2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
Complaints about this year name gauge far more often than the other years of this generation — 16% of them, about 21× the usual rate of 0.8%.
First year of a new generation. The Hyundai Santa Fe was redesigned for 2007. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 683 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 216 |
| Involving a crash | 30 |
| Involving a fire | 8 |
| Recalls | 9 |
| EPA combined | 19 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- fuel — 19.3% of this year's complaints, against 1.9% across the other years of this generation (9.9×).
- esc — 11.6% of this year's complaints, against 1.2% across the other years of this generation (9.9×). Owners wrote it as: esc, esc off, off light, esc light.
- bag — 12.9% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the other years of this generation (4.7×). Owners wrote it as: bag, air bag, bag light, passenger seat.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- fuel — 19% of complaints, 10× usual
- esc — 11% of complaints, 13× usual
- fuel gauge — 9% of complaints, 23× usual
What owners wrote
THE AIR BAG, ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC), AND EGR WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE FUEL GAUGE INDICATED EMPTY WHEN THE TANK WAS FULL. THE [VIN] WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURES. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSE OR REPAIRED. THE FAILU…
SMELL OF FUEL IN PASSENGER CABIN WHEN YOU FILL UP. FUEL GAUGE DOES NOT SHOW THE CORRECT FUEL LEVEL ALONG WITH CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V061000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 09V122000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 13V113000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 11V472000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 12V354000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 08E016000 TRAILER HITCHES Fixed free of charge.
- 08V272000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 08E055000 TRAILER HITCHES Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 9. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Hyundai Santa Fe was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe? What happened to yours?
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