2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Air Bags & Restraints Problems

On November 28, 2025 at approximately 2:20am, I was involved in a multi-car pile up crash on Interstate 85 south near Durham NC. At least 5 vehicles were involved and significantly damaged. At least two drivers were taken by ambulance to local hospitals. Fortunately I was not one of them. I was driving in the left lane of the 2 lane southbound interstate. It happened right in front of me and I had no chance of completely avoiding it so I veered to my left onto the shoulder to attempt to avoid a direct hit on the large Nissan SUV that was now straddling both lanes. I hit the front of the Nissan and the guardrail almost simultaneously at somewhere around 50 to 60mph which caused considerable damage to the front right quadrant and the entire drivers side of my vehicle, but my airbags never deployed and I sustained moderate to significant injury to my arms, shoulders, chest and neck, most likely due to how I was gripping the steering wheel in anticipation of the impact and from the seat belt. I did not require medical treatment at the scene but have since received treatment at home. I believe the airbags should have deployed given my speed at impact and where my vehicle came in contact with both the Nissan SUV as well as the guardrail. I believe this was a clear failure of the airbag system in my vehicle, which has since been deemed to be totaled by my insurance company.

For at least 14 months, the air bag light on the dash is on more often than not. The code that comes up on the OBD shows it's from the passenger side seat sensor. Occasionally, the seat belt indicator will flash when there is no occupant, as well. The car has never been in an accident, and the air bags have never been set off.

My engine failed. Dealership put it through an oil consumption test which it failed. They ended up keeping my car for 3 weeks to build a new engine, add new belts, new spark plugs and new filters to go with the repair. After completing this repair they told me they noticed my air bag light on. They recommended a new sensor to fix it. Which I was to pay $600 for. I agreed to this and had it done. I picked up the car and had it for 3 weeks before the airbag light came back on. I brought it back to dealership. They assessed it and told me the problem actually came from the seat and the total.to repair the whole seat would be $2500+ I am the only owner of this car. It has never been in an accident where the airbag deployed. It is in it's original state. I feel this is a huge safety concern that should be looked into.

The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that after the completion of an unknown air bag recall repair, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was diagnosed, and the dealer determined that the front passenger's side lower seat assembly needed to be replaced due to the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) failure, Part Number: B149000; however, the part was not available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and sent automated emails advising of the estimated time of availability of the part; however, the part had not been available, and there was no further communication from the manufacturer. The dealer advised the contact to remove the vehicle from the property because of the manufacturer. The vehicle was taken back to the residence. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 115,305.

We noticed that we had our airbag light was on in our dashboard along with that we also notice that the buttons and horn did not work in to the steering wheel. When we took the car to get checked by the Hyundai dealership in Lakewood. We were told that the clock spring was the cause of this problem to the airbag, horn, and the buttons not working. They told us that this clock spring part it was broken and it needed to be replaced. Our concern is the number one safety which making sure that all of the airbag and horn to be working. When this was communicated to the dealership person he response was that he could not say anything much about other then him saying that it was not under warranty and it was due to the mile of the car. Which I the moment we told them we totally understand about warranty and miles to the car but the safety of someone should not be put at risk just because of one part that connects all of this things. To us this is safety concern due to the airbag and horn not working. We are not sure by us reporting this would be something can be considered for a recall or be done about without costing any money to those who own a vehicle like this.

air bag warning light repeatedly goes on and off. code B1764, B1490, sometime both.

I purchased this vehicle 05/05/2019 as a certified pre-owned vehicle from the dealership. I have kept regular maintenance on the car. Three same day of purchase, the engine quit as I was driving it. I was making a left hand turn and it quit while I was in the intersection. My children were in the car. Hyundai replaced the engine, but about a year and half later, that engine did the exact same thing. This time I was coming off the freeway. I can't imagine the possibilities if this had happened while on the freeway. Now, the engine is making the same sound as with the first two engines. I took it to Hyundai, and they claim it's normal. The car has issues where I will be trying to safely merge into traffic and it will hesitate. There are multiple intermittent issues that occur, but the scariest is knowing how the first two engines felt/ran and sounded prior to their failure, and once again experiencing those exact issues. How many times should an engine have to be replaced in a four year period? It is very likely that one of my children could be fatally injured depending on where we happen to be when this most recent engine fails, because it will - guaranteed. Online forums are full of thousands of people who purchased vehicles from Hyundai that have the EXACT same issue. No check engine warning. Just a rough sounding engine, and then it will just quit as they're driving. Something needs to be done. Lastly, June 18th, 2023 I had a collision with another vehicle. I collided with another vehicle, my front end to the other drivers driver's side. My air bags did not deploy. Nobody was injured, but I truly feel my airbags should have went off for the amount of damage to my front end. Pictures will be included.

ABS light, passenger air bag light and skid light came on. Passenger airbag light flashes whenever car is in drive

The airbag light won't turn off. I was told the car is out of warranty and my extended warranty does not cover this issue.

There is a defective passenger presence detecting bladder on front passenger seat. My safety and the safety of my family are put at risk because if this sensor is not working, the car won't be able to detect if has someone on the passenger seat or not, causing a malfunction on the air bag system and the airbag won't be triggered in case of an accident. The problem was confirmed by Hyundai dealership by performed diagnostics according to the Hyundai service procedure. The airbag light show up on the dashboard at first blinking sometimes and finally stays on all the time. This happened in July/2021 and since then I've been trying a solution from Hyundai but the dealership and the manufacturer simply doesn't care about saying that they can do anything about since the car was not long cover by warranty and charging me in U$2.000 to fix it. Which I didn't agree and didn't pay. This causing me a lot stress because my car was rejected by state inspection and until today (Feb/2022) I have a useless car that I can't drive because I don't have the sticker from the state inspection. Besides that I can't feel safe driving and let my wife driving this car with this problem. In fact I heard from a mechanic from another Hyundai dealership that this is a common issue on this Hyundai model.

Airbag light stays in constantly in vehicle that is 5yrs old with less than 100,000 miles. Dealer wants $3,000+ to repair.

ON DEC 5, 2019 AT 7:50 AM, I WAS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT WAITING TO TURN WEST AT A CITY INTERSECTION. WHEN THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN, I ACCELERATED AND DROVE TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION. THERE WAS NO ONCOMING TRAFFIC, SO I CONTINUED AND WAS ABOUT TO MAKE A LEFT TURN WHEN I GOT HIT BY 2018 FORD ESCAPE. THE DRIVER RAN THE RED LIGHT AND HIT MY VEHICLE IN THE FRONT DRIVERS SIDE QUARTER PANEL, CAUSING VISIBLE DAMAGE TO MY FENDER, WHEEL, PANEL AND BUMPER (MORE DAMAGE WILL BE DETERMINED BY INSURANCE ADJUSTER). THE IMPACT WAS SO HARD THAT IT MOVED MY CAR, PUSHING THE FRONT END OF MY CAR TOWARDS EAST OF THE INTERSECTION. I HAD MY TWO CHILDREN AND MY DOG IN THE CAR. THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY, AT ALL. THE OTHER VEHICLE HIT US HEAD ON AND THEIR AIRBAGS DID DEPLOY. MY HEAD AND UPPER BODY SLAMMED INTO THE DRIVERS SIDE WINDOW. EVERYONE IN MY CAR HAD THEIR SEATBELT ON AND MY DOG WAS TIED, BY HIS LEASH, TO AN ANCHOR IN THE BACK. THE IMPACT TO MY HEAD WAS SO HARD, I WENT TO THE ER AND THEY DID A CT SCAN TO MAKE SURE THERE WERE NO FRACTURES OR BLEEDING. I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A CONCUSSION DUE TO THE IMPACT. I AM ATTACHING PHOTOS OF THE SCENE AND THE DAMAGE TO MY VEHICLE.

MY AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON AND STAYED ON JUST BEFORE THE 60K MILE WARRANTY EXPIRED. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS ADVISED TO BRING IT IN TO THE DEALERSHIP BECAUSE THE AIRBAGS MIGHT NOT DEPLOY IF WE WERE IN AN ACCIDENT. THEY SAID IT JUST NEEDED TO BE RESET. WELL, AT JUST OVER 62K MILES, IT CAME BACK ON THIS MORNING. A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH INDICATES IT IS A KNOWN PROBLEM ACROSS HYUNDAI'S ENTIRE FLEET OF VEHICLES. HOW HAS THIS NOT ALREADY BEEN ADDRESSED?! I HAVE 4 KIDS AND CANNOT TAKE THE CHANCE OF THE AIRBAGS NOT DEPLOYING.

I WAS IN AN ACCIDENT TRAVELING APPROX 20MPH ON A CITY STREET WHEN I HYDROPLANED AND HIT A STATIONARY LIGHT POLE HEAD ON. MY FRONTAL AIR BAG NEVER DEPLOYED. MY HEAD STRUCK THE WINDSHIELD, CREATED SIGNIFICANT WINSHIELD DAMAGE. THE OVER ALL DAMAGE TO THE FRONT END, WINSHIELD, FRONT END UNDER THE CAR DAMAGE THAT RESULTED IN THE CAR BEING TOTALED OUT. MY CONCERN IS THAT MY FRONTAL DRIVER SIDE AIRBAGS NEVER DEPLOYED

THE PASSENGER SEAT BELT WARNING CHIME IS INOPERABLE. ONLY THE DASHBOARD LIGHT OPERATES. THIS OCCURS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS MOVING WITH A PASSENGER ON BOARD WHO HAS NOT BUCKLED UP WITH THE SEAT BELT.

PASSENGER SEATBELT HAS LOOP SEWN INTO STRAP. APPEARS TO BE COMPROMISED. DEALER COULD NOT SAY WHY THE LOOP WAS THERE. HYUNDAI MANUFACTURER WON'T GET BACK TO US.

ON MY 2017 HYUNDAI SANTA FE LIMITED, HE AUDIBLE SEAT BELT ALARM DOES NOT SOUND IF THE PERSON IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT IS NOT WEARING HIS/HER SEAT BELT. THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THIS VERY PROBLEM ON THE 2017 HYUNDAI SANTA FE SPORT (#141), BUT NOT FOR THE FULL SIZED SANTA FE (WHICH I HAVE). WHEN I CALLED HYUNDAI THEY TOLD ME THAT I WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPAIRS!

I HAVE A 2017 HYUNDAI SANTE FE LIMITED ULTIMATE AND WHEN A PASSENGER SITS IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AND DOES NOT HAVE THERE SEAT BELT FASTENED NO AUDIBLE WARNING SOUND ALARMS TELLING THEM TO FASTEN THERE SEAT BELT. I HAVE GONE TO A HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP AND THE MECHANIC TOLD ME THAT THE AUDIBLE ALARM ONLY GOES OFF IF THE DRIVER DOESN'T HAVE THEIR SEAT BELT FASTENED. THIS DOES NOT SEEM RIGHT TO ME THEY ALSO TOLD ME THAT THEIR IS NO RECALL ON MY VEHICLE FOR THIS PROBLEM. I CALLED HYUNDAI CUSTOMER SERVICE ( 800 633-5151) AND THEY TOLD ME THE SAME THING THAT THEIR IS NO RECALL ON MY VEHICLE FOR THIS PROBLEM. ALTHOUGH I DID READ ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE THAT THEIR WAS A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM. I'M GETTING VERY FRUSTRATED WITH HYUNDAI.

ON APRIL 15, OUR BRAND NEW SANTA FE WAS INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. WHILE DRIVING IN LOW SPEED TRAFFIC SUDDENLY, WHILE MY FIANCE REAR ENDED SOMEONE. TO THIS DAY SHE CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPENED. SHE IS A CAREFUL DRIVER, DOES NOT SPEED AND KNOWS THAT THE AREA WERE SHE WAS DRIVING IS HIGH TRAFFIC AND WAS COMING UP TO A RED LIGHT. BOTH OF HER HANDS WERE ON THE WHEEL AND SHE WASN'T ON A PHONE OR ANYTHING. SHE BELIEVES SHE HIT THE BREAKS, AND AS STATED BEFORE STILL DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. AFTER READING THESE COMPLAINTS WE ARE WONDERING IF WE HAD THE SAME ISSUE AS SOMEONE ELSE WHO REPORTED AND IS THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT. WE FIGURED WE WOULD REPORT THIS. WE ARE ALSO WONDERING IF OTHER PEOPLE ARE HAVING SIMILAR ACCIDENTS SINCE THERE HAS BEEN A MAJOR ISSUE GETTING PARTS TO REPAIR SAID CAR (CAR HAS NOW BEEN OFF THE ROAD FOR 11 WEEKS MOST PARTS REQUIRED FOR REPAIR HAVE BEEN EXTERNALLY BACKORDERED AND HYUNDAI HAS BEEN EXTREMELY UNHELPFUL TO HELP US GET OUR CAR REPAIRED). THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE LUNGED FORWARD, WHILE SLOWLY DEPRESSING THE BREAKS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. UPDATED 11/2/2017*JS

I PREVIOUSLY PUT IN A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT ON MY 2017 SANTE FE. WHEN SOMEONE SITS IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AND DOES NOT PUT THERE SEAT BELT ON NO AUDIBLE WARNING SOUND WARNS THEM TO BUCKLE THE SEAT BELT. I SEE THAT HYUNDAI HAS A FIX FOR THE DRIVERS SEAT AUDIBLE WARNING (06-01-013) BUT NO FIX FOR THE PASSENGER SEAT. HYUNDAI COULD YOU PLEASE COME UP FIX FOR THE PASSENGER SIDE.