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Hyundai Santa Fe (2006 and earlier)

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Comments

  • mpuzachmpuzach Member Posts: 635
    No warranty protection? Was the timing belt overdue for replacement?
  • somedai1somedai1 Member Posts: 416
    yeah - you'll have a tuff time getting anything back if you did not do the proper scheduled maintenance...
  • gizzer777gizzer777 Member Posts: 335
    Do not mean to pile on ...but the mileage and time in service are extremely important. if it stretched BEFORE the required replacement, you probably have a good case...if you did not do it when required, about all you can do is beg them for a little break on the price. When they have you, most dealers will squeeze (just another profit ctr., unless they think it will reflect on them and your buying another vehicle from them (i live in a small city and word travels fast about crummy (and good) dealers. I have seen quite a few go under due to their screwing with customers to much. I am lucky with my Hyundai dealer (1st Hyundai for me). They are good, efficient and I went out of my way to make friends with the SA's and service mgr.....it has done wonders for my service, especially letting them chg the oil (I always did it myself on cars past)I know the oil is bulk grade but at 3000 miles and with them doing it...I am comfortable)

    My dealer even has little placards on the service desk and on the wall reminding customers about the belt. The damn manuals are so thick these days I put it in PDF on my PC so i can refer to it. I make it my business to abide by their REQUIRED service (but none of that engine flush stuff) just to avoid what you are going thru...I intentionally bought a 2007 SF w/ 3.3L engine since it does not have timing belts (the 2.7L still does) but the good ole timing chains. Did not need all the rest of the stuff...a GLS would have been fine except for that belt!

    The catch there is that Hyundai adheres to the 3000 mile oil chg. Clean oil is critical to the timing chain functions. Since I do not drive that much any more, it is no biggie for me...I do think with the higher quality oils and FILTERS today, that 5000 miles is a more reasonable period...but I want that warranty in tact with no wiggle room, should something happen. Repairs on modern vehicles are big bucks ALL BRANDS!

    Give a manufacturer some wiggle room in the warranty area and you are fried...I DO hope it works out for you...and so you know...lots of "better" brands (supposedly better) have timing belts and if they break, stretch or the like...it fries the engine

    best of luck
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Hyundai adheres to the 3000 mile oil chg

    I didn't realize that. That's a deal killer for me. My Subaru is marginal enough with a 5,000 mile interval. My Nissan says a 7,500 mile interval is fine and that's worked out good on it for the last 119,000 miles on it.

    The belt change at 60,000 miles (like my Subaru) is on the low side too. The Nissan goes to 105,000 miles (plus it's a non-interference engine, so in theory a busted belt isn't going to cause too many problems other than stranding you somewhere).
  • gizzer777gizzer777 Member Posts: 335
    That was for severe service...otherwise 7500 miles if I recall....typed before brain got into gear. Of course the dealers love the 3000 RECOMMENDED changes. The 60k timing belt killed the GLS 2.7 for me....just hate timing belts in general! Even though I rarely go over 30-40k miles before getting something else...the SF may be different though...I really like it. Want to see a stuffy service...BMW and Mini cooper are 1st on my S$#$% list! If I remember the Hyundai engines are the interference type so you are screwed if the belt goes. Figured that i saved over $4500 to the next vehicle on my short list so mi went for the SF.

    I understand and thought about that too but I live in the nevada desert...murder on engines so it can't hurt and since i do not drive that much, i do not want the old Dino oil sitting in the crankcase too many months (people do not realize the acid that forms and we can swing 50+/_ degrees an a daily basis!). I sold a mini cooper and their chg was at 15000!!!! that's nuts in the other direction so I always did it myself at 5000 mi.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    That's better - for some reason the Edmunds Maintenance Guide says every 3,000 miles for the '07 SF I looked up. Some dealers insist that everyone falls under the severe category too, another peeve of mine.
  • gizzer777gizzer777 Member Posts: 335
    Yep...My dealer insists on the severe guide too...I still abide since the warranty is a major factor in owning the car for me. I figure it might cost me maybe $50 extra per yr but is a pain in the neck.
  • pelican19pelican19 Member Posts: 323
    In NY my dealer also puts us on the severe list due to all the stop and go traffic we endure. I look at it this way, I love the car ( 2007 3.3 AWD Limited Santa Fe ) and dealer oil changes cost $30. Its a small price to pay when your spending close to $ 30,000.00 for a little peace of mind.

    Just my two cents...

    A
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I don't agree - I think it's a dealer profit center and causes needless waste of a natural resource. Too bad Spitzer is the governor now and not the AG in NY where he had some real power - a good suit could straighten out some of these dealers and quickie lube joints. They probably wouldn't like being called out for damaging our energy security by wasting oil.

    You guys know the dealers turn around and sell your used oil for recycling - yet another profit center coming out of your wallet. That's assuming they actually change your oil when you take it in (link).

    But I digress. ;)
  • somedai1somedai1 Member Posts: 416
    i agree that the 3000 mile oil change would apply but moreso in the past when engines drank oil and you had to add a court - engines are much better designed now and so is the oil - conventional oil is different from what we used years ago too - and there should be a different guideline for severe duty when using synthetic...
  • somedai1somedai1 Member Posts: 416
    oh - yeah - spitzer was the man...
  • rick998rick998 Member Posts: 3
    I have a 2006 Santa Fe.
    As you may know, if no one is sitting in the front passenger seat the passenger side airbag is deactivated, and there is a light in the dashboard which tells you it is deactivated.
    When someone is sitting in the seat, it activates a sensor in the seat, the airbag is then activated and the light will then go out.
    I've noticed on several occasions.....I guess it happens about once a month, that someone will be sitting in the seat and the light will not go out indicating that the airbag is still deactivated.
    Only two people really sit in the this seat, my wife and my mother, and it has happened to both of them.
    At first I had them get out of the car and get back in which would make the light go out.
    Then one day when my wife was in the vehicle, and the deactivated airbag light was on, I pulled over shut off the engine, then turned it on again and the light went out.
    I took it to a Hyundai dealer and they said that they couldn't duplicate what happened and that they checked the computer and found nothing wrong.
    The next time that it happened I was near the dealer and took it in and showed them that the light was coming on.
    The serviceman said that he would check with Hyundai and see if there was any reports of this happening to someone else, of course he never got back to me.
    He also suggested that it may be my wife's body shape that was causing the problem and the way she sat in the seat caused the sensor not to activate.
    I might consider that a possibility, but like I said it's happened to both my wife and my mother who are two compeltely different body types.
    It seems to me that it's either a problem with the sensor not functioning properly when someone sits in the seat, or a problem with the computer not picking up the message from the seat that someone is sitting in it.
    The problem wouldn't be quite as bad if, in the daylight hours, when I usually drive, wouoldn't be so hard to see with the sun shining in the car, but I've ridden around for at least a half-hour or so before I noticed that light was still on with someone in the seat. Of course it probably means that the airbag for that seat isn't going to function, and I'd hate to think what might happen if I got into an accident.
    Any thoughts of what the problem might be?
    I'm making sure that I mention it every time I bring it in for service, becasue if they don't do anything, and so far they haven't.....and I do get into an accident and the airbag dosen't deploy when it should have,,,,,my attorney would be licking his lips in anticipation of a lawsuit.
    Thanks in advance.
  • jcwsbltdjcwsbltd Member Posts: 167
    If you go to page 2 , you'll find a whole discussion about this very problem. It has been a very common issue. Contact Hyundai Customer Service if necessary. The usual fix is a replacement weight sensor in the seat. Try typing in the search box at the top of the page "passenger air bag light problems" and see what comes up from the forum search. There may be a TSB about it by now. Good Luck.
  • rick998rick998 Member Posts: 3
    Thank you sir for your time and effort.

    I went to the second page, but was unable to find anything there pertaining to this problem.....I also didn't get anything back when I put the words that you suggested in search. I eventually did find a couple of posts dealing with the problem but they seemed to be in the 2007 models.

    (Of course I'm not familiar with this forum.....as you can see I've only posted once here, so maybe I'm not doing something right :-) )

    But I will certainly mention replacing the weight sensor when I take the vehicle back in for service.

    Once again let me thank you......and hey......maybe you can answer my next question. :-)
  • rick998rick998 Member Posts: 3
    Since your were nice enough to answer my first question, perhaps you could answer this one.
    Again, I have a 2006 Santa Fe with 17,000 miles, and noticed this happening a few months ago. I'll try my best to give a complete description of what the vehicle is doing.
    What is happening, is when I'm slowing down and the transmission is downshifting..... it seems that when it goes from 4th to 3rd gear the tachometer will jump around 800-900 rpms. It'll then go down to the lower gear. It dosen't jerk the car any when it does go down to the lower gear, and the only way that you'd even notice it is if you were looking at the tach when it happened, or heard the surge in the motor. The only other thing that I can compare it to is if you were driving a stick shift and pushed in the clutch without taking your foot off the gas....if that makes sense to you.
    One other thing that I've had happen and of course both things only happen occasionally.....
    I'll come to a stop at say a red light, and will be sitting there with my foot on the brake.
    All of a sudden the car will lurch a little bit forward and I have to press harder on the brake.....it's almost like another car comes up and taps you in the rear is the best way to describe it.....in fact when it first occurred that's what I thought happened, until I looked in my rearview mirror and no one was there.
    The second time it happened, I just blamed it on myself, thinking that I wasn't pressing the brake hard enough.
    The third time that it happened I was looking at the tachometer and noticed that the idle speed, when I stopped, was reading about 400-500 rpm's, where it usually reads 700-800 when at idle.
    While I was sitting there thinking "hummmm, that's funny" the idle speed jumped back up to it's normal speed, and that's when I got the same lurching movement that I experienced before.
    When I took the car for it's 15,000 mile service I told the service rep what the car was doing.
    They said that they couldn't duplicate the problem, and that when they put it on the computer it didn't show any problem.
    They did say that the vehicle has something in the computer that, (now I know that I'm not going to describe this properly so please bear with me) confroms the vehicle with the way that you drive (again forgive me because I can't recall off the top of my head what they call it), and they reset it.
    Since then I haven't really noticed it lurching.....but on two occassions I have noticed that it still reving up the rpms when it downshifts.
    Anyone else have the problem?
    Anyone have any idea what may be causing it?
    Anyone have any idea what they might do to fix it?
    Thank you in advance.
    P.S......if this helps. I've only noticed it when I've been driving around for awhile and the engine is hot.
  • jcwsbltdjcwsbltd Member Posts: 167
    On the front page with all the message lists for Santa Fe , in the search box type "air bag light problem" I came up with 20 messages in 1.1 seconds.

    As for the 2006 S.Fe transmission problem, sorry, I can't help. It could be umpteen things. You could try using the search again and see what comes up. As for "cannot duplicate" justification from service techs, I swear it's their first line of defense - we've all had that at some point. I assume you are still within warranty so you could try another dealer. Good luck.
  • don97don97 Member Posts: 5
    the 2.7 has 115000 miles I dont know if the timing belt or tensioner has been replaced I will have it replaced immediately the engine sounds fine no miss heard or felt or excessive gas use what signs would indicate if the timing belt was or is stretched hate to put money in it if i missed something also would a ASC mechanic be qualified to do the work. Don
  • don97don97 Member Posts: 5
    Can anyone tell me where the fill location is on the rear differential I see the 24mm drain plug but not the refill. Thanks Don
  • somedai1somedai1 Member Posts: 416
    usually - rear diff is filled at the same place it is drained from - unless this is a strange design...
  • don97don97 Member Posts: 5
    I was originally looking at the 24 mm refill plug about half way up on the rear differential the drain plug is a 24 mm plug located on the bottom of the rear differential did not see it until used a jack to raise the car,This is not a star or hex Hope this helps someone else. Don97
  • bottlerocket75bottlerocket75 Member Posts: 1
    I've been looking at '03 and' 04 Santa Fe's on cars.com. It looks like used models still retain a 5 yr/60,000 mile warranty if I remember the numbers correctly. Are there any hitches with that warranty? Does it have to have a proven service history from a Hyundai dealer? Do you have to buy used from a Hyundai dealer?

    I can spend about $11,000. I'm looking closely at an '03 4WD with the 2.7L V6 and ABS. I figure the 4WD might stick to the road better. Is the 4WD better to go with? This Santy has everything I wasnt except a sunroof. It seems the ones w/a sunroof I've seen on the Internet don't have 4WD.
  • somedai1somedai1 Member Posts: 416
    i think it would be best to get it from a hyundai dealer if you want a valid warranty - other dealerships might offer a warranty - but it most likely be an aftermarket/independent company warranty that has nothing to do with hyundai - the hyundai warranty i do not think is transferrable if you buy it from a private seller (off the street)
  • frustrated2frustrated2 Member Posts: 28
    I have had several very serious problems with my 2005 Kia Sorrento. These problems have inluded a multitude of electical and mechanical problems, brake issues, washerfluid pump, wiper motor, wheel cage (terminology). Several of these issues came to be at 60K when the warrenty was going to expire. I was exploring the idea of filing a claim under the Lemon Law but my vehicle is now at 100,000 miles. Does anyone have any general knowledge of lemon laws and their applicaiton? Does anyone have any ideas on how I should pursue a claim or some other type of resolution under my set of circumstances? A car that is only three years old should not have these problems.The dealer service department claim the problems are due to the excessive mileage. However I disagree. Is there anything I can do?

    PS. the trade-in value sucks! - depereciated $20,000 in three years
  • toosnicktoosnick Member Posts: 4
    We just bought a 2008 Santa Fe and have the same problem with the airbag being "off" when a passenger is in the seat. It has a whopping 600 miles on it and 2 months old. We are getting the same run around from our dealer - they cannot duplicate it. But, as you know, it only occurs sporadically. They can't find a TSB on it so their hands are tied. Apparently this problem is not new, since you have a 2006 with the same problem. :mad:

    Have you been able to get this resolved?
  • jneiljneil Member Posts: 2
    :( Hello - Just wondering - did you ever got to the bottom of your "lurching at stop" problem? My 04 SF does exactly the same thing - some days it does it, and some days it doesn't. But when it does, it scares me - just like you said it feels like someone hit you from behind. I took it to a dealer for a sunroof problem that he fixed and mentioned the lurching - he came back at the end of the day with no problem found, since they couldn't duplicate it. I would very much like to find a dealer or someone who has experienced this problem and been able to solve it, since my warranty is up in a couple of weeks.

    Thanks.
  • sempersemper Member Posts: 5
    Actually no...I haven't. I researched the internet and found a few things...but nothing that fixed the problem. One person suggested it might be a gear slipping in the differential. I've had the transmission serviced at Valvoline oil change. Didn't fix it. Recently I took it in for an oil change at Valvoline and mentioned the lurching. They checked the rear differential and it was empty. After they refilled it I didn't feel it lurching for about 2 weeks...which in reality was probably a false sense of security since it sometimes will go that long without doing it. It has lurched at initial acceleration since then....a couple times. It happens when the engine is cold...or when its hot. Always when I initially begin to move the vehcile....and never in reverse. I don't like it and I'm worried that one day the thing will happen at highway speeds...or the transmission will drop out. I have 85,000 miles on it now. If you find out anythig about yours let me know. My email is waterway2@comcast.net, I live in southern NH.

    Bill D.
  • mjdegnanmjdegnan Member Posts: 2
    My 6 cylinder SF is making a metal clanking noise in the front right wheel. Brakes are new. It usually only happens when turning. The car has been great - 66k miles and no problems. My bumber to bumper just expired so I was seeing if anyone had this problem and were able to fix it themselves.
    Any suggestions?

    Thanks. :)
  • mjdegnanmjdegnan Member Posts: 2
    Not 100% positive -
    But I think the Lemon Law applies to new cars. I think that time period is only a year or so. I could be wrong though! Doesn't the Kia have a 100,000 power train? I would trade on a Santa Fe - my '02 was bought brand new and no problems at all. Hyundai may own Kia - but the SF and the Sorrento are two totally different cars. The only car Hyundai and Kia duplicate is the Minivan. Hyundai's seem to be made better. Consumer Reports rated the Sorrento poor reliability and depreciation - the Santa Fe had all excellents/goods from 2002-present. :)
  • stushstush Member Posts: 62
    It might be one of your cv joints going bad. I think that it's easier and cheaper to fix if you replace the whole axel. You get both cv joints with it.
  • anacostiamananacostiaman Member Posts: 1
    Dealer wants 2 big ones for a key and remote, which I lost one of two I have. Does anyone know the programing if I buy a remote from a non-dealer vender? The key seems to be a standard non-chip key. Can I just get a key made from let's say Wall Mart?
    Thanks,
    Anacostiaman
  • dattaldattal Member Posts: 1
    Can anyone tell me how I can install my subs to my Santa Fe? Where can I make the wires run and how can I hook it up to the radio that I put in, a Kenwood head unit.
  • billbo1970billbo1970 Member Posts: 76
    I just wanted to post my findings after putting 120k miles on my SF.

    1. Mushy feel when turning: solved by using better tires. The stock tires do the vehicle no justice at all. Drives MUCH better on my Yokohama Geolander tires. It even drove better on some General Grabber tires.

    2. Repairs - After 120k miles, I've had to replace the spark plug wires, changed the timing belt for the 2nd time (both as scheduled maintenance), changed the spark plugs, replaced two bad wheel bearings (at the same time, right side had gone bad), changed all belts & hoses as per scheduled maintenance, replaced the battery 2x. Have had no mechanical breakdowns whatsoever. The bearings were a little surprising, but that's the only mechanical failure so far.
  • maxsoulflymaxsoulfly Member Posts: 2
    I was given two Lanzar 6.5 and two Pioneer 6.5
    Problem with the 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe
    I was given two Lanzar 6.5 and two Pioneer 6.5 speakers. There is nothing wrong with my stock speakers, I just wanted to add a little more thump and clarity. I took off the front drivers side interior panel, Which wasn't all that bad, but i'm having major problems putting it back together. I'll get into that a bit later. I figured swapping the old for the new would be simple. Being it has two wires (pos/neg) going to the driver/speaker cone and two wires going to the tweeter portion that goes over the lower part, four wires total. The wires are White, Brown, yellow, and Black going into a black clip, then they turn black coming out the other side. I cut the four after the clip. My new speakers have only two posts to accommodate the driver and tweeter. So I left off the two for the tweeter and it sounded awful. I tried combining the two positive and two negative and hooking it up that way. That too sounded awful. The tweeter was squealing and chirping. I tried every configuration. They all sounded like ***. What am I doing wrong. I know people swap out stocks for after market all the time. I wanted to be sure my new speaker wasn't defective, so I tried all four (Both brands) with the same results. So I gave up and put the original back in. It sounds fine, just like it had before. But now I can't put the door panel back on. I know it's just tricky and i need more patience. I'm so bummed. I have these great speakers and have no idea why I can't install them. Do I need some aftermarket clip? It seems so easy, why is it so flappin hard? I've done this with other cars in the past with no issues. This four wire thing is killing me... Please HELP ME!!!!!!!!
  • somedai1somedai1 Member Posts: 416
    scosche might have a kit to hook up the speakers properly - or contact the manufacturer of the speakers you purchased for some insight... when you say it sounds awful - is it only when you turn up the volume high or at all levels?
  • maxsoulflymaxsoulfly Member Posts: 2
    Have you swapped out the stocks before? I expected two wires, it has four. Two for the speaker and two for the tweeter that lays over it. At any volume level it sounds awful. The tweeter chips and squeals. And the Speaker/cone portion distorts like it's being over driven. The bass is set very low. If I hook up just the tweeter it sounds fine, but no low end. The same for the cone part. Low end but no highs..
    I tried contacting Lanzar with no luck. Same with Pioneer. I left messages with tech support.

    Simply put, I'm too broke to have it done by a shop.. So any and all help is much appreciated.
  • dao1962dao1962 Member Posts: 1
    We are looking a buying a 2004 Santa Fe with 112K miles as a first car for my daughter. Anything in particular to watch out for with higher mileage Santa Fe vehicle of this vintage? Overall, the reviews I read are pretty good and it has good safety features/crash test ratings (front and side air bags, ABS, etc.). Appreciate any insights...
  • terrymsuterrymsu Member Posts: 9
    I just bought a 2002 with 140K miles on it. Issues:

    Frame rust: covered under recall.

    Brakes: Brake slides tend to rust into position.

    Timing belt: Should be done at every 60K miles. Cost is about $300 to $600. (It looks like the prior owner never changed ours.)

    We replaced shocks and brake pads and lower ball joints on ours when we bought it. It rattled like mad until we fixed that. Then no problems.

    If this is an AWD unit then all 4 tires should have the same wear on them. We thought that we could get away with replacing just the two that were bad because it looked like the "good" ones were practically brand new. They were not quite new enough.

    Other than that we like the vehicle a lot. Also, the "rust" items mentioned above are primarily in the salt belt (or so they claim). The MPG will not be too great, especially if this is a 3.5L. We got the 2.7L and I have not checked the MPG yet, so I cannot say for sure what we are getting.

    TerryMSU
  • birdman15birdman15 Member Posts: 4
    ihave a 04 santa fe with 63k when i take off after sittingfor about 30 min. the engine will cutout 3 times then no problems until the next time i start it now the same thing when cold.
    the dealer is no help just spend money as thay try find it so far over 2k new fuelpump
    fuel regulator fuelfilter checked for vacume leaks
    thay are lost even contaced the factory techs? i am lost i need help has anyone had anything
    like this
  • somedai1somedai1 Member Posts: 416
    what codes are you getting from the service engine light?
  • geminidreamergeminidreamer Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2005 Santa Fe GLS with a feature where all doors have red lights near the bottom edge to warn others that the door is opened. The driver side door light is out and I was hoping to replace it myself. The manual does not address how to remove the plastic cover and replace the bulb. Does anyone know how to do this easily? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
  • birdman15birdman15 Member Posts: 4
    we are getting no codes no check engine light. if it se3t a code that would be a big help thanks
  • kreuzerkreuzer Member Posts: 131
    front wheel drive with approx. 77,000mi. Does anyone know what this problem could be? This happens all the time but doesn't seem to affect the vehicle any. When I start up my car (doesn't matter when) and have the selector switch for any setting (defrost, A/C, floor, floor/dash or any one of the selections and the fan can be on low or high, there is a whining/buzzing noise coming from the engine bay. This happens all the time and when the car is in the first couple of gears. Then, as the car reaches about 3rd gear, the noise suddenly stops. Happens every time I have the thermostat settings in the on position as stated above. After the first few gears, the whining/buzzing noise cuts out and the engine sounds normal again and quieter. This doesn't happen if the selector knob on the thermostat settings is set to the off position. It sounds quiet and without any whiny/buzzy noise right out of first gear. My car is an automatic. Any help solving this problem would be appreciated. Thanks everyone! :)
  • pleaseadvisepleaseadvise Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2004 Santa Fe V-6/2.7L FWD. Bought it used a year ago. All was OK until I started using the A/C--noticed small metallic flecks in red/green/silver (much smaller that glitter and only visible in sunlight). It was all over the dash panel, actually I noticed it stuck to all the plastic inserts in dash and armrests. Service said the plastic was a hard rubber w/ a spray-ovwer to look like plastic, and that maybe when worn down the metallic flecks show? When I wore lotion the flecks stuck to me and my clothes--it was all over everything! I had a body shop remove all of the plastic inserts, remove the spray-over and repaint--then detail the iniside. Cost a bundle--all was OK until I turned on the A/C and window defogger, and the small specks are all over the dash again. Is it a byproduct of AC coolant? I have new cabin filters installed, car did not have them when purchased and tons of old leaves behind glove box. I don't want to replace the A/C compresser--could it be coated with something that breaks down and blows into passenger compartment? Are the ducts coated with something that flecks off? I WANT TO SELL THIS CAR ...but will this happen with other older cars and ACunits? Or only Japanese cars and their A/C units?? PLEASE HELP ME--I CAN'T TURN ON THE BLOWER WITHOUT THESE TINY SPECKLES GETTING EVERYWHERE--AND INTO MY EYES!
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