2001 Hyundai Santa Fe from France - Comments

I have a 2007 Santa Fe - clutch and flywheel gone after 16,000 miles. Been fixed under warranty was was clear that bearings had gone on flywheel. UK.

Having just got of the telephone to Hyundai UK, I got the impression that I was the first person on earth to have a clutch problem with my 2003 Santa Fe. Clearly, this is not the case and I have encountered the same negative feedback from Hyundai Customer Service intimating that this was caused by my driving and the representative actually said that this was an 'isolated incident'. I need a new flywheel and clutch and this will cost me £725.09. My problem is compounded by the fact that I am three weeks out of warranty. This is not the reason for the 'goodwill' rejection though - it is the fact that I was late with one of my service intervals. This is a technical get out response for an inherent engine build quality problem as the services would not have flagged up the deteriorating clutch condition. I am yet another dissatisfied customer that will never buy another Hyundai product.

I bought a new 2007 Santa Fe 2.2 CRTD Limited in September 2007 mainly to tow a caravan. All is great going forward but the minute I try to reverse the clutch starts to burn, it doesn't matter whether I am in 2or 4 wheel drive and whether I'm on grass, concrete or tarmac it just burns. My dealer has not been helpful despite me raising the issue 3 times I'm just told there is nothing wrong. Speaking to a new dealer at the moment who has said they have had no issues with the new model and will look but to do need to take the gear box out which is great until you are told if they cannot find a fault then I have to pay £500 for the pleasure or £1200 for a new clutch. Has anyone had similar problems?

I have a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe and my clutch went and the flywheel were in bits. I got it repaired, that was 14 months ago, now it has gone again. So I rang the dealer up and they offered me a clutch plus flywheel for £321, and it is a single mass flywheel they are offering me. I collect the clutch and flywheel tomorrow, so it has only took 24 hours to get one.

My company purchased for me a new Santa Fe 2.0 CRTD in July 2003.

On collecting the vehicle, I mentioned to the garage salesman that I thought the clutch was very "soft". He said I would quickly get used to it.

After 34,000 miles the clutch was slipping badly and was eventually changed under warranty free of charge. Because of my previous challenge that the clutch was not strong enough (soft) for the size of the vehicle, the service manager said they had installed a more suitable and heavier clutch pack into the vehicle.

Everything fine until 80,000 miles; clutch again slipping badly. Back to the Hyundai agents, no arguments, changed again free of charge under warranty.

On 110,000 miles and after being made redundant, I bought the vehicle from my old company. The Santa Fe now has 121,000 mile and guess what, yes the clutch needs changing, no chance of free renewal this time as it is 5 months out of warranty so doing the repair myself. Managed to get the clutch out and found that the clutch plate itself had plenty of wear left on it, so my opinion is that the pressure plate and or release bearing is at fault.

Purchased a new 3 piece clutch kit from a reputable company on the Internet to find on receipt that the kit contained a very light clutch plate & pressure plate, release bearing was the same. After speaking with seller it would appear that his clutch kit is the one that came fitted with the vehicle when it left the factory. Gave the seller part numbers from the bits I removed and he is now trying to locate the parts for me.

One final comment!!! When service managers claim that it is your bad driving that is the cause of the clutch failing, my strong answer was always one of "it was my good driving that allowed the clutch to last as long as it did".

I have a 2003 Sonata, and the clutch started slipping at about 89K miles. The problem is the double mass flywheel. It isn't damaged, but there are no replacement clutch parts designed for it. I was told by my mechanic (I never take my car to the dealership) that Hyundai only used the double mass flywheel for a couple of production years, so they don't make replacement parts to fit it. A replacement single mass flywheel in the US is $1400. I am having the clutch replaced using the double mass flywheel at the risk of having a "slight shudder" when I drive the car.

I have a 2003 Santa Fe. The mechanic just called me telling me that you can no longer get parts the original clutch/flywheel because it was defective. I now am forced to buy a new flywheel for 550.00 to fit the new clutch. The mechanic did say he heard from a dealer the was a recall on the clutch and they stopped making the original factory clutch.

My questions is: Why should I have to pay for this when it was clearly a factory defect, and since they are forcing me to purchase a new flywheel from THEM (know one else makes it yet) shouldn't Hyundai foot the bill for that?

In any case, I will be filing a small claims for the flywheel and time lost.

I would suggest you all do the same.

I have a 2003 and I had to have a new clutch and flywheel. I got them from a dealer in Chesterfield and it only cost me £350 for both of them.

RE : My previous comments on 8th Feb 2009, managed to finally get a new clutch pack (cover plate, drive plate & release bearing) through the Internet to fit single mass flywheel fitted to my 2003 Santa Fe 2.0 CRTD. Fitted it myself in my own garage without the benefit of an inspection pit. Jacked the vehicle up on to 2 breeze blocks (approx 8") to give me room to work underneath. Removed everything above the clutch housing as per manual, then both front wheels & front section of exhaust. Out came the transfer box, a bit fiddly & heavy.

Manual says drop off engine sub-frame, I managed to separate clutch housing from engine and remove clutch pack without dropping the sub-frame. Did this by completely removing top clutch rubber mount bracket & reverse electrical sender unit, then pushed clutch housing and gearbox through into wheel arch to give room to insert new clutch pack. Everything back together okay and working. Total cost £200 (two hundred pounds) Took me 3 weeks to finish but had no reason to rush. Found out later I could have purchased same bits from Hyundai for similar price.

Hope this helps.

I have a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe with 30,000 miles. Second clutch plate's gone bad, dealer won't cover under warranty. Can't find parts in the states for under $850. How does Hyundai claim to have the best warranty?

I own a 2004 Santa Fe that will have its THIRD clutch kit installed this week. The clutches only average about 30,000 miles before replacement! Hyundai disclaimed any warranty liability/responsibility from day one. Like everyone else, I was told it was my "driving habits". I believe, however, it's a design problem with the clutch not being substantial enough to drive the Santa Fe. The same clutch is used in their light weight Tiburon!

My 2003 Santa Fe 2.0 CDi also requires replacement of clutch and flywheel. Where can I get the parts relatively cheaply? A previous blogger said he got the kit from a dealer in Chesterfield for £350. Could you supply the details please? Anywhere else?

Thanks.