2010 Hyundai SANTA FE: complaints, problems and recalls

2010 HYUNDAI SANTA FE V6 AWD LIMITED I PUT THE KEY IN THE IGNITION TO START IT, AND THE VEHICLE LUNGED FORWARD APPROXIMATELY 6 INCHES. THE VEHICLE WAS IN PARK WHEN I STARTED IT. LUCKILY MY FOOT WAS NEAR THE BRAKE, SO I INSTINCTIVELY SLAMMED ON THE BRAKE. I DO NOT KNOW HOW FAR IT WOULD HAVE GONE IF I HAD NOT DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL. LUCKILY THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME WAS FAR ENOUGH AWAY, ALSO LUCKY THAT THERE WAS NOBODY WALKING BETWEEN MY VEHICLE AND THE ONE IN FRONT OF MINE. I TOOK IT TO SPORT HYUNDAI DODGE, THEY WERE VERY NICE. THEY P…

Owner-reported narrative. 870 miles reported. Look up ODI 10327208 at NHTSA ↗

ENGINE HESITATION AND ACCELERATION,PULLING TO THE RIGHT OF THE ROAD. WHEN BRAKING ALMOST COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP. CAN HEAR WHEEL NOISE,LIKE TIRES ARE GOING TO FALL OFF. *TR

Owner-reported narrative. 1,159 miles reported. Look up ODI 10328411 at NHTSA ↗

I HAVE A 2010 HYUNDAI SANTA FE AWD. WE BOUGHT THE CAR WITH 8 MILES. AFTER ONE WEEK WE STARTED TO NOTICE A BANGING SOUND WHEN THE CAR WOULD SHIFT AT LOW SPEEDS, SOMETIMES IT WAS SO SEVERE THE CAR WOULD JERK FORWARD VIOLENTLY. WE HAVE TAKEN IT TO THE LOCAL DEALER TWICE AND THEY TELL US THERE IS NOTHING WRONG. TODAY MY WIFE WAS COMING HOME FROM WORK AND SLOWED DOWN TO LET SOME KIDS CROSS THE STREET, AS SHE WAS SLOWING THE CAR BANGED AND JERKED FORWARD SO VIOLENTLY SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO LOSE CONTROL AND HIT ONE OF THE KIDS! I WAS JUST L…

Owner-reported narrative. 3,500 miles reported. Look up ODI 10344115 at NHTSA ↗

I HAVE THE 2010 SANTA FE BANGING PROBLEM - STARTED ABOUT A MONTH AFTER I BOUGHT IT ONLY HAPPENS ABOUT 1 PER WEEK - DEALER CLAIMED THEY NEVER HEARD OF IT BEFORE - LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS SOME SORT OF CRAZY FOOL. I DESCRIBED IT AS -- IT FEELS LIKE SOMEONE BUMPED INTO ME FROM BEHIND - THE FIRST FEW TIMES IT HAPPENED WIFE & I ACTUALLY LOOKED OUT OF THE BACK WINDOW EXPECTING TO SEE THE CAR THAT HAD RAMMED US. I REALLY FIGURED THE CAR WAS GOING INTO GEAR OR SOMETHING - MINE IS THE AWD MODEL - I THOUGHT MAYBE IT WAS SENDING SOME POWER TO THE…

Owner-reported narrative. 1,500 miles reported. Look up ODI 10345122 at NHTSA ↗

ON TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 2010 I WAS ON A BUSY INTERSTATE HIGHWAY WITH FAST MOVING TRAFFIC AND MY CAR LOST ALL POWER WHILE TRAVELING AT 70 MPH. FORTUNATELY, I WAS ABLE TO BARELY GLIDE THE SANTE FE TO THE SHOULDER AND STOP WITHOUT INCIDENT. FOLLOW UP: 3 PM VISITED HYUNDAI SERVICE CENTER AND WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS NOT A THROTTLE PROBLEM. THEY ARE IN CONTACT WITH CA SERVICE TO DETERMINE CAUSE OF PROBLEM. FRIDAY, 6-11-10 AFTER COMPLETE TESTING OF ALL CIRCUITS, HYUNDAI DECLARES NO SOURCE OF PROBLEM. AUTO WAS PICKED UP AT 4:30 PM HYUNDAI ASSISTANT SER…

Owner-reported narrative. 5,200 miles reported. Look up ODI 10345212 at NHTSA ↗

2010 SANTA FE. I GET A LOUD KNOCK (WHICH JERKS THE VEHICLE) EVERY SO OFTEN WHEN I START THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER CANNOT FIND ANYTHING WITH IT. I ALSO GET A PAUSE AT TIMES GOING FROM 2ND TO 3RD GEAR IN MY AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. DEALER REFILLED TRANSMISSION FLUID WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE HELPED THAT A LITTLE, BUT IT STILL JERKS AT TIMES WHILE SHIFTING GEARS. THE KNOCK HAS NOT STOPPED HOWEVER. JUST HAPPENED AGAIN YESTERDAY WHICH IS AT LEAST THE 15TH TIME IT HAS HAPPENED SINCE WE BOUGHT IT IN MARCH. I HAVE TALKED WITH OTHERS WHO HAVE A 2010 SANTA…

Owner-reported narrative. 6,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10345350 at NHTSA ↗

HYUNDAI SANTE FE 2010 WAS PURCHASED NEW IN FEBRUARY 2010. WITHIN 3 MONTHS THE VEHICLE STALLED AND DIED TWICE WHILE IN ROUTE.AND DISPLAYED DIFFICULTY UP-SHIFTING AND DOWN=SHIFTING, 1ST - 3RD AND 3RD - 1ST. RETURNED TO SERVICE DEPT OF DEALER. SERVICE DEPT UNABLE TO DETERMINE CAUSE OF INCIDENTS. WITHIN 2-3 MONTHS POST THESE INCIDENTS, THE VEHICLE "CLANGED AND BANGED"AND CONTINUED PROBLEMS WITH ACCELERATION AND SHIFTING GEARS. ALSO BEGAN AN INTERMITTENT LOUD "VACUUM CLEANER" NOISE DURING GEAR CHANGES. RETURNED VEHICLE TO DEALER SERVICE CENTER…

Owner-reported narrative. 5,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10346453 at NHTSA ↗

2010 HYUNDAI SANTA FE V6 AWD LIMITED I PUT THE KEY IN THE IGNITION TO START IT, AND THE VEHICLE LUNGED FORWARD APPROXIMATELY 6 INCHES. THE VEHICLE WAS IN PARK WHEN I STARTED IT. LUCKILY MY FOOT WAS NEAR THE BRAKE, SO I INSTINCTIVELY SLAMMED ON THE BRAKE. I DO NOT KNOW HOW FAR IT WOULD HAVE GONE IF I HAD NOT DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL. LUCKILY THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME WAS FAR ENOUGH AWAY, ALSO LUCKY THAT THERE WAS NOBODY WALKING BETWEEN MY VEHICLE. I LOOKED ON A HYUNDI FORUM AND THERE SEVERAL COMPLAINT'S THE DEALER SAID THEY COULD NOT FIND ANY…

Owner-reported narrative. 1,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10346497 at NHTSA ↗

Reported: 2011-04-28 (April 28, 2011)

HYUNDAI IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2010 SANTA FE 2WD VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS AND 2.4L ENGINES MANUFACTURED FROM OCTOBER 15, 2009 THROUGH MARCH 5, 2010. THE INTERMEDIATE SHAFT MAY SUFFER FROM NOISE AND EXCESSIVE WEAR DUE TO A MISALIGNMENT OF THE INTERMEDIATE SHAFT WITH THE RIGHT SIDE OUTPUT GEAR. CONTINUING TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE IN THIS CONDITION LEADS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WHIRRING/WHINING NOISE AND CAN EVENTUALLY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION.

Consequence: DAMAGE TO THE TRANSMISSION MAY CAUSE LOSS OF MOTIVE POWER, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE RIGHT SIDE OUTPUT GEAR AND INTERMEDIATE SHAFT FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING JUNE 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI'S CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-633-5151.

Reported: 2013-04-01 (April 1, 2013)

Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai) is recalling certain model year 2006-2009 Accent, model year 2007-2011 Azera, Sonata and Sante Fe,2006-2011 Tucson, 2009-2011 Elantra Touring, 2007-2010 Elantra, 2008-2011 Veracruz, 2009-2011 Genesis, 2010-2011 Genesis Coupe, 2007-2008 Entourage, and 2006-2008 Tiburon vehicles. Originally, in April 2013, Hyundai recalled 1,059,824 model year 2007-2009 Accent and Tucson, model year 2007-2010 Elantra, model year 2007-2011 Santa Fe, model year 2008-2009 Veracruz, model year 2010-2011 Genesis Coupe, and model year 2011 Sonata vehicles. In September 2013, Hyundai informed the agency that it was adding more vehicles to this campaign, representing an additional 652,512 units. The total number of vehicles being recalled is now 1,712,336. In the affected vehicles, the stop lamp switch may malfunction. A malfunctioning stop lamp switch may cause the brake lights to not illuminate when the brake pedal is depressed or may cause an inability to deactivate the cruise control by depressing the brake pedal. Additionally, a malfunctioning stop lamp switch may also result in intermittent operation of the push-button start feature, affect the operation of the brake transmission shift interlock feature, preventing the shifter from being moved out of the PARK position and cause the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) malfunction light to illuminate.

Consequence: Failure to illuminate the stop lamps during braking or inability to disengage the cruise control could increase the risk of a crash. Additionally, when the ignition is in the 'ON' position, the transmission shifter may be able to be moved out of Park without first applying the brake. This may lead to unintentional movement of the car which may increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will replace the stop lamp switch, free of charge. The safety recall began on April 22, 2013. Owners may contact Hyundai at 1-800-633-5151. Hyundai's recall campaign number is 110.