25th Feb 2009, 11:00

We bought a 2008 Santa Fe, have had it maybe 9 months and I'm already seeing orange spots on it that looks like surface rust. I called the dealer this morning and he said it's an issue with the paint and that they can get it out. We have also had 2 other issues... the air conditioning system stinks. It smells so bad, like soured laundry, when we first start it up after it's ran for a few minutes, it goes away. I've taken it in twice to have it deodorized and that still didn't fix the problem. Of course it's winter now, so I'm waiting to see what it does this summer. Also, the driver's and passenger windows had to be replaced. After about 2 weeks of owning it, they squeaked so loud when we would roll them up... apparently it's another "factory defect" that they know about. It just has to start doing it before they can be replaced. Why they just don't fix these issues before purchase is beyond me.

Other than these few issues (which so far appear to be minor), I absolutely LOVE my car. It drives and handles great. The dealership has been more than willing to fix and look at things or explain issues to me. I have been very happy with my Santa Fe and the dealership.

23rd Mar 2009, 13:52

23 Mar 09.

07 Santa Fe, back brakes done at 24000 kms! Reason caliper seized, causing brake pad to sit against the rotor.

Took it in to get serviced at 40000 kms, and after the work was done, the tires are making a loud humming sound. I marked the tires before rotation at service. And the dealer said that the sound is coming from the tires after rotation. I again checked my marked tires and they were not rotated at all. Still a grinding noise, so I had the front brakes done. Same noise. Gets a little worse when I brake. Never again buy a Santa Fe.

6th Apr 2009, 22:24

I bought my 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe two months ago. For a while (one month), the brakes started to fail unexpectedly. This happened six times in a month. When I push the second time it works, but I'm afraid to hit somebody. When I brought it to the dealer service, they didn't find any problem and they said they can't duplicate the problem. Any help or suggestion is welcome.

17th Apr 2009, 18:15

I'm leasing a 2007 Santa Fe and have encountered a seized and very badly worn left/rear brake at 40k. I've noticed the same unusual wear on the same brake at 50k!

12th May 2009, 17:22

I bought a 2008 Santa Fe 3 weeks ago. This past Friday, the brakes failed on me twice. Once when I tried to stop, and the second time I was stopped and they let go and the SUV shot forward.

I have it into the dealership. They tried to give it back to me, but I refused. They can't find anything wrong and repaired nothing. I told them if they would sign off stating they will responsible for any damage to my vehicle, property or other vehicles. Along with being responsible for an injuries or deaths, I'll take it, but not comfortable with it. My salesman is going to take it home tonight and see if it happens to him. In the meantime, I spoke with consumer affairs at Hyundai USA. They agree that the vehicle should not be returned until it has been corrected and will start a case file and contact the regional manager in my area. I should hear back within 2-3 days.

23rd Jun 2009, 16:16

I have a 2008 Santa Fe, 3600 miles, brakes completely failed without warning 4 times.

I took it in to the dealer and same as the other folks, they couldn't replicate it. I told them to continue to drive it until they failed again, although why they couldn't take my word/description for it I don't know. Finally they failed for the mechanic and he was dumbfounded with the severity of the failure. He had to call Hyundai Techline, they said they've had a number of similar complaints but could never replicate and were anxious to solve the issue.

I just got it back after 5 days in the shop, here is what they did, verbatim from work order, so tell your Hyundai guy this is what Techline recommended and it appears to have worked (fingers crossed).

"Test drove car 120 miles, brakes at one point went to the floor when coming to an intersection. Called techline was advised this is the first case that has been able to duplicate. Was told to replace hecu and master cylinder and send back right away they want to test these parts. Replaced brake master cylinder and hecu unit. Test drove brakes are working as designed at this time. hecu ABS module 58910r00 1.0 58910rp0 0.3 master cylinder 58510r00 0.8.

Hope this helps!

28th Jul 2009, 10:47

2007 Sante Fe FWD.

I have a seizing problem with my rear driver side brake. I have changed the brake pads after about 70000kms. After changing my rear brake pads on both sides I still have stiff wheel movement on my rear driverside wheel. Now here is the strange part of this problem. When I removed the wheel and all of the brake accessories from the rotor, I still had trouble turning the rotor? I also had to re-lube one of my sliding pins on account of seizing up.

28th Jul 2009, 11:39

I have a 2007 Santa Fe now with 73 000Kms, mostly all highway, and the rear brake pads are finished, the right side much worst than the left. Front pads still have more than 50% left. I have never seen a car/SUV use the rear pads twice as fast as the front. Seems like there has to be a design issue.

Like everyone else, the dealer did not help much, only suggested to grease the slider pins more often. Replaced rear pads and I have noticed an inconsistent noise from rear right will most likely need to re-surface rotors. It's too bad for these SUVs; they run well, but still need some revisions for brakes.

29th Jul 2009, 11:43

To add to the comment of the wheel being hard to turn even after removing all of the brake hardware. I also had the same thing happen when I changed the rear pads only it was on the passenger side. The wheel was hard to turn and seemed to block at one spot.

31st Jul 2009, 16:24

On my 2007 Santa Fe I started to hear a squealing noise at 22,000 miles from the passenger side rear wheel, so I pulled off all the wheels and noticed the pads were low (front and rear). I ordered front and rear pads from the dealer and changed all the brake pads. I can't believe I'm going to have to do a all wheel brake job every 20,000 to 25,000 miles. Not very happy with this vehicle.