There are 3 owner-reported visibility & wipers complaints for the 2026 Hyundai Santa Fein NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
It was snowing lightly/moderately, and prior to driving, the windshield was cleared with snow and the wipers set to Low. Once driving began, the wipers stopped working on multiple occasions for a brief period each time, before resuming on their own. During the period that the wipers stopped, the snow accumulation on the windshield caused poor visibility and potential danger to our car as well as others on the road. There were no prior indications on the dashboard or otherwise that anything was wrong with the wipers prior to, during or after the incident, which causes significant concern of a potential repeat of the issue. We returned home with the children immediately and plan to call the dealer first thing in the morning.
The car was brought to the dealership where it was purchased. The right rear passenger window exploded while on the highway; the pieces then shattered and fell into the child safety seat installed. There were no other vehicles around as I was driving and the temperature inside the car and outside were about the same. There were no warnings and there was no abnormal noises or flexing prior to the window completely shattering.
The contact owns a 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while attempting to clean the front windshield, the contact noticed that the windshield washer fluid only sprayed approximately 2-3 inches from the lower section of the front windshield, which prevented the contact from cleaning the windshield adequately and created a visibility hazard for the driver. The local dealer was contacted and informed the contact that it was a known issue but no adjustments to the washer fluid sprayer could be made and there was no defect in the system. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 12,000.
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