2026 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

4 recalls — 35 complaints — 5/5 safety rating

SEAT BELTS:FRONT:ANCHORAGE

Defect Description

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Hyundai Ioniq 6, 2023-2026 Genesis G90, 2024-2026 Hyundai Santa Fe, and Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid vehicles. The driver and passenger seat belt anchors may detach.

Consequence

A detached seat belt anchor will not adequately restrain the seat occupant, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.

Remedy

Dealers will inspect and reinforce or replace the seat belt anchors, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed June 5, 2026. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460 and Genesis customer service at 844-340-9741. Hyundai's numbers for this... Read more

294,128 vehicles affected

Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL

Defect Description

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Tucson Hybrid, Tucson Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV), 2026 IONIQ 5, Santa Cruz, Kona, Palisade, Palisade Hybrid, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Hybrid, Sonata, Sonata Hybrid, and Tucson vehicles. Due to a software error, the instrument panel display... Read more

Consequence

An instrument panel display that fails to show critical safety information, such as the speedometer or warning lights, increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy

The instrument panel display software will be updated over-the-air (OTA) or by a dealer, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 24, 2026. Owners may contact Hyundai's customer service at 855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 293. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs... Read more

41,651 vehicles affected

Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America

AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW:CURTAIN

Defect Description

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025 Tucson, 2025-2026 Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Hybrid, and 2026 Genesis GV70 vehicles. The side curtain air bags may not have been installed properly, which can cause the air bags not to deploy as intended.

Consequence

Side curtain air bags that do not deploy as intended increase the risk of injury in a crash.

Remedy

Dealers will reinstall the side curtain air bags, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed beginning December 29, 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's numbers for this recall are 289 and 029G. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in t... Read more

258 vehicles affected

Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:CRITICAL FASTENERS

Defect Description

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Tucson and Santa Fe vehicles. The connecting rod bolts in the engine may have been improperly tightened, which can cause a loss of drive power and engine damage, possibly resulting in an oil leak.

Consequence

A loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash. An oil leak in the presence of hot engine components can increase the risk of an engine compartment fire.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the engine, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 23, 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 281.

29 vehicles affected

Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America

Complaint Statistics

35 total complaints 1 fires

Top Reported Components

Component	Complaints
UNKNOWN OR OTHER	5
POWER TRAIN	5
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	4
STEERING	3
ENGINE	3
SUSPENSION	2
SEATS	2
SERVICE BRAKES	1
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL	1
LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING	1

Incident date: Jun 4, 2026

Driving at 70 mph on interstate, driver adjusted hands on steering wheel and accidently pulled both paddles, shifting car into neutral. Fortunately, there was little traffic, and the driver was able to move to the side of the interstate, out the car into park and shift back to drive. This was high... Read more

Incident date: Jun 4, 2026

Incident date: May 29, 2026

New vehicle purchased February 2026 with OEM Pirelli tires. Had puncture in tire, but on repair, tire found to have inside sidewall bubble. No history of any impacts or hard strikes to tires. Discount Tire said probable tire defect, unsafe to drive even a few miles, so placed spare and we took ca... Read more

Incident date: Mar 4, 2026

See attached document for complaint.

Incident date: Mar 4, 2026

See attached document for complaint.

Incident date: May 15, 2026

While driving, the sunroof glass of the vehicle exploded/shattered with no known trigger, force or debris striking the glass. At the time no risk to myself as the sunroof shade was closed. I am in the process of getting this inspected and repaired.

Incident date: May 11, 2026

The paint on my 2014 Kia Sorento (Snow White Pearl) is peeling and delaminating across multiple areas of the vehicle, including the roof and side panels. In several areas the paint has detached completely, exposing bare metal, and rust has begun forming on the roof. The condition appears to be prog... Read more

Incident date: May 8, 2026

The contact owns a 2020 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the fuel failed to go into the tank. The seat failed to move. The engine light illuminated. The vehicle stalled. While driving, the fuel gauge went from full to empty. The contact received the NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V796000 (Fuel Syst... Read more

Incident date: May 3, 2026

This vehicle is a 2019 Honda CR-V with less than 70,000 miles on it. Which is less than 10,000 miles a year. The steering wheel consistently sticks, gets jammed, or even locks while driving. The experience is mostly felt while making turns while driving. After taking into Honda of Kirkland in Kirkl... Read more

Incident date: May 3, 2026

The rear sub frame has completely rusted through, on both driver and passenger sides. This makes the vehicle extremely unsafe to drive. It is a 2014 q5 with 160k miles. There is a hole on the bottom of the frame on both sides due to a poorly designed cover that traps salt and other road debris leadi... Read more

Incident date: May 2, 2026

While driving on I-95 North in the fast lane at highway speed, my 2023 Tesla Model Y experienced a sudden loss of propulsion and displayed a warning indicating the vehicle was shutting down. The vehicle rapidly decelerated and would not respond to acceleration or drive engagement. Steering remained... Read more

Incident date: May 2, 2026

The contact owns a 2021 GMC Sierra LD Crew. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle's bedrail attachment fully detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage... Read more

Incident date: May 2, 2026

My switch on drivers door started on fire right after I purchased vehicle from third party. There was no warning I just smelled smoke while driving and pulled it out

Fire

Incident date: Apr 27, 2026

To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to file a formal safety complaint regarding my 2026 Lexus TX 350 F Sport (VIN: [XXX] ), purchased from Treasure Coast Lexus in Florida in December of 2025. Shortly after purchasing the vehicle I noticed significant hood flutter at 60-70 MPH. This is visually d... Read more

Incident date: Apr 28, 2026

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving approximately 80 MPH, the vehicle unexpectedly decelerated. The contact pulled over to the closest exit and pulled over to the side of the road. The vehicle was turned off and then restarted; however, while attempting t... Read more

Incident date: Apr 10, 2026

Safety Concern – Lack of Air Conditioning Ventilation in Third Row Seating I am writing to formally report a safety concern regarding a vehicle that lacks adequate air conditioning and ventilation in the third-row seating area. The third row of this vehicle does not receive sufficient airflow, r... Read more

Incident date: Mar 21, 2026

Coolant heater failure resulting in no regenerative braking .

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

vehicle unable to determine when a passenger is seated with seatbelt fastened in 2nd row captains chairs and the ‘one-touch’ tilt-and-slide button is pressed. The seat will keep folding and crushing the passenger. This is a known issue with the Hyundai Palisade at this time and is affecting my v... Read more

Incident date: Mar 13, 2026

The contact owns a 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while attempting to adjust the front driver's seat, the second-row passenger’s side seat engaged unintendedly. The child was seated in the booster seat, and the main seat started to fold down. The contact was unaware that the seat h... Read more

Incident date: Mar 8, 2026

First incident: When driving my vehicle the entire infotainment center went black for a few minutes. Second incident: infotainment center has frozen multiple times. Third: infotainment center glitches Last incident: a message came up saying to Service the Infotainment Center.

Incident date: Mar 10, 2026

"TAKE A BREAK" - the feature prompts the driver to “Take a Break” with that text and a‘Coffee Cup” logo after a certain period of continuous driving. There are instances when turning it off is necessary and Hyundai has removed that option - high distracting false alarm rate. The alert, v... Read more

Incident date: Mar 10, 2026

My engine makes a rattling noise intermittently, misses, and surges. The transmission has shuddered and shifts hard randomly. The transmission has stayed at 2-plus rpm for well over two minutes. All this happens at random times. I have shown videos to my dealership, which did no good because they co... Read more

Incident date: Mar 10, 2026

Incident date: Feb 20, 2026

After turning off the radio with the push button control the instrument cluster and navigation display panel went completely dead black. After pushing multiple buttons several times the panel came back to life. This has not yet been reported to the dealer. On 12/12/2025 this same vehicle also exp... Read more

Incident date: Feb 20, 2026

The first sign of trouble with my 2016 Ford F-150 was that the blind spot sensor failure light came on while driving. Then the engine warning light came on and the gear indicator on the dash went blank. Also, while the truck was in forward driving motion, it lost throttle control. After stopping the... Read more

Incident date: Feb 1, 2026

Spontaneous explosion of sunroof while car is in motion on the expressway 83 and could have caused an accident while my daughter was driving

Incident date: Feb 2, 2026

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the engine was knocking at startup. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING); and the VIN was included in the recall; however, the manufacturer declined to honor the recall because the original own... Read more

Incident date: Feb 2, 2026

The vehicle has a feature that puts a message on the dashboard that reads “Consider taking a break “ that is not able to be adjusted by the consumer or the dealer. This message can come up repeatedly and has an audio portion that overrides the audio in the vehicle. Weather conditions, back roa... Read more

Incident date: Jan 27, 2026

The front lower ball joints have repeatedly failed under recall. The dealer says I now have to pay to have it repaired properly, under recall

Incident date: Jan 18, 2026

Immediately after taking it home from a dealership, I noticed the MMI system wasn’t turning on. I figured it would fix itself, but it’s been 4 days and nothing has happened. The screen stays black when starting the car. When I reset the MMI by holding the volume knob for 10 seconds, it briefly t... Read more

Incident date: Jan 9, 2026

Leaving our home garage a loud popping sound was heard and dashboard warning signals came on indicating battery failure. Dealer confirmed the ICCU failed.

Incident date: Dec 31, 2025

Loss of power steering

Incident date: Dec 31, 2025

I engaged the adaptive cruise control at 50 MPH. This enabled the driver attention system which I had turned off at the start of my drive. The driver attention system is unable to see my eyes through my prescription corrective lenses. This caused the Hyundai to throw multiple 'failure to control veh... Read more

Incident date: Sep 30, 2025

The contact's mother owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the owner received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V512000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the... Read more

NHTSA Safety Ratings — 2026 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

2026 HYUNDAI SANTA FE SUV N/A AWD

Category	Rating
Overall Rating	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Frontal Crash	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Frontal Crash — Driver	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Frontal Crash — Passenger	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Side Crash	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Side Crash — Driver	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Side Crash — Passenger	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Rollover	4 / 5 ★★★★☆
Rollover Risk	17.4%

Safety Technology

Feature	Status
Electronic Stability Control	Standard
Forward Collision Warning	No
Lane Departure Warning	No

Source: NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings Program. Ratings are based on crash tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA Safety Investigations — HYUNDAI SANTA FE

Investigations opened by NHTSA into potential safety defects. These are separate from recalls and may or may not result in a recall.

DP — Closed — Model Year: 2017

3.3L Engine Loss of Motive Power (LOMP)

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received a petition on February 2, 2024, requesting a defect investigation into an alleged defect of the "engine" on the following vehicle model: 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe vehicles equipped with the 3.3L V-Shaped GDI Lambda-II engines. The petition cites allegat... Read more

PE — Closed — Model Year: 2011

Non-crash Vehicle Fires

During this Preliminary Evaluation (PE), the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) assessed the scope, frequency and potential safety-related consequences of non-crash vehicle fires caused by both engine failures and failures of other vehicle systems/components in model year (MY) 2011-2014 Hyundai S... Read more

DP — Closed — Model Year: 2011

Non-crash Vehicle Fires

In a letter dated June 11, 2018, the Center for Auto Safety (CAS) petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to initiate a safety defect investigation into non-collision related fires on model year (MY) 2011-2014 Kia Optima and Sorento, and Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe vehi... Read more

RQ — Closed — Model Year: 2012

Scope and Timeliness

NHTSA opened Recall Query (RQ) 17-004 to investigate the timeliness and scope of Hyundai?s Theta II GDI engine recalls (Recall Nos. 15V-568 and 17V-226), and Hyundai?s compliance with reporting requirements. On November 23, 2020, the Agency entered into a Consent Order with Hyundai to administrative... ly resolve NHTSA?s assertions of violations of law in connection with RQ17-004. NHTSA?s assertions included that Hyundai may be liable for civil penalties on multiple grounds, including the untimeliness of Recall Nos. 15V-568 and 17V-226, inaccuracies in Hyundai?s recall reports, and that a required report describing potential safety-related issues contained certain inaccuracies or omissions.Under the Consent Order, Hyundai agreed to a total civil penalty of $140,000,000. The total civil penalty included payment of $54,000,000 as a Non-Deferred Amount. Hyundai also agreed to a sum of $46,000,000 as an Abeyance Amount to be deferred and held in abeyance pending its satisfactory completion, as reasonably determined by NHTSA, of the requirements of the Consent Order.Additionally, Hyundai agreed to a $40,000,000 Performance Obligation Amount to be expended by Hyundai to fulfill specified Safety Data Analytics Infrastructure obligations and Test and Inspection Laboratory obligations. The Consent Order also includes other terms designed to enhance Hyundai?s safety practices, and requires Hyundai to retain a Third-Party Auditor who directly reports to NHTSA.Other than RQ17-004, the Consent Order is not intended to affect any other current or future investigation which may involve vehicles equipped with Theta II GDI engines. In particular, Engineering Analysis (EA) 21-003 (which is upgraded from Preliminary Evaluation (PE) 19-003) continues NHTSA?s evaluation of certain performance and design issues relating to the Theta II and other engines.Nothing in the Consent Order discharges Hyundai from any obligation to comply with the Safety Act or regulations thereunder, including the obligation to carry out recalls in accordance with law, and to initiate a recall upon any future determination by Hyundai, or upon any finally adjudicated order from NHTSA, that vehicles equipped with Theta II GDI engines contain a defect related to motor vehicle safety or do not comply with an applicable FMVSS.This RQ is closed. Closure of this RQ has no bearing on the terms of the Consent Order, including Hyundai's ongoing performance obligations, and does not represent a determination by the agency as to Hyundai?s performance under the Consent Order to date.Read more

PE — Closed — Model Year: 2013

Front Axle Shaft Failure

In a letter dated August 9, 2013, Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, Inc. (Hyundai-Kia) submitted two Defect Information Reports (DIR) to NHTSA identifying a safety defect related to fracture of the right front axle shaft in MY 2013 front wheel drive Hyundai Santa Fe Sport vehicles built from Jul... Read more

PE — Closed — Model Year: 2011

Steering Shaft Universal Joint Failure

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE12-029 based on one complaint alleging that a fastener became loose in the steering shaft of a model year (MY) 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe vehicle and related Early Warning Reporting field report data.In it's response to ODI's information request letter f... Read more

PE — Closed — Model Year: 2010

Transmission Intermediate Driveshaft

On April 25, 2011, Kia Motors Corporation submitted a defect notification letter to NHTSA regarding a transmission intermediate driveshaft condition in approximately 12,690 model year (MY) 2011 Kia Sorento 2-wheel drive vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions and 2.4L engines (NHTSA Recall No... Read more

EA — Closed — Model Year: 2001

REAR TRAILING ARM CORROSION FAILURE

IN A LETTER DATED APRIL 14, 2009, HYUNDAI-KIA AMERICA TECHNICAL CENTER, INC (HYUNDAI) NOTIFIED NHTSA THAT IT WILL CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL OF APPROXIMATELY 85,000 MODEL YEAR (MY) 2001 THROUGH 2003 HYUNDAI SANTA FE VEHICLES MANUFACTURED PRIOR TO JANUARY 27, 2003, THAT ARE REGISTERED AND OPERATED IN TH... Read more

PE — Closed — Model Year: 2001

REAR SUSPENSION TRAILING ARM FAILURE

IN RESPONSE TO AN INFORMATION REQUEST LETTER SENT BY THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) DURING THIS PRELIMINARY EVALUATION, HYUNDAI PROVIDED ODI WITH 15 ALLEGATIONS OF CORROSION FAILURE OF THE LEFT- AND/OR RIGHT-REAR SUSPENSION TRAILING ARM.THREE OF THE 15 CONSUMERS ALLEGED A LOSS OF VEHICLE ... Read more

PE — Closed — Model Year: 2001

ENGINE SEIZURE

There is no summary currently available

HYUNDAI SANTA FE — All Years Overview

Complete safety history for the HYUNDAI SANTA FE across all model years (2001–2026).

96 Total Recalls

10,209 Total Complaints

10 Investigations

563 Reported Crashes

259 Reported Fires

17 Reported Deaths

HYUNDAI SANTA FE — Year by Year

Compare recalls and complaints across model years. Click any year to see full details.

Year	Recalls	Complaints
2026 (current)	4	35
2025	5	167	View
2024	7	176	View
2023	1	301	View
2022	5	286	View
2021	7	232	View
2020	2	264	View
2019	2	268	View
2018	2	141	View
2017	6	1,224	View
2016	3	288	View
2015	2	330	View
2014	3	677	View
2013	3	806	View
2012	1	473	View
2011	3	268	View
2010	3	331	View
2009	3	506	View
2008	6	718	View
2007	9	981	View
2006	1	143	View
2005	3	300	View
2004	3	386	View
2003	4	390	View
2002	4	219	View
2001	4	293	View

Other HYUNDAI Models

Model	Recalls	Complaints
SONATA	184	21,863	View
ELANTRA	133	11,853	View
PALISADE	124	2,704	View
TUCSON	95	8,074	View
SONATA HYBRID	67	1,129	View
IONIQ 5	66	1,865	View
ACCENT	64	2,745	View
SANTA FE HYBRID	57	347	View

Vehicle Safety

Consumer Safety

Infrastructure

Public Health

2026 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

Complaint Statistics

Top Reported Components

NHTSA Safety Ratings — 2026 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

Safety Technology

NHTSA Safety Investigations — HYUNDAI SANTA FE

HYUNDAI SANTA FE — All Years Overview

HYUNDAI SANTA FE — Year by Year

Other HYUNDAI Models