2002 HYUNDAI SANTA FE — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 163 complaints · 4 recalls
Most-reported system: SUSPENSION (47 complaints · 28.8%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 9
  • Fires 2
  • Injuries 6
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2001 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution SUSPENSION appears in 47 of 163 owner complaints (28.8%) in this vehicle snapshot. SUSPENSION: 47 complaints, 28.8% of reports SUSPENSION 47 · 28.8% · 4 crash reports ENGINE: 15 complaints, 9.2% of reports ENGINE 15 · 9.2% · 1 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 15 complaints, 9.2% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 15 · 9.2% · 1 crash reports STRUCTURE: 13 complaints, 8.0% of reports STRUCTURE 13 · 8.0% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 13 complaints, 8.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 13 · 8.0% · 1 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 10 complaints, 6.1% of reports POWER TRAIN 10 · 6.1% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 5.5% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 · 5.5% STEERING: 9 complaints, 5.5% of reports STEERING 9 · 5.5% FUEL SYSTEM: 6 complaints, 3.7% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 6 · 3.7% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 68 complaints, 41.7% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 68 · 41.7% · 4 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
SUSPENSION 47 28.8% 4 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 15 9.2% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 15 9.2% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 13 8.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 13 8.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 10 6.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 5.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 9 5.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 6 3.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 68 41.7% 4 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 2004; the first recall shown was reported in Jan 2003. 2004-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2009-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2010-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2010-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2010-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2011-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2012-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2014-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2015-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2017-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2019-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 2003 Jul 2023 Recall campaign 03V030000 ◆ Recall campaign 03V030000 Recall campaign 03V520000 ◆ Recall campaign 03V520000 Recall campaign 09V123000 ◆ Recall campaign 09V123000 Recall campaign 14V435000 ◆ Recall campaign 14V435000 Investigation EA08023 ● Investigation EA08023
  • Campaign 09V123000 was reported 1,623 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 14V435000 was reported 3,542 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2004-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q1 Owner reports 4
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 2
2005-Q4 Owner reports 2
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 3
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 2
2007-Q2 Owner reports 2
2007-Q3 Owner reports 2
2007-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 3
2008-Q2 Owner reports 3
2008-Q3 Owner reports 2
2008-Q4 Owner reports 2
2009-Q1 Owner reports 2
2009-Q2 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 5
2009-Q4 Owner reports 6
2010-Q1 Owner reports 6
2010-Q2 Owner reports 8
2010-Q3 Owner reports 8
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 3
2011-Q2 Owner reports 3
2011-Q3 Owner reports 4
2011-Q4 Owner reports 2
2012-Q1 Owner reports 4
2012-Q2 Owner reports 1
2012-Q3 Owner reports 2
2012-Q4 Owner reports 3
2013-Q1 Owner reports 1
2013-Q2 Owner reports 2
2013-Q3 Owner reports 4
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 2
2014-Q2 Owner reports 3
2014-Q3 Owner reports 9
2014-Q4 Owner reports 6
2015-Q1 Owner reports 9
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
2015-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q4 Owner reports 3
2016-Q3 Owner reports 3
2017-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q2 Owner reports 2
2017-Q3 Owner reports 1
2018-Q1 Owner reports 3
2018-Q2 Owner reports 3
2018-Q3 Owner reports 2
2018-Q4 Owner reports 3
2019-Q1 Owner reports 1
2019-Q2 Owner reports 2
2019-Q3 Owner reports 1
2020-Q1 Owner reports 1
2020-Q3 Owner reports 1
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
2021-Q1 Owner reports 2
2021-Q4 Owner reports 1
2023-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 03V030000
Recall campaign 1 03V520000
Recall campaign 1 09V123000
Recall campaign 1 14V435000
Defect investigation 1 EA08023
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (4)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 03V030000

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    A DAMAGED CPS CAPACITOR COULD RESULT IN ENGINE STALLING.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE CPS. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN ON MARCH 10, 2003. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT HYUNDAI AT 1-800-829-9956.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 03V520000

    Report date
    Component:
    EQUIPMENT
    Consequence:
    THE TIRE PRESSURE LABELS DO NOT CONTAIN THE INFORMATION REQUIRED BY THE STANDARD.
    Remedy:
    OWNERS WILL BE PROVIDED WITH A CORRECT LABEL AND INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN ON OCTOBER 29, 2003. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT HYUNDAI AT 1-800-633-5151.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 09V123000

    Report date
    Component:
    SUSPENSION
    Consequence:
    IF THE CORROSION IS ALLOWED TO PROGRESS, THE REAR TRAILING ARM MAY FRACTURE WHILE DRIVING, THEREBY INCREASING THE RISK OF A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE REAR TRAILING ARMS FOR INTERNAL CORROSION DAMAGE. IF SPECIFIED LEVELS OF CORROSION DAMAGE ARE FOUND, THE REAR TRAILING ARMS WILL BE REPLACED. REAR TRAILING ARMS THAT DO NOT REQUIRE REPLACEMENT WILL HAVE DRAINAGE HOLES ADDED AND WILL BE TREATED WITH RUST-PROOFING MATERIAL TO ARREST THE CORROSION PROCESS. INSPECTION, TREATMENT AND REPLACEMENT PROCEDURES WILL BE CONDUCTED AT NO COST TO OWNERS. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING MAY 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT THE HYUNDAI CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-633-5151.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  4. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 14V435000

    Report date
    Component:
    SUSPENSION
    Consequence:
    If the front coil spring fractures due to corrosion it could cause the coil spring to make contact with the tire, possibly puncturing the tire and increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
    Remedy:
    Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and if necessary replace the coil spring, free of charge. The recall began on October 24, 2014. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-800-633-5151. Hyundai's number for this recall is 124.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-22
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 163 complaints · page 1 of 7

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-22.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources