2021 HYUNDAI SANTA FE — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 183 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: POWER TRAIN (42 complaints · 23.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 4
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 2
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2020 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 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 POWER TRAIN appears in 42 of 183 owner complaints (22.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. POWER TRAIN: 42 complaints, 22.9% of reports POWER TRAIN 42 · 22.9% ENGINE: 18 complaints, 9.8% of reports ENGINE 18 · 9.8% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 17 complaints, 9.3% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 17 · 9.3% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: 17 complaints, 9.3% of reports FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 17 · 9.3% · 1 crash reports VISIBILITY: 14 complaints, 7.7% of reports VISIBILITY 14 · 7.7% FUEL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 4.9% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 9 · 4.9% BACK OVER PREVENTION: 8 complaints, 4.4% of reports BACK OVER PREVENTION 8 · 4.4% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 6 complaints, 3.3% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 · 3.3% SEAT BELTS: 3 complaints, 1.6% of reports SEAT BELTS 3 · 1.6% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 77 complaints, 42.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 77 · 42.1% · 3 crash 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)
POWER TRAIN 42 22.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 18 9.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 17 9.3% 1 crashes · 1 fires
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 17 9.3% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 14 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 9 4.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
BACK OVER PREVENTION 8 4.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 3.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 3 1.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 77 42.1% 3 crashes · 0 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 2021. 2021-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2021-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2021-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2022-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2022-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 2022-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 2023-Q1: 15 owner reports 15 2023-Q2: 15 owner reports 15 2023-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2023-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2024-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2024-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2024-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2024-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2025-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2025-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2025-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2025-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2026-Q1: 17 owner reports 17 2026-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2026-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 Owner reports Jan 2021 Jul 2026 Investigation DP22003 ● Investigation DP22003 Investigation DP22005 ● Investigation DP22005 Investigation DP22005 ● Investigation DP22005
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2021-Q1 Owner reports 1
2021-Q2 Owner reports 6
2021-Q3 Owner reports 10
2021-Q4 Owner reports 2
2022-Q1 Owner reports 8
2022-Q2 Owner reports 11
2022-Q3 Owner reports 17
2022-Q4 Owner reports 17
2023-Q1 Owner reports 15
2023-Q2 Owner reports 15
2023-Q3 Owner reports 9
2023-Q4 Owner reports 3
2024-Q1 Owner reports 8
2024-Q2 Owner reports 5
2024-Q3 Owner reports 4
2024-Q4 Owner reports 3
2025-Q1 Owner reports 5
2025-Q2 Owner reports 7
2025-Q3 Owner reports 4
2025-Q4 Owner reports 4
2026-Q1 Owner reports 17
2026-Q2 Owner reports 8
2026-Q3 Owner reports 4
Defect investigation 1 DP22003
Defect investigation 1 DP22005
Defect investigation 1 DP22005
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 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 Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 183 complaints · page 1 of 8

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 Aug 21, 2026
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 2026-08-21 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: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources