Santa Fe Broke Down in 2 months, Roadside Assistance Failed
I purchased a brand new 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe on 2/28/2026
The car broke down on 4/26. Luckily, I was able to coast to a side road and off the dangerous 2 lane, tree-lined road I was on when the engine quit. There was an overwhelming smell of gasoline. I had filled the car up with gas the night before it broke down. After driving approximately 15 miles since filling up, the fuel indicator said I had ½ a tank of gas left when it broke down which means this car leaked about a half of a tank of gasoline.
I called Hyundai Roadside Assistance and they responded in about 90 minutes but the tow truck driver said he couldn’t tow my car with the equipment he had and that he would try to get another tow truck to respond. After about 3.5 hours, I got a message from Hyundai Roadside Assistance that they didn’t have the right equipment available and I should call back the next day.
I called USAA and they had a tow truck on site in less than an hour and towed the car to the dealership, Hyundai of Charleston, on 4/26
The dealership called on 4/27 to find out what the problem was. I told them what happened and they said they would look at it but also said they didn’t know when they would be able to diagnose the problem and that customers with appointments had priority.
I called Hyundai Customer Care on 4/27 to get help with prioritizing my issue with the dealership so I could get an idea of how long it would take to repair the car since I had an out of state trip planned that week.
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The dealership called late on 4/27 to say the fuel pump assembly needed to be replaced and that they would order the part and that it would take 3 business days to get the part in.
The dealership called on 4/28 to say they replaced the fuel pump but the car still smelled of gasoline. I told them I couldn’t accept it like that because
1. I shouldn’t be expected to drive a virtually brand-new car that smelled like gasoline
2. More importantly, my grandson, who lives 2 doors away and who we drive to school at times, would not be able to ride in the car because he has Cystic Fibrosis and can’t be around anything that would affect his lungs.
I called Customer Care again on 4/29 to get a status and was told the case manager was unable to contact the dealership’s service department over the last 3 days which told me I was getting zero priority within Hyundai. I asked to escalate to the case manager’s supervisor and I was told I would be contacted in 2 business days by a supervisor but that never happened
I left town without getting the car back. When I came back home, I picked the car up on 5/11. There was still a slight smell of gasoline once you started driving the car and I noticed some hesitation when accelerating which made me think the same thing could happen again since the car smelled of gasoline and hesitated and bucked before it broke down on 4/26.
I called Customer Care on 5/18 and asked to be referred to the Buy-Back program/dept. I was told that someone would contact me in 3 business days but that never happened.
I called Customer Care on 5/26. I was told someone would contact me by the end of the day but that didn’t happen which is the 3rd time I was told I would get a call from Hyundai by a certain date and the 3rd time no call was received as promised.
I called customer Care on 5/27. I was told a supervisor would contact me by 5/29. Once again, that didn’t happen. 4th time!
I have no confidence in this car or that Hyundai is doing anything to resolve my concerns. This car had a mechanical failure that could have been catastrophic if it caught on fire that day. Instead of the excitement that comes with owning a new car, I now only have trepidations about driving it especially when experiencing any hesitation. I tried working with the dealership to buy a Hyundai Palisade but we could not come to an agreement on a price, mostly because I could not get the value for what I paid for the Santa Fe. I would be willing to spend more for a Palisade than what I paid for the Santa Fe, but I feel Hyundai should be willing to offset some of the cost of a Palisade especially in consideration of all that has happened with the car, with the failure of Hyundai Roadside Assistance and the lack of responsiveness with Hyundai’s Customer Care.
This is the fourth Hyundai vehicle I’ve owned and, unless I get a call from someone in authority at Hyundai, it will be last. I will also disseminate my encounter with Hyundai on social media and other channels to the widest audience possible.so that others are aware when considering Hyundai.
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