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Experiencing loss of power? Read our post on Hyundai Santa Cruz Loss of Power Issues.
The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is the automaker’s first pickup truck, so there was plenty of excitement about the launch. Hyundai claims it is “up for anything,” but a growing number of owners say the opposite is true. This pickup suffers from many problems including defective exterior lighting and loss of power issue that may be due to a malfunctioning engine and failing powertrain.
Click on other model year to view more problems: 2023
Contents
- 1| NHTSA Complaints for the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz
- 2| Most Common Problems with the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz
- 3| Loss of Power Recall
- 4| Problems with the Engine & Powertrain
- 5| Inability to Accelerate
- 6| Exterior Lighting Problems
- 7| What if your 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is a lemon? Your Lemon Law Rights
- 8| Complaint Data
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NHTSA Complaints for the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Power Train | |
| Engine | |
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Vehicle Speed Control | |
| Electrical System | |
| Exterior Lighting | |
| Fuel/propulsion System | |
| Service Brakes | |
| Visibility/wiper | |
| Electrical System:instrument Panel:speedometer/odometer |
Most Common Problems with the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz
The most common problems that owners of the first ever Hyundai Santa Cruz are experiencing are loss of motive power and an inability to accelerate. Descriptions of what happens vary, but more than 40 owners have posted their complaints on the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) website about related issues.
These complaints are posted in several different NHTSA categories including Engine, Powertrain, Vehicle Speed Control, and Unknown or Other. Some are posted in more than one category, presumably because owners are super-confused about what is going wrong.
To put these complaints into perspective, there have been 60 complaints in all between January 26 and October 25, 2022. Of these, 33 are listed under Powertrain and 15 under Engine. All of these relate to loss of power issues or the vehicle not responding to the accelerator. Some mention transmission failure, either because they can’t accelerate, or in terms of not being able to get the vehicle into gear and slowing down. This makes them very difficult, if not impossible, to separate.
There are 8 complaints filed under Vehicle Speed Control, 5 of which are also filed under Powertrain. Almost all relate to loss of power or a failure to accelerate problems. While there is a recall that relates to loss of drive power, it certainly doesn’t address all the issues consumers are complaining about.
There are 6 electrical system complaints, but of these, 2 relate to loss of power and stalling, and 2 are linked to an exterior lighting issue. There are another 3 complaints about exterior lighting, bringing the total to 5.
Loss of Power Recall
The loss of power recall was published via the NHTSA on October 6, 2022. But owner notification letters will probably only be mailed December 5, 2022. It affects as many as 53,142 Hyundai vehicles, including the 2022 Santa Cruz, which are at risk of a “loss of drive power” that “increases the risk of a crash.”
The reason is that the vehicle’s “fail-safe” limited-mobility drive mode may be impaired, when prompted by a transmission oil pump malfunction. This can result in a complete loss of drive power.
Dealers have been instructed to inspect vehicles listed in the recall. If necessary, they must replace the transmission free of charge.
There is a service bulletin that addresses a misassembled check valve in the PCV system. Even so, there are zero manufacturer communications on file addressing loss of power.
Problems with the Engine & Powertrain
As a pickup truck, the Santa Cruz needs to be potent and ready to go. However, the defective engine is causing a lot of trouble. At the same time, the powertrain encompasses the engine, but relates to the transmission too. Again, this system is dysfunctional.
Loss of Motive Power
The first loss of power experience reported to the NHTSA is from a Santa Cruz owner in Arizona. “I was passing on a 2 lane road with the gas pedal to the floor. After I passed the vehicle, still in the passing lane I let off on the gas. At that moment I had no power. Had to brake and get back behind the vehicle I was passing. Thank God there was no on-coming traffic, or I would not be here telling you this story.”
A complaint from an owner in New York who had children in a vehicle he’d had for only 9 months ended with it being towed.
“My vehicle started slowing down quickly even with my foot on the gas. There was no warning, no lights on the dash lit up warning me there was anything wrong with the car. The rpm’s were going up but it was like there was no power to the car. I got off the highway onto a side road as fast as I could so I wouldn’t get hit. Then I pulled off to the side of the road. I put it in park and turned it off. I tried to turn it back on and it would start. After a second attempt it turned on but was really rough and felt like it would stall. I used the blue link to call for a tow truck.”
Feedback was a possible condition with the engine control system.
It’s a common theme but with different specifics – and lots of them. They range from:
- While driving down the road the transmission went out of gear and I lost all power to the wheels, to
- Sometimes, when it loses motive power = The “Stop Vehicle Immediately” message is displayed.
Inability to Accelerate
One of the first complaints about the 2022 Santa Cruz was from an owner in New Mexico who highlighted an inability to accelerate. While the RPM revved up, the pickup truck wouldn’t go any faster than 25 MPH. When this happened, the driver “exited the highway and veered to the side of the road.”
The complaint states that as he turned off and restarted the vehicle, he was able to drive the vehicle with no further issues. The dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened.
Another complaint from an owner in Washington said the issue seemed to happen “at random, when accelerating to a stop.
“The vehicle feels as if it’s stuck in too high of a gear and accelerates very slowly despite high RPMs. The maximum speed I could achieve was 16 MPH after keeping the gas pedal nearly floored for 3-5 seconds, which normally would have had me to nearly 60 MPH. This happened to me in rush hour city traffic on a busy street with no shoulder. The only apparent solution is to shut off the vehicle and restart it, at which time the problem resolves itself and normal operation is resumed.”
In three sentences, an owner from Georgia says, “I accelerated at 10mph, the engine rpm’s increased to 3000rpm but the vehicle speed did not increase. After I stopped at a stop sign the car accelerated normally. I did not restart the car. The car was in NORMAL mode.”
And the complaints continue.
- After making a stop, sometimes the Santa Cruz does not want to accelerate when pressing down on the accelerator pedal.
- While accelerating away from a stop, it seems the vehicle revs and does not accelerate, almost like it is not in gear.
Exterior Lighting Problems
Seeing clearly shouldn’t be something anyone needs to fight for, yet the 2022 Santa Cruz doesn’t come equipped the way it should if owners are driving at night. For instance, owners report that the halogen headlights are too dim, and the LED headlights create shadows that lessen visibility. There is also a complaint that water collects in the lens cover.
One NHTSA complaint from Florida reads, “My Santa Cruz headlights have a dark shadow on the driver’s side while driving at night. It is extremely distracting and it can be a danger. The blind spot is very obvious. It can lead the driver to look at the shadow instead of the road as well as a portion of the headlight projection is not illuminating the road. The 2022 Tucson has the same front headlight configuration and while searching the Hyundai forum, the same problem exists for that vehicle. This is a constant problem while driving at night.”
A Virginia owner complained to the dealership about the halogen headlights being too dim. There was no solution unless they voided the warranty. The answer was, “that if I wanted LED headlights I should have “purchased a higher trim model”. I purchased the SEL with activity package trim and you would think an almost $40,000 vehicle would have better headlights than this.”
What if your 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is a lemon? Your Lemon Law Rights
Think you have a lemon? Sit back and let the professionals work out your lemon case at no cost to you. The law makes Hyundai pay legal fees. You may be able to get your lemon out of your life. After all, every year, auto manufacturers buy back, replace or pay cash settlements to thousands of ‘lemon’ owners like you.
Complaint Data
| Category | Electrical System, Power Train, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Mar 13, 2023 |
| State | FL |
| Description | I was accelerating onto the interstate in a busy high speed area and suddenly there was no communication to my transmission. I went from 58 miles an hour to 20mph is a matter of seconds barely avoiding causing a several car pile up. I had vehicle towed to 2 different dealer service departments to no avail. I was told that there was no code and the problem could not be duplicated. However there is a recall for a similar issue. I was told my vin number didn't fall within that recall. The vehicle has been in the shop for several issues in the 6 short months I've owned it most appear to be related to electrical issues. I've made several attempts to resolve the issue through hyundai with no resolution. |
| Category | Visibility:sun/moon Roof Assembly |
| Date | Mar 06, 2023 |
| State | MI |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Mar 04, 2023 |
| State | AZ |
| Description | Vehicle suffered a loss of power while accelerating from a stop. Would not go faster than 30 mph. Since I was entering a freeway I was lucky that the traffic was light. I was able to pull to the shoulder and after turning off the vehicle and restarting, it performed normally again. There were no warnings on the dash and I will be contacting the dealer asap. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train |
| Date | Feb 14, 2023 |
| State | AR |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact stated while driving 40 mph, the vehicle independently started to decelerate. The contact stated that unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to enter a parking lot before the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with a seized engine. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with nhtsa campaign number: 22v746000 (power train) however, the vin was not included. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000. |
| Category | Steering |
| Date | Feb 14, 2023 |
| State | AL |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 14, 2023 |
| State | VA |
| Description | The roof moldings may detach and become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash. |
| Category | Electrical System:instrument Panel:speedometer/odometer |
| Date | Feb 12, 2023 |
| State | FL |
| Description | Greetings, I bought this santa cruz on november 25, 2022, and ity has only 7,137 miles. I only drive 11 miles to work and 11 miles back from work at my first job and 3 mile to work at my second job and 3 miles back. I do not drive on the highway to go anywhere far. I only use this vehicle in my area. I have another vechile which is the suv I had before this and I drive that on weekends. I noticed the mileage kept going up and up just like the gas when it is running out. The mileage is now at 9,490. So this is saying that from november 25 I used 2,353 mileage. This is ridiculous. Someone did some tampering at the dealer. My suv is 2013 and I got it with seventy something miles in 2017. It has 120,000 miles on it now. Please check this out and let me know wheat is going on and give me a call please. Thank you |
| Category | Engine, Power Train, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Jan 30, 2023 |
| State | OR |
| Description | I was driving on the 394 in minneapolis and my car had a massive loss of power, dropping my speed from 65 to 35 in seconds, as if I was braking (which I wasn't). The engine light began flashing and I was unable to accelerate beyond the speed it had reduced me to. I was able to limp off the freeway and into a parking lot where it kind of fixed itself after 10 minutes. I took it to a local dealership who said the engine had lost 2 cylinders suddenly. The cylinders were not replaced and no additional work was done to the engine (I don't know why). It has since continued to stutter at lower speeds and occasionally lags when accelerating. Hyundai refuses to do anything about it. |
| Category | Exterior Lighting, Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Jan 30, 2023 |
| State | OR |
| Description | My led headlights have a massive dark spot in the top left corner. It looks like a triangle took a bite out of the light. It creates a big blind spot at night when driving in poorly lit areas and again, hyundai won't do anything about it. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Jan 25, 2023 |
| State | WA |
| Description | Car was driven 600 miles without issue on sunday. Car was started tuesday morning (outside temp 13f), driven a short distance, no issue, idled about 5 minutes, put in gear and attempted to drive. There was a severe lack of power, transmission was reluctant to shift, had to manually shift at 3500rpm. Was eventually able to reach 55mph in gear 5, upshift go gear 6 resulted in loss of speed. There was no response from accelerator. Pulled off highway, stopped engine, restarted, no change, still no power, transmission still would not shift. Drove about 5 miles to nearest exit, called for tow truck. Car was idling for about 45 minutes while waiting for tow. Eventually shut down engine, restarted car, miraculously it worked normally. Lack of transmission shift and engine power was not accompanied by any dash lights, warnings or notifications. The car simply decided it did not want to go, 5000 miles on odometer. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Jan 17, 2023 |
| State | DE |
| Description | I attempted to get this recall hyundai campaign 236 dct reprogram fixed at porter hyundai in newark de and durst hyundai in durham nc. Neither dealer could schedule for 2 or more months from now (jan 17 2023) until march 16 2023. This is two months at least and I do a lot of freeway driving. Losing power would be catastrophic. The nhtsa notice says to file a complaint if this is not covered in a timely manner. Two months from mail notification is not timely, especially since this is a known problem for at least a year. |
| Category | Engine, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jan 09, 2023 |
| State | MA |
| Description | Transmission problems , car went into limp mode. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Jan 09, 2023 |
| State | PA |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the transmission failure warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the transmission to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle was included in nhtsa campaign number: 22v746000 (power train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 6,553. Parts distribution disconnect. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train |
| Date | Jan 06, 2023 |
| State | TX |
| Description | On three separate occasions the engine developed a misfire after driving approximately 90 miles in inclement weather. During this time period the transmission began to make hard upshiftswhile accelerating and when down shifting the transmission felt as though it would lurch or surge between gear selection. Use of paddle shifter to manually select gears would result in limited acceleration after the transmission returned to the drive mode. The transmission would not downshift on its own after the paddle shifters were used unless the floor shift select was manually placed in neutral. Then normal operation would resume. The vehicle was returned to the dealership and had the transmission software update performed. This did not resolve issues. These incidents began in october of 2022 and the vehicle was was put in for service the second week of november. It remains in their possession as of 01/06/2023. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Jan 03, 2023 |
| State | AL |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 22v746000 (power train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Dec 30, 2022 |
| State | NC |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the transmission would not engage when shifted to reverse. The service engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled while entering the dealer. The vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the failure was related to the nhtsa campaign number: 22v746000 (power train) and that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The failure mileage was 8,220. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Dec 24, 2022 |
| State | IL |
| Description | I brought in my 2022 hyundai santa cruz to its first oil change at one of my local hyundai dealers. The technician right away stated they needed to perform a software update otherways they would not be able to perform the oil change, I agreed to it, after 3 and a half hours I walk up to service technician and complained it was already taking too long, when I finally got my car the car would not work properly it would stall and on stop it would rev up still does that to this moment. I have to constantly keep foot on brake pedal otherways risk hitting the car in front of me. Took the car to dealer where it was purchased and after 2 hours service technician stated there was nothing they could do for me, he stated hyundai is aware and are working on a solution, he stated the car was not safe to drive and I should just park the car, my response was I did not purchase a car to have it parked in my driveway. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Dec 19, 2022 |
| State | MT |
| Description | Constantly states it does not work ever since the front license plate was installed. No way to disable it. It's either have a front plate or have no cruise control. |
| Category | Engine |
| Date | Dec 18, 2022 |
| State | WI |
| Description | Radiator spewing coolant. Had not hit anything only driving on back highway. Dealer stated not warranty customer damage. Happened at 13,000 miles and vehicle less than I year old. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Dec 12, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 22v746000 (power train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and a case was opened. The manufacturer confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Dec 11, 2022 |
| State | NC |
| Description | Santa cruz transmission would not engage into drive. Therefore, vehicle could not move or be driven. Transmission seemed to be in neutral position. Had to be towed to dealer and has been there since july 28, 2022. Dealer gave a loaner vehicle. Still making payments on a new vehicle and not enjoying the ride. Who dropped the ball on this? Dealer seems as frustrated as I am. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train |
| Date | Dec 10, 2022 |
| State | FL |
| Description | While driving on a local highway, vehicle lost all power and stopped. It would not restart. Vehicle was towed to the dealer, and was they found found that the high pressure #4 fuel injector is stuck open, and replaced #4 cylinder fuel injector as required. They also replaced the battery. Vehicle is 11 months old. If this had happened on the interstate, I would have been rear ended and possibly killed. No warning, just stopped. Vehicle had reported loss of power on a previous occasion, but nothing could be found. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Dec 10, 2022 |
| State | VT |
| Description | Hyundai has failed to remedy this known transmission defect and is placing owners of the affected vehicles lives in danger. Reprogramming of the "fail-safe" driving capability does not fix the life threating issue. While driving on interstate 89 in vermont on december 7 every warning light on the dashboard illuminated and my 2022 hyundai santa cruz slowed from 65mph to 40mph. I pulled of the road and turned the ignition off. Upon restart, the santa cruz seemed to perform normally. I now am afraid to drive the vehicle. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Dec 09, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? I'm open to allow the vehicle to be inspected at anytime. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? After pulling out onto a busy highway of 60mph speed limit from a right on red light, the car only would accelerate to 17mph nearly causing a multi-car rear end accident. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? The vehicle has been in service twice (going in time 3 on 12/14/22) for this issue along with other transmission issues. On the second visit the issue was identified and a fix was attempted but issues still persist. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? As of now it's only been inspected by a hyundai dealership, and I have a case open with hyundai and they are waiting to see what happens at 12/14 service appointment before moving forward with any other actions. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? The transmission has been problematic since purchase. This 17mph max acceleration happened shortly after purchase and other issues have been persistent ever since. Holding gears with loss of power on interstate, rough vibrations at low speeds, holding gears to long, rough shifts, strange noises when shifting, and of course the max acceleration of 17mph / 3,000rpm and not being able to travel any faster being the worst / most dangerous. |
| Category | Exterior Lighting |
| Date | Dec 08, 2022 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low beam headlights were not illuminating as needed. The driver used the high beam headlights while driving. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contact but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 4,500. |
| Category | Exterior Lighting |
| Date | Dec 08, 2022 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | Headlights are dismal low beam is useless |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Dec 08, 2022 |
| State | FL |
| Description | Fuel tank opening actuator is getting stuck and fuel tank cannot be open or closed properly advice from hyundai is to drive with open tank that I do not consider safe |
| Category | Lane Departure: Assist, Lane Departure: Warning |
| Date | Dec 07, 2022 |
| State | AR |
| Description | While driving down a two-lane highway at night (foggy conditions), the lane following assist feature was turned on. There was a section of highway where a vehicle had previously driven through wet white paint. The paint was smeared toward the oncoming lane as if the vehicle had turned left after driving through the wet paint. The lane following assist on my 2022 santa cruz detected these white paint tracks and immediately jerked the steering wheel to the left, into the oncoming lane. If there had been a vehicle in that lane, there would have absolutely been a head on collision. There was no opportunity to correct because the vehicle turned to the left so suddenly. This will cause crashes. All other safety features were also enabled. There were no known obstructions of safety sensors or cameras. |
| Category | Engine, Fuel/propulsion System, Power Train |
| Date | Nov 23, 2022 |
| State | IL |
| Description | When accelerating from a complete stop the transmission skips within the first few rpms. This also happens when coming to a complete stop. It feels like a stall or a stutter. Also does it when put into reverse. |
| Category | Electrical System |
| Date | Nov 22, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that after letting up off the accelerator pedal, the engine revved up and the vehicle lunged forward. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the instrument panel background lighting was very dim for all the display functionality. The local dealer was contacted and informed that the failure had occurred intermittently, and while driving at various speeds. The dealer suggested that the vehicle be taken in to be diagnosed; however, the vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case. The approximate failure mileage was 37,000. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train, Suspension |
| Date | Nov 18, 2022 |
| State | AZ |
| Description | 1st incident occurred october 19 2022. While driving 45 mph all of sudden vehicle lost engine power, can not accelerate. Vehicle would not restart. Towed vehicle to hyundai dealership service center. Vehicle was repaired on november 2 2022. 2nd incident occurred on november 17 2022. While driving on highway speed limit vehicle engine lost power. Vehicle would not restart. Towed vehicle back to same dealership service center. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Nov 16, 2022 |
| State | WV |
| Description | When I picked up my new santa cruz... A warning check transmission fluid came on when sales rep was showing how to set up truck. Went to service they could not find anything wrong. At 315 miles my truck became nonresponsive in middle of an intersection. And at the next 2 intersections on my way home. When I mean, nonresponsive vehicle would come to a stop and not go forward until I let off gas and depressed gas. Called dealer took in for service no problem driving to dealer. They could not find anything wrong. They did bleed the transmission fluid. I now see a recall describing my exact experience. I am afraid it will repeat. Took vehicle in for oil change and was notified of recall. They claimed to updated software. I have had since the first occurrence smaller episodes. I hope and pray software will fix problem? |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Nov 14, 2022 |
| State | CT |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 mph, the message "pull over and stop immediately" was displayed. The contact veered to side of the road. The contact stated that while attempting to shift into gear the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that the vehicle appeared as if the transmission was in neutral(n). The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was then towed to an unknown dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was then towed to the second dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced and that the failure was associated with nhtsa campaign number: 22v746000 (power train) however, parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that the vehicle had been at the local dealer since september 23, 2022. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that parts were not yet available. The failure mileage was approximately 2,950. The contact stated that an agreement was reached between them and the dealer to get a trade-in for a new vehicle. The claim is fulfilled on their part. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train |
| Date | Nov 03, 2022 |
| State | PA |
| Description | While driving, warnings were issued to check each of the driver assistance items and lights lit up on dashboard. Pulled over and turned off vehicle. Would not restart. Towed to nearest dealer. Sat for 2 weeks until they could look at it. Told to rent a car in meantime. Diagnosed as faulty tcu. Replaced tcu. Went to pick back up and would not start. Clicking noise heard from engine compartment. Left vehicle and was provided loaner card. Cannot identify cause. Vehicle sits. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Oct 25, 2022 |
| State | MI |
| Description | The contact's husband owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact stated that after her husband parked the vehicle in the driveway, he exited the vehicle and went into the garage when the vehicle unintentionally rolled forward into the garage and crashed into her vehicle. The contact's husband did not sustain any injuries, and no medical attention was received. No police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure recurred with the "shift to park" message displayed while the gear shifter was shifted into park(p). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,700. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Oct 22, 2022 |
| State | PA |
| Description | My residence is located in a dip.. I can't say valley.. This new santa cruz won't go up the hill even with the turbo engine the grade is not much.. A honda accord goes up easily.. The santa cruz revs and petty much stalls and I have to pump the accelarator and not sure what is going on with it.. There are no recalls and so I don't know what is wrong with it.. Now I am forced to think of selling it and getting another one.. |
| Category | Electrical System, Engine, Power Train |
| Date | Oct 19, 2022 |
| State | AZ |
| Description | Lost of power while driving at 45 mph. No engine warning. |
| Category | Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Oct 19, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | While driving on the 405 fwy my vehicle would not accelerate pass 20 miles it was 11 pm so not many cars on the road , I had to drive with my hazard lights on 17 miles to get home , I am taking it to the dealer today. No warning lights , or messages came on during the whole ordeal |
| Category | Visibility:windshield Wiper/washer |
| Date | Oct 19, 2022 |
| State | AL |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Oct 14, 2022 |
| State | MD |
| Description | While driving on interstate 95, my 2022 hyundai santa cruz started to shake violently and lose power. At the same time lights came on warning me of an issue and to pull over. I got to the side of the highway (with much fear). I was able to turn the vehicle off and turn back on. After I sat for 5 minutes with it in idle, I tried to move the vehicle and it appeared to go back into a normal state. I was able to continue my trip, however it was scary to lose power like that. Hyundai just announce a recall - but appears to have no solution. The current condition is that I am afraid to use the vehicle now but have no choice. The incident was months ago, but I wanted to report this now that a recall was announced. Please get hyundai to come up with a quick solution as this is dangerous if it was to happen again. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Oct 11, 2022 |
| State | MN |
| Description | Hyundai santa cruz's have been having transmission problems that cause you to lose power while driving. This is a dangerous situation, the car will not accelerate and you are left in the middle of the road with no power to maneuver out of danger. I had to coast to the side of the road to get out of traffic. Hyundai announced a recall but hyundai states that there is no fix at this time. Dealers are not able to perform any work as hyundai doesn't have a plan to correct this dangerous situation. |
| Category | Electrical System, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Oct 07, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | My new car with less than 2000 miles stalled at a traffic light on southlake blvd. In southlake, tx. It just died and would not start. All the electrical warning lights were flaring. Every time I tried to restart it, it would try, shudder, and die. I was lucky not to get run over on that busy street. It was towed to the dealership and has been there a month exactly. They cannot figure out what is wrong. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Oct 07, 2022 |
| State | NC |
| Description | While stopped at a stoplight in a turn lane, the dashboard gave alerts regarding lane assist being disabled and was giving other errors I don't recall. The vehicle would only drive 2-3 mph through the turn lane and I was able to pull into a bank parking lot. After putting the vehicle in park, I could hear the engine slowly revving up and down. Two alerts were also sent to my phone via the my hyundai app. Dtc p213577 and c161386 I put the vehicle in park and powered it off. When I powered it on, it would give the same errors and rev up and down. I pressed the accelerator and there was no response. I had the vehicle towed to the nearest hyundai dealership and they replaced the throttle body. |
| Category | Exterior Lighting |
| Date | Sep 29, 2022 |
| State | AR |
| Description | Low beam lights shine very low and only light about 20' ahead. On arkansas curvy country roads, it is difficult to see what is on the road ahead. I have talked to dealer and was told nothing can be done to improve them. Mine are led. This has been a problem since purchase in april. I avoid night driving because of this. |
| Category | Electrical System, Engine, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Sep 24, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | I was driving on the highway (55mph) with my two children in the backseat. My vehicle started slowing down quickly even with my foot on the gas. There was no warning, no lights on the dash lit up warning me there was anything wrong with the car. The rpm's we're going up but it was like there was no power to the car. I got off the highway onto a side road as fast as I could do I wouldn't get hit. Then I pulled off to the side of the road. I put it in park and turned it off. I tried to turn it back on and it would start. After a second attempt it turned on but was really rough and felt like it would stall. I used blue link to call for a tow truck. Then I called the dealership to tell them since I've only had the car for 9 months. I tried to turn the car back on and the dash said battery discharging due to electrical and it turned off before I could read the last word. Tonight checking my email blue link sent an email stating a possible condition with the engine control system. The vehicle was towed to the dealership where I bought the car. |
| Category | Power Train, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Sep 17, 2022 |
| State | MN |
| Description | Driving at 60 mph. Car stopped responding to accelerator. I was forced to pull off the road. Not a safe situation due to traffic. Turned off car and restarted. The car would then accelerate normally.. There was an error logged stating that " a possible condition with your engine control module has been detected. A full system check is recommended to be done soon. Please consult your your local dealership to schedule an appointment. This is a common problem occurring on numerous santa cruzs. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Sep 16, 2022 |
| State | WI |
| Description | hyundia santa cruz was purchased aug of 2021 and it has 5,655 miles on it. After making a stop, sometimes the santa cruz does not want to accelerate when pressing down on the accelerator pedal. While pushing more on the accelerator pedal to make the vehicle move, after a second or three elapses while still pressing on the accelerator will cause the vehicle to suddenly lurch forward at a rate of speed too fast and I have to immediately slam on the brakes to regain control of the forward motion of the vehicle to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of me. I took the vehicle to a dealership today (9/16/22). No codes or errors were found by computer check or by a technician driving the vehicle. Dealer comment on the paperwork "unable to verify concern at this time". Next comment on paperwork, "there is a software update that will remedy this concern". I refused the software update, as I have read numerous comments from online forums of customers having issues after dealership upgraded software. If they are unable to verify the concern, how does the dealership know the software update will remedy the issue that they cannot verify the vehicle has. Dealership paperwork also states, "shifting issue will continue if software is not updated". It is not a shifting issue; it is an uncontrollable/unreliable acceleration issue. This vehicle will be put in storage on 10/18/22 and not taken out of storage until mid-may of 2023. In may of 2023 I will investigate the software update in hopes that hyundia will have a more stable software update. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System, Power Train, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Sep 15, 2022 |
| State | MS |
| Description | When pulling out onto a major hwy, the vehicle lost power. Vehicle acted like it was in "neutral" but engine wouldn't rev when pressing gas and rpm was bottomed out. Vehicle then would not shift out correctly. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Sep 05, 2022 |
| State | SC |
| Description | While driving down the road the transmission went out of gear and I lost all power to the wheels. After pulling over and trying to shift from park and back to gear it wouldn't go into gear and I was left stranded on the side of the road at midnight after work. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train |
| Date | Aug 31, 2022 |
| State | GA |
| Description | On june 21, 2022 around 10:55am, while driving in the center lane on I-75, close to ocala, florida, warning sounds and a message on the panel indicated, "warning, stop the vehicle intermediately" . Doing 70mph on heavy traffic with a huge truck to my right and cars doing over 70mph on the left lane, the engine stopped responding with no acceleration to safely reach the emergency lane. The following seconds were simply very scary when all of a sudden my car was loosing speed quickly exposing me to be hit by cars that I'm sure were not ready for my deceleration. I was simply lucky to quickly coast to the edge of the road. Called hyundai road assistance and after 5 hours on this black car, under sun and over 94°f a tow truck arrived. After 10 weeks, the car is still waiting for a new transmission at jenkins hyundai of ocala, florida. |
| Category | Engine, Fuel/propulsion System, Power Train |
| Date | Aug 27, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | Problem 1 - the vehicle has stalled twice at low speed (less than 5 mph). Both times I had just pulled away from a parking space, coasting (or slowing) before a stop sign and the vehicle dies. It beeps loudly, says shift to neutral and restart. It did restart both times. This happened both times while being in smart mode. I drove it about a month in normal mode between stalls and the issue did not happen. Maybe a coincidence, maybe not. I have had the santa cruz less than 2 months. Problem 2 - while accelerating away from a stop, it seems the vehicle revs and does not accelerate, almost like it is not in gear. |
| Category | Engine |
| Date | Aug 23, 2022 |
| State | PA |
| Description | I have had this vehicle for less than 2 months, and the engine started knocking after about 800 miles. This seems to occur after putting about 100+ miles on the car throughout the day, letting it rest for a few hours between the long driving sessions. The knock occurs on first start up the next day. This is my second santa cruz that I have had in 3 months, as the first one did the same thing and they stated the engine has failed. Multiple calls to corporate and dealership visits and the issue is still occurring. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Aug 18, 2022 |
| State | CO |
| Description | While driving the car today, we had no power above 2200 rpm. When we went to pull out from an intersection, the car just puttered into the intersection, forcing me to try to get the car off the road as much as possible to avoid being hit by oncoming traffic. Once I was able to get the car moving, we immediately took the car back home in hopes of getting this issue repaired prior to it being in an accident. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train |
| Date | Aug 15, 2022 |
| State | FL |
| Description | On 08/13/2022, I was driving from miami, fl, already 2 hours on the road and like 9:45 pm I was driving with my wife on the interstate I-95 in the city of melbourne, state of florida, and stop at the I-95 north bound rest area to use the rest rooms and change driver seat with her. Then 10 minutes later we resume our travel and after entering the I-95 again, the vehicle suddenly went into some type of limp mode and lose power while merging in the I-95 and I had to do an emergency maneuver to the right shoulder to avoid being hitted by another vehicles. After stoping, I turned off the ignition and back on again, since I was on a place not too safe I continued the driving back home. No check engine light was on whatsoever. The vehicle was driven normal for the next 20-30 minutes, then while driving state road 192 and while driving 65-70 mph, the engine stalled again. I had to stop in the middle of the darak and empty road on the right sholuder with my emergency lights on. I tried restarting the engine and the limp mode still and I got the check engine light on and steady. I called pushing the button for the hyundai bluelink inside the car and nobody answer the emergency number. I verified the bluelink application on my phone and then noticed a code for the malfuntion. Dtc: p030100, dtc system: powertrain, dtc sub system: ems after 2-3 minutes I was able to continue driving home, when I pushed the pedal I felt the condition like loosing cylinder power this time and I pushed hard, the vehicle then suddenly was able to accelerate as normal and I was able to get home. After that I was able to drive the vehicle but I am not sure it is safe or not. I contacted the dealer holler hyunday at winter park florida, and they gave me an appointment for 08/23/2022. I need my transportation issue resolved before that date since is my only vehicle needed to work and make wages. As a note this happened driving in smart mode. I will contact hyundai to escalate this case. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Aug 11, 2022 |
| State | PA |
| Description | On july 31, 2022, I started the santa cruz normally, and my wife and I drove to the exit of our neighborhood (approximately 1â„2 mile). I turned left out of our neighborhood, and proceeded downhill. After reaching a speed of approximately 25-30 mph, a car in front of me began to brake to take a left-hand turn. Upon applying the brakes, I experienced a catastrophic brake failure. The brake pedal felt hard as a rock, and even pressing the brake as hard as possible, I was able to achieve only 5-10% of normal brake effort, and the santa cruz slowed only very gradually. Fortunately, the car in front completed its turn before I arrived, or I would have been forced to hit the car or veer off the road to avoid a collision. I managed to exit the road on which I was driving within a few hundred feet, and turned onto an empty street on the right. At this point, I managed to stop the car, shifted to park, applied the parking brake, and turned off the truck. I restarted the truck, at which time the display in the truck displayed warnings for “check esc†and “check absâ€. Prior to this braking failure, I never observed any previous warnings that such an event might occur: - I have never observed any warnings related to esc - I have never observed any warnings related to abs - I have never observed any warnings related to brake fluid level - I have never observed any brake fluid leaking from the truck - I have never had any issues with braking effort at first glance, it appears that there may be some type of software or computer failure affecting the truck that resulted in a catastrophic loss of braking, which is completely unacceptable. Had this event occurred just a few minutes later, I would have been traveling at highway speeds and this failure could have easily resulted in fatalities. The truck continued to display the same warnings and the brakes continued not to work. As a result, the truck was towed to the dealer where it was purchased for evaluation. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Aug 01, 2022 |
| State | GA |
| Description | Vehicle would not shift into any of the gears after turning on. Still waiting for details. Dealer mentioned the transmission fluid pump failed |
| Category | Engine, Power Train, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Jul 30, 2022 |
| State | FL |
| Description | While driving between 30 to 40 mph the vehicle jerks. It feels like the transmission is not getting in gear and it slows down. Then the engine and transmission kind of engage and it goes back to normal. I have tried to figure out as to when specifically it does it but it does it at different time and situations. I have not driven it again in the highway since when it slows down vehicles behind me have to slow down also. I have had some instances where the vehicle is to closed to me or not paying attention and when it happens I hear those drivers blowing their horns as if I was slowing down on purpose which I wasn't. My opinion is this is a safety issue since the vehicle could be hit from behind, have an accident, injuries or even death. I keep reading the issues with this problem and the complaints keep coming. Thank you |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Jul 28, 2022 |
| State | PA |
| Description | The transmission says transmission error check transmission oil immediately then does not move unless you shut the car off |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Fuel/propulsion System, Power Train |
| Date | Jul 26, 2022 |
| State | CT |
| Description | Purchase the 2022 hyundai santa cruz with under 30 miles. At 329 miles was driving on a road going about 40mph and the big check forward safety system warning light came on inside the tachometer screen. The car started to slow down, and wasn't responding to the gas pedal. Then the dashboard had the following lights on: check engine, front collision, downhill, epb, auto hold, traction control. Also the triangle with explanation point was on below the tachometer with a red bubble with the number 3 inside of it. Luckily I was able to roll into a parking lot. As the car was stopped and still running, without gas pedal working, the engine was revving between 1400-1600 rpms and the engine sounded very bad. The diagnosis light from the check engine light show up as powertrain - dtc - po65312 turned the car off and let it sit for a minute before starting again and only check engine light was on. Was able to drive home a couple minutes away and had the car towed to the dealership. Dealership had the car for almost 2 weeks and the paperwork just shows that they weren't able to duplicate the issue so they cleared the code. The service manager on the phone said they updated the system and said it was most likely an issue with the front radar system. Fast forward now the car has 3422 miles on it. Car was in the garage and I started it. It was running for under a minute and the same exact issue had happened as the first time. Same dash lights, same engine code. Had car towed same day to hyundai dealer. A couple days later I was told the issue was the throttle body assembly. They replaced the throttle body, checked all the connections and cleared the code. Fast forward again to 4134 miles on the car. Was traveling on a parkway going about 65mph and the same exact issue happened again. Luckily I was able to get over and exit the highway all without the gas pedal not working. Three times with the same issue after being fixed twice is unacceptable. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jul 25, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | During the 6 months since I've purchased this vehicle, the power has intermittently, stalled upon pulling off from a traffic light, or excellerating onto the freeway, or while turning and pulling up onto a supermarket's parking lot. It revs up loudly, but without any power nor excelleration, without any warning. I'm always afraid that someone will run into my rear end because drivers behind me have no way of knowing that my car has suddenly stopped being able to excellerate. It keeps making the loud noise as if it's no longer in drive, or the right gear as I'm pressing down on the excellerator peddle. It does this for approximately 10 seconds each time that it has happened. Had car in for service, first maintenance appointment, and for them to find out what's causing the transmission to keep failing, and to correct it, last thursday, on 7/21/22. I was told that everything checked out okay, and that they drove the car, and couldn't reproduce the transmission problem that I've been having. Well, everything is clearly not okay, whether it's intermittent or not. This is very dangerous, but unfortunately, I can't will this to happen at any specific time, that I'm able to get a service appointment, in order for it be reproduced by the technician. I left the dealership with no resolution to my most important reason for scheduling the service appointment. I left with an oil change, tire rotation, a fluid level top off, but was notified that now, I had a screw in one of my tires. Then, the very next day, I experienced it happen again. I'm very concerned, each time I drive my new car, about the potential for this sudden loss of power. This is extremely unsafe, scary, and anxiety producing. I should be enjoying my new car. I've searched santa cruz owners forums and other sites, to see if other owners are experiencing the same, or similar problems with their vehicle. Some say they've reported the concerns to dealership and to the manufacturer, with no response. Please help! |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Jul 21, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | Complete transmission failure on the highway without warning. Issue occured at 12,237 miles on the vehicle. While traveling under cruise control at 75mph on the highway in the far left lane and the dashboard lit up and told me to pull over immediately. There were no warning signs ahead of the failure. No warning lights or any mechanical noises/vibrations to indicate the transmission was about to fail. I had no drive and was unable to accelerate and had to make my way across 4 lanes of traffic without the ability to accelerate at all which was very dangerous and I was fortunate nothing happened to myself or anyone else. I pulled off to the side of the highway and once the vehicle was power cycled I had a check engine light. No drive was available and the vehicle refused to move under it's own power. The vehicle was immediately towed to a hyundai dealership, who after a 2 week delay confirmed it was a total failure in the transmission. Dtc code: p1cd0 the dealership called it into the engineering team, and they stated there was a "fluctuation in oil pressure in the transmission and the engineering team recommend replacing the whole unit". As of right now I am still waiting on the transmission replacement. |
| Category | Power Train, Unknown Or Other, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Jul 16, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | My 2022 santa cruz experienced an apparent fault of the automatic transmission control during operation on a ~20 mile trip including city and highway driving. Weather was low 80s and dry. Symptoms were sluggish and delayed upshifting; loss of acceleration power. The issue was most noticeable while attempting to accelerate uphill; several times the vehicle topped out at 25-30 mph when going uphill and failed to accelerate further. As one of these occurred during moderate traffic while entering a highway on-ramp, I think this is a serious safety issue. I was able to pull to the side and eventually regained control of up/downshifting by placing the transmission shift lever in manual control - fortunately the transmission seemed to respond to manual up/down shifting and I was able to eventually accelerate to a safe highway speed (65mph). After a short ~2 mile drive on the highway I got off on the next exit and when stopped at the end of the exit ramp, turned the vehicle off and on. Following restarting the vehicle, automatic shifting seemed to operate correctly for the remainder of my travel (another ~20 miles of driving). During this malfunction I did not see any unusual indicator / warning lights on the dash or any indication that the vehicle wasn't in normal automatic driving mode. Reporting features such as the "vehicle health report" indicate that the vehicle had no issues, diagnostic messages or service due. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train |
| Date | Jul 12, 2022 |
| State | MO |
| Description | Left my neighborhood and as I pulled away from the stop sign the 1-2 shift felt abrupt, which has never happened before. No other issues were noticed until I got about a mile from home and my santa cruz wouldn't accelerate past 25-30 mph. The transmission wouldn't shift and the engine wouldn't rev past 3000 rpm. I pulled over at the closest spot I could find and restarted my vehicle and made it to work with no other issues. No warnings were present on my dash, and the problem seemed to remedy itself. I will keep an eye on it and also cross my fingers that this isn't the beginning of a dct issue at 4300 miles. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jul 01, 2022 |
| State | KY |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact stated while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle lost motive power and failed to shift into gear. The contact was able to pull over and restart the vehicle. The “stop vehicle immediately†message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 10,200. |
| Category | Engine |
| Date | Jun 27, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | Engine stuttering at random like it is going to die out. And a major safety issue four times, so far, with less than 1800 miles on the vehicle, the engine has died mid drive and flashes error on dash that engine is off and to put in neutral and restart. The last 2 dates being 6/12 & 6/26/2022. The first engine shutdown started with less than 500 miles on the vehicle. Very unsafe on the road. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Jun 24, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | Was driving along and the truck said pull over immediately and the power train disengage . It slow down in a construction zone with no place to pull over and cars coming right at me . It stopped and was not able to get it at first to restart after four attempt was able to get it to startup but would not pull forward or backward restart again was able to pull forward and get it to go about 40 miles an hour to get off the road. Got it a mile to the dealership was told it will need a new transmission not sure how long to get it. No car or trucks to loan and no rent car to be had. Had to wait till the next week to get one and pay 0 in tax money for a rent car and still make the payment on the truck this is so wrong . |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Jun 16, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | Merging onto interstate and experienced loss of power. Slowly accelerated to 50 mph with gas pedal to the floor could not exceed 50mph. No warning lights just sudden loss of power. I had to drive onto side of the road to avoid being hit from cars behind me on interstate. Pulled over and restarted vehicle and drove normally back home. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Jun 09, 2022 |
| State | MN |
| Description | 2022 hyundai santa cruz limited, 2. 5t with 8-speed dct, with 11,765 miles. This has happened 3 times in a 3 day period. Upon accelerating from a stop, there was a complete loss of power. I applied more pressure to the accelerator and still no power. It seemed like the vehicle was out-of-gear or had an engine misfire. After about 10 seconds, a puff of thick, dark smoke came out from the tailpipe and acceleration resumed as if nothing happened. Upon coming to a stop and exiting the vehicle, there was a smell of burnt rubber coming from under the hood, but I could not locate the source. There have been at least 3 other instances in the last week where there was some hesitation when accelerating from a stop (again, it felt like it was in the wrong gear or there was a misfire) but not a complete loss of power and dark smoke like in the other instances. After each of the above instances, I attached an obdii tool to look for error codes but there were none. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Jun 02, 2022 |
| State | IN |
| Description | Vehicle took longer to start after pressing start button. Upon leaving my driveway, vehicle struggled to accelerate, taking nearly 60 seconds to reach 55 mph. No warning lights indicated on dash. I manually changed gears with paddle shift, which did nothing. Also changed driving mode from "smart" to "normal" to "sport" which did nothing. Both from exiting my driveway, and later attempting to get up to speed on the highway after a stoplight a crash could have happened as the vehicle struggled to make it into the proper lanes in time. Vehicle is only 2 weeks old, 670 miles. Vehicle was not making any unusual noises. In summary, vehicle was barely accelerating despite peddle being all the way pressed. |
| Category | Engine |
| Date | May 29, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | Getting an error multiple times under 500 miles. It has been coming and going since 200 miles. Transmission system error! Check transmission oil immediately. This is going on with multiple santa cruzs |
| Category | Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | May 29, 2022 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | Upon accelerating vehicle jumps rpms6000-7000 and does not accelerate. Vehicle needs to be turned off to function properly again, it gets stuck in high rpm's with no acceleration. |
| Category | Engine, Power Train |
| Date | May 28, 2022 |
| State | MN |
| Description | The main concern is loss of power. Have non-turbo version and have no idea what is a cause of the problem. Probably is computer. Had this issue once or twice. Switched to normal mode from smart. |
| Category | Electrical System, Exterior Lighting |
| Date | May 12, 2022 |
| State | IL |
| Description | 2022 santa cruz 764 miles. Washed vehicle april 1st with hose, water & soap bubbles in grill of drl. I was told that its a lens cover & not the led drl, but it collects and holds water & soap. I can't clean in there. Field service engineer came out, deamed normal by hyundai, grill & lens are not sealed. Unacceptable, water collecting by electrical component. Can't get behind lens cover to clean. Eventually im going to have a film in there, and drl won't work as they should. If soap and water get in now, what happens during winter when it gets road spray from rock salt melting snow and ice turn things to a slush? Who's going to clean that? What happens when the water turns to ice? I mentioned windshield gets foggy and has to be cleaned inside, I was told to use my defroster to clean it. There is no defroster in grill. I'm seeing water collect by an electrical component and soap during a wash. Thats now, the winter road spray won't be as kind. Those are not individual lights, it's one component of 4 lights. The longer this goes on, the effectiveness of those lights will go down. That's not gonna help me at night. Those lights are expensive and you have to have the entire panel replaced. Im not a mechanic or body & fender man. Who's going to pay for that? But, the big question is, "why aren't these lights sealed? |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | May 06, 2022 |
| State | HI |
| Description | On march 31, 2022 my hyundai santa cruz sel premium flashed a warning to pull over immediately. The engine lost power. I had the gas pedal floored but it wouldn't move. I stopped in the middle of the road, shut the car off and turned it on again 3 times before getting the car to drive. The car sent an email saying it was a transmission problem. I called the dealership and had it picked up. They determined it was a bad chip on a pump for the transmission. Three weeks later, after numerous attempts to get an update, the dealership told me the hyundai corporation wouldn't allow the pump to be replaced. The dealership has to replace the entire transmission. The estimated date of arrival to california is june 16th! Then it will have to be shipped to hawaii. This is infuriating. I leased the car 10/16/21 and it only has 2799 miles on it. |
| Category | Exterior Lighting |
| Date | Apr 26, 2022 |
| State | NH |
| Description | The low beam headlight position creates a "shadow shelf" in the middle of the windshield making visibility poor while using only the low beams. This is made worse in inclement weather. This is a hazard as the illuminated area distance is drastically less than that of most other vehicles. |
| Category | Electrical System, Power Train |
| Date | Apr 24, 2022 |
| State | MD |
| Description | I purchased a 2022 hyundai santa cruz, limited edition. The vehicle went into neutral while driving on a busy highway. There was no forward or reverse gear operation. I had to call the local police to block off the lane till a tow truck arrived. After 60 days the dealer finally located the problem. A ground wire to the transmission control module came loose and caused the vehicle transmission to fail. The ground id number was ge204 and is located inside the left front fender. This problem took 2800 miles to occur. I feel one ground connection should not cause this type of safety issue. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Apr 19, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | I was driving in a residential area, and my vehicle indicated that I should pull over immediately. During that time, the shifting was hindered and top speed was limited (below posted speeds). When I stopped, my vehicle would not move forward or backward again. This is the second time that this vehicle has had an issue where it would not shift or be able to achieve posted speed (the first time happened on an interstate highway and the top speed was about 40 miles per hour). This failure in being able to maintain appropriate speed and also not moving forward again after stopping is very concerning when in traffic. My vehicle was inspected, the high pressure pump was indicated to be at fault, and the transmission (housing the pump) was replaced. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Apr 09, 2022 |
| State | MD |
| Description | Several times, when sitting at a stop sign or red light, I will press on the gas's to go forward. The engine revs, the rpm's go very high but there is little forward exceleration. This one time almost caused an accident as a car almost hit me because I could not make the car move faster. I have had the truck for just over two months and has happened many times. |
| Category | Engine |
| Date | Apr 04, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | E. Ngine took longer than normal to start. After starting, I drove 1/4 mile and engine had no power at all. Rpm would rev but no power. Pulled over and stopped. Restarted vehicle and everything returned to normal. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Mar 31, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | This car only has 150 miles on it. At 50 miles an hour the transmission refused to shift & the car rpms surged with a loss of power. It remained at 5000 rpms with my fott off the accelerator. I then needed to manually shift out of automatic it to get it to drop the rpms start driving again. It was dangerous & another person might not have known how to get going again & caused a chain reaction accident at highway speeds. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Mar 25, 2022 |
| State | SD |
| Description | Sudden loss of power. I was pulling away from a traffic light. I stepped on the throttle and found the engine unable to respond. I had just enough power to reach 20 mph. The engine never quit. No warnings or cautions were displayed. Pulled over and shut off the vehicle. Did a quick visual inspection and found nothing out of place waited a few minutes, restarted and all is back to normal operating condition. |
| Category | Exterior Lighting |
| Date | Mar 10, 2022 |
| State | FL |
| Description | My santa cruz headlights have a dark shadow on the drivers side while driving at night. It is extremely distracting and it can be a danger. The blind spot is very obvious. It can lead the driver to look at the shadow instead of the road as well as a portion of the headlight projection is not illuminating the road. The 2022 tucson has the same front headlight configuration and while searching the hyundai forum, the same problem exists for that vehicle. This is a constant problem while driving at night. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Mar 04, 2022 |
| State | MN |
| Description | Engine shut off on its own at low speed (4 mph) while driving in a parking lot and a warning light indicated to put the car in neutral and restart the engine. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Mar 02, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | While driving on a surface street, engine stopped responding while pressing the accelerator. Vehicle would not go faster than 28mph. Once turned off and restarted, engine acted normally. Vehicle is less than 1 week old with approximately 200 miles. This appears to be the same problem mentioned by multiple santa cruz owners on the following forum: https://www. Santacruzforums. Com/threads/loss-of-power-as-others-had. 9477 |
| Category | Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Feb 25, 2022 |
| State | MN |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 23, 2022 |
| State | GA |
| Description | Santa cruz sel premium 70 miles on vehicle while driving at night at 40mph I tried to accelerate but the car acted like I was in too high of a gear. It would not go faster and I had traffic coming up behind me. Luckily I got stopped by a red light. Not being sure what to do I turned the car off and restarted. It ran fine after that. Car was in sport mode. Car not inspected, thought it was something I did since we bought it that same day. No warning lights or messages. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 23, 2022 |
| State | GA |
| Description | I accelerated at 10mph, the engine rpm's increased to 3000rpm but the vehicle speed did not increase. After I stopped at a stop sign the car accelerated normally. I did not restart the car. The car was in normal mode. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 19, 2022 |
| State | MN |
| Description | Iloss of power. My hyundai t has 400miles on it. In the morning started driving very sluggish- felt the loss or 30% power. On a highway trying to pass the vehicle/merge into traffic- could not get up past 2. 5k rpms and get up to traffic speed -60 mph. Felt very unsafe- had to quickly take the exit, as I was impeding traffic. Taking car to a dealership |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 18, 2022 |
| State | IL |
| Description | Loss of power. Car in drive, no snow going to make a right turn on a busy fast street. Typical speeds on this street are 50 +, speed limit is 45. To get out in to traffic you need to have power to get up to traffic speed. So I hit the gas I say 1/4 throttle and started to make a right turn. I had very little power. The engine revved up to 2000-3000 rpms but car was moving really slow. Its took several seconds to get to 5-10 mph. Top speed was 39-40 mph. If you hit the gas it would just rev higher but no increase of speed. The bad part was the on coming traffic had to come to a fast stop and swerving around me because I was going so slow. To get to 39 mph took 30 seconds. This car is a turbo and does 0-60 in 6 sec. I almost got hit in the rear and caused an accident. I made a case # with hyundai but not response in several days. When I finally got a response said take car to dealer. Well I did that the next day. Dealer found not trouble codes and drove the car for 3 days putting on 100mi, no issues. I had no issues until 2200mi. This web site below has many others with the same issue which are making complaints to nhtsa as of the last week. I do have dealer service reports I can summit at a later time. See this forum where many others have same issue. Search loos of power. Https://www. Santacruzforums. Com/threads/loss-of-power-as-others-had. 9477/#post-191382 |
| Category | Power Train, Unknown Or Other, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Feb 17, 2022 |
| State | WA |
| Description | As other owners have reported, there is an issue that happens, seemingly at random, when accelerating from a stop. The vehicle feels as if it's stuck in too high of a gear and accelerates very slowly despite high rpms. The maximum speed I could achieve was 16 mph after keeping the gas pedal nearly floored for 3-5 seconds, which normally would have had me to nearly 60 mph. This happened to me in rush hour city traffic on a busy street with no shoulder. The only apparent solution is to shut off the vehicle and restart it, at which time the problem resolves itself and normal operation is resumed. In my case this caused a brief traffic backup that extended through the intersection of two major arterial streets and lots of upset drivers behind me. This has only happened once (occurred on 2/10/22) since purchasing the vehicle new on 12/28/21 and having driven it approximately 1,100 miles. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Feb 17, 2022 |
| State | NM |
| Description | The contact owns a 2022 hyundai santa cruz. The contact stated that while accelerating from a complete stop, the rpm revved up; however, the vehicle would not exceed 25 mph. The contact exited the highway and veered to the side of the road. The contact stated that as he turned off and restarted the vehicle, he was able to drive the vehicle with no further issues. The dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 1,200. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Feb 17, 2022 |
| State | ID |
| Description | When taking off from a stand still the santa cruz will hesitate.. Not all the time but it's usually when you need to get into traffic... It will lose power and finally take off... |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 17, 2022 |
| State | AZ |
| Description | I was passing on a 2 lane road with the gas pedal to the floor. after I passed the vehicle, still in the passing lane I let off on the gas. at that moment I had no power. had to brake and get back behind the vehicle I was passing. thank god there was no on-coming traffic, or I would not be here telling you this story. It took what seemed forever before I had power again. not sure what I did shifting gears or just timing out. I am aware of other people reporting a similar problem with no power on santacruzforums. Com. I am concerned about this moving forward. The car was new to me at the time, I thought I had done something wrong, then I read about other people having the same problem. I have had this occur since where it was not a issue, more of a irritant. |
| Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes |
| Date | Feb 02, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | All dash lights are on while driving. Oil, abs, tire pressure, check engine. Car is at dealership now and they are trying to find the problem. They have been very good to me with a loaner and constant updates. They have been in touch with corporate and they advised them to change something in the abs system which is expected to arrive middle of februrary. Nothing to do but wait. |
| Category | Exterior Lighting |
| Date | Jan 26, 2022 |
| State | VA |
| Description | Halogen headlights too dim, even on high beams. Called dealership and was told they couldn't switch to a brighter bulb. Was also told I couldn't convert to led headlights without voiding warranty; that if I wanted led headlights I should have “purchased a higher trim modelâ€. I purchased the sel with activity package trim and you would think an almost ,000 vehicle would have better headlights than this. |
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About the Author:
Brian Jones spent more than 20 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
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I have a 2022 Santa Cruz recently I tried to pass a slower vehicle when I put the pedal down the rpms hi 6000& the truck didn’t make any kind movement other than remaining at the same rate of speed,needless to say I was heartbroken
I have a 2022 Santa Cruz that I purchased in May 2022 in White Hall Arkansas. I am at the dealership now as I am typing. This is my 3rd visit for the dash board warnings and loss of power. I was here once before the recall, I brought my truck LAST week for the recall appointment and had the same issue 3 days after the appointment. I am not at all pleased with this experience; should have stayed with the Ridgeline. The issues are putting me in a very dangerous position as I drive 37 miles one way to work.
bought my 2022 Santa Cruz in July 22 (it is the non turbo). I have 20K miles on it and no problems yet. It seems like everyone I met that’s had problems with these are the turbo /AWD versions.
Bought a ’23 SEL last week and when accelerating the engine is making loud noises…when on road, the car seems like its falling apart like clinching…never ever buying a piece of junk Hyundai again
I’m looking at a 2022 Santa Cruz today with 9000 miles for sale. I love the versatility of the vehicle, would suit my life perfectly. I want this vehicle, there’s a lot of positive reviews also.
BUT MY QUESTION IS…If I buy this vehicle and have engine problems, would I be in a better position if I had bought new vs used or if I lease? Which situation (owning new, or used, or leasing) would give me the best advantage if the vehicle has these issues? Based on percentages, it appears less than 1% of Santa Cruz sold are having problems. Is that low, high or standard?
Thank you for your reply. Trying to make good decisions.
Anna
I love my 2022 Santa Cruz but continue to have issues. The engine has a ticking noise sometimes when you start it (like a lifter) dealer unable to locate. This has been going on since new. When you have the lane departure warning and auto steer set the car will sometimes take all the left and you have to pull it back to your lane. Major safety hazard. Dealer performed a transmission update at last service. Went from 27 MPG to 23 MPG. Seems to not shift correctly and if you are on an incline the vehicle will roll backwards until you apply the brake or give the transmission time to realize you have went from park to reverse. I have opened up cases with Hyundai.
2022 Santa Cruz SEL purchased new 6 months ago. Very slow to accelerate and a danger in heavy traffic. Engine control light has come on twice. Now there is a clunking noise, seemingly coming from the axles when the wheels turn. Will find out what the verdict is this week once it is serviced by the dealer but I wish I had just waited for another BMW.
Started the car ,put in reverse, foot on brake started to back up slowly steering wheel turned all the way to right. Felt like car stated to strain itself, Bam, the whole car shook, felt like some one rear ended me.
Now I don’t want to drive it.
2020 turbo santa cruz stopped twice wouldnt move out of park or crank both times had to be towed to dealers and has beenin dealers since aug 8th i paid for 1st tow and ride home from out of town jan28 and paid ride home from aug 8th from out of town it is a leased truck want to turn in or manufacture pay lease august and sept it would cover my cost 686.96/m plus insurance i havent mentioned missed events and travel that was cancelled . Thanks for support gary
Which engine are you speaking of? There are two, the 2.5 naturally aspirated and the 2.5 Turbo