2004 Hyundai Santa Fe Reviews from North America - Page 3 of 8

The brakes failed and we had it towed back to Hyundai three times before they finally fixed it, giving us a hard time about it every time.

The crankshaft pulley broke and fell out of the car. Towed back to Hyundai again.

The high pressure hose in the power steering system broke, and Hyundai insisted that it wasn't covered in their awesome warranty. We went to a third party mechanic to have it fixed, as he was charging much less than the dealership quoted us.

The crankshaft sensor broke, leaving me stranded. Thank God for insurance company road side assistance.

Hyundai cars are junk and their dealerships know it.

The "awesome" warranty they provide: they try to back out of at every turn.

If you want reliable car, do not buy a Hyundai.

Had to replace gas tank in April 2011, since it rusted through on the bottom half of the tank.

Generally pleased with performance and comfort of vehicle.

Air conditioner went out at 40,000 miles.

Timing belts and sensor went out at 100,040 miles (40 miles over the warranty), which the dealership would not cover.

Catalytic converter went out at 100,060 miles, (60 miles over the warranty), which the dealership would not cover.

Air conditioner went out again after being repaired by the dealership at 100,100 miles.

Short in the interior dash lights and left brake light. After constant replacing, still will not work.

Timing still not set correctly, and causing starters to be replaced approx. every 6 months.

The interior of the car is extremely comfortable & spacious, but doesn't matter if it's not running 50% of the time.

Loss of acceleration when accelerating. Has happened 6 times in the past year. Cost of repairs $4,000!!! Very dangerous, as five of the six times I was accelerating to merge onto a major highway.

While I enjoyed my car for the first 4 years, this past year has been horrendous. Have replaced the computer, but continue to replace sensors, one by one, without any improvement to the outcome.

Repeated clutch failure.

Judging by the comments on this site, and my experience, the standard transmission Hyundai Santa Fe seems to be a bad bet for clutch performance.

I've had three new clutches with just 48,000 miles on the vehicle. Hyundai refused to honor its vaunted 50,000 mile powertrain warranty on the second and third ones, and a respected local lawyer ruled in my favor at a Better Business Bureau arbitration hearing, awarding me about $900 that I paid a local shop for the repair. (Hyundai wanted $1400 for the work).

As is the case with others on this site, Hyundai cites "driving habits". Yet I have been driving clutch vehicles for 25 years, and the clutches have lasted an average of 60,000 miles.

Hyundai will also contest an outside shop's repairs, and claim that Internet comments - no matter how many - are not indicative of a problem.

Most recently, Hyundai sent both a lawyer and service manager to fight my small claims court case that it had failed to honor its warranty. They prevailed - unfairly and inexplicably in my opinion. Furthermore, I was chagrined to witness Hyundai spending that amount of money to quash a complaint, when it likely could have settled more cheaply by honoring its warranty.