New Santa Fe Hyundai, 2020, 124 miles. Twice, every 3 days, Olin driving, the steering wheel locks up, dash battery lights come on and the vehicle dies in traffic. The first time it was towed to the dealership they said we ran the battery down by leaving the dome light on. We didn’t! They placed a new battery in it. We were skeptical and had encouraged them to look beyond the battery. They did not. Brought it home. Car sat for 1 1/2 days, drive it at night, it did the same thing. Now it sits at another Hyundai dealership. We called the dealership and they are suppose to loan us another car. No word yet. Has anyone heard of this problem? Thks.
Whether anyone else has heard of this problem or not, this defect is clearly one that “materially affects the safety or driveability of the vehicle”. Thus, under the terms of most state Lemon Laws, the manufacturer has only three tries at rectifying it before you would qualify for a vehicle buy-back or replacement (some states only offer a “comparable” vehicle, others give you the option of a full refund).
I strongly suggest that you contact Hyundai of America (contact phone number can be found in your Owner’s Manual), and inform them–firmly but politely–that you WILL be filing a Lemon Law complaint unless this defect is fixed promptly. Follow up on that call with a Certified Letter.
In the meantime, educate yourself regarding the exact terms of the Lemon Law in your state. Good luck with the resolution of the problem!
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According to carcomplaints.com, someone had a similar problem on his 2019 Santa Fe.
Quote:On March 5, this vehicle stopped while driving in the middle of a street. I was unable to start the vehicle and me and my passenger could have been seriously injured or killed. Car was towed to dealership and has 2600 miles on it. I have found that Hyundai is doing a recall to replace starter and a software update. I have been told that because of the new technology this vehicle has which is an automatic start and stop at a stop sign or stop light that the starter shorted out and apparently the software in the car just stops the car while driving… this happened while driving the car at 35 miles/hour on a busy street. It is a miracle that I was not hit and injured or killed. Car is at the dealership waiting for a new starter and software update with a possible ship date of March 31, 2019. These 2019 Santa Fe are not safe to be selling to the public with this known defect.
- Houston, TX, USA
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