Table 1 shows one common engine and engine cooling related problems of the 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Engine And Engine Cooling problems |
I was driving the hybrid vehicle uphill on a highway and there was traffic so we were driving under 5 mph for about 20 minutes. When speed picked up I went to accelerate and the vehicle, it never accelerated when I depressed the gas pedal, and stayed in electrical mode rather than switching over to gas. The vehicle then shut off in traffic and I could not pull over safely on congested two lane interstate 17 and I was afraid as vehicles were swerving and driving past and we could not get out safely. The "check hybrid system, stop safely" warning came on the dash. This vehicle at the time only had 8,808 miles on it and is relatively new. I brought the vehicle in to the dealership but they said "tech scanned for codes. No dtc present. No warnings on cluster at this time. Tech checked for ecm sw upgrades. None available. Tech road tested vehicle without any issue. No repair performed at this time. " when I picked up my vehicle they only put that only the check hybrid warning light came on and left off their report that my vehicle completely stopped working.
The contact owns a 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating. The failure occurred mostly while making a left turn and while accelerating from a stop and continued for 10-seconds before self-correcting. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that there was almost a crash during the failure. The failure was not self-corrected after one failure. The vehicle was turned off and restarted, and the failure was then self-corrected. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failures, and there was no dtc found. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 5,100.
After turning off the radio with the push button control the instrument cluster and navigation display panel went completely dead black. After pushing multiple buttons several times the panel came back to life. This has not yet been reported to the dealer. On 12/12/2025 this same vehicle also experienced faulty engine / power train components which required replacement @1199 miles. Throttle body assembly and torque converter assembly which caused loss of power when accelerating onto a high speed parkway attempting to reach @55mph along with excessive vibration when brakes were off. Took dealer 22 days to fix the problem.