2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport transmission problems

Filed Aug 26, 2026 · Engine, Fuel system · NJ

Bought this as a used vehicle with around 77k miles. The SUV was running fine for a little while until I drove onto the highway. It eventually began to bog down and there was hesitation and jumping instead of acceleration. This continued my entire trip home with the check engine light on. The car was only driven for about 300-400 miles in the time I had it. When I brought it to have an oil change, they found metal shavings in the oil. From what I’ve been reading, this has been a common problem for this vehicle. It has been sitting in a Hyundai service center for at least a month now with no real responses from Hyundai themselves. They told me they would not fix the problem due to lack of maintenance from prior owners and that they were marking my title (doesn’t make sense since I bought this with a clean title). According to what Hyundai told me, this issue was brought up by a previous owner in January 2026 with no repairs. How can you change the status of my title while refusing to repair a problem caused by a manufacturers defect?

Filed May 25, 2026 · Engine, Fuel system · KY

2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. Purchased January 2026 took to Oxmoor Hyundai Service Center March 2026. February 2026 began using oil at a measured rate of 700 miles per tank of oil. Used 3 full tanks of oil within the month of February. Oil lights and engine lights on and off and flashing during this time. March 8, 2026, engine light flashed and then stayed on continuously. Engine shook and stuttered and made a loud noise. Engine stalled while I was driving at 35-40 miles per hour. I was able to continue driving to my home with the stuttering and stalling. The next morning I drove it to the Oxmoor Hyundai Service Center. I told relayed the timeline of all symptoms I had experienced over the 2 month lifetime of my ownership. They did not attempt to reproduce the issue. They only entered "shakes in reverse" as the customer provided issue on the intake information. Service Center performed diagnostic, found cylinder misfires on cylinder 2 and cylinder 4. Replaced spark plugs to resolve Cylinder 2. Cylinder 4 continued to misfire. Used Borescope and found broken valve. They did not address the scoring on the cylinder of the valve. Recommended engine replacement. Advised it would not be covered under a warranty because the rod did not break. The oil consumption was proven with documentation from multiple Valvoline visits and the vertical scoring was present on the cylinder with the broken valve in the borescope photo. The Service Center refused to do a Boring Clearance Test or any other test that would prove the engine should be covered under an extended warranty or class action settlement. It wasn't until I reviewed HMA documents uploaded to the BBB Arbitration, that I realized that the information I initially gave to the Service Center of all the symptoms with timelines had not been entered into the system for diagnostic review by Techline. Arbitrator denied my claim under the theta settlement because the rod had not broken yet, BUT she said my engine was defective.

Filed Mar 23, 2026 · Engine, Fuel system · NY

Enterprise car sales sold me this vehicle when it had 3 open recalls on it. The vehicle itself was a problem from the beginning. When I took it in for it's first oil change the mechanic told me it had no oil in it. He said they sold me a car that is notorious for consuming oil and or seizing or blowing up. I had the engine replaced on this car already and I just took it in for it's first oil change and it was already consuming oil. I want a new car but enterprise is telling me this is my problem

Filed Feb 10, 2026 · Engine, Transmission · TN

Car stuttered and would not rev past 2k rpm. Blinking check engine light appeared Code was for known connecting rod failure for all theta engines for our 2018 sante fe. Hyundai is trying to get out of covering the cost of repair or replacement even though this is a very well known issue and is covered under warranty.

Filed Sep 30, 2025 · Engine, Transmission · OH

Excessive oil burning even after replacing the motor once before.

Filed Feb 3, 2025 · Transmission · PA

Engine failure/ the check engine light comes on and it powers down,it has been in the garage 3 times for the same reason. I have a lifetime warranty on this motor and Hyundai will not cover it, I purchased an extended warranty and they won’t cover it either. Get told now that it is fixed for now come drive it around it might make it.or maybe it will only make it to the red light but you will have to take it to a Hyundai dealer.that we got thrown out of once because they were not submitted any paperwork . Need help I have been with out a car for 8 months and have made car payments and insurance payments

Filed Aug 12, 2024 · Engine, Fuel system · TN

I got my oil changed 98,161 March 1 2024 at mechanic shop Mechanic shop checked oil March 29 2024 at 98,867 a total of 706 miles driven since last oil change. They added 2.5 quarts of oil. So i did my own research online found out the Hyundai 2018 Santa Fe Sport Turbo 2.5 Theta engines has excessive oil consumption problems that will cause Engine to seize/lock up, catch on fire, and other mechanical problems. I have an extended warranty TXXI and TXXC. Oil consumption leaks into the pistons and rod bearings and will cause a knocking in the engine. The oil is already in spark plugs and pcv valve which i replaced. But it will continue to keep happen over and over. I don't want my engine to catch on fire with me in it or at all that's why i am proactive in getting this solved now its already a problem. I contacted Wilson Hyundai dealership they did an 2 month oil consumption test Oil change i had to drive it for 1000 miles It failed. Then they did combuster chamber cleaning i had to drive it for another 1000 miles it failed again. So they submitted claim to corporate that i needed an engine. Corporate declined saying i was over my miles they had the wrong mileage it was a way just to deny me but dealership had correct miles so they could not follow through with that lie. So Corporate made Dealership send another claim in this time corporate denied it saying i was over my warranty. No i was not i started this at 98, 867 miles When 2.5quarts had to be added. I also had to wait a week to get into Wilson dealership because they were backed up in appointments i was at 100,212 miles and so where other Hyundia dealerships others were 1-2 months out in appointments. I had to be in a rental car for 2 months had to pay for it and still pay car note paid for oil testing which i was told i would be reimbursed for repairs and car rentals but they did not honor it nor did they pay goodwill pay for all of my inconvenience 2 month long testing and it failed and they still denied/ lied

Filed Aug 5, 2024 · Engine, Suspension · TN

There has been an ongoing issue with oil consumption and engine failure with my car. The engine didnt give any indication of running hot on the dashboard. It just shut off while driving. I've been to the dealer a few times with no help. On 8/4/2024 my car cut off in the middle of traffic with my daughter in the car twice. It took 3 hours to cool off in 90 + degrees heat. Oil wasn't in the spark plugs but they keep getting shorted out. Oil burns and the engine stalls. I have to replace it which I did but my car shut down. We could've been in a bad accident because it wouldn't drive off immediately. We were stranded on a 2 way country road. This is all horrible because again, we could've been involved in a bad accident on the road we were on. After 5 1/2 hours it finally started and 2 people had to trail me home.

Filed Mar 15, 2024 · Transmission · TN

My car cut off in traffic 1 week ago and almost led to an accident. This has been an ongoing issue that I reported 2 years ago with the engine consuming too much oil and ot has been leaking. I have to constantly purchase have oil and spark plugs.

Filed Jan 26, 2024 · Transmission · MD

My car is burning oil. Took the car to the dealership where an oil consumption was complete, a chamber cleaning, and then another failed consumption test. Hyundai will only cover 60% of the engine replacement because I am the second owner. I think this is unacceptable, how do they think they’re only 60% responsible for selling cars like this? If I didn’t find this problem out when I did, I would have been stranded on the side of the road or I could have even burning my apartment complex to the ground. Someone has to do something about this, Hyundai is knowingly selling faulty cars and allowing the resell of these cars with no intention to ever cover the damages. My extended warranty will not cover anything because there is no cause of this problem. There is a class action against Hyundai over this that should be settled soon, meanwhile, these car dealerships are selling these used Hyundai/Kia timebombs. Meanwhile, I’m putting a quart of oil in my car every fill up of gas, I owe 4 years on the car still, and I’m stuck. I included my email correspondence with the heartless Hyundai rep...I'm not even sure this is the right spot, I just don't want someone else to fall into this same trap as I did.