2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz Driver Assist & ADAS Problems

Adaptive Cruze control will not allow use when wearing sun glasses. It will default out of cruze control causing driver distraction, eye strain from sunlight by having to drive while using Cruze control with out sun glasses.

Make: Hyundai • Model: Santa Cruz • Year: 2025 • Trim: Limited • Mileage: 2600 miles • Date of Purchase: July 2025 Description of the Problem: I am reporting a safety issue with the Forward Attention Warning (FAW) system on my 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz Limited, which unexpectedly disables Smart Cruise Control (SCC) during highway driving. The FAW system, which uses an in-cabin camera to monitor driver attentiveness, frequently misinterprets normal driving behavior—such as wearing polarized sunglasses or holding the steering wheel at the 12 o’clock position—as inattention. This causes SCC to deactivate abruptly, resulting in sudden speed changes that create a safety hazard, particularly at highway speeds (e.g., 65–70 mph). The issue occurs multiple times per drive, especially when wearing sunglasses, and persists even after attempting to disable FAW in the vehicle’s settings (Settings > Vehicle > Driver Assistance > Driver Attention Warning > Off). For example, while driving on [XXX], SCC deactivated without warning due to FAW detecting my sunglasses, causing the vehicle to slow unexpectedly and requiring immediate manual intervention to maintain speed. This has happened regularly, creating a risk of rear-end collisions or driver distraction. I contacted my Hyundai dealership and they stated that no software fix is available and the system is “working as designed.” Hyundai’s Technical Service Bulletin (TSB 25-GI-001H) acknowledges FAW issues with sunglasses and hand position but offers no solution. I also contacted Hyundai Customer Service (1-800-633-5151), but they provided no resolution. This issue is widely reported by other 2025 Hyundai owners (e.g., Tucson, Santa Fe) in online forums INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz. The contact stated that after a month of owning the vehicle, while attempting to start the vehicle, the Forward Collision Avoidance warning light and other unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the Forward Collision Avoidance warning light remained illuminated for approximately four miles and then turned off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no cause for the failure was found. The dealer suggested that the failure could be related to the camera. The contact stated that the camera was replaced. Most recently, the contact stated that after three weeks, the Forward Collision Avoidance warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired after the most recent failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.

Since day one of purchasing the vehicle brand new, the Automatic Emergency Braking engages for basically no reason. The system is way too sensitive and will engage the brakes out of nowhere. This is very dangerous because the vehicle will come to a stop and it's only a matter of time when this happens and then get rear ended. Please address this issue, it's a major problem. Also, the Forward Collision Warning is way too sensitive too. Please have Hyundai fix these issues.

After driving vehicle for 20-30 minutes. I receive on the dashboard an error message that the Driver Assistance System is not working properly. This has happen even if the sensor is clear of any type of debris or objects.

Vehicle is constantly slamming on the brakes when leaving a parking garage. Users have to turn the feature off every single time we enter our vehicle instead of it being saved to our profile. 2023 model allowed us to select warning sound only if we preferred. I'd hate to see this feature activate while it's raining. It is wayyy too sensitive even with the late timing option selected. Only a matter of time before this feature causes at fault wrecks. Hyundai needs to make this feature optional to the user at least

While driving at highway speeds with Smart Cruise Control set during the day I put on sunglasses and the driver attention system turned off the system 6 seconds later. I repeated this event set several times at various speeds and driving conditions with the same 6 second failure result. I made the dealership aware of this and verified it with them in the vehicle. Apparently, system uses an IR camera to determine driver attention level via eye contact and does not work with most sunglasses. This seems to be a safety issue the dealership (or the manufacturer) should be the making the general public aware of.

The Hyundai Santa Cruz has a Driver Forward Attention Warning system. The steering column has a camera that monitors the driver's eyes and face to make sure the driver is watching the road while the cruise control is engaged. The feature shuts down the cruise control if it assesses the driver is not paying attention to the road. The feature does not account for the driver wearing sunglasses, however. It still shuts down the cruise system even if the driver is paying attention while wearing sunglasses. The feature can be disabled on the instrument panel, but it is never actually disabled; it still keeps shutting off the cruise control whether the function is enabled or disabled and is a safety hazard since the driver can't wear sunglasses and use cruise control simultaneously.