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Anyone experience Sudden Unintended Acceleration in a Santa Fe?

143 messages,  Last post on Apr 14, 2013 at 1:20 PM

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What is this discussion about? Hyundai Santa Fe, SUV

Messages Page 12 of 15

#107 of 143 Re: Anyone experience Sudden Unintended Acceleration in a Hyundai Santa Fe? [bryancos] by fwiw2u

Oct 25, 2011 (5:49 pm)

Replying to: bryancos (Dec 16, 2009 1:26 pm)
Yup. Yesterday. I was stopped at a red light when I realized that my usually reliable 2002 Santa Fe was trying to accelerate--despite my foot being on the brake. It was also making a loud revving sound. When the light turned green and I took my foot off the brake, the car practically leaped forward. I jammed both feet on the brake and pulled on the steering wheel for more leverage and was able to slow it down, but it was like trying to control a pack of wild horses. I was fortunate to make it through two lights on green but saw that the next light--a long one at a major intersection--had just turned red. So I swerved into a pocket for turning left into a Target parking lot, just barely avoided smashing into the back of the car turning ahead of me, wrestled my car into the lot and turned off the ignition. It didn't lurch to a stop in a very good place, though, so I turned it back on--big mistake. It immediately made that faster-and-faster revving sound and jumped forward, so I turned off the ignition again. I'll skip over the part about helpful strangers and tow operators and actually getting home to the following morning: I called Hyundai's USA headquarters (coincidentally only a few miles away) and told my story to a sympathetic young man named Kevin, who "opened a case" for me and told me to call back after getting a "diagnosis" from the local dealership. A pleasant "repair adviser" there called this afternoon to say the Santa Fe's cruise control cable had broken/was stuck in such a way that the car thought I wanted to go a nice, steady 120 mph or something. He said he wasn't surprised that the part had broken, given the 180,000 miles on the car, but WAS surprised that Hyundai hadn't engineered the cruise control system to default to 40 or 60 mph in this type of event. Furthermore, I have NEVER used the car's cruise control and don't understand why it was apparently engaged. When I called Hyundai HQ back with this information, a not-so-sympathetic woman asked what I expected Hyundai to do about it. Having been quoted a relatively paltry $240 to fix the car, I chose not to push the issue--instead stammering out something about just wanting Hyundai to know about the problem. But now, after finding this forum, I'm angry and will definitely contact the NHTSA. And think about getting a new car--not a Hyundai.

#108 of 143 Re: Anyone experience Sudden Unintended Acceleration in a Hyundai Santa Fe? [lemon18] by afraid

Oct 31, 2011 (11:54 pm)

Replying to: lemon18 (Oct 10, 2010 5:04 pm)
I am so glad I found this web site. I have a 2004 Hyndi Santa Fe. Last summer I was in Spokane and I pulled onto a heavy traffic 4 lane. I was going slow because traffic was heavy and the light was red. I approached the light and stepped on the brake and it excellerated. I was horified. I tried putting it in nuetral and then the light changed and I just got on the freeway. I was in shock and wondered if I was crazy and it really was me but I knew it wasn't. I supressed the happening. Months later I was in Helena MT and coasting to a 4 way stop down hill. All 4 stops had cars. The car in front of me was waiting his turn and I stepped on the brake and it excellerated. I hit the car in front of me. I tried everything. I tried neutral and it would not go into neutral. I tried the emergency brake and it would not stop. The car in front of me had just jumped forward and sat there. I hit it a second time before I turned the ignition off. I could not beleive the cars all proceeded on their way as if nothing happened. So I took the car to Missoula (my closest dealership) and told them what had happened. I got a call telling me they could not reproduce the problem and therefore do nothing about it. I said are you telling me Hyndi has had no other reports of such situations? They said no one had. I wrote in detail the two times it had happened. I made them sign it. It has happened two more times but less serious times. Once I felt it and immediately was able to put it in neutral. The 4th time again I put it in neutral. SO now I drive around and everytime I need to brake I either go into neutral or brace myself on the gear shift ready to go into neutral. I realize every time I could kill someone or myself be killed. I can not imagine Hyndi is not concerned about this problem. WHy would they want to have what happened to Toyota? I would think that they would be happy to recall any cars reported with this problem. Blows my mind. If anyone gets a response form Hyndi please let me know.

#109 of 143 Caused an Accident by crashatschool

Dec 15, 2011 (3:03 pm)

Now comes my experience. As I was backing out in the parking lot at the school where I teach last Saturday, the car suddenly started to accelerate and would not stop. The break did nothing and I didn't stop until my car went half way through the brick wall behind me. I was so shaken at the possibility of what could have happened if it was a normal school day. My 2008 with 25,000 miles on it is now totaled and I am buying a new car. I have been assured that the "problems" have been fixed across the board because of the Toyota incidences. I hope that true, because I loved my Santa Fe and am probably going to buy a 2012. YIKES!

#110 of 143 Re Hesitation and surge in 2011 Sante Fe by skiking1245

Dec 17, 2011 (7:32 am)

Replying to: liz45 (Sep 19, 2011 9:22 am)
Hesitation to surge describes it perfectly for us. At a Christmas party last night old friend showed up in a 2011 Sante Fe like ours. Loves his car as we do but then we talked about the hesitation and surge thing and we both have it. It is pretty scary pulling out in traffic when it happens. At first you think it's not going to go and then it goes like crazy. We have told dealer repeatedly and they say nothing is wrong with it. We are documenting but are running out of patience. It is a very dangerous situation and are about ready to go to NTSB. I really think Hyundai knows something is going on but don't know what to do and don't want the hurt the terrific sales volume they are having.

#111 of 143 hesitation to surge 2011 hyundai santa fe by rad18

Dec 19, 2011 (6:05 pm)

i have the same problem, at first i thought it only happened turning left but it does it at right turns or straight.you give it gas starts to go then nothing for two to three seconds.turning left with traffic comming at you is a lifetime.dealer said cant do anything if no check engine light makes me feel like an accident waiting to happen.

#112 of 143 Re: Re Hesitation and surge in 2011 Sante Fe [skiking1245] by regspec

Jan 04, 2012 (8:04 pm)

Replying to: skiking1245 (Dec 17, 2011 7:32 am)
I have had the same problem with my 2010 Sante Fe. I didn't have the problem until they reprogramed my car on a recall. I took it back in and they reinstalled the original program and it seemed to solve the problem...for a while. It did it twice in the last six months even with the reprograming. It is a very potentially dangerous situation that I am sure Hyundai is becoming aware but seems not to be addressing. I hope that they find the culprit and offer a remedy before someone gets hurt! I, at first, thought it was only turning left too but found it not to be necessarily so...I, like others, am just at the mercy of documenting...help us out, Hyundai!!!

#113 of 143 Re: Re Hesitation and surge in 2011 Sante Fe [regspec] by liz45

Jan 06, 2012 (1:41 pm)

Replying to: regspec (Jan 04, 2012 8:04 pm)
About four months ago I brought in my 2010 Santa Fe and as usual they could not find anything wrong. The head mechanic said that he did something with the program (I guess just to try anything). The problem has not occurred since then (started at 20,000 miles, now at 24,000 miles). I too brought it in for a recall--maybe at that time they did to my vehicle what they did to yours--and maybe the mechanic then also eventually put the old program back--who knows? It seems everybody is without a clue as to why this happened or happens. Thanks for your feedback.

#114 of 143 unintended acceleration by jdmollan

Jan 24, 2012 (3:59 pm)

Several times in the past few months my 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe V6 2wd has shown a great surge, usually after starting. the only way I could control this was my slamming non the breaks. It has happened in drive and reverse.

#115 of 143 Re: Anyone experience Sudden Unintended Acceleration in a Hyundai Santa Fe? [bryancos] by bev2001

Jan 29, 2012 (1:13 pm)

Replying to: bryancos (Dec 16, 2009 1:26 pm)
A similar incident has happened to me. I own a 2011 Santa Fe V6 2WD and on the 27th January I was coasting into a convenience store applying light breaking pressure coming to a stop. There was sudden uncalled surge in engine revs and the Santa Fe leaped forward and it took maximum brake pressure to limit the forward momentum. Massive braking pressure and shifting from drive to neutral let the car back off the block back to level. Incidentally, one of those concrete was placed in the parking space, to protect the store-front, the Santa Fe climbed the concrete block. Apart from my heart rate leap stressing me, there was substantial damage to the front bumper and power steering.
 
Took the car to the dealership they said there were no fault diagnostics. I lost all power steering assist and there was no indication of power steering fluid loss. The service manager said " . . there is nothing that would cause this > ." implying it was my fault. There is no way that I could apply brake and accelerator pressure concurrently.
 
Since December 2011 we have been experiencing jumps when the starting the car, gear shift in park and brake pressure applied.
THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE THAT HYUNDAI NEEDS TO ADDRESS BEFORE SOMEONE DIES.

#116 of 143 Re: Anyone experience Sudden Unintended Acceleration in a Hyundai Santa Fe? [bev2001] by goodknightmike

Feb 08, 2012 (3:31 pm)

Replying to: bev2001 (Jan 29, 2012 1:13 pm)
I also own a 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe V6 2WD. This "sudden unintended accelerator surge" happened to me twice. The first incident happened on December 20,2011. This was my first time using the car that morning. I turned on the engine and let the motor warm up for about a minute. Then I proceeded down the road of my developement at around 15 to 20 miles an hour until I slowed down for a stop sign after driving about a 100 yards. At that time my foot transferred from the gas pedal to the brake pedal and the motor suddenly raced out of control. I was able to slam with all my weight on the brake pedal and shift the gear into neutral and turn off the motor. My wife drove with me and needless to say, we were scared to death. After composing myself, I turned the engine back on and thank God I did not experience the "sudden accelerastionon", so I drove back to my house and called Hyundai Roadside assitance who had my car towed to the Hyunder dealershipn where I bought the car. The Hyundai service department could not find anything wrong with my car and told me I probably put my foot on the accelerator by mistake. I 'm 100 % sure I didnot put my foot on the accelerator. So, reluctantly, I accepted the car back from the service department and ran the car daily until the exact same incident happened leaving my house in the morning again on February 6, 2012. As of this writing the car has been at that Hyundai dealership for a few days. On February 7,2012 he service manager again told me after all their testing they still could not find anything wrong even after this second incident. . I did call Hyundai Corporate offices and they are now investigating the incidents and said they would be in contact with the Hyundai service department. There is definetely some defect in the accelerator that Hyundai cannot find as of this writing.. Very scary situation for me and possibly all 2011 Hyundai Sante car owners. If you ahve a similar experience please let me know.

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