Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
Problems & Worst Years

Two years alone make up the Santa Fe Sport's file, and both circle the same problem: an engine that burns oil faster than it should. In 2017, which drew 232 complaints, excessive oil consumption leads at 52 reports, with a recall-related service brake hydraulic issue adding 40 more (tied to recall 22V056) and check engine light illumination cited 35 times. Stalling during operation (28 reports) and hesitation during acceleration from low speeds (19 reports) round out a picture of a car that owners frequently describe as losing power or refusing to run smoothly.

The 2018 model year is both larger in volume — 297 complaints — and more serious in composition, with 3 of its 13 logged problems rated safety-critical. Engine knocking paired with misfires leads at 47 reports and carries the safety flag, followed closely by check engine warnings and flashing engine lights (46 reports) and high oil consumption, also safety-rated, at 42 reports; a nearly identical excessive oil consumption complaint adds another 39, and engine failure serious enough to cause stalling contributes 33 more. No recall campaign is attached to 2018 in this data, meaning whatever underlying issue is driving these reports doesn't yet have a documented manufacturer fix tied to it.

Taken together, these two years describe an engine that owners persistently associate with oil loss, knocking, and stalling, with 2018 standing out as the more concerning of the two both in raw numbers and in the proportion of safety-rated complaints. Anyone looking at either year should pay particular attention to oil consumption between changes and any history of check engine lights during a pre-purchase inspection. As with any complaint dataset, these figures capture what owners chose to report to NHTSA rather than a precise failure rate, and a full service history will say more about a specific car's condition than its model year alone.