2017 Hyundai Santa Fe: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Sep 19, 2026 · Engine · FL

My son was driving the vehicle normally. There were no issues, warning lights, abnormal feel to the drive, and no odd noises. Suddenly, all of the warning lights on the dashboard lit up, acceleration dropped and he could no longer accelerate. He pulled off the main road and there was a burning smell and the vehicle was inoperable.

Filed Apr 27, 2026 · Engine · IL · fire

While driving home on the highway from our sons hockey game at about 8:30 pm we were going about 60 mph when the car made a noise and began smoking and as we were trying to pull over on the side of the highway noticed by the reflection of a passing car that the engine on our vehicle was on fire under the vehicle. We had to evacuate the vehicle quickly and get our children out on the side of a busy highway with fire showing under the front end of the car.

Filed Apr 7, 2026 · Electrical · 63,000 miles · FL · fire

The contact owned a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe equipped with a Rockland Electric Mobility Scooter Lifter, Part Number: 10101194. The contact stated that after the mobility scooter lifter was installed on the vehicle, the vehicle experienced electrical failures. The A/C became inoperable, and the hatch opened intermittently. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked approximately a month after the lifter installation, the alarm sounded intermittently during the day. The contact observed the vehicle from the residence, but did not notice any abnormality. The contact installed the mobility scooter on the vehicle in the evening. The contact stated that the vehicle alarm sounded at night, and the contact noticed that the vehicle had caught on fire and there were flames coming from underneath the hood by the engine and firewall location. The vehicle was significantly burned from the front end to the trunk. The fire was extinguished by the fire department. A fire department report and a police report were filed. There was no property damage. There was no physical injury sustained. The contact sustained mental trauma, causing headaches and the right side of the lip to quiver. The contact had called Gregory Fox, an investigative reporter and anchor at WESH 2 News(NBC), who notified the manufacturer of the failure. The manufacturer followed up with the contact and informed the contact that a third-party investigation would be conducted to determine the cause of the fire incident. The vehicle was towed to a salvage yard, where a third-party investigation was conducted, and the manufacturer informed the contact that the fire was caused by the Rockland Electric Mobility Scooter Lifter. The vehicle was totaled. The failure mileage was approximately 63,000.

Filed Jul 9, 2025 · Engine · 152,530 miles · WI

The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving on the highway at 65 MPH, the contact heard a loud bang coming from the engine. The contact stated that immediately afterwards the vehicle started losing motive power with smoke coming from the front and the rear of the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over and had the vehicle towed to a local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that additional diagnostic tests were needed to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage 152,530.

Filed Apr 25, 2025 · Engine · CA

Was driving down the freeway when the check engine light went on. I tried to pull over but car lost power and I heard a loud bang noise. Smoke came from the engine and the car stopped in the fast lane. Luckily i was not hit by any other cars. Once we got the car towed you can see a hole in the bottom of the engine. these 2017 hyunadi santa fe's have crankshaft failure, we even received a letter from Hyundai stating this.

Filed Mar 13, 2025 · Engine · SC

I have only had my car 7 years and it is at 151,000 miles. I purchased it brand new in 2018. At about 15,000 miles I reported a burning smell under the hood and took kt in. The service department stated they did not smell anything. I continued to keep up with the service and had some issues with oil consumption. Hyundai did the test, but came back and advised it was okay and Hyundai's do this and it is okay. I later had an issue where it began jerking as if it were about to cut off after coming back from Virginia. I had it towed in and they advised it was nothing. Maybe bad gas. I was also told to just always check my car to put oil in it. I felt like this was crazy to have to carry around oil to put in my car within the same month of having an oil change or anytime. I have taken this vehicle in for this reason before I reached 150,000 miles and they would not give me an engine starting it necer had a recall. I explained that it has had issues where it stalled pulling out to get in traffic and I almost had an accident and it has had issues with the engine where it would jerk and hesitate. At this time, I recently went to Simpsonville for a funeral and it began the jerking and hesitation when we got into Fountain Inn. It was a lot and I was told by a mechanic that I needed a new engine. Hyundai would not help me. I called consumer affairs, I guesd with Hyundai and they took over 2 weeks and said there were no recalls and they couldn't do anything. I bought this car brand new, made sure I took care of it and this was what I got. Hyundai is a rip off and they do not guarantee anything. I will never buy from them again. Now I have been without a vehicle for over a month and not even anyone trying to get me a loaner, help with giving me a discount to purchase another vehicle or anything. I should have not had any issues with this car. I was having the exact issues of the recall vehicles but they state there were no recalls on it. Something needs to be done.

Filed Jan 15, 2025 · Brakes, Electrical · MA · fire

While driving, the vehicle lost its brakes and rolled to a stop on [XXX] at that point the vehicle compartment began to fill up with black smoke and soot and flames started to come out of vents. My daughter immediately grabbed her dog and exited from the vehicle to a safe spot away from the car. Within 10 seconds the vehicle exploded and erupted into a 20 ft fireball. If my daughter would have hesitated she could have been killed. Hyundai inspected the vehicle and found nothing conclusive except that this problem has been documented in other Incidents. The vehicle was declared to be totaled. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Dec 11, 2024 · Engine · CT

The engine on my car was consuming oil at a rapid rate. The dealer service department gave me the run around for many month. Stating they could never duplicate the issue. when clearly the whitish blue smoke pouring out of tailpipe and horrible combustion fumes inside cabin of car. At some point bluish smoke turned to black smoke and that when the $800 combustion test was suggested. Which they say will tell me if the engine is bad. how do they not know the signs of a bad engine. my car sat in service department for 2 months for them to say it's not covered under warranty. I tried everything to hold the manufacture responsible and they was unwilling to budge and help. The car has the extended warranty and my car was under the mileage and years. My car been sitting in my driveway since May 2024 needing a engine replacement. The fumes in cabin of vehicle was unbearable which cause me to have to drive with window down. Vehicle never show any warning lights when engine oil was low or empty. another incident was with the radio not turning off even after the battery went died. The radio continue to work and connect to phone when battery was died. After charging battery radio would again kill battery and not shut off. The only way it would shut off is to disconnect radio. How dealer explained the issue was that of a modem. That the car probably need to be reset when radio was disconnected it worked. But after that it happen 3 more times. these cars need to be recalled and all customer should get there money back. To own a 2005 Santa Fe with over 216,000 miles with no oil burning / leaking or smoke out tailpipe say a lot on the manufacturing of this vehicle. I have no mechanical issues with this car and that was the reason i wanted to upgrade to 2017. Now I wish I had never brought the 2017. Beware before buying this brand because they are no good.

Filed May 9, 2024 · Engine · CA

2017 Hyundai Santa Fe sport 2.0 purchased brand new on July 2016. A month ago with 73322km mileage, engine failure occurred on the highway. First, I heard a rattling sound, then car started to shake, engine light blinking, oil change light went off (which never) happens, and the car started to decelerate on the highway. Upon finding the next exit, as I was turning right at the lights, car shut off completely. Went to the nearest Hyundai dealership which was within 2kms. The car was moderately drivable up to the dealership, and was advised that it is unsafe for continuous use. The dealership's diagnostics were: piston or 2nd cylinder was not compressing and spark plug burned. Hyundai Streetsville, Mississauga advised me to pay $8000 for a new engine or sell them the car. Had the car towed from this dealership to my local dealership Schlueter Hyundai in Waterloo. Their diagnostics were: Vehicle has dead miss, cylinder #2 pulled plug and bore scoped cylinder found piston melted around the edge causing no compression. Hyundai Canada denied warranty as it is past 5 years despite low mileage and regular maintenance at their own dealership. Went to Hyundai Canada to determine if there is recall on this particular issue and now was filed. Another friend who owned a similar car with 140 000 mileage, engine caught on fire on the highway. My car is available for inspection. Thankfully, there were no accidents or injuries that occurred. My concern is the potential for accidents on the highway and other vehicles that have this issue & there is no recall on the Hyundai Canada website.

Filed May 4, 2024 · Electrical, Transmission · NC

I had just dropped my son off at the barbershop by my apartment. As I left the parking lot I proceeded to pull out into the street,as i tried to accelerate the car sputtered & lost all power. I then coasted into a nearby Wendy's. I parked & tried to crank the car to no avail. I then noticed a burning smell followed by some smoke. I had no dash lights prior to indicate any issues. I ended up calling my insurance to get help with the vehicle. Long story short the starter,coil pack & plugs along with the engine had to be replaced.2

Filed Apr 15, 2024 · Engine · KY · fire

Engine seizure happened while driving and the engine caught on fire. The car was well maintained and had been up-to-date on all recalls.

Filed Mar 16, 2024 · Engine · MO

My 2017 Santa Fe experienced a catastrophic engine failure while driving on the highway. My [XXX] son was on his way home when the car began to make what he described as a knocking. He began to merge so he could exit the highway. By the time he made it over 1 lane, the vehicle began losing power and smoking. He barely made it to the shoulder before hearing a "loud bang" and thick, black smoke blocking his vision. Him and my [XXX] , fearing the vehicle was on fire, immediately exited the vehicle into the median. No warning lights ever came on in the vehicle, no warning, nothing. When my husband and I arrived, we found several pieces of the engine along the roadway and the oil pooled under the front passenger tire. We had the vehicle towed the next morning to the dealership, 50 miles away and a cost of $188. After almost 2 weeks we were informed by the dealership that our Engines For Life warranty denied the claim because we did not get all of our oil changes there, even though we have NEVER missed an oil change. We were quoted $21,000 for a new engine. Our service advisor informed us the point of failure for the vehicle determined to be "Cylinder 6 rod bearing failure causing rod bearing to exit vehicle at high velocity creating a hole in the block". We were also informed that this is a VERY well known issue with these engines but Hyundai had chosen to only extend warranties to select vehicles, ours was not one of them. A claim has since been filed with our extended warranty and we were told it would be an additional $600 to drop the oil pan to allow the inspection by the extended warranty company. Something has to be done. We are beyond thankful that our children were not injured but had this happened at a different time of day we could have had a significantly different outcome. There were on a highway that is very busy during the day. The undue financial hardship we have faced as a result has only further added to the stress of the situation. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (F