Hyundai Santa Fe: which model years to avoid

Complaint and recall totals for every Hyundai Santa Fe model year we track, ranked by severity.

Model yearComplaintsRecallsCrashesFiresSeverityMost-reported system
20123521251773.3 MediumENGINE
20136043144167.2 MediumENGINE
20144933163081.9 MediumENGINE
2015254291376.4 MediumENGINE
201623536235.7 MediumENGINE
20179436142335.8 MediumENGINE
201810826488.9 MediumENGINE
201919221611109.4 HighENGINE
20201982137108.1 HighENGINE
202116374123.3 LowPOWER TRAIN
202219058132.6 LowPOWER TRAIN
2023200111391.0 MediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
2024133710078.2 MediumPOWER TRAIN
202511955043.7 MediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Across 14 model years, the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe carries the highest severity index (109.4, driven by engine), while the 2021 is the cleanest at 23.3.
Source. NHTSA public complaint and recall APIs. Complaint counts are not normalised by units sold; a high-volume seller will attract more filings than a rare trim.