSTEM ADVISED TO GET TO SERVICE TODAY. THIS OCCURRED ONE WEEK AFTER THE CAR RECEIVED A SOFTWARE UPDATE FOR A KNOCK SENSOR RECALL. CAR HAS BEEN IN SERVICE SINCE 3/9/19; DEALERSHIP REPLACED WIRIING HARNESS PER HYUNDAI'S RECOMMENDATION, WHEN THEY TEST DROVE THE VEHICLE, THE ISSUE HAS NOT RESOLVED. THEY ARE WAITING FOR HYUNDAI TO ADVISE OF NEXT STEPS. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE EVER GETTING BACK IN THIS VEHICLE DUE TO ALL OF THE CURRENT ISSUES SURROUNDING HYUNDAI ENGINES, INCLUDING FIRES.
MY WIFE WAS DRIVING ON NJ PARKWAY IN HEAVY RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC DOING 70 MILES AN HOUR. CAR THEN STUTTERED AND SLOWED DOWN, WITH HER HAVING TO MOVE THREE LANES OVER WHILE TRYING TO GET OVER BRIDGE. HYUNDAI BLUE LINK CAME ON AND TOLD HER TO GET CAR IMMEDIATELY TO THE DEALER. WHEN TAKEN TO DEALER THEY SAID DUE TO THE KNOCK SENSOR UPDATE THE ENGINE WILL NEED TO BE REPLACED AT 27,000 MILES? THIS WAS DONE BY HYUNDAI TWO WEEKS AGO. UPDATE TO YESTERDAY 3/23/19 AND SAME THING HAPPENED TO HER AGAIN GOING TO WORK ON THE NJ PARKWAY. I THEN TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER, SAME ISSUES, SAME COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWED IN THE CAR AND WILL BE NEEDING NOW SECOND ENGINE AT 29,000 MILES. TWO BLOWN ENGINES UNDER 30,000 MILES, HYUNDAI ADMITS THE PROBLEM TO US AND NOT SURE WHY OTHERS ARE HAVING ISSUE. RECEIVED RENTAL CAR BOTH TIMES. WILL SEE HOW HYUNDAI RECTIFY THIS PROBLEM, THEY SHOULD BUY BACK CARS FROM OWNERS AND REIMBURSE TIME MISSED FROM WORK, PAIN AND SUFFERING AS WELL AS THE STRESS OF DRIVING ON ,AMIR HIGHWAY AND LOSING POWER IN YOUR CAR.
TOOK THE VEHICLE IN FOR AN OIL CHANGE. DEALERSHIP PUT A NEW COMPUTER UPDATE ON CAR DUE TO BAD ENGINES. THE NEXT DAY 1-30-19 THE VEHICLE HAD A ERROR COME ON THE CAR PUTTING IT IN SAFE MODE NOT ALLOWING THE CAR TO MOVE OVER 67 MPH. HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. MURDOCK HYUNDIA OF LINDON. THEY DID A TEST TO DETERMINE THAT THE ENGINE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THIS TOOK 29 DAYS FOR THE DEALERSHIP TO FIX AND MY CAR IS NOT THE SAME. THE MOTOR SEEMS SLUGGISH. CAR IS ONLY 6 MONTHS OLD WITH 14000 MILES.
ENGINE PROBLEM
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Quick Summary
The 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe has 36 Engine complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.