Accelerator Stuck problems of the 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe

While merging into traffic from a stop sign, I briefly pressed the gas pedal nearly all the way down. The car accelerated beyond the 45 mph speed limit after releasing the pedal. I pressed the brakes as hard as I could but the car continued to accelerate. I panicked because I was heading for a stop light. My wife and I were seconds away from a high speed collision. I shifted the car into the neutral position with the brakes fully applied. The engine raced up to high rpms. I looked at the pedal and it was depressed nearly all the way down without my foot on it. I put my foot under the pedal and lifted up. The pedal sprung all the way up and the engine rpms went back to idle values. The car quickly slowed. I was able to stop the car just before the intersection. I pulled off the road to examine the pedal. The driver’s side car mat had slipped off its retention post and had moved about 4 inches forward so it was under the gas pedal. The end of the car mat was curled up so it was elevated about 1 inch above the floor carpeting. With the engine off, I pushed the gas pedal down by hand and it got caught under the car mat again. After removing the mat, I pushed the gas pedal down many times (engine off) and it always worked correctly. The driver’s side car mat retention post system has never worked well. The floor mat frequently sides off the post, and the mat moves forward. The used mat is now stiff enough to hold the gas pedal down if the pedal is pushed under the curled end of the mat. A secure car mat locking device should have been part of the original mat retention system. Hyundai should fix this problem. I am not completely sure whether some other mechanical or electrical problem had contributed to the stuck gas pedal. Frankly, we are frightened of the car that nearly killed us, and don’t look forward to driving it again even without the car mat.

While accelerating to pass a car, my accelerator got stuck and I couldn't get my car to stop with the brakes. This had happened once before, a couple of years ago and I was able to get it 'unstuck' by pumping brake and accelerator. I took the car in to be checked and the dealer said they couldn't 'recreate' the issue and that it was probably my floor mats. I basically chaulked it up as a fluke, although I never agreed with the floor mat scenario. When it happened this time, I tried pumping brakes, accelerator, downshifting, etc. And the car slowed down some, but wouldn't actually stop until I ran into the back of another car. Even then, the engine was revving and the only way I could get it to stop was to turn it off. I was too afraid to drive it again so it was towed and is being checked for mechanical malfunction. I see that there are numerous complaints about this issue and don't understand why there hasn't been a recall!!.

The contact owns a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving 35 mph, the accelerator pedal became stuck as the vehicle accelerated at a high rate of speed. The contact pumped on the accelerator pedal until it released and the vehicle resumed normal operation. The vehicle was previously taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing but the dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 45,000. Updated 03/23/11 the consumer stated the dealer replaced the throttle body on 03/16/11. Updated 03/24/11.