2026 Hyundai Santa Fe Complaint Log

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, resulting in significantly elevated temperatures compared to the front and middle seating areas. This creates an uncomfortable and potentially unsafe environment for passengers seated in the rear. This issue raises several safety concerns, including: - Increased risk of heat-related illness, especially during warm weather conditions - Lack of proper air circulation, which may affect breathing comfort - Potential danger to vulnerable individuals such as children, elderly passengers, or those with medical conditions In addition, the absence of adequate ventilation in the third row appears inconsistent with standard safety expectations for passenger vehicles, where all seating positions should have reasonable access to airflow and temperature control. I am requesting the following: - A formal evaluation of the vehicle’s ventilation system - Clarification as to whether this is a design issue or mechanical defect - Appropriate corrective action to ensure safe and adequate airflow to all seating areas I would appreciate a timely response regarding how this concern will be addressed. Please note that I am documenting this issue due to its potential impact on passenger safety. Sincerely, [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe Se INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe has a dangerous power-fold feature for the middle row. This problem is making headlines in another model, the Hyundai Palisade, and for good reason. Why isn't the Santa Fe included in the recall(s) that are intended to correct the problem in the Palisade? In my vehicle, the second row has two seats (captain's chairs). The power-fold feature is the only way to fold the middle row for additional cargo space. When my wife activated the power-fold, I was unable to prevent that seat from folding. When I activated the power-fold, and an [XXX] relative was standing outside the vehicle, he was able to reach in, but he was not able to prevent the seat from folding, and he was very concerned when he learned this. Please note that, when the middle row seats are (manually) positioned forward in the vehicle, the power-fold feature does reverse when the folding seat contacts the back of a front seat. So there must be a sensor, but its threshold is set very high. In addition, when the conflict is removed, by (manually) moving the middle row seat backward in the vehicle, the auto-fold seems to take that as an invitation to fold again. I have only observed this once, but I argue that this is an uncommanded movement, and that there is no possible justification for this software/firmware action. Thank you for reading this. Please consider the Santa Fe for a future recall campaign. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

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 vehicle as well. Please have Hyundai issue a recall immediately. My teenage son was in the seat at the time this happened.

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 had been activated, but was able to stop the seat from fully folding. The child was unharmed. The dealer was notified of the failure; however, the manufacturer was contacted and informed of the failure. The manufacturer opened a case. The failure mileage was approximately 174.

"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, visual and auditory are intrusive, unnecessary, demonstrate a high false alarm rate leading to frustration and distraction. While designed as a safety feature, it has the opposite effect. The system inaccurately interprets the driver’s behavior as signs of fatigue with alerts popping up at an alarming rate. Perfectly normal and safe driving behaviors see the alert popping up again and again. Further there are environmental interferences - bright sunlight, reflections off glasses, bumpy roads requiring frequent corrections - system interprets these as driver inattention and cannot tell the difference between drowsy driving and navigating a poorly maintained highway. New Hyundai models do not allow the driver to disable the Take a Break alert. “You’re cruising down the highway, minding your own business, alert and focused, when your Hyundai flashes a coffee cup icon and tells you to take a break. Again - this for the third or fourth time in 20 minutes. You’re not tired, not swerving, and frankly, you’re getting annoyed”. The system is disruptive and unsafe as it disrupts the driver activating when the system detects inattentive driving, suggesting breaks even if the driver does not feel fatigued. The alert can illuminate even during short drives of less than 30 minutes. The alert can occur extremely frequently, especially during long drives, which is extremely annoying. The warning can appear shortly after starting a trip and may repeat every few minutes, which is extremely frustrating. It is far more disruptive than safe and helpful.

Pirelli Scorpion M+S (size 255/45R20)

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 experienced faulty engine / power train components which required replacement @1199 miles. Throttle body assembly and torque converter assembly which caused loss of power when accelerating onto a high speed parkway attempting to reach @55mph along with excessive vibration when brakes were off. Took dealer 22 days to fix the problem.

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 roads, and unmarked lanes of traffic will trigger this message and without the ability to adjust the sensitivity or the ability to turn it off, it is a very dangerous situation. I have had it go off multiple times in a drive when there is a strong side wind and the vehicle is being pushed around and it can be very, very difficult to safely drive when this is visually and auditory messages keep coming up on the dash without any option to adjust it. On back roads or in situations where there is snow covered roads, this message can be nonstop and go off 50 times or more in a 90 mile drive. It is the worst thing about this vehicle and it’s not reasonable for the vehicle not to have the ability to adjust the feature? I’d ask that an investigation be opened to look into this and demand that Hyundai update the vehicle software to allow the settings for this message to be adjustable. When looking on the internet for this problem, there are 100s of not 1000s of people that have been searching and complaining about this message on the new Kia and Hyundai vehicles. Thank you.

A brand new Santa Fe Hybrid AWD SEL(less than 2500 miles) makes squeaky noises when rotating the steering wheel to the counter clock wise. It is very annoying and frustrating. Due to the noise I can't fully concentrate to driving the car. Brought the vehicle to a local dealer and they would not do anything about it.

2026 Hyundai Santa Fe - Front windshield had spontaneous horizontal crack about 8" on driver side WHILE PARKED WITH NO IMPACT. Car is new with NO ROCK CHIPS. Our winter nights were about 15-25 degrees and the crack would spread WHILE PARKED overnight. Within a week it spread to 24" while trying to get the dealer to agree that this is a warranty issue with no luck. Was told it is NOT a warranty issue. Upon purchasing this new car, I had purchased the "Windshield Protection" package for $595. with the impression it would cover things like this, but it only covers rock and road debris chip REPAIRS, not REPLACEMENTS. Looking at the crack, the windshield appears to be literally HALF AS THICK as other windshields in my past. NOT getting the car washed until it's repaired Google and Facebook searches show MANY complaints about FRAGILE, THIN windshield glass and SPONTANEOUS CRACKS and SHATTERING, even with NO IMPACT. There is even a reported class action lawsuit for this same issue with the Hyundai Palisades. Dealer claims to be unaware of this problem, but there are many online complaints for the 2024 and 2025 Santa Fe's. Now I have to pay my $500 deductible with MY AUTO INSURANCE due to a faulty, thin windshield??

It was snowing lightly/moderately, and prior to driving, the windshield was cleared with snow and the wipers set to Low. Once driving began, the wipers stopped working on multiple occasions for a brief period each time, before resuming on their own. During the period that the wipers stopped, the snow accumulation on the windshield caused poor visibility and potential danger to our car as well as others on the road. There were no prior indications on the dashboard or otherwise that anything was wrong with the wipers prior to, during or after the incident, which causes significant concern of a potential repeat of the issue. We returned home with the children immediately and plan to call the dealer first thing in the morning.

The car was brought to the dealership where it was purchased. The right rear passenger window exploded while on the highway; the pieces then shattered and fell into the child safety seat installed. There were no other vehicles around as I was driving and the temperature inside the car and outside were about the same. There were no warnings and there was no abnormal noises or flexing prior to the window completely shattering.

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 vehicle/failure to watch road' warnings over the course of a few seconds; culminating with the system trying to stop the car in heavy traffic.

The contact owns a 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while attempting to clean the front windshield, the contact noticed that the windshield washer fluid only sprayed approximately 2-3 inches from the lower section of the front windshield, which prevented the contact from cleaning the windshield adequately and created a visibility hazard for the driver. The local dealer was contacted and informed the contact that it was a known issue but no adjustments to the washer fluid sprayer could be made and there was no defect in the system. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 12,000.