2025 Hyundai Santa Fe

The 2nd-row seats in the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Calligraphy feature motorized recline and folding functions. My testing reveals a significant safety flaw: the motorized "Seat Slide Forward" and "Rear Cargo Fold Down" buttons do not appear to have functioning pinch sensors and do not automatically disable when a passenger or object is detected. Specific Incident: On [XXX], while my [XXX] son was entering the vehicle, the "rear access" button was accidentally triggered. The seat began folding and sliding with him in the path of travel; the motor did not sense his presence or stop automatically. Fortunately, he was not yet buckled and was able to jump out of the way before I manually reversed the action. Technical Findings: Based on further testing (see attached results), any car seat installation would be severely compromised if these buttons are pressed. While the vehicle's system is aware when a seat belt is buckled, it fails to use this logic to lockout the motorized folding functions. All motorized movement should be disabled for any seat where the buckle is engaged to prevent injury to occupants or the structural compromise of a child safety seat. This issue is similar in nature to the recent recall of the 2026 Palisade (NHTSA ID: 26V160000). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle, the button was pressed to fold the second row passenger seat while the [XXX] daughter was still seated. During the incident, the electronic folding seat began to fold down onto the daughter, causing extreme distress to the child and crushing her into the seat. The button was pressed, which stopped the seat from continuing to fold down, and the child was freed from the seat. No medical treatment was required. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who examined the seat and determined no failure had occurred. The contact was informed that although the incident was extremely dangerous, the electronic folding seat had operated as intended. The contact was informed that the seat belt needed to be buckled to avoid the problem in the future. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance had yet been offered. The contact indicated that a similar incident resulting in a fatality had occurred in the Hyundai Palisade vehicle. The failure mileage was 20,000. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Second row power seats will operate even when a carseat is present & installed using LATCH system, crushing occupant. Power seat button at base of second row seats are easy to inadvertently press while entering/exiting the seat (i.e when seat belt is not on), causing the seat to move forward crushing occupant. This has happened multiple times since taking ownership.

I am reporting a serious safety concern with my 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Calligraphy (VIN: [XXX] ). While my child was seated in the second row, the folding seat button was accidentally triggered and the seat continued folding while my child was still in the seat. My child screamed in distress, and I am concerned this created a pinching or crushing hazard. This appears to be a dangerous condition because the seat continued moving even though a child occupant was present. The button may also be too easy to trigger during child entry or exit. I believe this issue should be investigated before a more serious injury occurs. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that on several occasions, while the vehicle was parked and either running or turned off, the second-row seats closed on the safety seats when the button in the rear of the vehicle was depressed. The contact stated that once the button was pressed, the seat could not be stopped from closing until the button was pressed a second time. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 15,000.