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2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

More warning signs than most Santa Cruz years

Owner complaints for the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz are substantially higher than the model-year median of 35.

About this comparison →

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 21 of 183 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Power Train. Review the 90 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Engine. Review the 50 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 21 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

5 crash reports1 fire reports4 injury reports

What owners actually said

183 reports
Mileage unknown · Jul 12, 2022
EnginePower Train

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…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11473499

10,200 miles · Jul 1, 2022
EnginePower TrainUnknown Or Other

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 vehicl…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11472012

Mileage unknown · Jun 27, 2022
Engine

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 w…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11471174

Mileage unknown · Jun 24, 2022
Power Train

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 …

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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 $150 in Tax money for a rent car and still make the payment on the truck this is so wrong .

NHTSA ODI #11470796

Mileage unknown · Jun 16, 2022
Power Train

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 …

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11469628

Mileage unknown · Jun 9, 2022
Power Train

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. Afte…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11468474

Mileage unknown · Jun 2, 2022
Power Train

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 di…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11467083

Mileage unknown · May 29, 2022
Engine

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

NHTSA ODI #11466622

Mileage unknown · May 29, 2022
Vehicle Speed Control

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.

NHTSA ODI #11466585

Mileage unknown · May 28, 2022
EnginePower Train

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.

NHTSA ODI #11466555

Official recalls

4

23V181000 · Trailer Hitches

Mar 17, 2023

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2019-2023 Santa Fe, 2021-2023 Santa Fe HEV, 2022-2023 Santa Fe Plug-in HEV and Santa Cruz vehicles potentially equipped with a tow hitch harness installed as original equipment, or purchased as an accessory through a Hyundai dealership. Water accumulation on the tow hitch harness module printed circuit board (PCB) may cause an electrical short, which can result in a fire.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Owners are advised to park their vehicles outside and away from structures until the remedy is completed. Dealers will install a new fuse and wire extension kit as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed starting May 16, 2023. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 244. This recall is an expansion of previous recall number 22V-633.

23V038000 · Structure:body:roof And Pillars; Structure:critical Fasteners

Jan 31, 2023

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2022 Tucson and 2022-2023 Santa Cruz vehicles. The roof moldings may detach.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A detached roof molding could become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace, or secure the roof moldings, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 30, 2023. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 241.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Structure:critical Fasteners

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2022 Tucson and 2022-2023 Santa Cruz vehicles. The roof moldings may detach.

Consequence: A detached roof molding could become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace, or secure the roof moldings, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 30, 2023. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 241.

Structure:body:roof And Pillars

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2022 Tucson and 2022-2023 Santa Cruz vehicles. The roof moldings may detach.

Consequence: A detached roof molding could become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace, or secure the roof moldings, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 30, 2023. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 241.

22V746000 · Power Train:automatic Transmission

Oct 6, 2022

Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Santa Fe, Sonata, Veloster N, 2022 Santa Cruz, Elantra N, and Kona N vehicles. The vehicle's "fail-safe" limited-mobility drive mode may be impaired, when prompted by a transmission oil pump malfunction, which can result in a complete loss of drive power.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the transmission, as necessary. Dealers will also update the transmission control unit software. All repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 10, 2023. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 236.

22V197000 · Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:gasoline:turbo/supercharger; Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:oil/lubrication:pipes, Hoses, And Fittings

Mar 28, 2022

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2022 Santa Fe and Santa Cruz vehicles. The oil supply pipe to the turbocharger may crack, which could result in an oil leak in the engine compartment.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An oil leak in the presence of an ignition source such as hot engine or exhaust components, can increase the risk of a fire.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the turbocharger oil supply pipe, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 26, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall 222.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:oil/lubrication:pipes, Hoses, And Fittings

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2022 Santa Fe and Santa Cruz vehicles. The oil supply pipe to the turbocharger may crack, which could result in an oil leak in the engine compartment.

Consequence: An oil leak in the presence of an ignition source such as hot engine or exhaust components, can increase the risk of a fire.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the turbocharger oil supply pipe, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 26, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall 222.

Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:gasoline:turbo/supercharger

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2022 Santa Fe and Santa Cruz vehicles. The oil supply pipe to the turbocharger may crack, which could result in an oil leak in the engine compartment.

Consequence: An oil leak in the presence of an ignition source such as hot engine or exhaust components, can increase the risk of a fire.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the turbocharger oil supply pipe, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 26, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall 222.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.