2016 Hyundai Santa Fe

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe recalls (3)

• LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:HOOD:LATCH

  Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2013-2017 Santa Fe and Santa Fe Sport vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the secondary hood latch actuating cable may corrode and bind, causing the secondary hood latch to remain in the unlatched position when the hood is closed.

  Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will replace the secondary latch cable, free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2017. Owner's may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-671-3059. Hyundai's number for the recall is 163.

• SEAT BELTS:FRONT:WARNING LIGHT/DEVICES

  Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Santa Fe vehicles manufactured September 1, 2015 to February 12, 2016. In the affected vehicles, the wires in the front seat belt buckle harnesses may be damaged by the seat's height adjuster mechanism, resulting in a failure to provide an audible warning when front seat occupants do not fasten their seat belts. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

  Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and reroute the wires in the front seat belt buckle harnesses to their proper locations, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on April 27, 2016. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-800-633-5151. Hyundai's number for this recall is 141.

• SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE

  Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Santa Fe, 2017-2018 Santa Fe Sport, 2019 Santa Fe XL, and 2014-2015 Tucson vehicles. The Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) module could malfunction and cause an electrical short, which could result in an engine compartment fire.

  Remedy: Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will replace the ABS multi-fuse, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 31, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 218.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe safety ratings

Source: NHTSA NCAP ratings.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe owner complaints (15)

• ENGINE

  WHAT FAILED: The engine — the 3.3L Lambda II GDI V6 (engine family GHYXV03.31XE per the federal emissions label) — failed catastrophically: a connecting rod penetrated the engine block. The failed engine IS available for inspection on request. It has been preserved unrepaired since the failure, the rod penetration of the block is externally visible, and the vehicle is currently at Niagara Hyundai in New York. WHAT HAPPENED / SAFETY RISK: On [XXX], I was driving at approximately 65 miles per hour on [XXX] southbound near Bath, New York, with four occupants aboard, when the engine failed suddenly and without warning — no warning lamps, messages, or symptoms preceded it. The vehicle immediately lost all motive power at highway speed. I was forced off the roadway and through brush and debris to bring the vehicle to a stop. The sudden total loss of power at highway speed created an immediate loss-of-control hazard to my occupants and to surrounding traffic. CONFIRMED BY OTHERS: The tow was dispatched through a 911 emergency call. A New York State Trooper was at the scene and observed the debris trail. The towing company's invoice (T&R Towing and Service, Call #[XXX], [XXX]) records "Break Down," winch recovery, vehicle not drivable, and the tow operator's handwritten condition description: "Motor go Boom." The vehicle is now in the possession of a Hyundai dealership (Niagara Hyundai), and Hyundai Motor America has an open case (#[XXX]); however, Hyundai has refused to inspect or diagnose the engine unless I first pay to repair unrelated damage, so the manufacturer has NOT yet inspected the failure — leaving this safety defect undiagnosed by Hyundai. RELEVANT BACKGROUND: In 2024, Hyundai issued warranty extension TXX8 (15 years / 150,000 miles) for connecting rod bearing failure in this exact engine, acknowledging the failure mode. Mileage at failure was under 100,000 miles. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

• ENGINE

  I filed a complaint when the first engine seized. It's a miracle we got off the road safely that day. While it was at the dealership, the engine was replaced with a used engine and covered by my extended warranty from Vroom. I believe the cost was approximately $14,000. I was told the engine had around 30,000 miles on it. I've put around 20,000 miles on this engine and the same thing happened again. This time, the engine had been knocking for a few months. When it started knocking, I took it to the dealership because the new extended warranty by Hyundai was in effect and I assumed it would be covered. Immediately, Autonation Hyundai in Savannah, GA said it would not be covered because it was a used engine. I don't understand why when the engine can be traced and the mileage known by the number on the engine. On XXX, my [XXX] granddaughter took her driving test in the vehicle. About 2 hours later, the engine seized with her driving. We were on the same road and it was about the same time of day. Once again, it was a miracle we got off the road safely. I just talked to Hyundai and we'll see what they say. From the stories I've seen, they'll do anything they can to avoid covering these engines and they get away with it. The people who get hurt the most from this are the ones who can least afford it. I'm a [XXX] widow raising my 5 grandchildren by myself and believed I was getting a good vehicle, mainly due to the report by Consumer Reports magazine. Even after the first engine failed and was replaced, I still wasn't in a financial position to get another vehicle and assumed if something happened again, it would be covered under the extended warranty Hyundai was made to provide. Obviously, that means nothing. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

• ENGINE

  Purchased a used Santa Fe in January 2026 with 129k mile and at 131k my vehicle's CEL came on and did not function properly while operating. While driving the vehicle failed to accelerate above 25 mph when I pushed the gas. I pulled over to get out of the way of traffic and avoid any accidents. I shut the car off and sat for several minutes before restarting my vehicle. It successfully restarted and I drove home and parked it. I ran CEL diagnostic and received the code P0021. I had the vehicle towed to the local Hyundai dealer and they also pulled the same code and indicated I have an oil consumption issue explained as follows "Timing over advanced. Timing components driven by oil pressure. Inspected cylinders and borescope and found cylinder wall scoring and faulty piston rings. Radiator has crack causing coolant leak. Engine will have to be replaced to remedy oil consumption. Radiator will need to be replaced to remedy leak." resulting in over $12k of repair work. The vehicle's temperature gauge did not indicate any abnormalities nor did the oil light come on to indicate any oil consumption issues. The vehicle was driven from the dealer to my home within city limits/speed and has not replicated the acceleration issue but the CEL remains on as the repair is too costly and is more than what was paid for the vehicle.

• ENGINE

  Rod bearing failure while driving, engine made a clanking noise. Engine made a loud bang and shut off. It was difficult for the driver to get control of the vehicle and get it to the side of the road. Engine threw the rod and piston through the oil pan causing catastrophic internal damage. The oil had been changed the day prior. The company that changed the oil sent an inspector to evaluate car at the scene. He stated this is a known problem with this engine. He pulled up pictures of other cars that had the same problem, also took pictures of the car oil pan and compared the pictures, they were exactly the same. Car was towed to Hyundai dealership that is refusing to replace the engine.

• ENGINE

  Beginning about a month ago, I noticed a rattle upon the engine start up that lasted for a 1-2 seconds then stopped and everything sounded normal. I thought it could be b/c of the cold weather. I went in to get a routine oil change on 03/11/2026 and they said the oil looked fine, but it was about a quart low, indicating it was burning some oil somehere. They said to check in in a few months and they would top it up if needed. I asked them about the rattle and they thought is might be from a bad (timing chain tensioner) but said I should get it checked out. I called on Friday 03/13/26 to schedule an appt at my local Hyundai Dealership on 03/17 . The night before(03/16), I was driving my vehicle and suddenly on the road, I heard a loud noise in the engine, and the power shut off, the Engine and oil light came on and I just had enough time to pull off the busy state route. My car would not start or turn over. I had it towed to the dealership and they did determine that it was a "Rod Bearing Failure" that caused the engine to sieze. I provided them evidence of my oil changes which from 10k-93k miles on my car since I have owned it. I have had the oil changed 10 times. They are saying they only allow 8k between oil changes to honor the warranty and have initially denied my claim. The service associate at the dealership said my valvetrain was 'somewhat' dirty, but nothing to where it was the cause for this issue. And since it was the Rod bearing that failed, the exact part that was recalled, he was surprised they were not even offering any good-will offer, to split the cost of the engine replacement. I have reached out to Hyundai Consumer Affairs and am waiting to hear back to see if they will be fair and work with me on this to honor the warranty issue or at least share the cost burden for this "well-known" failure in their engine.

• UNKNOWN OR OTHER

  The motor began to making a knocking noise and started smoking like a fire was starting. We immediately turned off the vehicle preventing from a full fledge fire. We had children in the car as well which posed a safety concern for them. We had no prior warning lights or issues. It has yet to be inspected by anyone.

• ENGINE

  The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH and attempting to depress the accelerator pedal, the vehicle decelerated and failed to respond as intended. The contact coasted to the right side of the road, turned off the vehicle, and the vehicle failed to start. Neither an independent mechanic nor a dealer was contacted. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was informed that the vehicle was scheduled to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on four occasions. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.

• ENGINE

  My engine failed at 113,000 miles. It just sounded like a diesel truck when I started it one day. There were no warning messages at all. It did not have any power above 45 mph. I took it to a Hyundai dealer and showed him the extended warranty letter I received from Hyundai. The letter said my specific engine should qualify for an extended warranty. However, the dealer (Castle Hyundai of Downers Grove, IL) said because my engine failed due to timing chain failure and not connecting rod failure, Hyundai would not honor the extended warranty. That infuriates me! Hyundai should honor the extended warranty because their engine failed and it wasn't my fault. They know they have an engine problem but because my engine didn't fail exactly the way they projected it would fail, I'm [XXX] of using my car. It also meant I had to purchase a new car which obviously wasn't a Hyundai. I hope you can push Hyundai to provide me financial relief or at least expand the engine warranty for others. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

• ENGINE

  My 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe lost all power, shutting off and stopping abruptly in the middle of the road with no warning lights or “limp mode” being set off requiring my partner and I to push it into someone’s driveway with our two children in the car to get them to safety. We took the vehicle to a mechanic shop where we were told that to engine was seized and needed to be fully replaced with an initial quote starting at 8 thousand dollars for a replacement engine. I contacted my local Hyundai dealership and was told over the phone that the vehicle would be covered under Hyundai service bulletin TXX8 that was issued last year due to ongoing issues with this engine (3.3l V6 Lambda II). We paid to have the vehicle towed to this dealership only to be told that the warranty would not be honored due to a lack of maintenance records. I was able to provide Hyundai with all maintenance records from my ownership as well as records on the CarFax report. They rejected the claim again stating that due to a lack of records not from my ownership they won’t cover it. After looking at the records I had access to again in critical detail I was able to find records that Hyundai missed, but they are unwilling to reevaluate the claim without me providing what they call additional records. I have contacted Hyundai, to try and resolve the issue and have gotten no resolution. The Prior Authorization team has stated that I have “adequate records” but still insist on denying the claim. The dealer has quoted me $12,000 for the repair that the warranty should be covering due to the engine not being manufactured in full anymore due to the issues that have come from it. The dealership (and private mechanic) would have to order individual pieces of the engine to build it themselves on site. If this engine is a big enough problem that Hyundai cannot provide a full engine replacement at market value then it should not be operating on the road at all.

• SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC

  The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact stated that the brake pedal was inoperable. The contact stated that the vehicle vibrated while depressing the brake pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was restarted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the ABS module had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 119,000.

• ENGINE

  Engine oil runs out quickly

• ENGINE

  The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the engine had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the same diagnostic information was provided. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 145,322. The VIN was not available.

• ENGINE

  This is my 2nd engine on my 2016 Santa Fe Sport. My car has 190,000 miles and had a catastrophic engine failure, it’s been at the dealership for 2 months. Hyundai said my lifetime warranty on my engine is not covered cause I had a misfire in the #4 cylinder with less than 2,000 miles on the spark plugs. Hyundai warranty department only spoke to the dealership directly and had me speak to a case manager (which did nothing, they never even talked to the warranty department only the dealership) So in December I dropped my car off, it took over 2 weeks to take pictures and send them in to Hyundai warranty department, a week later Hyundai asked the dealership to further take the engine apart and get pictures of the rocker’s. The dealership is down to 2 technicians and said they will get to it when they can (remember I’m without a car and waiting for approval for my engine so they can get me in a rental car while my engine gets replaced). Over 3 week later the dealership finally sends the pictures in of the rocker’s, I know cause I called and asked the dealership. I then asked why does the warranty department need pictures of the rockers for my engine failure (misfire in 4th cylinder) and they said to check for sludge. They also pointed out my engine isn’t bad and don’t have sludge so the warranty department should approve my engine replacement. A week later my case manager called and said that they will only approve 50% and I said NO there a lifetime warranty and I’m the original owner, so they went up to 65%. I feel betrayed by the dealership, case manager and Hyundai warranty department for NOT honoring the engine replacement knowing there’s a class action law suit due for failing rod bearings which they said wasn’t the issue. How would they know? The rod bearings are on the bottom of the motor and if they took it apart they would see THAT WAS the cause, but they say they don’t warranty misfire’s yet tens of thousands of Hyundai buyers are having same problems. Help

• ENGINE

  While driving down the highway at 65mph my 2016 Santafe Sport experienced engine failure. We sat on the side of the highway, next to an on ramp with high traffic beside a cement wall. When the tow truck arrived the driver was nearly ran over! There was no way to get the car to a safer location. After being towed to the dealership they said the engine failure would be submitted under warranty due to an issue with the connection rod bearing damage causing the engine to fail. It was denied because I was not the initial owner. A week later I received information about a class action suit against Hyundai for this very problem. As part of the suit they had extended the warranty. The dealership resubmitted my information and it was turned down again, this time for high mileage. Several months later the dealership wanted my car removed from their property, I asked them to submit it again. This time turned down because the KSDS was not updated prior to the engine failure. I now have a like new vehicle that I owe $9,000 on with a known defect that was never corrected because the required KSDS update was listed as a service campaign rather than a recall and so went unnoticed by the dealership I bought it from, or the NY inspection centers during my annual inspection and unknown to myself because when I checked for recalls there were none. Recently I found a Hyundai best practice document that states the KSDS update is no longer a prerequisite. I had my car towed once again to the dealership, where it was again denied for not having the update done prior to engine failure. Hyundai customer service says they can’t help change the denial even though the company is at fault for producing a bad product.

• ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE

  The contact's husband owns a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to accelerate upon depression of the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light appeared on the instrument panel during the failure. Despite the vehicle operating in LIMP Mode, the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where an oil change was performed. The mechanic warned after the service was performed that there may be an ongoing failure with the engine. Several days later, the contact stated that while in stop and go traffic, the vehicle stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where a diagnostic test was performed; and the contact was informed that the failure might be related to the cam shaft. The contact had the vehicle towed to a dealer and informed that the failure was probably related to the high-pressure fuel pump. The high-pressure fuel pump was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The contact was then informed by the dealer that the engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle remained with the dealer unrepaired. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.