2022 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Power Train (9) · Engine (4) · Vehicle Speed Control (3)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (4)
Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera 2024-11-21 · campaign 24V879000 · 226,118 vehicles
Defect: 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."
Risk: A rearview image that does not display reduces the driver's visibility and increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: 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.
Trailer Hitches 2023-03-17 · campaign 23V181000 · 584,784 vehicles ⚠ PARK OUTSIDE
Defect: 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.
Risk: A fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury.
Fix: 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.
Seat Belts:front 2022-10-31 · campaign 22V816000 · 14,933 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: An exploding seat belt pretensioner can project metal fragments into the vehicle, strike vehicle occupants, and result in injury.
Fix: 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.
Electrical System: Instrument Cluster/Panel 2021-12-28 · campaign 21V00K000 · 714 vehicles
Defect: Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2022 Santa Fe HEV and Santa Fe PHEV vehicles. The instrument cluster liquid-crystal display (LCD) may invert the image on the screen upon vehicle startup, making the display illegible. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 101, "Controls and Displays."
Risk: An illegible instrument cluster will not show information such as vehicle speed or safety system warnings, which can increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the instrument cluster, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 23, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 217.
Service bulletins (61)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Electrical System 2026-10-27 · 26-GI-003H · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides information related to the navigation and head unit software changes introduced in the 2026 2nd navigation map and software update. the changes may vary depending on vehicle type, model, and navigation system. refer to the 2026 2nd navigation map and software update key improv
Engine 2026-10-09 · 26-01-081H DCS · Service Campaign
certain santa fe hybrid (tm hev), santa fe plug-in hybrid (tm phev), tucson hybrid (nx4 hev), andtucson plug-in hybrid (nx4 phev) vehicles may experience intake air line freezing and exhaust gasrecirculation (egr) valve corrosion due to excessive condensation accumulating within the egr system.this
Engine 2026-10-08 · 26-EM-016H TSB · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines may exhibit higher-than-expected engine oil consumption. this bulletin outlines the combustion chamber cleaning procedure for vehicles diagnosed with this condition. all internal combustion engines consume some engine oil during normal operatio
Engine 2026-10-08 · 26-01-081H TSB · Service Campaign
certain santa fe hybrid (tm hev), santa fe plug-in hybrid (tm phev), tucson hybrid (nx4 hev), and tucson plug-in hybrid (nx4 phev) vehicles may experience intake air line freezing and exhaust gas recirculation (egr) valve corrosion due to excessive condensation accumulating within the egr system. t
Engine 2026-10-08 · 26-01-081H DN · Service Campaign
certain santa fe hybrid (tm hev), santa fe plug-in hybrid (tm phev), tucson hybrid (nx4 hev), and tucson plug-in hybrid (nx4 phev) vehicles may experience intake air line freezing and exhaust gas recirculation (egr) valve corrosion due to excessive condensation accumulating within the egr system. th
Engine 2026-10-07 · 26-EM-015H TSB · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
certain vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines may exhibit higher-than-expected engine oil consumption. this bulletin provides the inspection and repair procedures for vehicles exhibiting this condition. all internal combustion engines consume engine oil as part of normal engine operatio
Showing the 6 most recent of 61 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-09-01 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control“occasionally the cruise control will go off. sometimes it will reset itself & other times, the driver has to initiate. i reported to the hyundai manuf. last yr. & also had 2 separate dealers take a look & problem has not been resolved.…”
2026-08-26 · Seat Belts“the driver-side seat belt buckle on my 2022 hyundai santa fe will not latch. this is a safety-critical failure under fmvss 209/210. the vehicle has not been in a collision. the dealership and hyundai consumer affairs bot stated that the seat belts are only covered under te 5 yr/60k warranty and refused to treat this as a safety defect. the buck…”
2026-07-27 · Power Train“the vehicle has suffered a catastrophic structural manufacturing defect involving a transmission case half seal failure. the transmission is actively seeping/leaking fluid directly from the factory-mated case assembly line seal. this presents a severe, progressive safety hazard. transmission fluid leaking from the case half migrates along the under…”
2026-01-05 · Unknown Or Other“while accelerating at a light, the accelerator became unresponsive, only propelling the vehicle a couple miles per hour. i was not able to pull over, as i was in the left lane of a very busy road. after about 15 seconds of lack of acceleration, the accelerator responded enough for me to pull over. i’m glad this incident did not occur on a highway, …”
2025-04-30 · Engine“oil leaking from engine dripping down to floor. …”
2025-04-22 · Power Train“ever since new this suv will periodically hesitate when trying to accelerate. i have almost been rearended numerous times over the last few years do to this issue. i have had the suv into the dealer and complained about this issue every time and they cannot seem to do anything about the issue. the have update software (or at least said they have)…”
2025-03-23 · Unknown Or Other“vehicle will not change out of ev electric mode and return to gas power causing hybrid battery drains to zero, vehicle loses acceleration, you can push the gas pedal to the floor and you have no acceleration, very unsafe when you are in traffic, no power to maneuver or avoid other vehicles quickly if needed, potential for accidents, hybrid system …”
2025-02-14 · Power Train“our vehicle continues to experience loss of power driving , on cold days below freezing. when driving normally this hybrid vehicle will be in hybrid mode at a stop, then when accelerating, the ice engine will not start to assist the hybrid, causing a bare minimum of power to be available, just enough to pull over. on several occasions this has led…”
2025-01-15 · Unknown Or Other“when pressing the accelerator from a full stop, the car would either not move at all, idle/roll forward, or unsteadily jerk forward. in addition, the car would brake while driving despite not applying any pressure to the brake pedal. this issue persisted regardless of "drive mode" and no cruise control was in use.…”
2025-01-09 · Fuel/Propulsion System“headed to my work ,outside temp 26 deg f, when on hiway entrance ramp, vehicle lost all acceleration. vehicle is a hybrid, condition no warning lights on dash, vehicle was stuck in ev mode, which the ice engine would not start to help as normally would do. hybrid battery began draining very quickly. there was a semi truck right behind me accelerati…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.