2009 Hyundai Santa Fe Body & Structure Problems

Your 2009 Santa Fe's paint is peeling and bubbling in large chunks, starting on the driver's side door below the window and spreading down the door. While this hasn't caused safety issues yet, you're concerned that large paint chunks could fly off while driving and obstruct your or another driver's vision, potentially causing an accident. You'll likely need professional repainting of the affected areas, and addressing any rust that may develop underneath.

Paint is peeling/delaminating off the car in chunks - from the roof and the hood. Paint peeled off of the hood in a large chunk while I was driving, and got stuck on the windshield & caught up on the wipers while in use. This damaged the wipers and created a dangerous situation, as it blocked my vision while driving. The paint peels off and flies off the car in chunks and can land on another car windshield as well and block their view. I brought the car to the dealer years ago when the paint first starting peeling, and was told it was just past the warranty and there was nothing they could do. I read online that there was a class action suit on this exact issue and it has been a problem for many, many years and Hyundai continues to manufacture this paint despite being aware of the problem. I contacted Hyundai corporate to report this issue, and they said there is nothing they can do. So I have decided to report the issue to warn other drivers, as the last chunk that peeled off became a safety hazard. Note: Car was only used occasionally, has very low mileage, and is garaged for a portion of the year. The paint should not be in this condition - it is defective. I paid extra for this particular pearl white paint when I purchased the car new - it was an upgrade, presented as self-healing paint.

The driver's side sun visor randomly falls out of the connection in the ceiling and then dangles from the electrical cord that operates the light in the visor above the mirror. When this happens it completely obstructs the driver's view of the roadway as the visor is now swaying back and forth in front of the driver's face & the driver must take one hand off the steering wheel to move the visor out of the way to see the roadway. It takes two hands to actually shove the electrical wire and visor arm back up into the ceiling. This issue not only happens when the visor is in the down (in use) position & when it is down and swung to the side to block the side window but it also happens when the visor in not in use and is just clipped up. The ceiling connection piece falls down on the left side then too...thankfully because the visor is not in use, the right hand clip secures that side in place so only half of the driver's view is obstructed. This happens without any warning - you're driving along and suddenly the visor has fallen in front of your face. It is manufacturer defect in the small plastic piece that goes from the arm of the visor up into the ceiling. There is a very small plastic tip that is broken - that tip is the only thing that keeps the visor post secured in the ceiling. When you unscrew the visor attachment that goes into the ceiling the broken piece is right there. The electrical wires go thru it so it's still in there. I have replaced my visor once already and the same piece broke off of the new visor after a couple years. My vehicle has not been inspected by anyone but there are many reports on the Hyundai forum about this visor issue. Hyundai is aware of this cheap plastic defect as they issued recalls on the sun visors on other models but not on the Sante Fe. They have also changed to a newer visor connection piece on their newer model cars. A recall should be issued for the Sante Fe so that the visors can be replaced w/ an updated version.

Passenger front and driver side rear door handle breaking off. Normal pulls have cause the handle to come in hand.

PURCHASED CAR NEW GARAGE KEPT WELL MAINTAINED AT DEALER. HAD A RECALL IN 2016 FOR FRAME CORROSION. I BROUGHT CAR IN AND DEALER RUST PROOFED FRAME. CONTINUED TO HAVE CAR SERVICED AND COMPLETED ALL MAINTENANCE THAT DEALER RECOMMENDED. SOME REPAIRS VERY EXPENSIVE LIKE TIMING BELT, WATER PUMP, IDLE PULLEY ETC. LAST MONTH BROUGHT CAR IN FOR TRANSMISSION EXCHANGE AND I WAS TOLD THE SIDE RAILS OF CAR ARE RUSTED THRU AND CAR IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THIS VEHICLE WAS SUPPOSEDLY INSPECTED EVERY TIME CAR WAS SERVICED. HYUNDAI NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT RUST GETTING WORSE. I WOULD LIKE YOUR HELP HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE. THEY ADMITTED TO HAVING DEFECTIVE STEEL. PLEASE HELP!!

PAINT COMES OFF THE CAR IN LARGE PIECES THAT, IF RAINING, WILL STICK TO WINDSHIELD OF THE CAR AND THE CAR BEHIND YOU, WHILE DRIVING. THIS BLOCKS THE VISIBILITY OUT OF THE FRONT OF THE WINDSHIELD AND CAUSES WIPER PROBLEMS AS THE LARGE PIECES GET STUCK TO THEM. AGAIN THIS WILL HAPPEN WHILE DRIVING IN THE RAIN. THE LARGE PIECE OF PAINT WILL STILL COME OFF DURING NORMAL DRIVING, BUT THE SAFETY CONCERN IS WHILE DRIVING IN THE RAIN. PIECES AS LARGE AS 1 INCH BY 1 INCH ARE NOT UNCOMMON, WITH THE LARGEST PIECE CURRENTLY MISSING IS ABOUT 8 INCHES BY 8 INCHES. PROBLEM STARTED HAPPENING OVER 2 YEARS AGO. WHEN THE PIECES GET STUCK TO THE WINDSHIELD, YOU HAVE TO PULL OVER TO REMOVE THEM FROM BOTH THE WINDSHIELD AND WIPER BLADES. THIS IS ALSO DANGEROUS AS WE HAVE HAD TO PULL OVER ON A MAJOR FREEWAY BEFORE TO REMOVE THEM FROM PARTS OF THE VEHICLE, NAMELY THE WINDSHIELD AND WIPERS. THIS PROBLEM AGAIN CAUSES PROBLEMS WITH VISIBILITY OUT OF THE FRONT OF THE WINDSHIELD OF THE CAR AND POSSIBLY THE CAR(S) BEHIND YOU WHILE DRIVING IN THE RAIN. I DON'T BELIEVE THAT LARGE PIECES (SHEETS) OF PAINT SHOULD BE COMING OFF OF A CAR AND STICKING TO A WINDSHIELD OF THE AFFECTED CAR AND CARS AROUND IT, WHILE DRIVING IN THE RAIN. TRULY THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE.

AFTER ROUTINE INSPECTION, ENGINE CRADLE IS RUSTED THROUGH AND WILL NOT PASS INSPECTION. CAR HAS 54,000 MILES. #1 COCHRAN TOOK PICTURES AND SUBMITTED THEM TO HYUNDAI, SAID THEY NEVER SAW ANYTHING LIKE THIS FOR A 2009 SANTA FE AND THOUGHT HYUNDAI WOULD REPLACE THE SUBFRAME. HYUNDAI DECLINED REPLACEMENT OF SUBFRAME. HYUNDAI HAS PICTURES THAT WERE TAKEN BY #1 COCHRAN.

THE PAINT ON OUR VEHICLE KEEPS BUBBLING UP AND PEELING OFF CAUSING THE EXTERIOR METAL ON THE CAR TO RUST IN THOSE SPOTS. THIS HAS BEEN A RECURRING PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE SINCE 2012 AND IS OCCURRING IN MULTIPLE RANDOM SPOTS ON THE VEHICLE. WE HAVE SEEN MULTIPLE OTHER SAME MAKE AND MODEL VEHICLES WITH THIS SAME PROBLEM. WE CALLED THE LOCAL HYUNDAI DEALERSHIP WHO RECOMMENDED A BODY SHOP TO FIX THE PAINT ISSUES. THE OWNER OF THE BODY SHOP SAID IT WAS SUCH A REOCCURRING PROBLEM, HE DIDN'T NEED US TO BRING THE CAR IN FOR A QUOTE, ONLY TELL HIM WHERE THE PAINT WAS BUBBLING AND PEELING AND GAVE US A PRICE OVER THE PHONE. THIS HAS BEEN AN ISSUE OVER TIME. WE ARE NOT SURE WHAT IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM, WHETHER IT IS CERTAIN WEATHER , ROAD CONDITIONS OR ENVIRONMENT.

I WAS ATTEMPTING TO PARALLEL PARK BETWEEN TWO CARS AND AS I WAS ABOUT TO CUT THE WHEEL TO THE LEFT TO FINISH THE PARK, MY VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED (WITHOUT MY DOING) INTO THE CAR BEHIND ME. I HAD NO TIME TO COMPENSATE AND ULTIMATELY CRUSHED THE RIGHT HEADLIGHT/FRAME OF THE CAR BEHIND ME. *TR

ENTERED HORSESHOE CASINO PARKING GARAGE AND TURNED INTO PARKING LEVEL. AS I FOLLOWED FORD TAURUS, HYUNDAI ENGINE CHANGED FROM NORMAL SPEED TO A ROARING ACCELERATION IN AN INSTANCE. I COULDN'T BRAKE IT TO A STOP AND IT RAMMED THE REAR END OF THE TAURUS. DAMAGE TO THE SANTE FE WAS LIMITED TO FRONT BUMPER DAMAGE WHILE THE BACK END OF THE TAURUS WAS DRIVEN FORWARD AND TORN UP. MY HUSBAND THOUGHT THE CRUISE MIGHT HAVE GONE ON; BUT, HE DECIDED THE ACCELERATION WAS TOO RAPID FOR THE CRUISE. HE WAS IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. WE DROVE HOME WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TROUBLE. *TR

I WAS A PASSENGER IN MY VEHICLE ON THE WAY TO THE LICENSE BRANCH AND WAS SITTING STILL AT A STOP LIGHT, WHEN A VEHICLE REAR-ENDED MY CAR. *TR

I WAS A PASSENGER IN THE VEHICLE WHEN IT CRASHED INTO A FIRE HYDRANT DOING APPROXIMATELY 40MPH. THE SEATBELT FAILED TO LOCK AND THE AIRBAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. THE CAR HAS MAJOR DAMAGE TO THE UNDERBODY, FRONT-END, THE INSIDE OF THE VEHICLE DASH, THE MOTOR MOUNTS, ENGINE AND OTHER DAMAGES ARE UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME. *TR