Owners have filed 47 complaints
about the 2022 Hyundai Santa FE Plug-In Hybrid with NHTSA between 2021 and 2026.
The largest single group is the driver assist & collision avoidance.
A spike years after the car went on sale usually means a part wearing
out on schedule across the whole fleet — the kind of pattern no single
owner can see from inside their own car.
Nov 2021peak 7Aug 2026
NHTSA investigations into the 2022 Hyundai Santa FE Plug-In Hybrid
An investigation is the step before a recall: the agency has seen enough
complaints to look into a pattern itself. An open one means it thinks
something may be wrong and nothing has been fixed yet.
DP22005Opened 27 Jan 2023Closed 7 Aug 2023ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM
Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after Marc...
Complaints that involved harm
Reports where the owner recorded a crash, a fire, an injury or a death.
Eugene, ORCrash
AIR BAGS
During the accident, the airbag in the steering wheel, barely deployed and threw sparks in the air. Passenger door airbag ruptured. I have pictures of the torn airbag. The cab of the vehicle filled with smoke and sparks came out around the steering wheel. Driver felt like their pants are on fire. To the best of my knowledge, there has been no inspection of the airbag system.
NHTSA complaint #11525980 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Temecula, CACrash
POWER TRAIN
The accident took place on February 13 at approximately 7:40 a.m. My wife (the primary driver of the vehicle) had just dropped my son off at school and was pulling the vehicle into our garage as she has done at least four times a day since we purchased it in February 2022 for use as our primary family vehicle. She pulled into the garage, came to a complete stop, pressed the “Park” button and confirmed that the vehicle was in park, and removed her foot from the brake. The vehicle then lurched forward and collided with a storage cube adjacent to our garage wall, causing extensive damage to both the front end of the vehicle and the garage/dining room wall. Within minutes of the accident, I contacted Temecula Hyundai (our local dealership and service center), informed the Service Manager of what had just happened, and asked them how they wanted me to proceed given the fact that the malfunction was a warranty issue. They directed me to handle the accident through my insurance company. I specifically asked whether the vehicle needed to be preserved in place and not driven in order to maintain the scene and/or vehicle for investigation, and they said no. Nevertheless, we brought the vehicle to Hyundai that day to have it inspected and computer diagnostics run, since I suspected both might be necessary. They said the computer likely wouldn't capture this type of issue. We waited several weeks for our assigned Hyundai Case Manage (Tracy) to contact us with further instructions (which never happened, despite several requests for her and/or a supervisor to contact me), but eventually followed our insurance company’s instructions to take the vehicle to Caliber Collision to proceed with repairs, which were completed on March 30. We are still waiting for Hyundai corporate to address the issue.
NHTSA complaint #11515777 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The accident took place on February 13 at approximately 7:40 a.m. My wife (the primary driver of the vehicle) had just dropped my son off at school and was pulling the vehicle into our garage as she has done at least four times a day since we purchased it in February 2022 for use as our primary family vehicle. She pulled into the garage, came to a complete stop, pressed the “Park” button and confirmed that the vehicle was in park, and removed her foot from the brake. The vehicle then lurched forward and collided with a storage cube adjacent to our garage wall, causing extensive damage to both the front end of the vehicle and the garage/dining room wall. Within minutes of the accident, I contacted Temecula Hyundai (our local dealership and service center), informed the Service Manager of what had just happened, and asked them how they wanted me to proceed given the fact that the malfunction was a warranty issue. They directed me to handle the accident through my insurance company. I specifically asked whether the vehicle needed to be preserved in place and not driven in order to maintain the scene and/or vehicle for investigation, and they said no. Nevertheless, we brought the vehicle to Hyundai that day to have it inspected and computer diagnostics run, since I suspected both might be necessary. They said the computer likely wouldn't capture this type of issue. We waited several weeks for our assigned Hyundai Case Manage (Tracy) to contact us with further instructions (which never happened, despite several requests for her and/or a supervisor to contact me), but eventually followed our insurance company’s instructions to take the vehicle to Caliber Collision to proceed with repairs, which were completed on March 30. We are still waiting for Hyundai corporate to address the issue.
NHTSA complaint #11515777 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The most recent complaints
In the owners' own words, exactly as filed with NHTSA.
Winchester, CA
POWER TRAIN
The car was shaking alot but the engine light was off. Started it the next dat and the check engine light came on. Went to auto zone to see what the codes were. The 1st and 3rd cylinder are misfiring. The car was just serviced for the 60,000 mile tune up in june 2026. This problem started August 14, 2026. The dealership is stating that the spark coils or cylinders are not under warranty even though it was just serviced
NHTSA complaint #11757272 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Winchester, CA
ENGINE
The car was shaking alot but the engine light was off. Started it the next dat and the check engine light came on. Went to auto zone to see what the codes were. The 1st and 3rd cylinder are misfiring. The car was just serviced for the 60,000 mile tune up in june 2026. This problem started August 14, 2026. The dealership is stating that the spark coils or cylinders are not under warranty even though it was just serviced
NHTSA complaint #11757272 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
ENGINE
2022 Hyundai Santa Fe Plug-in Hybrid, confirming the exact symptom “the gasoline engine continues running after the vehicle is switched off.” the vehicle is on and your burn fuel and if the fuel tank is full then some major issue may occur.
NHTSA complaint #11755321 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Laguna Niguel, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My passenger's front door side vent window glass shattered unexplainably while I was making a left hand turn at 15 mph. This occurred at 7:25am in the morning after pulling my car out of my garage and driving about 1/3 mile before the unexplained glass explosion/shattering. The sound made was a loud bang/pop. Air temperature was around 68 degrees, no air conditioning was being used at the time. No other cars or pedestrians were around when it occurred. I inspected the glass and it does not appear as if there was any possibility it was caused by a rock or a projectile such as a bullet or bb gun. As mentioned the component that failed was a fixed vent window that does not open. Fortunately no passengers were in the car when the glass shattered. It has not been inspected since insurance will not cover the cost of the glass replacement. (Safelite glass to replace for $346.00 (my insurance deductible exceeds that amount). No warning signs before it occurred. (Possible manufacturing defect -impurities in glass? I don't think it was body flex or vibration which may have caused the explosion as I was driving only 15mph. I don't believe it is attributable to thermal stress either -due to no variation between internal and external air temperature)
NHTSA complaint #11744581 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Fullerton, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This is a 2022 Santa Fe PHEV with just 33k miles on it. While driving on freeway, vehicle displayed warning sign for "Check Hybrid System" and the Check Engine light and Battery light switched on. Sensing a loss of power with the acceleration, I managed to get off the freeway and had to get the vehicle towed to the nearest dealership. Once they checked the vehicle, they reported they had to recalibrate the HSG resolver motor and claimed the issue was now fixed. I collected the vehicle back from the dealership and to my horror, on the drive back home, the exact same problem resurfaced and I experienced a loss of power and stalling again. Now I have to tow the vehicle to another dealer again. Searching the internet for this problem shows that many other drivers have experienced and reported this issue, so I am recording my formal complaint. Twice in the space of a few days, I have experienced a safety issue that could have affected myself and my family and other drivers on the road. Hyundai needs to investigate and figure out the proper resolution for this failure and institute a recall to address ASAP.
NHTSA complaint #11716866 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Boulder, CO
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
First the vehicle randomly lost all power and engine function, so was taken to the Hyundai service center. It was a safety issue as we had to coast to the margin in heavy traffic. Hyundai attempted a fix and returned it to us. It developed issues before we even got home. Now it is has been 6 months in the service center with continuously new issues. Every time they assure us it is fixed and we try to take it home, it develops another failure and the check engine light returns. The technicians have told us they have no explanation for the multiple failures and are not confident they can permanently fix the vehicle. The failures are unrelated and are with the manifold, gasket, CVVD,, oxygen sensor, and battery. A bolt also sheared off in this time frame and had to be drilled out. In the last failure, the car began smoking heavily and dripping oil. We've requested a replacement. Hyundai said they will not replace the vehicle (nor buy back) and it is acceptable that multiple systems and parts fail within 3 years.
NHTSA complaint #11698232 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Boulder, CO
ENGINE
First the vehicle randomly lost all power and engine function, so was taken to the Hyundai service center. It was a safety issue as we had to coast to the margin in heavy traffic. Hyundai attempted a fix and returned it to us. It developed issues before we even got home. Now it is has been 6 months in the service center with continuously new issues. Every time they assure us it is fixed and we try to take it home, it develops another failure and the check engine light returns. The technicians have told us they have no explanation for the multiple failures and are not confident they can permanently fix the vehicle. The failures are unrelated and are with the manifold, gasket, CVVD,, oxygen sensor, and battery. A bolt also sheared off in this time frame and had to be drilled out. In the last failure, the car began smoking heavily and dripping oil. We've requested a replacement. Hyundai said they will not replace the vehicle (nor buy back) and it is acceptable that multiple systems and parts fail within 3 years.
NHTSA complaint #11698232 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Boulder, CO
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
First the vehicle randomly lost all power and engine function, so was taken to the Hyundai service center. It was a safety issue as we had to coast to the margin in heavy traffic. Hyundai attempted a fix and returned it to us. It developed issues before we even got home. Now it is has been 6 months in the service center with continuously new issues. Every time they assure us it is fixed and we try to take it home, it develops another failure and the check engine light returns. The technicians have told us they have no explanation for the multiple failures and are not confident they can permanently fix the vehicle. The failures are unrelated and are with the manifold, gasket, CVVD,, oxygen sensor, and battery. A bolt also sheared off in this time frame and had to be drilled out. In the last failure, the car began smoking heavily and dripping oil. We've requested a replacement. Hyundai said they will not replace the vehicle (nor buy back) and it is acceptable that multiple systems and parts fail within 3 years.
NHTSA complaint #11698232 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Riverside, CA
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
I have taken my Hyundai Santa Fe 2022 PHEV under warranty for a fix of being in reverse, the function not working, the car revs aggressively not in gear and then put it in park and the car aggressively jolts forward in park like a hard gear change. Hyundai replaced pcm and said it was fine. I took car and immediately noticed grinding noises and straight back to Hyundai. They claim it's fine. Today same issue with reversing and aggressive car jolting. Hyundai is going to take it back tomorrow. I do not feel safe in this vehicle. It felt like the transmission was going to give out on the freeway. The rpm are maxing out at 5-20 mph and sometimes don't want to engage in drive. Extremely unsafe for freeway driving. There is something terribly wrong with this cars engine or transmission. Unsafe for Hyundai to release for use.
NHTSA complaint #11674817 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Riverside, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have taken my Hyundai Santa Fe 2022 PHEV under warranty for a fix of being in reverse, the function not working, the car revs aggressively not in gear and then put it in park and the car aggressively jolts forward in park like a hard gear change. Hyundai replaced pcm and said it was fine. I took car and immediately noticed grinding noises and straight back to Hyundai. They claim it's fine. Today same issue with reversing and aggressive car jolting. Hyundai is going to take it back tomorrow. I do not feel safe in this vehicle. It felt like the transmission was going to give out on the freeway. The rpm are maxing out at 5-20 mph and sometimes don't want to engage in drive. Extremely unsafe for freeway driving. There is something terribly wrong with this cars engine or transmission. Unsafe for Hyundai to release for use.
NHTSA complaint #11674817 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Riverside, CA
ENGINE
I have taken my Hyundai Santa Fe 2022 PHEV under warranty for a fix of being in reverse, the function not working, the car revs aggressively not in gear and then put it in park and the car aggressively jolts forward in park like a hard gear change. Hyundai replaced pcm and said it was fine. I took car and immediately noticed grinding noises and straight back to Hyundai. They claim it's fine. Today same issue with reversing and aggressive car jolting. Hyundai is going to take it back tomorrow. I do not feel safe in this vehicle. It felt like the transmission was going to give out on the freeway. The rpm are maxing out at 5-20 mph and sometimes don't want to engage in drive. Extremely unsafe for freeway driving. There is something terribly wrong with this cars engine or transmission. Unsafe for Hyundai to release for use.
NHTSA complaint #11674817 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Riverside, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I believe my vehicle is part of the parking prawn recall. It jerked and jolt when in park very aggressively. When we proceeded to try to move the car in reverse it did not budge.
NHTSA complaint #11668442 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Upper Marlboro, MD
STEERING
The steering wheeled locked up and the dash showed error messages of check hybrid system and refill inverter coolant and car seemed to go into limp mode as I could barely accelerate forcing me to pull over. The messages and issue would go away upon turning off car and turning it back on, however the issue would eventually happen again. This has happened while driving on the highway and other various road situations without warning and making the vehicle very unsafe. I have taken my vehicle to Hyundai Ourisman in Bowie, Maryland (the dealership where I purchased the vehicle) three times over two years and they have failed to fix the problem. They have even replaced the battery in the car.
NHTSA complaint #11663947 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Upper Marlboro, MD
LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION
The steering wheeled locked up and the dash showed error messages of check hybrid system and refill inverter coolant and car seemed to go into limp mode as I could barely accelerate forcing me to pull over. The messages and issue would go away upon turning off car and turning it back on, however the issue would eventually happen again. This has happened while driving on the highway and other various road situations without warning and making the vehicle very unsafe. I have taken my vehicle to Hyundai Ourisman in Bowie, Maryland (the dealership where I purchased the vehicle) three times over two years and they have failed to fix the problem. They have even replaced the battery in the car.
NHTSA complaint #11663947 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Upper Marlboro, MD
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
The steering wheeled locked up and the dash showed error messages of check hybrid system and refill inverter coolant and car seemed to go into limp mode as I could barely accelerate forcing me to pull over. The messages and issue would go away upon turning off car and turning it back on, however the issue would eventually happen again. This has happened while driving on the highway and other various road situations without warning and making the vehicle very unsafe. I have taken my vehicle to Hyundai Ourisman in Bowie, Maryland (the dealership where I purchased the vehicle) three times over two years and they have failed to fix the problem. They have even replaced the battery in the car.
NHTSA complaint #11663947 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Easley, SC
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Driving along, merging onto Interstate, various warnings such as check lane keeping assist, and warnings to stop vehicle and check brake systems. Driving approximately 50mph, the warning started to flash and speedometer dropped to zero then went back to full speed. Automatic braking was attempting to slow the car. Attached photo shows an indicated speed of 0mph, however was travelling approximately 50mph at this time. I also have video of the errors occurring, but there is not a way to upload video.
NHTSA complaint #11634183 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Easley, SC
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Driving along, merging onto Interstate, various warnings such as check lane keeping assist, and warnings to stop vehicle and check brake systems. Driving approximately 50mph, the warning started to flash and speedometer dropped to zero then went back to full speed. Automatic braking was attempting to slow the car. Attached photo shows an indicated speed of 0mph, however was travelling approximately 50mph at this time. I also have video of the errors occurring, but there is not a way to upload video.
NHTSA complaint #11634183 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Driving along, merging onto Interstate, various warnings such as check lane keeping assist, and warnings to stop vehicle and check brake systems. Driving approximately 50mph, the warning started to flash and speedometer dropped to zero then went back to full speed. Automatic braking was attempting to slow the car. Attached photo shows an indicated speed of 0mph, however was travelling approximately 50mph at this time. I also have video of the errors occurring, but there is not a way to upload video.
NHTSA complaint #11634183 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
San Diego, CA
POWER TRAIN
Loss of acceleration while driving. This has occurred multiple times (always while moving or actively driving). The first time we were driving up a significant hill and the car slowed, lost power and we had to pull over and coast back down the mountain to a repair center. The second time, I was on the freeway and lost acceleration causing me to pull off the road in median. The third time, I was at a stoplight and when the light turned green, I had almost no movement after edging into the intersection. Eventually, at about 5 mph, the car regained speed. The check light went on in the first event and the car was supposedly repaired at the second dealership by re-tensioning "pins". However, no lights or warnings went on for incident #2 or #3 that occurred after the earlier repair effort. The vehicle is currently at the dealership service center for it's 7th day of "unable to replicate the problem" after incident #3.
NHTSA complaint #11580960 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
San Diego, CA
ENGINE
Loss of acceleration while driving. This has occurred multiple times (always while moving or actively driving). The first time we were driving up a significant hill and the car slowed, lost power and we had to pull over and coast back down the mountain to a repair center. The second time, I was on the freeway and lost acceleration causing me to pull off the road in median. The third time, I was at a stoplight and when the light turned green, I had almost no movement after edging into the intersection. Eventually, at about 5 mph, the car regained speed. The check light went on in the first event and the car was supposedly repaired at the second dealership by re-tensioning "pins". However, no lights or warnings went on for incident #2 or #3 that occurred after the earlier repair effort. The vehicle is currently at the dealership service center for it's 7th day of "unable to replicate the problem" after incident #3.
NHTSA complaint #11580960 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
San Diego, CA
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Loss of acceleration while driving. This has occurred multiple times (always while moving or actively driving). The first time we were driving up a significant hill and the car slowed, lost power and we had to pull over and coast back down the mountain to a repair center. The second time, I was on the freeway and lost acceleration causing me to pull off the road in median. The third time, I was at a stoplight and when the light turned green, I had almost no movement after edging into the intersection. Eventually, at about 5 mph, the car regained speed. The check light went on in the first event and the car was supposedly repaired at the second dealership by re-tensioning "pins". However, no lights or warnings went on for incident #2 or #3 that occurred after the earlier repair effort. The vehicle is currently at the dealership service center for it's 7th day of "unable to replicate the problem" after incident #3.
NHTSA complaint #11580960 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Aliso Viejo, CA
POWER TRAIN
From park to Drive or reverse there’s an issues with changing in between doing so. Loud noise and shake to the car when engaging in the new gear. Then it sounds like the cars accelerating but parked, not moving. When you put it back in drive a loud thud then revving noise occurs. Once driving again just after there’s little to no movement when you put your foot on the pedal. When you drive it’s slow to go. You can hear the car trying but you’re hit going the same pace as the other cars on the road. Seems unsafe. This has happened more than once. I mentioned it to the delayer they said it was fine. No issues.
NHTSA complaint #11577757 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While driving on the freeway, another vehicle passed me in the lane to the right of me. Right before it passed me, my car triggered automatic emergency braking for no reason. It was very terrifying. The other car was in its own lane the entire time. This has happened multiple times.
NHTSA complaint #11563385 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Windsor, CA
TRAILER HITCHES
The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact received a notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V181000 (Trailer Hitches); however, the parts for the repair were unavailable. The dealer had been notified about the recall and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer had been notified of the recall. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
NHTSA complaint #11542087 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Massapequa, NY
POWER TRAIN
I was idling for 15 minutes and then drove for 10 minutes at which time the Check Hybrid System Stop Safely alert showed on my dashboard with the red light. I was on a bridge and could not stop in the middle, this was very terrifying and dangerous as I was loosing acceleration and speed and it felt like the car was about to totally turn off, i was losing control, I was pressing on the brake and i felt it was not braking at which I point luckily I was at the end of the bridge and pulled aside, and turned it off. I waited 15 minutes before turning it back on and drove it back home. As I was driving it I can see the battery level rising. I plugged the charger that night to charge it and it started charging but then suddenly stopped and would not charge. Since then I tried charging it again and it charges for an hour and stops. I took it the dealer at the earliest appointment I can get and they ran diagnostics and no code came up. They said that it had to do with the coolant and they put in a new coolant and that should hopefully solve the charging issue. I tried again to charge it at home and again it charged for an hour and then it stopped and will not charge again. I am scared to drive it far now and especially on brides.
NHTSA complaint #11528418 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.