Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Reliability by Year
Based on 2M+ real complaints filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
1,441 NHTSA complaints (2013–2018).Complaint rate: 2052.7 per 1,000 vehicles.
Should I buy a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport?
Quick answer from 1,441 NHTSA complaints · 2013–2018
Hyundai Santa Fe Sport shows elevated crash or fire rates — buy with caution. 1.5% of reported complaints involved a crash — above the ~4% mainstream average. Most complaints relate to engine problems. Inspect carefully or consider a different model in the same class.
- 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport· 77 complaints
- 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport· 100 complaints
- 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport· 205 complaints
Keep scrolling for year-by-year complaint trends, recall campaigns, and component breakdowns — or click any year above for a full report.
What Happened to 702 Hyundai Santa Fe Sports On the Road
Complaints record what owners reported. These are the outcomes actually recorded against 702 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport VINs built 2013–2018 — accidents, title brands and odometer flags from our vehicle-history database, not from the NHTSA complaint file.
Typical Hyundai Santa Fe Sport on record: 2.2 owners on average, 81,808 average miles.
Which Years to Buy & Avoid
Years auto-clustered by complaint volume relative to this model's median.
Rankings based on raw NHTSA complaint counts. Sales volume data not yet available for this model.
Bottom line: Avoid the 2017–2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The 2015–2016 models had significantly fewer reported issues. Most common issue across all years: Engine.
Avoid These Years
Average
Better Years
A model's reputation is just the start.
Even within the “good” years, individual cars can have hidden accidents, title issues, or odometer rollbacks. Check the actual VIN before you buy — full history report for $8.99 (vs. Carfax $44.99).
Complaints by Model Year
NHTSA complaint count per model year
Common Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Problems
Most reported component complaints to NHTSA. Bar length = volume; color = crash-involvement rate.
Show full table
| Component | Complaints | Crash % |
|---|---|---|
| Engine Problems | 626 | 0.5% |
| Hydraulic Brakes | 142 | 0.0% |
| Transmission / Drivetrain | 82 | 1.2% |
| Fuel System | 71 | 0.0% |
| Electrical Faults | 69 | 1.4% |
| Brakes | 47 | 12.8% |
| Engine & Cooling | 44 | 0.0% |
| Unintended Acceleration | 40 | 0.0% |
| Body Structure | 25 | 8.0% |
| Steering Defects | 23 | 4.3% |
When Each Problem Spiked
Year × component heatmap. Darker cells = more complaints that year. Reveals which model years a specific defect concentrated in — useful for spotting redesign-cycle quality dips.
Year-by-Year Breakdown
NHTSA complaint count per model year — click any year for full problems & recalls breakdown.
Year-by-Year Breakdown
Tap any year for full problems & recalls breakdown.
Data Sources & Methodology
Complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation consumer complaint database (1,441 records for this model). Public domain data, updated monthly.
Sales data: Not yet available for this model. Complaint counts are shown as raw numbers.
On-road outcomes: Accident, title-brand, theft and odometer records for 702 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport VINs in our vehicle-history database. Independent of the NHTSA complaint file — a complaint is what an owner reported, these are what was recorded against the vehicle. Year-level figures are shown only for model years with at least 200 VINs on record.
Rate calculation: Complaints per 10,000 vehicles sold = (complaint count / US annual sales) x 10,000. This normalizes for sales volume so high-volume models like Civic or Camry aren't unfairly penalized.
Year classifications: AVOID = 1.5x+ the model's median complaint count. GOOD = 0.6x or below. Years less than 3 years old are marked TOO NEW (insufficient data).
Buying a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport?
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