There are 4 owner-reported visibility & wipers complaints for the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruzin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
While driving in wet snow, the front windshield wipers stopped working. The windshield was clear, interior was warm, defrost was running, all normal winter settings. From my internet search, seems like this is a known issue, snow building up between the blade and the home position not allowing the wiper to complete its cycle, disabling the motor. Once cleared it will work again, but stopping wipers at speed is quite dangerous, not to mention pulling over on a icy road to rase the car hood to clean. Very unsafe. Internet forums says its been going on for years, why is this not been addressed?
While driving on the expressway, the sunroof shattered. We were not under an overpass, and traffic was very light. We did not see any object strike the sunroof. It’s like it just spontaneously exploded.
Washer fluid does not distribute properly on the windshield especially at highway speeds causing the wipers to leave streaks in the middle of the windshield right in the driver's field of vision. The vast majority of the fluid hits at the base of the windshield and runs off at an angle towards the driver's side window. The only way to get it to clear is to pull over or slow down to less than 20 MPH (not always possible) or to pump a lot of excess fluid on the windshield to get enough in the middle to partially clear it. This puts the driver at a much higher risk of running out of washer fluid. I have actually run out of fluid once in this car already which is a big concern. I regularly fill my fluids and have only had this happen one other time in over 30 years of driving. I have checked the Santa Cruz owners forums and there are a lot of complaints for this same issue indicating there is a design flaw in the washer system or nozzle. I am asking NHTSA to please investigate this. I have owned many vehicles and have never had one that couldn't clear the windshield properly. I am attaching the dealer's repair invoice indicating they duplicated the concern and that it was considered normal as the nozzles are not adjustable.
The washer fluid nozzles are not adjustable and the fluid while spilling still only sprays about 3 inches up from the bottom of the windshield. All fluid stays below the wiper so the window cannot be cleaned. When road grime or bugs get on the windshield I have to stop to clean.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026