2002 Hyundai Santa Fe: sudden unintended acceleration

Filed May 13, 2015 · Acceleration, Engine · 145,000 miles · VA

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 hyundai santa fe. While driving at 10 MPH, the vehicle auto accelerated without engaging the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 145,000.

Filed Mar 21, 2014 · Acceleration · 196,000 miles · WV

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 hyundai santa fe. The contact stated that while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning. The contact stated she had to shift into neutral and turn the vehicle on and off in order for the vehicle to work normally. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 196,000 and the current mileage was 197,000.

Filed Sep 16, 2013 · Acceleration · 120,000 miles · GA

Car turned left onto 30 MPH speed limit n. Highland ave. Atlanta, car immediately lurched into wot (wide open throttle) executing an unintended acceleration. Standing on the brake with both feet, engaging emergency brake, and finally knocking it out of gear, the car stopped 10 feet in front of an outside patio of beer drinkers sitting at tables at a local bar. No one was hurt, but, it was by pure luck and fast reaction by my son who is deathly afraid of this car now. I personally removed the engine cover to find the cruise control cable had separated where it is staked into it's mounting hardware. The staked end sheath of the cable is pulled out of it's staked housing tube and in some cases may go back into it causing the problem to be intermittent and unrepeatable on request, however, our cable end was unable to reenter it's position resulting in the throttle remaining open. The cable is too short by design leaving it to be on a constant pull until it overcomes the staking and slips out. Jim ellis hyundai has never heard of this happening before this date. Never, said their parts dept., and service manager. They told me to call hyundai corp, or, they would be glad to quote me a cost to repair. Like hyundai corp. They went into immediate rear end coverage mode.

Filed Feb 7, 2012 · Acceleration · 163,000 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 hyundai santa fe. The contact stated that while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle suddenly accelerated with out any warning. The contact mentioned that the driver was able to control the vehicle by shifting gears and engaging the brakes. The vehicle was taken to a local repair shop, who diagnosed that the cruise control cable was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileages were 163,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Jun 28, 2011 · Acceleration · 96,000 miles · MO · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 hyundai santa fe. The contact stated after shifting into drive gear the vehicle suddenly accelerated crashing into a garden and a vehicle. The vehicle was destroyed. There were no injuries. The contact did not notify the manufacturer of the failure. The failure mileage was 96,000.

Filed Feb 11, 2011 · Engine · 163,500 miles · NC

I recently bought a used hyundai sante fe (2002). I'm still on my first tank of gas and twice now I have experienced sudden acceleration. Both times I was pulling up to a stoplight and going very slow when all of a sudden the engine began to race and the vehicle lurched forward. Fortunately I was able to stop it both times but this is a real problem.

Filed Aug 10, 2010 · Acceleration · 79,500 miles · IL

My 2002 hyundai santa fe has experienced two throttle position sensor failures within the last 4 months. This causes sudden acceleration and transmission downshifts and up shifts. Fortunately both times occurred on in town streets and I was able to keep control of the vehicle. Could be serious if it occurred while trying to merge into highway traffic.

Filed Feb 26, 2010 · Acceleration · 116,000 miles · CA

I drive a 2002 hyundaid santa fe (engine 2.7l 6 cyl. This morning I pulled into a parking space and suddenly my car accelerated forward. I hit the brake yanked the emergency brake up and it stopped. I then backed it up since it was way overshot in the space. I called the dealer and they said to bring it in ,but explained in great length that hyundai's have a different throttle control system than toyota's and bmws. I don't really care that my system is configured differently. The fact that my problem occurred during the toyota crisis is circumstantial. My problem did occur though. And someone could've been hurt. The first time it happened was about 3 months ago, I was driving on a side road and going fairly slow (about 25 MPH) when it all of a sudden accelerated. Since this was the first time, I was disoriented and unsure if I had done something. I hit the brake, pulled over and stopped. Now that it has happened again, I am very clear that it was an unintended sudden acceleration. I checked my floor mat and it is completely flat and secure. I'm having my husband drive it to the dealer. We'll see what they can find.

Filed Jan 11, 2010 · Acceleration · 92,000 miles · NC

In july 2009 and again in dec 2009 I experience "sudden acceleration" in my 2002 santa fe with the 2.7 v6 engine. I had about 92,000 miles on the odometer in july and about 95,000 in december. Both times the "sudden acceleration" occurred while I was in "manual mode". Some refer to this as "sport mode". I was driving in the mountains on pennsylvannia when these incidences occurred. The first time I was completely stopped in 1st gear. The car started to drifted into the ongoing traffic before I realized that the engine was accelerating. All this time I was pressing on the brake pedal as hard as I could and finally stopped about 10-15 into the oncoming traffic. Luckily, no traffic approached during this incident. It hadn't happened again until I was in the mountains of pa again in dec 2009 in "manual mode" because of the hilly, icy road conditions at the time. The incident occurred while I was shifting between gears. My wife drives the car almost exclusively but never uses the "manual mode" however, when I drove in these two specific aforementioned incidences I was in "manual mode" on very hilly and windy road conditions. I am presently working with my hyundai service manager on several potential fixes to the problem. They are taking this seriously but have no definitive fix for the problem as yet.