There are 2 stored owner reports matching the body & structure leading-label group for the 2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 2 of 2 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)The contact owned a 2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz. The contact stated that while exiting the vehicle to go into a store, he looked back and noticed the vehicle was on fire. No warning lights illuminated. The contact mentioned he noticed the fire was coming from the rear driver's side quarter panel. The contact called 911. No injuries were sustained. No medical attention was required. A police report was not filed. The fire department extinguished the fire. The vehicle was taken to a savage yard, and the insurance will then have the vehicle towed to a body shop. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and they informed the contact that they would inspect the vehicle, and they also offered to buy back the vehicle. Recently, he got an email informing him that they are not going to buy back the vehicle. The failure mileage was 18,000.
This has happened twice in the last 3 months of owning this vehicle. Both times were luckily in uncrowded slow speed areas, and I had nothing in the bed. First time was in a parking lot (without my tonneau installed), the Most recent incident happened as I was reversing out of my driveway and as I Put my Vehicle in Drive slowly moving forward my Tailgate opened Unexpectedly (with a tonneau installed). My tail Gate Did not open fast, it was its standard controlled open.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.