There are 8 owner-reported fuel system complaints for the 2010 Hyundai Santa Fein NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND TOOK TO DEALER, THEY CHECK CODES AND SAID THAT VCM UNIT IS GOING BAD. CAR HAS 54,000 MILES WE ARE ORIGINAL OWNERS. TECH SAID THAT CODE LIGHT COULD BE RESET BUT IF UNIT FAILS CAR WOULD AUTOMATICALLY SLOW FROM WHAT EVER SPEED YOU WERE DOING RIGHT DOWN TO ABOUT 5-10 MPH
CAR RANDOMLY STALLS AND SLOWS DOWN TO A CRAWL UNDER ACCELERATION. SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS WHEN GOING UPHILL, MERGING INTO TRAFFIC. SOMETIMES IT'S JUST NORMAL DRIVING. IT IS VERY UNPREDICTABLE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. IT HAS HAPPENED OFF AND ON FOR THE LAST 2-3 YEARS. DEALER IS CLUELESS.
FUEL SENSOR / GAUGE NOT WORKING I HAVE TAKEN THIS TO OUR HYUNDAI , THEY ARE AWARE OF THESE ISSUES AND STATED NO RECALL HAS BEEN ISSUED. THE FUEL USUALLY SHOWS EMPTY OR 1/2 TANK. ALSO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON, MASKS ANY OTHER ISSUES WE MAY HAVE. I HAVE ALSO TAKE THIS TO OTHER MECHANICS WHO KNOW OF THIS ISSUE ALSO. DEALER SAID THIS WILL COST OVER $500
VEHICLE STALLED AT LOW SPEED OR TURNING ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS .STALLS AND THEN WILL START BACK UP. MOST RECENT INCIDENT, 12-13-2014, IT STALLED 3 TIMES WITHIN 25 MINUTES WHEN SLOWING TO A STOP. I'VE TAKEN TO HYUNDAI IN THE PAST, THEY COULD NOT IDENTIFY AND ISSUE, CHARGED ME $50.00 TO ADJUST BREAK LIGHT SWITCH, WHICH THEY STATED SHOULD FIX IT. I CHECKED ON-LINE & LOCATED THE 3.5 SANTE FE LOW SPEED ENGINE RPM LOGIC REVISION SERVICE CAMPAIGN WHICH THEY WILL REPROGRAM THE VEHICLES ECM IN CERTAIN VEHICLES WITH 3.5 ENGINES. I TRIED TO USE THE ON-LINE VIN VERIFICATION & GUESS WHAT ,IT STATES MINE WAS NOT ONE OF THE ONE WITH ISSUES, IT WAS MADE IN ALABAMA, 2010 & 3.5, SAME STALLING ISSUES AS EVERYONE ELSE. I WANT MY VEHICLE COVERED BY THIS SERVICE CAMPAIGN. *TR
GAS/FUEL SMELL COMING FROM ENGINE COMPARTMENT INTO CABIN OF 2010 HYUNDAI SANTA FE GLS (2.4 L AUTOMATIC). SMELL IS NOT NOTICEABLE AT COLD START OVERNIGHT, OR AFTER A COUPLE OF HOURS OF SITTING. SMELL IS VERY NOTICEABLE AFTER THE VEHICLE IS DRIVEN TO OPERATING TEMPERATURE AND THEN SHUT OFF FOR ANYWHERE FROM 10 MINUTES TO AN HOUR. THE FUEL SMELL COMES DIRECTLY INTO THE CABIN WHEN THE HVAC SYSTEM IS SET TO VENT, BUT NOT ON RECIRCULATE. DEALER HAS REMOVED AND REPLACED FUEL INJECTORS AND FUEL RAIL. SMELL STILL PERSISTS. THIS IS A DAILY OCCURRENCE. THE SMELL ALSO OCCURS WHEN STOPPED FOR ANY AMOUNT OF TIME WHILE DRIVING/IDLING. THE SMELL OCCURS WHEN THE VEHICLE'S ENGINE IS OFF, BUT THE KEY IS TURNED TO THE POINT THE HVAC WILL TURN ON. THIS MEANS THE SMELL OCCURS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE ENGINE IS RUNNING OR NOT. THE SMELL ACCUMULATES UNDER THE HOOD AND IS STRONGEST NEAR THE PASSENGER SIDE MIDDLE. THE SMELL IS BAD ENOUGH TO PERMEATE CLOTHES WHILE DRIVING AND TO BE SMELLED INSIDE THE HOUSE WHEN THE DOOR TO THE GARAGE IS OPENED. IT'S BAD ENOUGH TO FORCE PARKING THE VEHICLE OUTDOORS. IT APPEARS THIS ISSUE IS BEING DISCUSSED ON THE HYUNDAI FORUMS WEBSITE AND MOST COMPLAINTS ARE FOR THE HYUNDAI SONATA AND SONATA TURBO, BUT THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ISSUE AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS POINT TO THE SAME CAUSE FOR MY SANTA FE. THE DEALER HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THE SMELL, BUT NOT IN WRITING. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN IN FIVE TIMES FOR THIS COMPLAINT - TWICE WITH WORK DONE, TWICE WITH NO WORK DONE (CLAIM WAS COULD NOT REPLICATE), AND ONCE I WAS SENT HOME BEFORE ANY WORK WAS DONE AS THE SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE DETERMINED THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO AT THAT TIME. THERE APPEARS TO BE NO KNOWN SOLUTION TO THIS ISSUE COMING FORTH FROM HYUNDAI AT THIS TIME. *TR
I PURCHASED THE 2010 HYUNDAI SANTA FE NEW WITH ONLY 60 MILES ON IT IN JUNE 2010. IN JANUARY 2011 WE BEGAN SMELLING A FUEL SMELL. THIS OCCURRED ONLY AFTER THE CAR WAS RUNNING AND SHUT OFF THEN SUBSEQUENTLY TURNED BACK ON LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER LIKE WHEN RUNNING ERRANDS. I NEVER SMELLED GAS IF THE CAR SAT OVERNIGHT. WE ALSO WOULD EXPERIENCE AN INTERMITTENT LONG CRANK. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO THE DEALER IN JANUARY 2011 AND THEY REPLACED 2 O-RINGS THAT THEY STATED WERE LEAKING AND FOUND FUEL AROUND. AFTER THESE WERE REPLACED, I STILL HAD THE SAME PROBLEMS. I BROUGHT THE CAR BACK IN FEBRUARY 2011 AND NO KNOWN PROBLEMS WERE FOUND BY THE DEALER. AGAIN, I BROUGHT THE CAR BACK IN MARCH. THIS TIME THEY FOUND FUEL IN THE CHARCOAL CANISTER. THEY STATED I WAS OVERFILLING THE TANK WHICH WAS WHY THERE WAS FUEL IN THE CHARCOAL CANISTER. AFTER SPEAKING WITH THE MANAGER, THEY AGREED TO COVER THE PART AND LABOR AT NO CHARGE AND REPLACED THE CHARCOAL CANISTER. AFTER THIS WAS REPLACED, I NO LONGER EXPERIENCED THE LONG CRANK BUT I STILL SMELL GAS AFTER RUNNING ERRANDS. HYUNDAI WILL AGAIN BE LOOKING AT THE CAR FOR ANY OTHER PROBLEMS, BUT THE DEALER IS REALLY STUMPED SO FAR ON THIS. *TR
AFTER COMING TO A FULL STOP AT AN INTERSECTION, I ACCELERATED TO ENTER THE INTERSECTION AND TURN RIGHT. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AS I PULLED INTO THE INTERSECTION, THE CAR STALLED AS THOUGH IT HAD DIED. I CONTINUED TO PRESS ON THE ACCELERATOR AND AFTER 3 TO 4 SECONDS, THE CAR LURCHED FORWARD, WITH FUEL FEED WORKING NORMALLY. I TOOK THE CAR TO MY LOCAL DEALER WHERE I BOUGHT THE CAR FOR INSPECTION. THEY TOOK THE CAR IN FOR TESTING AND SAID THEY COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG. THIS PROBLEM PERSISTED, WITH THE INCIDENTS BEING INFREQUENT. I REPORTED THIS PROBLEM EACH OF THE NEXT FEW TIMES THE PROBLEM RECURRED. EACH TIME I ASKED IF OTHERS HAD REPORTED THE SAME PROBLEM. EACH TIME I WAS TOLD THERE WERE NO SUCH COMPLAINTS, AND THAT THEY COULD NOT FIND A REASON FOR MY PROBLEM. FINALLY, I LEFT THE VEHICLE AT THE DEALER FOR SEVERAL DAYS WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THEY WOULD DRIVE THE CAR FREQUENTLY, TRYING TO DUPLICATE MY PROBLEM. AFTER SEVERAL DAYS, THEY CALLED TO SAY THEY HAD EXPERIENCED THE PROBLEM AS I HAD REPORTED IT, AND THEY HAD FIXED IT. I ASKED WHAT WAS DONE, AND THE AGENT COULD/WOULD NOT SPECIFY WHAT THE CAUSE WAS, BUT THEY WROTE ON THE INVOICE THAT THEY HAD REPROGRAMMED TCM WITH TSB#11-AT-011-1. I THEN AGAIN QUERIED ABOUT OTHER COMPLAINTS, AND HE SAID THAT THERE HAD BEEN OTHER COMPLAINTS AFTER ALL, AND THIS SHOULD FIX THE PROBLEM. HOWEVER, I HAVE SINCE EXPERIENCED THE PROBLEM AGAIN AND FEAR THAT AN ACCIDENT IS POSSIBLE. THE LATEST: THEY ARE TAKING MY VEHICLE IN THIS THURSDAY FOR A MAJOR DIAGNOSIS "TO TRY TO FIND THE PROBLEM"., AGAIN. *TR
THIS IS A 4 CYLINDER GAS ENGINE. WHEN IN TRAFFIC STOP AND GO, THERE IS A HESITATION WHEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE. SOMETIMES THIS HAPPENS AT A STOP SIGN OR AT ANY TIME THERE IS A LOW SPEED STOP AND GO. IT HESITATES AND THEN TAKES OFF BECAUSE YOU NATURALLY GIVE IT MORE GAS BECAUSE IT ISN'T RESPONDING TO THE ACCELERATOR. THIS IS DANGEROUS, AS IT ALSO HAPPENS WHEN YOU PULL OUT INTO TRAFFIC. *TR
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