There are 50 owner-reported engine complaints for the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fein NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
On 08/15/2025 I started the vehicle and heard a ticking noise that lasted for 3 seconds and stopped. The same noise happened when I would start the car in the mornings. It never lasted more than 3 seconds and I wasn't too sure what the noise was. There was no engine lights that came on so I wasnt too worried about it. On 8/21/2025 my husband went to the store and when he came back the car shut off while backing into the driveway. He said it made a weird noise and just shut off. We tested the battery but it was still charged. We brought it to our mechanic and he called us 15 mins later saying he found metal shavings on the oil filter and the engine had seized. He recommended going to the dealer, which is 90 miles away. Around the 15th we had received the warranty extension for 15 years/150,000 miles from Hyundai talking about a knocking sound that can lead to engine seizure. So I called the dealer and they said to bring it in. We got the car towed to the dealer on 8/26/2025. On 09/04/2025 they called to let us know that they ran the test on the engine but Hyundai was not going to help due to the car having 176,000 miles. They agreed the engine seized due to rod failure but wasn't going to offer Goodwill assistance, even with the service history we submitted from our carfax that showed regular scheduled maintenance recorda. We bought the car on 03/08/2025 when it was at 170,000 miles. I knew about the other open recalls and had them fixed on 06/12/2025 ( after being delayed from the dealer for 2 months because they couldn't get the parts for the auxiliary canister). Luckily the car died in the driveway and not in the middle of traffic. Hyundai has known about their Lambda engines having this issue and the KDSS recall was not available for this car which could have triggered a lifetime warranty on the engine. I barely had the car for 5 months.
015 Santa Fe Ultimate. 134,000 miles. Original owner. All maintenance done per manual. Wife on hwy 2 hrs. Started loud engine knocking noise. No warning whatsiever.Pulled off closet exit. Stalled.Restarted.Pulled into gas station. Trusted mechanic inspected. Stated not to drive. He had identical vehicle at shop,identical problem.110,000 miles. Needs new engine.Noticed on fbook Forum,"Hyundai Engine Problems". Alot of similar complaints posted. Hyundai not warranting over 100,000 miles. This could have been much worse if it had been at night,in a rural area. Shocked has not been a recall!
I purchased this vehicle one year ago from a used car dealership with 148,000 miles on it. Within a few months it was throwing crankshaft position, sensor codes, camshaft codes, and burning oil. I cannot bring my RPMs above two without my check engine light coming on and blinking. My car will go into limp mode. Hyundai does not have my car included in the engine recall they only have the sport Santa Fe included. They released an extended warranty for 150,000 miles but by the time that was put into place my car was at 151,000 miles so it was not eligible.
At 110K miles my Sante Fe Sport began burning increasing amounts of oil. My mechanic says he does not know why it is burning oil. Today it has 134171K miles on it. It has been burning a quart or more of oil weekly. I drive about 200 miles per week.
My car burns a lot of oil. The Hyundai dealership service center ran a controlled test and validated that my car burned a quart of oil in 1000 miles. This is not normal. It turns out that there are a lot of Hyundai owners with the exact same problem. It seems there are bad piston rings.
I am filing this complaint regarding my 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, which recently suffered engine failure due to an unresolved issue related to error code P1326. The check engine light began flashing, and despite multiple visits to my local Hyundai service center (Gateway Hyundai Nissan in Fargo, ND), the problem was not properly diagnosed or repaired, resulting in catastrophic engine damage. The vehicle has a branded title, but I have confirmed that, according to Hyundai's warranty policies, recalls and campaigns are still applicable to branded vehicles. Hyundai has issued a recall for engine defects associated with error code P1326, yet the service center has refused to replace the engine under this recall. Instead, they are insisting on an out-of-pocket repair cost of $9,300.56, even though the engine failure is a result of the defect addressed in the recall. This failure occurred while I'm driving with my wife and 9-month-old infant, which posed a significant safety risk. Had the service center properly addressed the issue during my earlier visits, this situation could have been prevented. I am filing this complaint to request that Hyundai be held accountable for the engine replacement as part of the recall and to prevent further safety risks for other drivers experiencing this defect. I respectfully ask the NHTSA to investigate Hyundai’s handling of this recall and ensure that customers with branded vehicles are not unfairly denied critical safety repairs. The manufacturer must ensure that engine replacements under the recall are carried out for all affected vehicles, regardless of their title status, to prevent dangerous road situations. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
My 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS 3.3L engine started ticking sound while driving in residential are with the speed below 25miles. Within seconds, Engine started screaming and dropped power in the middle of the road. It is a huge security and life threatening risk. I was lucky that I was driving in residential area with very slow speed, and just imagine if it happens in the middle of the freeway cruising at 65MPH. It is at 107k miles and not sure what to do at this time. Hyundai better recall there 3.3L V6 engines and help us our here. My vehicle is now dead and I have nowhere to go to get help because it a huge cost to get it fixed.
Sudden loss of engine power in traffic on highway in funeral procession. My safety was put at risk on the highway. The check engine light came on intermittently the previous week. I made six trips to the Hyundai dealer in Plymouth, MA. First told the oil was low when the dipstick was normal. Oil was changed. Check engine light came on as I left the lot. Two more trips computer reset two different ways. Engine does not have normal power going up hill. Another trip to dealer EVAP hose collapsed. Light back on and off. I paid for diagnostic fee $175, oil change then told it was CVV and timing issue with $2817.89 in parts because the tech "saw" the problem. >$3000 estimate for labor. Repair started now told CVV is not the problem metal shavings in oil OCV intake and exhaust valves and needs new engine. The car had $60,000 miles on it and was extremely well maintained. It does not have a warrantee. This is same issue as the Hyundai recall for metal debris left in oil passages of engine crankshaft during manufacture though my model is not covered by the recall. Hyundai declines to help. There is a huge personal safety and fire risk from this defective manufacturing process.
Engine has goes on out at 99000 miles has seized up .
While I was driving on the highway in the left lane, smoke came from the engine, then it started coming from underneath the car. The car turned off. I was forced to stop on the left lane of the highway and exit the vehicle and walk as far away as possible. I called 911, then I noticed fire coming from the engine. This was unsafe for myself as well as other riders on the highway. Firefighters came and put out the fire. Once they left, I was left by myself waiting for the tow truck to arrive. No police officers helped to keep myself safe while waiting on the left shoulder once the highway re-opened. When asked if I needed a police report, the police officer said no because it wasn't a crash. The vehicle was inspected by my insurance company and it was deemed a total loss. There were no warning signs or messages or symptoms prior to the failure at all.
My wife was driving the vehicle on Monday afternoon and everything was fine and today she started the vehicle and the engine started to sound weirdly, she called me over the phone and she popped up the hood like I told her and she put her phone near the engine gave a little gas and I heard like there was no oil in it, she turned the vehicle off like I told her to do, waited like 5 minutes For the oil to settle and the oil level was half. I'm waiting for tomorrow Wednesday the 27th of March to call any Hyundai dealer near me to see what they say about this situation.
Engine with rod bearing failure occurred at 108k miles. No check engine light warning came on to notify with engine knock sound as the only indicator that there was a mechanical issue. Regular oil changes have been done on the vehicle however oil levels were low when checked on the day of engine failure (no low oil light came on). 3.3 L V6 engine is not covered under Hyundai’s KSDS Software Update (Campaign 966) and extended warranty however issue is the same as other covered models and years.
While driving down the highway the engine stopped. Towed it to a mechanic. They told me the engine seized up and that this was happening alot with Hyundai vehicles.
Out of the blue, the engine started knocking badly. Immediately pulled over and checked engine oil which was extremely low. (This was odd since I regularly check oil levels and keep up with oil changes.) I happened to be very close to an oil change shop, drove over and they did an oil change. They found silver and gold metal shavings in the old oil and topped off with new oil. The knocking was muted but came back by the time I got home. I have not driven the car since. Seems to have the same fate as many other Hyundai vehicles in the current recall, but this has the 3.3l engine. I've also found there is a petition to add the 3.3l engine to the recall.
The engine caught fire and the vehicle is a total loss. Acceleration became inconsistent at time of the incident while driving on the freeway. Once that was noticed, and at a speed of 50mph, I immediately heard a loud clicking noise coming from the engine. ALL warning lights also immediately went off. I noticed white smoke and pulled over on the freeway. Once parked, black smoke was emerging from the engine. I exited the vehicle to safety and within 30 seconds, flames emerged from the vehicle. The vehicle maintenance was kept current during the 7 months of ownership. There were no prior warnings of any issues before the incident occurred.
My 2015 Santa Fe has metal in oil so my engine not working it went out
2015 3.3 engine santa fe motor seized 115,000miles, no lights, no low oil indicator, no check engine light, no noise except 6minutes prior!
On October 7, while driving on the interstate, the engine started rattling, then stopped completely, causing me to drift across lanes to get to the shoulder. Upon restarting the car, the check engine light was flashing and the car was in limp mode. After bringing it to a shop, they diagnosed the P1326 engine code, where I was instructed to drive the car on the back roads to the nearest dealership, 50 miles away. The dealership confirmed that the engine needs to be replaced. One month prior to this incident, a P0420 code appeared (catalytic converter needs to be replaced). I had not yet replaced it, since the part is on backorder. My go-to auto shop is still waiting for the catalytic converter to come in. The car currently has about 137,000 miles on it, and has been serviced and inspected regularly. If the engine needs to be inspected, the car is currently awaiting a new engine at the dealer. It will take several months for the dealer to replace the engine, so the car should be available. My safety and the general public's safety was put at risk when my car became difficult to control when the engine stopped unexpectedly while driving at highway speeds on the interstate.
Oil Consumption to Rod Bearings; yes can be inspected but have to pay $280 just for inspection. While driving on the freeway my car abruptly slammed in speed from 65mph to 20 causing a lot of near miss rear ending and me to pull off the freeway! No, I don't trust my local dealer due to the money making scheme they have! A mechanic I know had discovered that my vehicle has been eating the oil too quickly and upon the inspection has noted that the spark plugs, knock sensor and my rod bearings were needed to be replaced due to the oil burnout! There was no warning! The car slammed to 20 mph and my check engine light began to blink, when it did and I was able to pull over the code it read was 'P1326' which I've not had issues with since I bought the car back in 2020!
Driving along a highway and the motor blew. It had enough oil in it as I had checked it that morning before leaving for a family reunion.
Showing 1–20 of 50 complaints
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.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026