Hyundai
Hyundai Santa Cruz years to avoid
Years to avoid: 2022. Best years: 2024.
The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz draws the most owner complaints for its age: 185, or 37 for each year on the road, against a median of 20 a year across the 3 model years old enough to judge. The most reported problem on the 2022 is stalling (45 reports).
- 185complaints
- 4recall campaigns
- 1model years with a page
Newest report Sep 27, 2026 · checked Oct 2, 2026
Pick your model year
Owner complaints on file for each year.
Complaints for each year on the road
Each model year's NHTSA complaints divided by the calendar years it has been on sale, counting this one (a 2018 model has had 9). Older cars have had longer to collect complaints, so raw totals flatter the new ones. Blue bars are the years to avoid. Too new to judge: 2025.
Within one model, sales change less from year to year than they do between models, so a jump here is mostly a jump in problems. The call: the years to avoid are the (up to three) highest at 1.5 times the model's median rate or more, and the best are the (up to three) lowest at two thirds of it or less, from 2016 on.
Guide How much should a years-to-avoid list decide? What these lists get wrong
At a glance
- Where the complaints sit
- The 2022 has the most complaints of any Hyundai Santa Cruz year here: 185 of 185 (100%).
- Problem across the years
- Stalling is the top problem in every model year with a page, 45 reports in all. Pooled across the years, half of the 16 owners who gave a mileage for stalling were under about 15,000 miles.
- Crash, fire and injury reports
- 3% of Hyundai Santa Cruz complaints report a crash, a fire or an injury, against 6% for the typical vehicle on this site.
- Recalls on the top problem
- Every model year where owners report stalling also has a recall on the same system. A recall on the same system doesn't always cover the failure owners describe, so compare its summary with the complaints.
- When owners filed
- Filings peaked in 2022 at 80 and have dropped every year since, to 17 in 2025. So far in 2026, 15 more have come in.
Photo: Elise240SX, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Model years with too few complaints for a page of their own: 2023 (79), 2024 (35), 2025 (19).
Year by year
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz avoid
185 owner complaints, 37 for each year on the road (1.9 times the model median). Most reported: stalling (45 reports, median 15,000 miles), misfire (18 reports, median 37,780 miles) and transmission failure (13 reports). 5 reports involved a crash and 5 people were hurt. 4 recalls, including 22V-746 on the transmission and drivetrain and 22V-197 on the engine.
Questions
What Hyundai Santa Cruz years should you avoid?
The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz draws the most owner complaints for its age: 185, or 37 for each year on the road, against a median of 20 a year across the 3 model years old enough to judge. The most reported problem on the 2022 is stalling (45 reports).
What are the best years for the Hyundai Santa Cruz?
The 2024 draws the fewest complaints for its age: 35, or 12 for each year on the road.
What is the most common problem on the Hyundai Santa Cruz?
Stalling, with 45 reports across the 1 model years that have a page here. It's the single most reported problem on the 2022.
How many recalls does the Hyundai Santa Cruz have?
4 recall campaigns cover the Hyundai Santa Cruz model years 2022 on this site.
How many Hyundai Santa Cruz complaints involve a crash, fire or injury?
3% of them, against 6% for the typical vehicle on this site.
Is there a recall for stalling on the Hyundai Santa Cruz?
Yes, on every model year where owners report it.