2012 Hyundai Santa Fe: steering wheel locks up

Filed Jul 22, 2025 · Engine · NY

Engine light was blinking. Hearing grinding from the front. Steering locked up. I was able to pull over safely. Called tow truck. The mechanic diagnosed it said it needed a new engine. The car has 106,000 miles on it.

Filed Nov 13, 2020 · Steering · 116,000 miles · NC

Twice as I was driving it mid turn the steering wheel locked on the regular street.

Filed Mar 25, 2019 · Engine · 105,000 miles · NY

I had just merged onto the interstate I-90 at rush hour, at about 55-60 MPH when the steering froze and the car totally stopped. Fortunately I was able to get the car into the breakdown lane and get out of traffic. The car was towed to the dealer where I purchased it & maintained it regularly. Their mechanics checked it out. I was told the problem was the bearing material went first, causing a seized crankshaft. Need a new engine at 105,000 miles !!! Dealer cost of new engine was stated at $8000. They also gave me the alternative of buying a used engine for $6000 but only with a 3 yr warranty. At my normal usage, assuming I continue to drive about 17,500 mi/year, it will cost me $8000 plus regular maintenance to get another 52,500 miles out of this car. This is a totally unacceptable issue that the manufacturer is not handling in a pro-active manner. At least hyundai could extend the warranty for my car to allow this fix to be done at no cost to me. They obviously kept the scope of their recall too narrow because pages and pages of complaints exist on the federal safety agency website are describing the same problem that I had. This is a dangerous problem that needs to be addressed.

Filed Jan 1, 2018 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 150,000 miles · TX

I was at a four way-year-old and stop where I had to yield as I was doing the santa fe cut off and I lost all power steering wheel locked up and I couldn't control vehicle turn the key off and then turn the key back on the truck started 20 minutes later the truck would not start it when you return on the antitheft alarm keeps beeping

Filed Aug 27, 2017 · Engine · 80,000 miles · CA

Clicking from engine but does not start crankshaft failed/broken upper oil pan broken due to crankshaft failure while driving there was a clicking sound then it froze up the steering wheel locked and had to pull over on side of road. Tried to restart the radio came on but the engine never started up

Filed Apr 24, 2014 · Acceleration, Brakes · 23,000 miles · CA

Please investigate the hyundai line of cars. I was driving this car that I owned. I had just driven 140 miles, and I was on city streets making my way to the inlaws. I stopped at a stop sign and as I accelerated and proceeded to make a right turn on to another city street, the engine completely died. I noticed it when my power steering locked up, I had no brakes and I was headed right toward a home's front door. I was able to stop the car when it hit the curb dead on. I then put the car in to park and turned the car back on and it fired up right away. I really believe that hyundai has the same problem as gm. There was nothing wrong with the car after that and I could not duplicate the incident. I traded the car in a few days later because I refuse to drive it. If you google the problem, I was able to trace it back at least 11 years. How can you trust a car that where the engine will just turn off sporadically. Dealership claims "they've never heard of such a thing..." lies. The know about it, they just haven't done anything about it. I seriously think there needs to be an investigation in to this vehicle. I saw stories of peoples hyundais dying on the freeway. They could have been killed. One lady said that she was told next time it happens to leave the car as is and they will tow it and check it out. They towed it after it died and nothing. That's what leads to me believe that in this vehicle, the key can also become disengaged while driving. Similar if not exactly to the problems with the gm. I beg of you to investigate!!!

Filed Nov 1, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 2,600 miles · CA

Vehicle stalled as turning into driveway of shopping complex. The steering wheel froze as I was trying to turn left. In the dashboard, no lights on except "malfunction indicator" light was lit. Restarted car and drove on, the "malfunction light" got turned off, came home and then called dealer. Drove to dealer but they could not diagnose the issue since the light was not on and so no code can be found. Car is less than 3 months old and not even 3000 miles on the car. I feel this car is not safe unless hyundai takes care of the problem. Not diagnosing and addressing the issue makes me concerned. If car stalls while driving then that is very dangerous as it can cause an accident such as car hitting from behind. I am very much concern with such a problem for car as new as mine.