general problems of the 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe

I'm reporting a rearview camera issue in my Hyundai Santa Fe 2020. The camera image was previously static/distorted and has now completely stopped working. When the vehicle is placed in reverse, no image is displayed. This creates a safety risk, as the rearview camera is essential for visibility and preventing accidents while backing up. I am aware there has been a recall for similar rearview camera issues; however, my vehicle is not included because the recall is VIN-specific, despite experiencing the same problem.

On the morning of December 10, 2025, I left my home for an appointment. I traveled for about 15 minutes before entering onto the highway. As I entered the highway, I traveled about half a mile and was scared by a very loud explosion! I pulled over to assess my vehicle and the surrounding area. The sunroof had shattered to pieces, fortunately I didn’t have it open at the time. It was just a miracle I didn’t have an accident from being startled, or receive any cuts or injuries due to this unforeseen event. As I was driving, there was very little to no traffic and I never heard anything like hit the car or window or anything. I called my insurance company and filed a claim. They eventually had me to take it to a collision center 12/22/2025. They removed all glass from sunroof, and determined that there was an issue with the glass rack, and it would end up being very costly. My insurance provider contacted me to say they would not be able to provide coverage due to the cost and findings of the collision center. So they backed out and informed me that I needed to file a claim with Hyundai. So I picked the vehicle up 1/19/2026 from the collision center. Then I filed a claim with Hyundai, and was told to schedule an appointment for inspection. I took the vehicle for inspection 1/22/2026, after about a week I was told that the vehicle had been inspected there was nothing they could do. I’m confused as to how the inspection went since there was no glass present in order to check the opening and closing of the car rack. Plus the plastic that the collision center placed on it was barely removed. So I picked the vehicle up 1/30/2026. And it’s been sitting in my driveway covered every since. The vehicle has been inspected by a collision center, and the dealership without any success. There were no warning lights of any indication of trouble on the dashboard at any given time, not even when the explosion occurred. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Thank you.

White pearl paint is chipping off from the vehicle by itself without any outside force. This is outbreaks over all Hyundai white pearl paint vics and they are not account for their defect. This problem eventually cause erosion on the body of the vehicle and treat safety of the drivers and people around it. This seems common issue with my research, please look close into this problem and protect driver and customer who have no power to defend their right.

The contact owned a 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving 40 mph onto the ramp, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact was able to pull over to the side of the road. The vehicle stalled and shut off, and the contact was unable to restart the vehicle. The contact was calling for roadside assistance and noticed white smoke coming from under the hood. The stated that the smoke then turned dark brown and then black, and then flames appeared under the hood. The contact grabbed several things of value and exited the vehicle and started running. The vehicle was engulfed in flames, and the edr was destroyed. The contact sustained minor scratches after falling while running away from the vehicle. No medical attention was sought. The police and fire department were called to the scene. The contact stated that a police report was not filed due to the incident not being related to a crash. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard. The local dealer where the vehicle was purchased was contacted; however, no assistance was provided. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact stated that the vehicle had been purchased two months prior to catching on fire. The vehicle was inspected by the insurance provider and declared a total loss. Upon further investigation, the contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 23v181000 (trailer hitches); however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 94,400.

2020 sante fe with 59000 miles on it. Air stops blowing cold, I look it up and there is a TSB for the evaporator temperature sensor from may of 2021. This is a safety issue because if you run the air conditioning or defroster if the sensor is bad it clicks off the compressor which can affect the fan and overheat the car. I watched it happen on my car when they ran the diagnostic trying to fix it. It came up as a bad sensor, and it clicked off the compressor. The fact that a 6 year old car with 59000 miles needs work on an air conditioner is ridiculous and in this case not safe.

My rear window suddenly shattered while I was driving. My safety was put at risk as it sounded like someone shot into my back window. The vehicle was inspected by state police.

I have a Hyundai Santa Fe 2020 had it only a year my sunroof is a panoramic and it busted out of nowhere. Nothing hit it just shattered on its own when I was going down the road. I know nothing hit it because nobody was on the road near me and I looked around and saw nothing. I was told to report it here so that’s what I’m doing.

June 2020 I purchased the car brand new 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe se 2. 5l from dealership, after the first year I started having issues with my display monitor just shutting off and my car going idle at red lights or when I’m sitting in traffic. I’ve never been in an accident and I’m not a reckless driver to my standards besides occasional potholes, the car going idle happened 3 times before I reached out to a dealership asking questions only for them to tell me, “it sounds like I’m using the start-stop feature too much and it’s not recommended to be used often”. So I stopped using it completely. Fast forward throughout the years, it still happened about 5-10 times a year for the past few years, I’ve learned to hurry up and put it in park, give it gas, then put it in drive. Fast forward 2025, Feb I was passed due for an oil change about 300-500 miles the the oil light came on and when I check it myself the oil tank was completely empty, I assumed it was normal since I was passed due for an oil change, and a family friend told me that wasn’t normal, I follow the recommended oil change interval on my warranty paperwork 7,500 even set my car to it, after the oil change my car was fine. I took it in at 130,284 miles, fast forward June 2025, I start my car a morning for work & it’s at 135,658 miles, the oil light comes back on and I notice it’s completely empty again. 2nd time it’s happened this year, and two family friends that are licensed mechanics tell me that’s not normal especially if I’ve gotten an oil change this year & it’s seems like the engine is burning oil too quick. I took it in to get another oil change, tell them about the issue of it being empty when I’ve been this year and it doesn’t seem right, the dealership & a local quick oil change place tells me it’s due to me not bringing it in for regular maintenance. There are no lights on on my dashboard, and when I called the dealership to ask about using the lifetime powertrain warranty I have, I have to pay.

A few days ago, while driving on one of chicago’s busiest expressways, my Hyundai 2020 Santa Fe with only 56,000 miles and a complete record of up-to-date maintenance, suddenly started smoking, smoke coming from under the front hood then caught fire without any warning. The fire consumed the entire front end of the vehicle from underneath the car to the top hood of car, to make matters worse, my seatbelt temporarily locked up during those critical moments, compounding the terror of the situation, potential risk to my life and property. I am incredibly grateful that I was able to escape unharmed, but I remain visibly shaken and traumatized by the experience. As you can imagine, this unexpected event has profoundly affected my peace of mind and trust in the safety of Hyundai vehicles. It is extremely concerning that a modern car, properly maintained according to its manufacturer's recommendations, could catch fire during regular operation, no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of any problems prior to the incident. I have always valued Hyundai’s engineering and safety standards, which is why I find this incident especially alarming. I am uncertain to what component failed the fire department stated it could have been either the brakes or electrical. As of writing this no official inspection to determine cause has been conducted however, I have reported the fire and filed an insurance claim and asked if they are able to determine how this happened to provide me with this information.

I am writing to formally express my serious concerns regarding an ongoing safety issue with a certified used vehicle I purchased from mcdonough Hyundai, 1785 avalon pkwy, in December 2024 and the dealership’s repeated failure to resolve the issue, even after a car accident occurred due to this malfunction. Two months after purchase, I discovered that my horn did not work when I attempted to use it. I brought the vehicle back for service and was told the issue had been resolved. However, the horn continued to malfunction. I have returned to the dealership approximately five times with the same complaint. Each time, I was told the horn works, yet it continues to fail intermittently. In June 2025, I was involved in a car accident and was unable to alert the other driver because the horn did not work. Despite the severity of the situation, no one at the dealership has taken appropriate action to identify or correct the issue. During my most recent visit, service manager stephen reid witnessed firsthand that the horn did not work. His technician pressed it once, and because it worked in that moment, the vehicle was returned to me without further inspection. This intermittent failure has still not been addressed. I have time-stamped video evidence showing the horn failing just two days after the last service visit. A non-working horn is a major safety hazard. The repeated dismissal of this issue is unacceptable. I expected better from a pre certified used vehicle. I would be happy to provide any information needed to resolve this issue.

The contact owned a 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that after the vehicle was unoccupied and parked in the residential car port, she was in bed for the night and four by standers stopped outside the contact's residence. One by stander knocked on the contact's door, the second by stander ran to the back of the house to search for a rear entrance to enter the home and the third by stander grabbed the water hose and attempted to extinguish the fire but was unsuccessful. The contact mentions the parts of the vehicle exposed. The fourth by stander called 911 and the contact evacuated from the home. The contact did not sustained injuries. The contact's mention the by standers did not sustained injuries either. No medical attention was sought. No police report was filed. The fire departments arrived on the scene, and the firefighters extinguished the fire. The fire consumed the vehicle in the car port and resulted in damage to the residence. Fire department reports were filed. The contact does have the fire report. The vehicle currently remained on the scene. The insurance company deemed the vehicle and her home totaled. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and an inspector from progressive insurance in addition to an inspector from the american modern home insurance out to the contact's residence and after careful review they could not discover a product defect responsible for the vehicle incident. The failure mileage was 61,000.

The vehicle seat caught fire overnight, sept 26th, and was discovered the morning of sept 27th 2024. The fire was contained to inside the vehicle and melted parts of the driver seat and lower part of steering wheel. The vehicle interior was covered in orange dust and had extremely toxic smell inside. Insurance 3rd party inspected and declared it a total loss. A few weeks later, a neighbor and fellow Hyundai santafe owner mentioned that he had heard of an issue with the Santa Fe catching fire. With this new information, I called Hyundai to alert them. Hyundai opened an investigation, but closed the claim since the 3rd party that declared it a total loss had already sold it as salvage. They also denied any recalls pertaining to my specific vehicle or knowledge that electrical fire was a potential issue for this model and year. There was a recall for a tow hitch that lead to fires. . . . But mine did not have a tow hitch. Obvious concern is that this could be a wider issue than just 1 vehicle and lives and property of those owners and others could be at significant risk.

Sunroof spontaneously exploded while driving on the highway. There were no other vehicles around and nothing visibly seen that hit the roof.

I purchased this vehicle in early 2023. I was driving on the interstate and received a tiny rock chip that immediately cracked across my entire windshield in April of 2023 resulting in my replacing the windshield. I have since received two tiny rock chips one on 11/25/23 and one on 01/03/24 resulting in immediate cracks. The rock chips are barely visible and as soon as it was heard each time, the windshield cracked considerably. The windshield is faulty and defective. I have driven the same interstate for the last 10 years and have never had this issue with any other vehicle.

Sitting in parked vehicle. Opened the rarely-opened panoramic sunroof. Heard unusual sound,. Looked next day and noticed a stationary glass panel forward of the sunroof had shattered all the way around but had not collapsed (yet--have tape on it to keep it intact until repairs can be made). Hyundai does not consider this to be a warranty issue. The warranty states in the "what is not covered" section: "- action of road elements (sand, gravel, dust or road debris) which result in stone chipping of paint and glass. " dealer documented it and basically said "too bad". Since the issue being reported was not caused by road debris etc. , this should be a warranty coverage matter. Similar instances have happened to others (entire sunroof) and has been reported. This glass should be laminated--not tempered--but is not. This could be a major safety concern.

I was driving and heard a sound like an explosion. When I was able to safely pull over, I examined my 2020 sante fe and noticed the panel of glass right before sunroof exploded. No rock hit it, just exploded.

The metal cable that holds the spare tire snapped off while the car was driving out of our driveway. And the tire flew off the car nearly causing it to crash.

The contact owns a 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number:23v181000 (trailer hitches) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Moon roof suddenly shattered while on the highway, no other vehicles around, nothing was thrown or anything object found to hit the car, glass was thrown in vehicle, had to slow down due to wind entering car, dealer was called and he declined to repair, said it was an insurance problem, adjuster will be out to inspect damage, there was no warning, only a loud boom then strong outside wind, until I slowed down and pulled over.

I was locked inside the car on 22 Dec 2022 and could not get out until somebody opened a door from the outside, inspite of the fact that the inside lock buttons by the opening handles showed red on the lock buttons. When the lock buttons were pushed in, they immediately popped right back out. If held in the opening handles still remained 'limp' and moved without engaging. The unlocking mechanism. The windows also did not respond to their controls. Thee above occurred whether the ignition was on or off. The vehicle was in "park". The electric buttons on the door console also had no effect, including the child lock button. The key pendant also got no results even though it had allowed entry and starting only minutes before. There was no pre-warning and this had never happened previously. After a (locked) door was opened from the outside, all functions returned to normal. Outside temperature was 20° f. I did not try to open the hatchback. This is a fatally dangerous situation even though the malfunction would not likely be reproducible at the dealer service department. Meanwhile I plan to purchase a glass breaking escape tool. The Hyundai dealer had no suggestion for emergency exit.

There are many reports of Hyundais being broken into and hot wired and stolen using a usb cable. This was remedied for the 2022 year models. My car insurance nearly doubled. The company should do a recall and fix this problem. Thank you for your help. . Read more...

The ignition systems in mainly 2015-2021 Hyundais with physical keys could be easily hacked using a screwdriver, pliers or the end of a usb cable, because the vehicles are not equipped with immobilizers that require the presence of a key fob. I want a recall so I won't have my car stolen like I hear about on the news about every week.

Crack windshield.

The windshield cracked without anything striking it. The windshield is being replaced at my expense. There is wind noise coming from the area below the crack where it is attached to the vehicle.

While driving down the freeway, the sunroof of my vehicle exploded. This was not caused by a foreign object, there was nothing on or near my car at the time of the incident, and upon pulling off of the roadway I was able to confirm that no foreign object had entered the vehicle. It was an explosion sound accompanied by glass falling into the vehicle, a large hole in the sunroof, and the glass on the edge of the hole appearing in an upward direction as though the force of the explosion came from inside the vehicle. The vehicle was being operated in a normal manner at the time of the incident, there was nothing to indicate any potential issue with the vehicle. The hazards associated with this incident include the potential for loss of vehicle control following the loud and unexpected explosion and the potential for injury from falling glass. The vehicle was taken directly to the Hyundai dealership where it was purchased, where service staff confirmed the upward appearance of the glass and stated that the repairs would be covered by the vehicle warranty.

This car just caught on fire in my fathers driveway at midnight last night. . . Doesnt appear to be from engine compartment.

The drivers door is not properly aligned. When you drive it on the road you can hear a hissing sound of the air penetrating in the cabin. The door appears not to be closed properly, there is a gap. If you look at the alginment of the passangers door, the door is properly aligned with the rest of the body of the Santa Fe, but that is not the case with the drivers door. I am planning contacting Hyundai directly, because if they maintain quality controls, this car did not passed that test. During 2021i did not drive the car on the road, but lately I took 4 trips to SC, and on the road the hizzing sound is noticible.

This is the 2nd 2020 Santa Fe that this has occurred on as well as a 2019 Santa Fe that we formally owned within the last 2 years. The windshield does not take rock hits well. On all three vehicles a rock strike on the windshield not only left a large star impact, but the crack from the impact reaches all the way to the roof pillar. The crack is long. I believe the windshield glass is substandard and needs to be looked into closer as being a possible safety risk. Replacing the windshield and camera recalibration is expensive.

While driving on the highway, the front pane of the panoramic sunroof spontaneously shattered. No contact from a foreign object was observed or heard prior to the breakage. The roof was closed, thus our family avoided any glass showering down into our cabin, but this would have been catastrophic had it happened with the roof open. This problem has happened to prior year models of the Santa Fe. Hyundai dealership has agreed to repair the broken sunroof at no cost, however, does not admit fault with the manufacture of the glass.

This is the 1st of two 2020 Santa Fe's that this has occurred on as well as a 2019 Santa Fe that we formally owned within the last 2 years. The windshield does not take rock hits well. On all three vehicles a rock strike on the windshield not only left a large star impact, but the crack from the impact reaches all the way to the roof pillar. The crack is long. I believe the windshield glass is substandard and needs to be looked into closer as being a possible safety risk. Replacing the windshield and camera recalibration is expensive.

Back up camera glitches. Causes driver assist to take control at times when not necessary. Have has this in for service at least 4 times since purchasing vehicle in 2020. Service states repaired each time bit eventually happens again. This last time is getting more severe cause multiple electrical short in overhead lights, panoramic roof failure to close at times and rear hatch sometimes only partially opens. I saw recent recall for 2021 and 2022 Santa Fe's, I believe this problem is what is happening with my 2020 Santa Fe and the scope of the recall should be expanded.

The rear occupancy alarm, a safety feature, goes off commanded usually at night with the vehicle locked and unoccupied. Dealer is unable to find a fix and has no way to prevent further occurrences. They recommend disabling the system, removing this system from the safety features of this vehicle.

Sunroof exploded while traveling on the highway.

My car is siting in park, running with the driver's door open in my town house parking lot. I get out of my car to open the passenger's back door as well as my trunk for her. I then get back into the driver's seat. I am waiting on my friend to load her items into my new Santa Fe for an out of town retreat. She finishes loading items and proceeds to get into the passenger side front seat. As she is getting into the car, "she says she needs to go to the bathroom". I tell her let's go now before we get started on our trip. We were suppose to be meeting about 10 college students. So I get out of my car since I have the house keys. My car is still in park and running. I do leave my driver's door open about a 20-25 degree angle. My friend walks around the back of the car. As we are walking toward my townhouse, I turn around because I hear a noise. I immediately see my car not rolling but backing up on a small incline upward across my parking lot. It seems to have picked up speed and then hits the back of a parked car in the parking lot. My car hits the parked gray camry with so much momentum that it butterflies my driver's door completely open and the car never slows down. The car continues moving while the inside of my driver's door scrubs the parked camry. After my car moves past the camry it is still moving at an accelerated rate. I am yelling and running to my car with my keyfob trying to push buttons to get it to stop. My friend is running and chasing my car. She is able to get to my car and jump in where she pushes on the brakes very hard to make the car stop. If she had not been able to do that my car would have hit a parked black truck or would have jumped the sidewalk and ran into a townhouse before it stopped. Once my friend got the car to stop. She looked down and it was still in park and was not making the dinging noise it usually does when it is in reverse.