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2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 35.5.

About this comparison →

How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 4 of 20 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.

  • Engine. Review the 8 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 7 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Fuel/propulsion System. Review the 4 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

0 crash reports0 fire reports0 injury reports

What owners actually said

20 reports
32,000 miles · Jul 8, 2024
Engine And Engine Cooling

The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle failed to respond while the accelerator pedal was depressed. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed that the camshaft sensor needed to be replaced. In addition, the vehicle was repaired several times however, th…

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The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle failed to respond while the accelerator pedal was depressed. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed that the camshaft sensor needed to be replaced. In addition, the vehicle was repaired several times however, the failure persisted. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle lost motive power while driving at various speeds. The vehicle was taken to another local dealer to be diagnosed; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 32,000.

NHTSA ODI #11600067

31,000 miles · Jan 9, 2024
EnginePower Train

The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to exceed 40 MPH. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred several times while driving. The contact stated that on…

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The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to exceed 40 MPH. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred several times while driving. The contact stated that on several occasions, the vehicle lost motive power. A message indicating that there was no power was displayed, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, a red Hybrid warning light with a stop safely message was displayed. The contact stated that the Hyundai App displayed the Power Train and Chassis indicated the contact needed to schedule a service. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined the vehicle had either bad fuel or the vehicle was refueled while the engine was running. Additionally, the gas cap was left open. The contact stated that the failure persisted, and the vehicle was taken to the dealer several times. The dealer replaced the rocker cover gasket and oil gasket to resolve a leak. The vehicle was at the local dealer awaiting Field Technical Engineer inspection. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number 22V746000 (Power Train). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 31,000.

NHTSA ODI #11564397

25,000 miles · Jan 4, 2024
Engine

The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to exceed 30 MPH. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred several times while driving. The contact sta…

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The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to exceed 30 MPH. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred several times while driving. The contact stated that on several occasions, the vehicle failed to restart, and the vehicle was towed. A message indicating that there was no power was displayed, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the intake valve had failed. Additionally, an unknown recall repair was performed on the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure persisted, and the vehicle was taken to the dealer several times. The dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000.

NHTSA ODI #11563515

Mileage unknown · Jul 22, 2023
Power Train

I have been taking my 21 Santa Fe hybrid limited into the dealership for a year and a half for the same code . Powertrain code P040B00, and to this day they can not repair this issue. I looked it up and a ton of us are having issues with this same code. It should be investigated, and customers should be warned. Hyundai needs to …

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I have been taking my 21 Santa Fe hybrid limited into the dealership for a year and a half for the same code . Powertrain code P040B00, and to this day they can not repair this issue. I looked it up and a ton of us are having issues with this same code. It should be investigated, and customers should be warned. Hyundai needs to recall these vehicles or provide a solution. A year and a half is unacceptable

NHTSA ODI #11533831

Mileage unknown · Jun 27, 2023
EngineForward Collision AvoidanceFuel/propulsion System

While driving 80 mph down the highway my brand new vehicle shut off completely, the entire car lost power. In another instance I was going around a roundabout and my acceleration completely went out, my son was in the back seat and another car had to jump the curb to avoid crashing into us. I met a woman in the dealership who ha…

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While driving 80 mph down the highway my brand new vehicle shut off completely, the entire car lost power. In another instance I was going around a roundabout and my acceleration completely went out, my son was in the back seat and another car had to jump the curb to avoid crashing into us. I met a woman in the dealership who has been waiting over a year for her recalled tow hitch to be fixed. When it rains or snows the forward safety systems shut off and the alert repeats extremely distracting on your dash, like sounds, red flashing lights, over and over again. You have to constantly hit the ok button while driving to get it to go away.

NHTSA ODI #11529228

Mileage unknown · May 9, 2023
Electrical SystemEngineUnknown Or Other

From what I have been told there is no recall on this issue. Purchased a Hyundai Sante Fe Hybrid 2021 brand new in 2021. I live in La Quinta California summers are especially hot. Temps can be anywhere from 105 to 120 . Only had the car for 6months when in light came on saying Inverter needs coolant this has been a problem for t…

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From what I have been told there is no recall on this issue. Purchased a Hyundai Sante Fe Hybrid 2021 brand new in 2021. I live in La Quinta California summers are especially hot. Temps can be anywhere from 105 to 120 . Only had the car for 6months when in light came on saying Inverter needs coolant this has been a problem for the past 2yrs. Checked with Hyundai Service department my coolant is fine air conditioning works well. This not a safety issue but should be fixed and Hyundai is doing nothing about it. Many complaints have been ignored.

NHTSA ODI #11521248

Mileage unknown · Apr 10, 2023
EngineUnknown Or Other

Whenever the weather gets above 80 degrees outside my car put a notice to refill inverter coolant, when everything is filled max line. I’ve mentioned it twice to the Hyundai service and both times the employee told me not to worry about it and it is a sensor issue. That is unacceptable, I live in Las Vegas, Nevada where tempera…

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Whenever the weather gets above 80 degrees outside my car put a notice to refill inverter coolant, when everything is filled max line. I’ve mentioned it twice to the Hyundai service and both times the employee told me not to worry about it and it is a sensor issue. That is unacceptable, I live in Las Vegas, Nevada where temperatures on average in summer are 90+. That’s a big risk an unnecessary danger to have my car engine over heat and stop in the middle of no where and potentially leave me stranded or worse cause an accident or fire. On top of that I have to see the message every day in the summer temperatures, without any way to remove the message. This will be the 2nd summer I’ve seen this message appear in my car, and I’m tired of the dealership & their car service staff telling me this is nothing to worry about… especially on car not even 4 years old!

NHTSA ODI #11516429

Mileage unknown · Apr 4, 2023
Power Train

When turning at low speeds especially sharp turns and accelerating, a cracking sound occurs.

NHTSA ODI #11515463

Mileage unknown · Feb 19, 2023
Power Train

Gas pedal stops working while driving down the road. Happened 3 times. Will work again after awhile. Dealership can't find what's wrong with it and so hyundai and the dealership said they can't fix it.

NHTSA ODI #11508108

Mileage unknown · Jan 24, 2023
Unknown Or Other

On December 28, 2022, we were driving 70 miles per hour on Route 75 in the third lane of a four-lane highway from Michigan to Tennessee. In Ohio, the vehicle lost all drive power without warning. As it decelerated, we were able to maneuver the vehicle to the breakdown lane, narrowly avoiding other vehicles around us driving at 7…

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On December 28, 2022, we were driving 70 miles per hour on Route 75 in the third lane of a four-lane highway from Michigan to Tennessee. In Ohio, the vehicle lost all drive power without warning. As it decelerated, we were able to maneuver the vehicle to the breakdown lane, narrowly avoiding other vehicles around us driving at 70 miles per hour. We do not know what caused this to happen. After several hours on the side of the highway, the vehicle was towed to Jeff Wyler Hyundai in Fairfield, Ohio. They have not been able to diagnose the problem as of today. The contact stated that the cause of the issue was due to an oil plug that was improperly tightened by the dealership during service maintenance. As a result of that, the oil was able to drain out and cause the engine to fail.

NHTSA ODI #11503378

Official recalls

3

24V879000 · Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera

Nov 21, 2024

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Santa Fe, Santa Fe HEV, Elantra, Elantra HEV and 2022 Elantra N and Santa Fe PHEV vehicles. Due to a damaged printed circuit board, the rearview camera image may fail to display. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A rearview image that does not display reduces the driver's visibility and increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the rearview camera, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 14, 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 271.

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.

22V816000 · Seat Belts:front; Seat Belts:pretensioner

Oct 31, 2022

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2023 Genesis G80 Electric, 2021-2022 Santa Fe Hybrid, and 2022-2023 Santa Fe Plug-In Hybrid vehicles. In the event of a crash, the front driver-side and/or passenger-side seat belt pretensioners may explode upon deployment.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An exploding seat belt pretensioner can project metal fragments into the vehicle, strike vehicle occupants, and result in injury.

Remedy: Dealers will secure the seat belt pretensioners with a cap, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 14, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 238/011G. This recall is an expansion of recall numbers 22V-354 and 22V-458.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Seat Belts:front

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2023 Genesis G80 Electric, 2021-2022 Santa Fe Hybrid, and 2022-2023 Santa Fe Plug-In Hybrid vehicles. In the event of a crash, the front driver-side and/or passenger-side seat belt pretensioners may explode upon deployment.

Consequence: An exploding seat belt pretensioner can project metal fragments into the vehicle, strike vehicle occupants, and result in injury.

Remedy: Dealers will secure the seat belt pretensioners with a cap, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 14, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 238/011G. This recall is an expansion of recall numbers 22V-354 and 22V-458.

Seat Belts:pretensioner

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2023 Genesis G80 Electric, 2021-2022 Santa Fe Hybrid, and 2022-2023 Santa Fe Plug-In Hybrid vehicles. In the event of a crash, the front driver-side and/or passenger-side seat belt pretensioners may explode upon deployment.

Consequence: An exploding seat belt pretensioner can project metal fragments into the vehicle, strike vehicle occupants, and result in injury.

Remedy: Dealers will secure the seat belt pretensioners with a cap, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 14, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 238/011G. This recall is an expansion of recall numbers 22V-354 and 22V-458.

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

1

DP22005 · Pedestrian Alert Sounds

Opened Jan 27, 2023 · Closed Aug 7, 2023

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Electrical System:propulsion System

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.