2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport power train problems

“Bought this as a used vehicle with around 77k miles. The SUV was running fine for a little while until I drove onto the highway. It eventually began to bog down and there was hesitation and jumping instead of acceleration. This continued my entire trip home with the check engine light on. The car was only driven for about 300-400 miles in the time I had it. When I brought it to have an oil change, they found metal shavings in the oil. From what I’ve been reading, this has been a common problem for this vehicle. It has been sitting in a Hyundai service center for at least a month now with no real responses from Hyundai themselves. They told me they would not fix the problem due to lack of maintenance from prior owners and that they were marking my title (doesn’t make sense since I bought this with a clean title). According to what Hyundai told me, this issue was brought up by a previous owner in January 2026 with no repairs. How can you change the status of my title while refusing to repair a problem caused by a manufacturers defect?”

“2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. Purchased January 2026 took to Oxmoor Hyundai Service Center March 2026. February 2026 began using oil at a measured rate of 700 miles per tank of oil. Used 3 full tanks of oil within the month of February. Oil lights and engine lights on and off and flashing during this time. March 8, 2026, engine light flashed and then stayed on continuously. Engine shook and stuttered and made a loud noise. Engine stalled while I was driving at 35-40 miles per hour. I was able to continue driving to my home with the stuttering and stalling. The next morning I drove it to the Oxmoor Hyundai Service Center. I told relayed the timeline of all symptoms I had experienced over the 2 month lifetime of my ownership. They did not attempt to reproduce the issue. They only entered "shakes in reverse" as the customer provided issue on the intake information. Service Center performed diagnostic, found cylinder misfires on cylinder 2 and cylinder 4. Replaced spark plugs to resolve Cylinder 2. Cylinder 4 continued to misfire. Used Borescope and found broken valve. They did not address the scoring on the cylinder of the valve. Recommended engine replacement.…”

“Enterprise car sales sold me this vehicle when it had 3 open recalls on it. The vehicle itself was a problem from the beginning. When I took it in for it's first oil change the mechanic told me it had no oil in it. He said they sold me a car that is notorious for consuming oil and or seizing or blowing up. I had the engine replaced on this car already and I just took it in for it's first oil change and it was already consuming oil. I want a new car but enterprise is telling me this is my problem”

“Car stuttered and would not rev past 2k rpm. Blinking check engine light appeared Code was for known connecting rod failure for all theta engines for our 2018 sante fe. Hyundai is trying to get out of covering the cost of repair or replacement even though this is a very well known issue and is covered under warranty.”

“I am writing to formally request your review and potential intervention regarding a serious and potentially widespread mechanical issue involving Hyundai vehicles, along with the manufacturer’s refusal to honor their well-advertised 100,000-mile powertrain warranty for subsequent (non-original) owners. I am the current owner of a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe (VIN: [XXX] ) that is experiencing a Continuous Variable Valve Timing (CVVT) system failure, which has led to a critical engine malfunction. The estimated cost of repairs exceeds $7,000, an unexpected and significant financial burden. Despite the vehicle being well within the 100,000-mile threshold, Hyundai has denied warranty coverage solely on the grounds that I am not the original owner. This policy effectively strips coverage from second-hand buyers and, in my view, is misleading given Hyundai’s extensive advertising of the 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. It creates a false sense of long-term reliability and warranty protection. This is not an isolated case. Numerous complaints have surfaced from Hyundai owners experiencing similar catastrophic engine and powertrain failures—including CVVT…”

“At 118,000 miles Downhill brake, transmission and 4 wheel drive were damaged from the hyundai dealership not fullfilling warranty. They disconnected my tow hitch and my transmission was burning .. smelled like a bon fire. Took me 1 year to repair and have transmission changed through warranty but they didnt change the other components that were damaged due to negligence from the hyundai dealership. The dealership was very rude and didnt dedication their attention or care to truly finding what was wrong with my vehicle.”