2003 Hyundai Santa FE problems
NHTSA has received 390 complaints about the 2003 Hyundai Santa FE, and 15% of them involve suspension. Next are brakes (11%) and air bags (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 390 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Suspension 15% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 36 and 7
- Injuries and deaths
- 27 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 86,000 miles 308 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 52 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 25 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 26 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 40 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 35 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 38 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 31 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 26 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 14 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 11 |
| 200k+ miles | 10 |
What the data shows
Of the 308 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 86,000 miles. For suspension specifically, the median reported mileage is about 120,000 miles (47 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 36 complaints mention a crash; 7 complaints mention a fire; 27 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 17th most-complained-about out of 26 model years of the Hyundai Santa FE with enough data (148 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 hyundai santa fe. On august 16, 2008, while driving 45 MPH, a vehicle failed to yield at a red light. The contact was unable to stop and the front bumper on the passenger side of her vehicle struck a travel trailer. The driver and passenger frontal air bag indicators illuminated, but failed to deploy. The passenger seated in the front seat received injures to the neck, back, and head. The rear passenger was traumatized. The contact received injuries to the neck, back, and shoulders.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 hyundai santa fe. While driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle rolled over 4-5 times. None of the air bags deployed. The contact sustained several broken bones and the driver sustained several bruises. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. A police report was filed. The current and failure mileages were 150,000.
While driving 35 MPH consumer's vehicle rear ended another vehicle. Upon impact, none of the airbags deployed. The police stated the air bags should've deployed. Vehicle sustained $5000. Dollars in damages. The person who vehicle she hit, left the scene before the police arrived.
The air bag red warning light came on in 9/08. The dealer scanned the system, cleared historic codes, cycled through self test several times. Codes did not reset. Light came back on in 1/09. I will take vehicle back to dealer. My opinion is that safety equipment should be more reliable . When the red light initially came on they couldn't find a problem but I will be charged appx. $600 when they fix the problem.
I got a recall letter in the mail on sept. 19, 2014. I call the people about the letter but no one got back to me about the recall. I need to know is my car in danger of hurting me or my family. I would like to know.