Other electrical problem on the 2008 Hyundai Santa FE
2 fires 1 injury 3 of the 24 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other electrical problem gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Hyundai Santa FE report other electrical problem at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles, from 23 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 8th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 140,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 129,908 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
22% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,800 miles | 42,500 miles | 74,209 miles | 120,001 miles | 140,708 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 2 a fire and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $250–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 26 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2022, at a median of 200 miles, and latest on the 2005 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2017 carries the most reports, with 41; the 2008 has 24. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 hyundai santa fe. The contact heard a high-pitched noise coming from the radio. She called the dealer on march 4, 2008 and was advised to bring the vehicle in for service. Once at the dealer, they inspected the radio and informed her that they needed to order the part for the repair. On march 21, 2008, the contact returned to the dealer and they kept the vehicle for approximately 30 days. The dealer sent her a certified letter, notifying her to retrieve the vehicle. On april 18, 2008, the contact picked up her vehicle and spoke with the general manager concerning a new radio for the vehicle. On june 19, 2008, a new radio was installed, but it also made a noise. She currently has to meet with a hyundai representative to inspect the radio and determine whether hyundai will continue to assist with the failure. The failure mileage was 12 and current mileage was 3,100.
Safety defect with horn activation in emergency situations. Excessive pressure on the steering wheel horn pad is need to activate the horn. This has happened numerous times when a potential collision /close call situation occurred. The central area of the steering wheel contains the driver air bag integrated with the horn activation subsystem. The manual pressure needed to activate the horn is what I believe is excessive and appears to be greater as you move away from the center of the horn-pad to the edge of the pad. I have asked the dealer numerous times about fixing this but he claims this in not possible. There is no adjustment available on this equipment. I've compared the amount of pressure needed on my hyundai santa fe to my 1999 lexus rx 300 and the santa fe requires much more pressure than the rx300. Both my wife and I have requested the dealers service managers to do something to reduce the amount of pressure but they have responded w/ the comment there is nothing that can be done. *tr
In november 2010, vehicle at est. 29,000 mi. Car lost all acceleration. Was able to pull of on side of shoulder on highway. Car would not regain acceleration despite being turned off, etc. Throttle sensor changed. March 2011, vehicle at est. 31,000 mi. Same problem. While on highway, car lost all acceleration. Rpms jumped high, engine roared in response but car would not accelerate. Again, taken to dealership. *tr
Also reported on the 2008 Hyundai Santa FE
Fuel gauge or level sensor failure
Other fuel system problem
Other speed control problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other engine problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 24 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other electrical problem happen on the 2008 Hyundai Santa FE?
Across 23 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other electrical problem on the 2008 Hyundai Santa FE?
24 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed