A man claims that a serious issue felled his new Hyundai Santa Fe just five weeks into owning it. That left him in limbo for more than two months before his saga ended with a surprising choice.
The video warning about the Santa Fe issue came from creator Pinapple Patrick (@rapidpenguinz), drawing more than 20,000 views since going up on Aug. 15. In it, he describes his exasperation with his new Santa Fe’s transmission, which he reports went out just over a month after he started driving it.
“Long story short, I bought a vehicle—2024 Hyundai Santa Fe,” he begins. “We drove it for five weeks. Transmission blew. It’s been sitting at the dealership, and since the 24th of June, the guy said, ‘Hey, in order to qualify for a buyback, it’s got to sit there till Aug. 8 without parts.’”
Then, Patrick exclaims, “I don’t want to drive, I don’t want my wife to drive a vehicle with a rebuilt transmission … when I paid $50,000 cash for it!” (He punctuated the space between fifty and thousand with a particularly salty adjective.)
He continues, claiming that the dealership was making him “jump through hoops” to get Hyundai to buy back the car. “You need to go fight with the DMV for the paper,” he claims the dealership representative told him. “Otherwise, we can’t process the claim.”
@rapidpenguinz #santafe #hyundai #lemonlaw #buyback #hyundaisantafe2024 ♬ original sound – Pinapple Patrick
Opinions about the Santa Fe
Despite the creator’s negative experience, the new version of the Santa Fe was highly regarded by Car and Driver in a recent review. The publication gave it a 9 out of 10 rating, beginning its review by praising its new design.
“We don’t know what Hyundai’s design department had for breakfast when they formulated the new boldly boxy look of the 2024 Santa Fe,” reviewer Austin Irwin wrote, “but we hope there’s more of it on that buffet. The new Santa Fe is as wildly different from the old model as granola is from scrambled eggs.”
In the section on the engine and transmission, Irwin was fairly even-handed in his assessment. “Acceleration is adequate for an SUV of this size,” he wrote, “and the turbo four operates quietly in most circumstances, piping up only under heavy throttle.”
A Reddit forum on the Santa Fe, found at r/HyundaiSantaFe, discussed a question about transmission issues back in March. One respondent noted there, “These transmissions are pretty reliable. They’ve been out a few years now. There is no widespread issues or failures with them.”
That person added, “Put it this way, Hyundai goes through the trouble or redesigning an entirely new Santa Fe and then they go and put in an unreliable transmission? I really don’t see them doing that.”
But another driver claimed that driving just 1,300 miles in a new Santa Fe led to a “massive hole” in the transmission.
What should he have bought instead?
Commenters were ready with recommendations on how they would have chosen if they were in his shoes.
“Honda Pilot would have been a much better choice,” one opined.
Another simply said, “Toyota bro.”
Someone else asked, “Why didn’t you buy a 2022 Lexus?”
As it turns out, on Monday, Patrick finally got the resolution he was seeking. In a follow-up video, he reports, “We did get approved for our buyback.”
Rather than returning to the Hyundai well, they purchased a Lincoln Navigator.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Hyundai via email and to the creator via Instagram and TikTok direct message.
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