2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings (5) · Exterior Lighting (3) · Service Brakes (2)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Hyundai Santa Cruz model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (3)
Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking 2026-05-18 · campaign 26V316000 · 423,062 vehicles
Defect: Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Santa Cruz, Tucson, Tucson Hybrid, and Tucson Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV) vehicles. Software in the front cameras may cause the forward collision avoidance system to activate prematurely and unexpectedly apply the brakes.
Risk: Unexpected braking increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will update the front camera software, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed July 17, 2026. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 302. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on May 20, 2026.
Air Bags:side/Window:curtain 2025-11-20 · campaign 25V809000 · 258 vehicles
Defect: Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025 Tucson, 2025-2026 Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Hybrid, and 2026 Genesis GV70 vehicles. The side curtain air bags may not have been installed properly, which can cause the air bags not to deploy as intended.
Risk: Side curtain air bags that do not deploy as intended increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Fix: Dealers will reinstall the side curtain air bags, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed beginning December 29, 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's numbers for this recall are 289 and 029G. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on November 22, 2025.
Electrical System:wiring 2024-11-20 · campaign 24V877000 · 42,465 vehicles
Defect: Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025 Tucson and Santa Cruz vehicles. The console extension wiring assembly may be routed improperly, allowing the transmission to be shifted out of Park without applying the brake pedal.
Risk: A transmission that can shift out of Park without applying the brake pedal can result in a vehicle roll away, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Owners are advised to use the parking brake when parking the vehicle. Dealers will reroute the console extension wiring assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 17, 2024. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 273.
Service bulletins (35)
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 2026-10-07 · 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
Visibility/Wiper 2026-08-04 · Z08 OL · Warranty Program/Extension
certain 2022 – 2025 model year santa cruz and 2022 – 2025 model year tucson vehicles may have front wipers that do not return to the designated park position due to a loose wiper motor crank arm nut. at hyundai, we are committed to providing vehicles of outstanding quality and value. in an effort to
Structure:body 2026-07-07 · 26-BD-003H TSB · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some santa cruz (nxt) vehicles may have a tonneau cover that does not latch or unlatch, does not retract properly, and/or has a v-gap that is present when closed. this may be due to a broken or missing clip on the underside of the tonneau cover. this bulletin provides instructions to inspect and, if
Visibility/Wiper 2026-07-06 · 26-BD-007H DCS · Warranty Program/Extension
some tucson (nx4a and nx4m) and santa cruz (nxt) vehicles may have front wipers that do not return to the designated park position due to a loose wiper motor crank arm nut. hyundai is extending the warranty coverage for the wiper motor crank arm nut under this condition to 10 years / 100,000 miles f
Visibility/Wiper 2026-07-06 · 26-BD-007H DN · Warranty Program/Extension
some tucson (nx4a and nx4m) and santa cruz (nxt) vehicles may have front wipers that do not return to the designated park position due to a loose wiper motor crank arm nut. hyundai is extending the warranty coverage for the wiper motor crank arm nut under this condition to 10 years / 100,000 miles f
Showing the 6 most recent of 35 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-29 · Exterior Lighting“one or two times a week, while driving at night, my headlights and head unit display both power off briefly, typically about 1/2 a second. then they resume as if nothing had happened. no warning lights or errors, no boot up screen... just back to normal instantly. the only thing that changes is my seat belt indicator illuminates for a few seconds, …”
2026-10-18 · Unknown Or Other“the latest software update, oct 2026, no longer combines my fm favorites stations with my sirius stations and now requires me to take my eyes off the road so that i can change from listing to fm to listening to sirius. prior i only needed to scroll all my stations using the toggle on the steering wheel allowing me to keep my eyes on the road. this …”
2026-10-13 · Engine“radiator is leaking coolant at the bottom. upon close inspections it is noted the front grill design of the vehicle leaves the radiator super exposed to the elements and road hazards causing excessive damage to the radiator during normal everyday use. during a call to the dealer it was discovered the radiator is not covered by the manufacturer war…”
2026-09-15 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking“making a left turn against oncoming traffic into a convenience store parking lot. there was a car in the driveway waiting to exit the convenience store parking lot. as i crossed the oncoming traffic lane the crash avoidance light on the dash came on and the brakes locked up nearly causing me to be broadsided by the oncoming traffic. an obvious malf…”
2026-08-29 · Fuel/Propulsion System“loss of power while trying to accelerate. rpm's were going up, but the vehicle was very sluggish. nearly got rear ended as i had turned right on a red from a stop to merge onto a 55mph road. i could not get up to speed and had to pull to the side of the road and engage my hazard lights. i turned the vehicle off and let it sit for a few minutes, the…”
2026-07-08 · Exterior Lighting:headlights · 200 mi“the contact owns a 2025 hyundai santa cruz. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds at night on several occasions, the headlights were dim and created a shadow across the roadway. the vehicle was taken to a dealer on multiple occasions. the dealer was initially unable to duplicate the failure but later diagnosed that the driver-side…”
2026-05-07 · Engine · 7,738 mi · 🔥 fire“the contact owned a 2025 hyundai santa cruz. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, a loud popping noise was suddenly heard coming from the engine compartment with no warning lights illuminated. the contact stated that immediately following the failure, the power steering and brakes became inoperable, making it difficult to …”
2026-03-17 · Exterior Lighting“while driving at night i happened to notice that the headlights failed to illuminate the road sufficiently. specifically, the truck was going downhill. as it approached the bottom and soon to go uphill, i noticed that there was a strict delineation in what was lit up and what was not. being on a country two lane with no ambient lights and travellin…”
2026-03-01 · Exterior Lighting“i was driving on a highway at 55mph at night today 3/1/2026 and all of a sudden the headlights, instrumentation lights, and computer display went out, very scary, the all turned back on about 1.5 seconds later.…”
2026-01-16 · Forward Collision Avoidance · 2,000 mi“the contact owns a 2025 hyundai santa cruz. the contact stated that after a month of owning the vehicle, while attempting to start the vehicle, the forward collision avoidance warning light and other unknown warning lights illuminated. the contact stated that the forward collision avoidance warning light remained illuminated for approximately four …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.