Other powertrain problem on the 2008 Hyundai Santa FE
1 injury 1 of the 10 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 powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Hyundai Santa FE report other powertrain problem at a median of 70,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 15th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 30,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 175,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 143,631 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32,400 miles | 45,000 miles | 70,000 miles | 95,000 miles | 176,031 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, 1 an injury is 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 $400–$4,500 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 25 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2018, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2005 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2017 carries the most reports, with 111; the 2008 has 10. 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 stated that when the vehicle was started, it would run rough and make a lot of noise. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the shaft assembly and the bearing failed. The contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 77,000 and the current mileage was 77,700. Updated 03/16/11 *bf updated 1/4/11 *cn
I have a 2008 hyundai santa fe with 35,000 miles on it. Last week I was driving at 25 miles/hr and it suddenly accelerated. I tried to brake multiple times but the car would not stop. I put the car in park and turned off the ignition and it stopped. Over the past two weeks I have had multiple incidences of sudden acceleration while pressing lightly on the gas and at other times while letting up on the brake. I brought my car to ther dealer in reisterstown, maryland. They tested the car and drove it and insist that the computer says that everything is fine and they drove it and of course it did not happen while they drove it. I was told there is nothing to be done. I am scared to death to drive the car and don't know what to do. I see online there are many people with the same complaint that have not gotten any help from their dealers or from hyundai. *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 10 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 powertrain problem happen on the 2008 Hyundai Santa FE?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 70,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2008 Hyundai Santa FE?
10 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 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