2023 HYUNDAI SANTA FE Forward Collision Avoidance Problems

On a clear road a sencor comes on detect comes on says detection collision. The breaks come on when you are traveling on interstate or two lane roads. When you are traveling 75 mph and breaks come on all of a sudden on the highway. We are lucky we never got hit in the back of the car going that fast. We will stop 75 to 35 mph in 10 seconds.

Component/System: Automatic Emergency Braking / Forward Collision-Avoidance (AEB/FCA) system and/or Electronic Parking Brake (EPB). The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. What happened: While driving my 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe (VIN: XXX) at highway speeds, the vehicle suddenly and aggressively applied the emergency braking system on two separate occasions within the same day (approximately 45–60 minutes apart). In both instances, the red emergency braking warning lights illuminated on the dashboard, and a warning sound activated. There were no vehicles, obstacles, or hazards in front of me either time. The braking was forceful and abrupt, causing rapid deceleration at highway speed. Both events occurred under normal, clear driving conditions. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) Safety risk: My safety and the safety of other drivers were put at significant risk. Sudden unintended braking at highway speeds can easily lead to a rear-end collision since the deceleration was not caused by driver input and gave no warning. Reproduction / dealer confirmation: The dealer has not been able to reproduce the issue, and no diagnostic trouble codes have been found so far. The vehicle is currently at the dealership for inspection. Inspection: The vehicle has been inspected by the Hyundai dealership, but the cause has not been identified. No manufacturer field engineer, police, or insurance inspection has taken place yet. Warning lamps / prior symptoms: During the failures, the red emergency braking indicator and audible warning activated immediately when the brakes engaged. There were no warning lights or symptoms prior to either event. Assessment: Cause UNKNOWN. The problem appears to be an intermittent malfunction of the Automatic Emergency Braking system, forward collision sensors, or related braking components. No diagnostic codes were stored. This is a serious safety issue that occurred twice within one hour and could easily result in a collision.

The vehicle's software was updated on Oct 21, 2025. The software has serious flaw. When driving on slight incline on the passing lane the vehicle will apply the brakes without warning. This has happened 3 times. At times, when vehicles were following me they also had to apply the brakes unexpectedly. Had they not applied their brakes, they would have rear ended me at highway speeds. I also recall that there were no vehicles either in front or to the right ahead of me when it occurred. Also there was a guardrail on the left side of the highway at the time. This did not occur with the previous installed software. Every time this happened, the vehicle was in cruise control and driver assist was ON to keep vehicle in the lane.

I was travelling at 50mph a car pulled in front of me and stopped unexpetedly. I braked hard. My car began to slow, but the brake pedal went to the floor and did not slow, AFter a few seconds, the brake pedal came up from the floor and braking was resumed. I held the pedal to the floor the whole time trying to stop. It was as though the braking system failed and recovered. There was no pulsing felt on the brake pedal typical of ABS working. After my car resumed braking thte collision avoidance system took over and the car stopped just inches from the stopped car in front of me. I had just taken the car in for dealer service at 24,200 and everything was supposedly checked out as required by maintenance. I have contacted Hyundai but have not gotten a response yet.

On two occasions, once at 70mph and once at 45mph vehicle suddenly lost power and displayed warning to check collision system, there were no vehicles close enough to warrant this. I had to limp the car to the side of the road as safely as possible and shut car off, wait a few minutes and restart vehicle to clear error and allow proper power/ acceleration again.

On two occasions, once at 70mph and once at 45mph vehicle suddenly lost power and displayed warning to check collision system, there were no vehicles close enough to warrant this. I had to limp the car to the side of the road as safely as possible and shut car off, wait a few minutes and restart vehicle to clear error and allow proper power/ acceleration again.

On May 15th, I was involved in a serious accident caused by a malfunction in a rental vehicle provided by Enterprise a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. After reversing into a parking spot, I placed the vehicle in “Park” and exited the car to retrieve belongings from the trunk. My young son remained in the back seat. To my shock, the vehicle suddenly began to move on its own despite being in “Park.” I immediately ran to the driver’s side and jumped back into the vehicle in an attempt to stop it. I pressed the brake pedal multiple times, but the car would not respond. I also pressed the “Park” button repeatedly, yet the vehicle continued to move uncontrollably. The steering wheel was unresponsive, and I was unable to redirect the vehicle or bring it to a stop. The car ultimately crashed into two other vehicles. During the collision, one of the vehicles pinned my left leg in its door, causing physical injury. I am now dealing with both physical and emotional trauma as a result. To be clear, this incident occurred on a flat surface. No airbag deployed upon impact, and there were no warning signs or alerts from the vehicle beforehand which is highly concerning, especially for a modern electric/hybrid vehicle. This car presents a major safety hazard and, in my opinion, should be recalled and removed from service immediately before it causes a fatality. I have contacted Enterprise multiple times to report this issue and urge them not to rent this vehicle to anyone else.

Early March 2025 the vehicle was put car in park, got out of car to close yard gate, turned around to walk back to car but car was rolling forward and hit the flat bed trailer causing approximately $5000 in damage. It was put in park before getting out but jumped gear before getting back in. Another common problem is slamming the emergency brake on when attempting to drive. Was at a red lite left turn stop sign with foot on the brake. When the light turned green took foot off brake & put foot on accelerator to go forward, the car slammed the emergency brake on. This has happened approx 6 times in the 1-1/2 years of ownership.

I had adaptive cruise control on and debris hit my windshield and I went into the rumble strip and eventually into the guard rail where the car essentially pingponged from there until it eventually stopped when the metal hit the front. It appears the emergency brake did not activate and the lane keep did not activate. My air bags did not deploy.

I had adaptive cruise control on and debris hit my windshield and I went into the rumble strip and eventually into the guard rail where the car essentially pingponged from there until it eventually stopped when the metal hit the front. It appears the emergency brake did not activate and the lane keep did not activate. My air bags did not deploy.

The accelerator stuck and the vehicle crashed. The vehicle is totaled. It happened [XXX]. No one has yet inspected the vehicle. I notified Hyundai about 5 days ago. The phone number of the towing company is 516 433 1011. The following link is a YouTube video of the accident: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

In January, 2024, my vehicle (2023 Hyundai Santa Fe) started shuddering when brakes were applied at high speed, on quick or hard stops, in stop and go traffic, and especially going downhill. I had only been driving the vehicle for about 5 months. I took the vehicle to an independent mechanic, who explained that my front rotors had burn spots. He recommended that I have them resurfaced. I did not want to pay for the problem to be fixed when I believed it was a factory defect and should be covered by warranty. I asked the Mission Hills Hyundai dealership Service Department to investigate and correct the problem, because I felt that my family's safety was jeopardized by faulty brakes. They showed me the burn spots on the front rotors and recommended resurfacing. They said I could wait for the pads to wear down and do the resurfacing at the same time as the pad replacement. Their estimate for resurfacing was higher than the one from my mechanic. I found a Hyundai Technical Service Bulletin, Number 23-BR-004H, which described the exact defects of my vehicle. I returned to the dealership with the TSB in February, 2024. They replaced the two defective front rotors and front disc pads at no charge. The shuddering was no longer evident, and I thought the problem was resolved. However, 10 months later in December, 2024, I once again experienced the shuddering while braking on the freeway while going downhill and when slowing for stops from high speed. Since I had been told that the new rotors and pads were covered by warranty for 5 years or 60,000 miles, I returned to the dealership on 1/16/25 and asked them to evaluate the brakes again. They said that the front rotors again had burn spots. They once again recommended resurfacing at a cost of $249. I reminded them that there was a warranty on the new parts, they claimed that the only warranty was for the original parts that had been replaced. They agreed to resurface no charge. Please investigate and respond to my complaint.

In January, 2024, my vehicle (2023 Hyundai Santa Fe) started shuddering when brakes were applied at high speed, on quick or hard stops, in stop and go traffic, and especially going downhill. I had only been driving the vehicle for about 5 months. I took the vehicle to an independent mechanic, who explained that my front rotors had burn spots. He recommended that I have them resurfaced. I did not want to pay for the problem to be fixed when I believed it was a factory defect and should be covered by warranty. I asked the Mission Hills Hyundai dealership Service Department to investigate and correct the problem, because I felt that my family's safety was jeopardized by faulty brakes. They showed me the burn spots on the front rotors and recommended resurfacing. They said I could wait for the pads to wear down and do the resurfacing at the same time as the pad replacement. Their estimate for resurfacing was higher than the one from my mechanic. I found a Hyundai Technical Service Bulletin, Number 23-BR-004H, which described the exact defects of my vehicle. I returned to the dealership with the TSB in February, 2024. They replaced the two defective front rotors and front disc pads at no charge. The shuddering was no longer evident, and I thought the problem was resolved. However, 10 months later in December, 2024, I once again experienced the shuddering while braking on the freeway while going downhill and when slowing for stops from high speed. Since I had been told that the new rotors and pads were covered by warranty for 5 years or 60,000 miles, I returned to the dealership on 1/16/25 and asked them to evaluate the brakes again. They said that the front rotors again had burn spots. They once again recommended resurfacing at a cost of $249. I reminded them that there was a warranty on the new parts, they claimed that the only warranty was for the original parts that had been replaced. They agreed to resurface no charge. Please investigate and respond to my complaint.

Emergency brakes engage while driving for no apparent reason. This has happened on several occasions over the last 6 months.

Currently have 518 Diagnostic History Codes (DTC)in memory. Additionally, I have 3 Active DTC’s. The codes are: DTC C160C87 DTC System CHASSIS DTC Sub System LKAS, and DTC C160C87 DTC System CHASSIS DTC Sub System SCC, and DTC C163881 DTC system CHASSIS DTC Sub System SCC FIRST OCCURRENCE: during actual assembly in Montgomery, AL plant. I have asked three Hyundai Service dealers for help. All have tried. Noting noted that contributes to the issues above. At first, my dealer replaced the front camera. Was told it was a heating issue. I have contacted Hyundai BLUELINK service for help. An information report was filed, TWICE. The first report I received feedback that Hyundai’s engineers had corrected the issue. On the following day, the codes returned. A second concern was filed with Hyundai BLUELINK. Hyundai Motor America Case#: [XXX] to wit: “Thank you for contacting Hyundai Motor America. We are in receipt of your e-mail and one of our representatives will get back to you shortly. Sincerely, Hyundai Motor America” Is my vehicle going to fail and cause me injury while operating it on an Interstate highway? This is quite concerning as I drive my car. All I want from Hyundai is to get this issue repaired. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The forward collision warning system engages and slows the car, often very abruptly, when on the highway and only when cruise control is on. It happens after we have been on the highway for a few hours, thus the dealer cannot reproduce the incident. It happens a few times on every road trip and is very disturbing when there are no other vehicles or obstacles in the road or nearby. We have reported this to the dealer several times and they can find nothing wrong. I provided a photo to the dealer of the dashboard showing the cruise control on, the forward collision system DISENGAGED, and the forward collision warning activated. Dealer states they have recalibrated the system but can replace no parts unless a part is found to be faulty. The latest suggestion yesterday from the dealer was to "get out" of the car before the issue gets worse.

The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the Emergency Braking System was erroneously activated, causing the vehicle to abruptly stop in the middle of the road. During the failure, the message "Emergency Braking System Engaged" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted regarding the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

I've been driving in Arizona on southbound [XXX] just south of [XXX] and noticed an issue that is very odd. I have a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe that has Highway Driving Assist that does both speed control and distance from the vehicle ahead of me and Lane Keeping Assist. After I pass [XXX], but before an overpass for [XXX], my vehicle, if those systems are on, goes haywire and all those safety systems turn off. I have experienced it on at least 3 of the lanes on that stretch. It happens both early in the am and later regardless of sun. It doesn't happen on northbound. As more cars have these features, this interference should be looked in to. I have not experienced this on any other of our highways. Here's a link to the the rough location. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Unknown issue, but the car has auto braked 2x on the interstate going 65mph. No cars were around me nor any objects in the road. It stated auto braking and sensors going off. Resolved itself within 60 seconds, but did almost cause me to be rear ended because a tractor trailer was quickly approaching me.

I have taken my vehicle back into the dealership because my car will sometimes unlock itself, I am constantly having to check the doors to make sure they are still locked and most of the time it has unlocked itself. Most of the time I hear it unlocking as I am walking away. It is very disturbing. It also beeps as if another vehicle is going to crash into me and most of the time there aren't any vehicles anywhere near me. The phone charger does not work, i have been having issues with this from the beginning. The steering wheel also says I have to put my hands on the wheel when I have them on the wheel. I have a video of the car going a lot of rpms and it barely moved, a golf cart passed me up. The car also locks up sometimes when I am backing up. I drive my parents to San Antonio for their Dr. appointments and am a little fearful of staying stranded either direction. My father is very ill and I am their driver. The dealer insists my car is the only one having these issues but I have read on reddit and other platforms of other Santa Fe's with similar issues. These issues do not occur ALL THE TIME, but this does occur at the most inconvenience time.

This same scenario has happened 3 times since I purchased this vehicle - first event at mileage of 6273, 2nd event @ 7586 miles, and 3rd event @ 12,506 miles. All events were the same - while driving, dash board light start to flash and the vehicle looses all ability to accelerate. For each event, we have been able to coast out of traffic, turn the car off & restart. Once the car is restarted the acceleration works again, but the check engine light remains on along with an error code of P065312 Possible Power Train Issue. We have been very fortunate each time that we were on a road where we were able to coast out of traffic, but if this happened on a busy Interstate or Hwy traveling at high speeds we could have been rear-ended. The vehicle has been to the dealership twice for service and no problems have been found. The vehicle will be returned to the dealership tomorrow for 3rd service attempt.

The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the Forward Collision Avoidance system erroneously activated, causing the braking system to activate and the vehicle to veer to the left. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer on several occasions due to the failure however, a cause for the failure was not determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 1,000.

Mileage: 1,000

Upon braking hard and suddenly due to being cutoff on the interstate, it felt as if the antilock brakes did not properly engage but rather grabbed/grinded/scraped. Only when I let off the brake did they disengage. This happened the first time within 2 months of owning the car and with less than 2k miles on it, at highway speeds (65-70 MPH) and this sensation has happened probably 4 times in the 7 months I have owned the car under various scenarios of stopping quickly. In addition, it recently happened when driving 25-30 MPH and coming to a normal stop approaching a stop sign - where it felt as if the brake on the front passenger tire grabbed/grinded/scraped (but not on the 3 other tires). I have taken the car back for inspection at the dealer twice, neither time have they found any issues. In addition, one evening the stability control light flickered, sounded as if the dash was frying/sizzling with no reason - roads were not wet, no leaves, grass or other debris, etc. and speed was 25-30 - this happened twice within 3 miles. Dealer found no issue with car after performing visual inspection of wiring, check of system for code errors, nor driving test to reproduce issue. Had the brakes failed, I could have been in an accident causing serious harm to me/my passengers or whomever I could have hit. I believe the ABS system needs to be replaced or reprogrammed but the dealer refuses to acknowledge a problem exists. Online forums indicate similar (and worse) issues, also with people stating they cannot get a dealer to resolve their problems. This is a serious malfunction of either the electric or braking system in some capacity and should be fixed before people are severely injured or killed.

When traveling along the front collision warning system is triggered even though nothing is around the vehicle. The car remains running, but there is no response from the gas pedal. I have to coast to the side if possible or stop and turn on flashers (very dangerous on interstate highway). Once safely stopped, turning off the car and then starting again reboots the system and it runs fine until it happens again randomly. The check engine light stays on for a day, but does not light up the next morning. The dealership does diagnostics, but nothing shows up as wrong. It happens so fast there is no way to take a picture or video before the warning disappears. So far I have been lucky as this has happened at least 6 times. It is dangerous and I am terrified someone will not see flashers and run into me at highway speeds.

Occasionally the cruise control when accelerating will exceed the set speed and continue to climb and I will be going 20 miles faster than the set speed and climbing. The only way to sop this is to turn cruise off, slow down and restart. My thought is it happens after I have disengaged the cruise and then when safe reengage which is done by pressing the switch straight down. In my previous vehicles I would push the control up. I may be doing this by accident and giving the system an unknown command. Whatever I am doing to create tis situation is too easy to do and creates a safety issue. this has happened multiple times.

The front collision warning/assistance system on this vehicle does not appear to be working. The dealer claims that it is working. It seems that the protocol for testing for proper function is flawed and no one is tacking ownership of this issue. They are saying that in order to test the system a near collision must be imminent and to simulate this puts the technician at risk of injury (understandable); Nevertheless, I have been in situations where I should have at least received a warning and there was none. On a test drive by the service manager with me in the vehicle the front collision assistance was verified on and active. The cruise control function was tested and worked to adjust the speed of the vehicle appropriately which tells me that assistance is available. It appears that the either the collision sensor is not recognizing collision danger or the danger message is not getting to the warning trigger and possibly the assistance trigger. This situation should be reported to the appropriate department a Hyundai for review.

Over the last Tom th, I have encountered some pretty scary issues with my brand new Santa Fe purchased in April. Last week, while driving, after I turned on adaptive cruise control, the system alerted me that “smart crusade control conditions weren’t met” and kept trying to engage the front left brake — this occurred three days in a row. After turning off the smart cruise control and entering residential roads, the front left brake tried to engage in a manner that seemed consistent with ABS issue. I brought car in two days later to Dublin Hyundai and they said they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. I picked the car up yesterday morning and then last night while driving on the highway, it alerted me that I need to “check highway drive assist system” and a warning light came up. After about 5 minutes, the car jerked me incredibly hard to the left on the freeway and then athe light turned off. Then two days ago, I was driving my car on the highway the car randomly said “emergency braking system activated” twice, while going 70 on the freeway in the middle of nowhere. This was while driving safely and no cars nearby either time. I looked online and it appears this is a problem that’s occurred in many Santa Fe’s, so there is clearly an issue with manufacturing (which I’m assuming is the same case as the previous issues I’ve run into).

I was driving on the highway and the car phantom emergency braked for no reason at all.

Driving on highway with cruise control selected to 80 mph. Left signal is applied to travel to left lane to pass a semi trailer. When the vehicle is half way into the left lane, the automatic system applies hard braking even though the semi trailer has not been detected as too close. Vehicle slowed to 74 to 75 mph before cruise control was turned off. Vehicle behavior is a total surprise to vehicles following since the braking is unexpected on a clear road. Repeated the symptoms several times. This braking does not occur if the vehicle ahead in the right hand lane is an automobile. This only occurs if it is a large vehicle such as a semi. Moving quickly or slowly to the passing lane affects the total time the braking is applied. The slower the movement, the longer the braking is applied. Repeated this behavior at 75 mph and 70 mph with similar results.

Driving on highway with cruise control selected to 80 mph. Left signal is applied to travel to left lane to pass a semi trailer. When the vehicle is half way into the left lane, the automatic system applies hard braking even though the semi trailer has not been detected as too close. Vehicle slowed to 74 to 75 mph before cruise control was turned off. Vehicle behavior is a total surprise to vehicles following since the braking is unexpected on a clear road. Repeated the symptoms several times. This braking does not occur if the vehicle ahead in the right hand lane is an automobile. This only occurs if it is a large vehicle such as a semi. Moving quickly or slowly to the passing lane affects the total time the braking is applied. The slower the movement, the longer the braking is applied. Repeated this behavior at 75 mph and 70 mph with similar results.

All lights that come on when you first start the vehicle stay on. ABS, forward collision, rear collision, side mirror check, down hill brake, etc. The brakes and brake pedal would lock up when attempting to brake. Pedal stays locked but the wheels didn’t seem too. Brake system wouldn’t respond to pumping the brakes the pedal stayed frozen. It could have caused me a serious accident.

I bought this Lemon on 1/14/2023. The front collision detection doesn't brake to avoid collision. The Emergency brake will engage on it's own, and it has to be manually disengaged. The parking assist feature will automatically disengage and is unable to engage it. The middle seat in the back seat headrest obstructs a major portion of the rear window, obstructing the driver's view. It is not the headrest pictured in the Owner's Manual. It has been in the shop twice. It has been in the shop for 10 days and counting of the 34 days I have owned this lemon of a vehicle. The car was taken to the dealer for repairs but consumer was told the vehicle functioned properly. The consumer stated the car was still malfunctioning so vehicle was taken back to dealer for repairs and still being assessed.

I bought this Lemon on 1/14/2023. The front collision detection doesn't brake to avoid collision. The Emergency brake will engage on it's own, and it has to be manually disengaged. The parking assist feature will automatically disengage and is unable to engage it. The middle seat in the back seat headrest obstructs a major portion of the rear window, obstructing the driver's view. It is not the headrest pictured in the Owner's Manual. It has been in the shop twice. It has been in the shop for 10 days and counting of the 34 days I have owned this lemon of a vehicle. The car was taken to the dealer for repairs but consumer was told the vehicle functioned properly. The consumer stated the car was still malfunctioning so vehicle was taken back to dealer for repairs and still being assessed.

I purchased this SUV new and noticed an issue with the automatic intermittent wipers. The dealership has replaced the windshield sensor and issue is now unreliable at best. Service department told me to simply wipe the sensor off or pour water onto the sensor to get the wipers to work. That seems to work for about 3 wipes and then stops again. Also, the driver seat changes position by itself while driving, and the advanced cruise control failed to provide any braking and almost caused me to rear end a stopped car in freeway traffic. Additionally the advanced braking system does not work at all... I had the salesman check the settings and they are turned on, but do not provide any braking function. The alert system does provide a warning if a car turns a corner in front of me, but fails to take any action.

Forward collision warning system engaged unexpectedly, braked hard to the point of smelling burnt tires. No collision imminent. Normal driving conditions. On a second occasion, stopped at a traffic light, the vehicle suddenly warned of foward parking collision. Front camera engaged and yellow warning showed