all vehicles · every Santa Fe year · method

Hyundai Santa Fe 2019

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.59 per 1,000

better than this nameplate’s own median · from 72 complaints filed in the first three years, of 226 ever. 95% lower bound 0.45.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	1.00	71
2009	0.54	41
2010	1.20	94
2011	0.71	54
2012	1.42	103
2013	1.93	154
2014	0.73	72
2015	0.30	34
2016	0.26	32
2017	1.97	260
2018	0.55	69
2019	0.59	72
2020	0.47	54
2021	1.07	114
2022	1.35	156
2023	1.83	230

What owners describe

No phrase appears often enough in these complaints to describe them reliably.

When it breaks

66% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 12,000 miles, from 70 complaints that recorded one).

Failures cluster early, which is the signature of how the car was built rather than of wear. A low-mileage example has not yet passed the risk window.

What NHTSA did

2 investigations covering this model year, 0 of which list a recall campaign.

Loss of Motive Power

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

11142147 · 11152076 · 11157338 · 11161474 · 11173339 · 11175311

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.