2003 Hyundai Santa Fe

I HAVE EXPERIENCED MY 4TH INCIDENT OF SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION ON MY 2003 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. I HAVE REPORTED THIS TO YOU THREE TIMES BEFORE. I AM CONCERNED THAT I MAY INJURE MYSELF OR ANOTHER PERSON WHEN THIS HAPPENS. I NOW DRIVE WITH MY HAND ON THE SHIFT LEVER AND PUT THE CAR INTO NEUTRAL WHEN NEARING ANY POSSIBLE SITUATION WHERE I COULD HIT ANOTHER CAR OR A PEDESTRIAN. I AM BECOMING SO ADEPT AT THIS MANEUVER THAT LAST TIME IT HAPPENED I PUT IT IN NEUTRAL AUTOMATICALLY. I WAS BADLY SHAKEN, BUT NOTHING SERIOUS HAPPENED. I HAVE REPORTED THIS TO HYUNDAI AMERICA AND THEY ARE NOT CONCERNED. THEY HAVE INSPECTED THE PROBLEM AND CLAIM THAT THE CAR IS SAFE TO DRIVE. THE CONSUMER STATED SHE HAD ALREADY BEEN DRIVING FOR A FEW HOURS, SO THE ENGINE WAS WARM. THE CRUISE CONTROL WAS ON AND SHE WAS HEADED UP A MOUNTAIN HIGHWAY, WHEN SUDDENLY THE VEHICLE LUNGED FORWARD, INCREASING IN SPEED AS SHE WAS CRESTING THE HILL. AS SHE HEADED DOWN, BRAKING, THE TACHOMETER CONTINUED TO WIDELY GO UP AND DOWN AND THE ENGINE WAS REVVING UP . ONCE SHE PULLED OVER, THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER. THEY DOWNLOADED A COMPUTER UPGRADE AND OVER THE NEXT 4-5 WEEKS ON OCCASION, THE VEHICLE WOULD STALL AT LOW SPEEDS. ACCORDING TO THE INVOICE, THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR WAS REPLACED. UPDATED IVOQ 11/03/10 *TR

I'VE OWNED MY 2003 HYUNDAI SANTA FE SINCE JULY 2003 AND I HAVE BEEN MOSTLY PLEASED WITH THE VEHICLE. ON 4/30/10, I LEFT HOME FOR A TRIP TO ANOTHER TOWN APPROXIMATELY 100 MILES FROM HOME. THE TRIP WAS MOSTLY ON AN EXPRESSWAY TRAVELING AT SPEEDS OF 60 - 70 MILES PER HOUR. AS I NEARED MY DESTINATION, I GOT OFF THE EXPRESSWAY, ONTO A SURFACE ROAD. WITHIN 1 MILE OF BEING ON THE ROAD, I WAS CHANGING LANES AND SENSED MY CAR "PULLING" ME, WHILE I WAS LIGHTLY BREAKING. I LOOKED DOWN TO ENSURE THAT NEITHER MY FOOT, FLOORMAT OR ANYTHING ELSE WAS TOUCHING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. THERE WAS NO EXPLAINABLE REASON FOR THE ACCELERATION. HOWEVER, BY KEEPING MORE FOOT ON THE BRAKE, I WAS ABLE TO CONTROL THE CAR ENOUGH TO PULL INTO A PARKING LOT. I STOPPED THE CAR, AND PUT IN PARK. THE ENGINE WHINED LOUDLY. BUT I WAS ABLE TO TURN IT OFF. OVER THE NEXT 30 MINUTES I TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO START THE CAR AND SEE OF THE THROTTLE WOULD SOMEHOW RESET ITSELF. BUT EACH TIME, THE ENGINE RACED LOUDLY. I CHOSE TO HAVE THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE NEAREST HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP. THEY DETERMINED THAT A THROTTLE SENSOR HAD SHORTED OUT. THE PART WAS REPLACED AND I WAS GIVEN BACK THE VEHICLE ON 5/8/10. THE VEHICLE HA SEEMED TO OPERATE NORMALLY SINCE THEN. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 25 MPH, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO JERK. SUDDENLY, THE ENGINE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING AND THE VEHICLE FAILED TO RESTART. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE WAS CALLED TO THE SCENE AND THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE MECHANIC STATED THAT THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR FAILED, WHICH WAS REPLACED AT THAT TIME. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER ON A SEPARATE OCCASION FOR THE SAME FAILURE. THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR WAS REPLACED AGAIN; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE STILL PERSISTS. THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY AT THE DEALER. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 22,112 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 41,496. UPDATED 08/27/09 *BF UPDATED 08/31/09.*JB

AT APPROXIMATELY 47,000 MILES, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. IN ADDITION, VEHICLE EXPERIENCED A SUDDEN OCCASIONAL JUMP IN IDLE TO 3000 RPM+ WHILE IN PARK AND DRIVE AFTER THREE MINUTES OR SO OF OPERATION. WHILE IN DRIVE, VEHICLE LUNGES DANGEROUSLY FORWARD. WHEN THIS OCCURS, IGNITION IS TURNED OFF, AND RESTART TAKES SEVERAL ATTEMPTS. AFTER RESTARTING, THE VEHICLE WILL SPUTTER AND REFUSE TO ACCELERATE NORMALLY FOR 30-60 SECONDS. VEHICLE ALSO STALLS OCCASIONALLY AFTER 3 MINUTES OR SO OF USE WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A FULL STOP. VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT TO NAPELTON HYUNDAI, WEST PALM BEACH, FL ON NOV 30. CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR AND CAMSHAFT SENSOR WERE REPLACED. BEFORE LEAVING DEALERSHIP WITH SERVICE MANAGER PRESENT AND AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION IN PARK, VEHICLE IDLE SUDDENLY SPIKED TO 4,200 RPM. I WAS TOLD DEALER WAS CLOSED, AND TO DRIVE IT HOME. ON DECEMBER 5, VEHICLE AGAIN STALLED AGAIN IN TRAFFIC AT INTERSECTION ALMOST CAUSING A COLLISION. AFTER RESTARTING, IT REFUSED TO ACCELERATE NORMALLY FOR 30-60 SECONDS. VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO BACK TO NAPELTON HYUNDAI BECAUSE BOTH THE STALLING AND SUDDEN ACCELERATION ARE SERIOUS CONCERNS THAT MAKE THIS SANTA FE UNSAFE TO OPERATE. THE SERVICE MANAGER AGREED FULLY THAT THE VEHICLE WAS UNSAFE TO DRIVE. ON DEC 20 I WAS ADVISED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED BECAUSE ATTEMPTS TO DUPLICATE THE PROBLEMS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. I WAS TOLD TO PICK IT UP AND DRIVE IT. I REFUSED TO DO SO. NAPELTON HAD OVER 20 DAYS TO DETECT AND CORRECT THESE MAJOR SAFETY ISSUES, AND I WILL NOT DRIVE HYUNDAI'S FAILURE INTO AN ACCIDENT. A REVIEW OF NHTSA DEFECTS REPORTED FOR THIS SANTA FE FOR 2003-2005 MODEL YEARS REVEALS OVER 40 SIMILAR INCIDENTS, SOME INVOLVING COLLISION AND INJURY. THESE ARE CATEGORIZED UNDER SEVERAL DIFFERENT COMPONENTS INCLUDING VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: ACCELERATOR PEDAL, OTHER, POWER TRAIN: AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, AND EQUIPMENT. PERHAPS THE SANTA FE'S CAN BE RECALLED BEFORE DEATHS RESULT. *NM

CRUISE CONTROL DOES NOT ALWAYS RESPOND WHEN ACCELERATING. AT TIMES THE CAR SLOWS DOWN TO POINT THAT IT IS A HAZARD FOR US AND ANY CAR NEAR TO US. THERE HAS BEEN THREE OCCASIONS THAT ACCIDENTS ALMOST HAPPENED. IN ORDER TO GET IT UNDER CONTROL, THE CAR HAS TO COAST TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY AND SET FOR A SHORT PERIOD BEFORE I CAN CONTINUE. I HAVE TALKED TO THE DEALER ON TWO OCCASIONS. THE FIRST TIME THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY HAD NEVER HEAR OF SUCH A THING AND THEY WOULD CALL THE FACTORY. WHEN I HADN'T HEARD FROM THEM FOR QUITE A LONG TIME I RETURNED TO THE SAME PLACE. THIS TIME THEY DIDN'T ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I HAD EVER BEEN IN WITH A COMPLAINT. *NM

VERY SIMILAR TO COMPLAINT 10128836. (RECENTLY PURCHASED 2003 2.7L V-6) (1) VEHICLE BUCKED VIOLENTLY BETWEEN 70 - 75 MPH TWICE IN THE LAST 2 DAYS. NO BUCKING AT LOWER SPEEDS (SUV IS SELDOM DRIVEN ON THE FREEWAY, SO THIS MAY BE LIMITED TO A HIGHER SPEED PROBLEM) (2) STALLED WHILE WAITING (FOR ABOUT 2 MINUTES AT A STOP LIGHT THE SAME DAY ONE OF THE BUCKING INCIDENTS OCCURRED. AMBIENT TEMP WAS 96 DEG AND AC WAS WORKING HARD. (3) 1 INCIDENT OF VEHICLE SURGING FORWARD WITH FOOT LIGHTLY ON THE BRAKE. (4) LCD CLOCK WORKS ONLY ON OCCASION DEALER HAS NOT BEEN CONTACTED YET - I DON'T KNOW IF HE CAN DUPLICATE. *JB

WE PURCHASED OUR 2003 HYUNDAI SANTE FE NOVEMBER OF 2003. IT IS A 2003 MODEL WITH A 3.5 LITER ENGINE. AFTER HAVING THE CAR A COUPLE OF MONTHS, WE STARTED HAVING A LURCHING PROBLEM WHEN SITTING AT STOP LIGHT. IT WOULD FEEL AS IF SOMEONE BUMPED INTO YOU FROM THE REAR. WE BROUGHT THE CAR IN AND WERE TOLD THAT THIS WAS DUE TO AN ABS PROBLEM. THEY SERVICED THE CAR FOR THE RECALLS THAT WERE CURRENT, AND EXPLAINED TO US THAT THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, BUT IT SHOULD BE OK NOW WITH THE RECALL SERVICING THEY HAD DONE. THE CAR CONTINUED TO HAVE THE PROBLEM, DOING IT SEVERAL TIMES A DAY. JUST RECENTLY I WAS PARKED IN A PARKING LOT. I STARTED THE CAR, APPLIED MY FOOT TO THE BRAKE AND SHIFTED THE CAR INTO REVERSE. THE CAR ENGINE SUDDENLY REVVED VERY LOUDLY, AND THE CAR LURCHED BACKWARDS ABOUT 6 FEET, ALMOST HITTING SOME PEOPLE WHO WERE PARKED BEHIND ME IN THE OPPOSITE SPACES, PUTTING GROCERIES IN THEIR CAR. I HAD TO PLACE A LOT OF PRESSURE ON THE BRAKE TO AVOID THE CAR GOING FURTHER THAN THE SIX FEET BEFORE THE ENGINE STOPPED REVVING. THE CAR IS NOW AT THE DEALER, WHOM I HOPE WILL BE ABLE TO HELP WITH THE ISSUE.*AK