2020 Hyundai Santa Fe: True Cost, Problems & Verdict
203 NHTSA owner complaints · 2 recalls · data-computed verdict. No opinions — public data only.
Reviewed by the MotorJury data desk · 2 sources · Last updated 2026-08-20
203 NHTSA owner complaints · 2 recalls · data-computed verdict. No opinions — public data only.
Complaints per year on the road: 33.83
Verbatim reports filed with the United States safety regulator (NHTSA) by owners of this exact model year. Public record.
Vehicle began running sluggish, gas smell noticed. Vehicle was due for oil change, took car in for oil change to AAA and mentioned gas smell. AAA identified gas leaking from fuel pump posing immediate safety issue that needed to be resolved.
I went to the store, came home , parked and turned off the car. Went to go outside about 10 minutes ,maybe. Black smoke coming from right front. By the time i grabbed the keys and fire extinguisher there were flames coming from the engine compartment
The contact owns a 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact stated that the vehicle lunged forward. In addition, the vehicle almost stalled. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the failure was not duplicated. The contact was …
What the community is saying right now.
| Campaign | Component | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 23V181000 | Trailer Hitches | Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2019-2023 Santa Fe, 2021-2023 Santa Fe HEV, 2022-2023 Santa Fe Plug-in HEV and Santa Cr… |
| 21V00M000 | Visibility:Windshield | Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Santa Fe, 2021 Sonata, and Elantra vehicles. During manufacturing, the winds… |
Re-priced automatically from your country's retail fuel, electricity and parts indices — change country in the bar at the top. Estimates; see methodology.
The most-reported issue in NHTSA complaint data is Engine (71 complaints in our indexed sample).
Our data verdict is AVOID with a reliability score of 43/100, computed from 203 NHTSA complaints and 2 recall campaigns. See the verdict card for the top reasons.
Yes — NHTSA lists 2 recall campaign(s) for the 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe, 0 of them touching fire, crash or stall risk, the most recent recorded 17/03/2023. Check this car's VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before you buy.
Fuel, maintenance band and depreciation — computed from public data in 10 seconds.
Open the true-cost calculatorComplaints & recalls: NHTSA ·
Fuel economy: EPA fueleconomy.gov ·
Scoring: our published methodology.
Maintenance bands are industry-average estimates (AAA Your Driving Costs, CarMD index) — labeled estimates, not measurements.
Last updated: 2026-08-20.