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Hyundai Santa Cruz headlights problems

17 of the 330 owner complaints about the Hyundai Santa Cruz describe headlights failing or too dim, most of them for the 2022 model year.

owner complaints
17
worst model year
2022
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.

By model year

  • 2025
    4
  • 2024
    2
  • 2023
    3
  • 2022
    8

Often reported together

What owners say

Filed Oct 29, 2026 · Electrical, Lights · TX

One or two times a week, while driving at night, my headlights and head unit display both power off briefly, typically about 1/2 a second. Then they resume as if nothing had happened. No warning lights or errors, no boot up screen... just back to normal instantly. The only thing that changes is my seat belt indicator illuminates for a few seconds, then goes back off. After some online digging, it seems plenty of other people have this issue, but no one has found an official cause or solution.

Filed Jul 8, 2026 · Lights · 200 miles · MO

The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds at night on several occasions, the headlights were dim and created a shadow across the roadway. The vehicle was taken to a dealer on multiple occasions. The dealer was initially unable to duplicate the failure but later diagnosed that the driver-side headlight bulb needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer on several occasions. The dealer ultimately deemed the headlight performance normal. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 200.

Filed Mar 17, 2026 · Lights · WI

While driving at night I happened to notice that the headlights failed to illuminate the road sufficiently. Specifically, the truck was going downhill. As it approached the bottom and soon to go uphill, I noticed that there was a strict delineation in what was lit up and what was not. Being on a country two lane with no ambient lights and travelling at the posted 55mph I realized that I did not have enough distance to stop safely in the event that something be on the road ahead, e.g., deer. So concentrated is the light that it does not create any vertical illumination. (Picture travelling toward the bottom of a parabola.) I visited the Hyundai dealership in my area the next day. I asked that the headlamps be adjusted (raised) to extend the field of vision. The Service manager told me that there is no adjustment for my headlights. I explained my experience driving without adequate illumination. He did not offer any recourse other than to slow down. I have never had a vehicle that did not have headlight adjustment capability.

Filed Mar 1, 2026 · Electrical, Lights · IL

I was driving on a highway at 55mph at night today 3/1/2026 and all of a sudden the headlights, instrumentation lights, and computer display went out, very scary, the all turned back on about 1.5 seconds later.

Filed Sep 6, 2024 · Airbags, Seat belts · NM · crash · 1 injury

Another driver ran a red light and hit a vehicle in front of me, which spun and impacted the right front corner of my truck. Impact did not seem that severe, my air bags did not deploy but both front seat belts were locked up after the accident. My damage seemed just cosmetic, grill, bumper, hood and right front fender & headlight were damaged. At repair shop, they determined that the right front frame rail was damaged and the vehicle is totaled, almost $19,000 to repair which is above Geicos’ 75% limit. If the impact was enough to damage the frame rail, why didn’t the air bags deploy?? I do not have an electronic copy of police report or damage assessment, only paper copy.

Filed Feb 15, 2024 · Lights · 1,000 miles · IN

The contact owns a 2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed at night and approaching either an incline or decline, the contact became aware that the headlamps failed to provide adequate top and bottom coverage of the roadway. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who adjusted the headlamps, tilting the headlights further upward. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, and the headlights were readjusted, but the headlights failed to provide adequate illumination. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 1,000.

Filed Nov 6, 2023 · Lights · AZ

Vehicle is equipped with automatic headlights. They constantly turn on and off during the day as soon as you enter any type of shadow. This causes the headlights to “flash” the driver in front of you. While traveling on the interstate at 75 mph if you go under an overpass they turn on, less than 1 second but take 30-60 seconds to turn off! During that time the dash darkens and you cannot see the speedometer,HVAC controls, etc. Even with the headlight switch turned to OFF the dash continues to dim as if the headlights were on! I have had the dealer (San Tan Hyundai in Gilbert AZ) check them twice. Each time I am told operating as designed. This needs a software update to make the automatic headlight system less sensitive. There is no reason why my dash is dimming while the system is off or why the headlights are coming on during a bright sunny day because I drove through a shadow.

Filed Jun 13, 2023 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · NY

The most major problem that occurred on 2-3 different occasions is that the emergency braking system activated for no reason on one occasion, almost causing a Rear end collision with a person behind me. No one to my sides, and in front of me on all of the occasions. Headlights on the automatic, setting on a bright sunny day, will turn off and on no change in lighting which annoys other drivers because they think I’m flashing them. After starting the car in Drive the first time I break and then go to accelerate there’s a delay in the acceleration. as well as other times while driving. Today, the back up camera didn’t shut off when shifting into drive like it normally does it didn’t go off until I went into parking pushed the radio button. I’m pretty sure it’s a computer issue

Filed May 8, 2023 · Lights · TX

*Headlights are not shining correctly. Traveling on a two lane highway, a big black spot covers the whole left lane, about 75 yards. No black spot on traveling lane Driving on a curve road in a subdivision, your eyes follows the black spot , instead of paying attention the road. This is a bad scenario for a accident. I do not know if oncoming traffic sees the black spot or not. *This has a known safety issue that was not disclosed to me at the time of purchase. It has been well documented all over the Internet since 2021. The service manager and sales manager confirmed that it is a manufacturer issue. This particular model cannot be resolved.

Filed Jan 30, 2023 · Lights, Visibility · OR

My LED headlights have a massive dark spot in the top left corner. It looks like a triangle took a bite out of the light. It creates a big blind spot at night when driving in poorly lit areas and again, Hyundai won't do anything about it.

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

Questions about the Hyundai Santa Cruz headlights

Which Hyundai Santa Cruz years have headlights failing or too dim problems?

The model years with the most reports are 2022 (8 complaints), 2025 (4 complaints) and 2023 (3 complaints).

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