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2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz

Gas Compact SUV

202720262025202420232022
Specs & fuel economyRecallsComplaintsCrash ratings
F
Safety Signal
54 / 100
FSafety Signal · 54 / 100
4Recalls · 2 critical
180Complaints · owner reports
—Crash rating · NHTSA overall
23 mpgFuel economy · best combined
⚠️
Active NHTSA advisory: park outside and away from structures until repaired. Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls and see the recall details below.

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is sold in the U.S. as a gas compact SUV with 3 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the Santa Cruz AWD, is EPA-rated at 23 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 4 recall campaigns for this model year, 2 rated critical, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of F. Owners have filed 180 complaints, most often about power train.

Specs & fuel economy (EPA)

ConfigurationPowertrainDriveEngine / motorCityHwyCombAnnual fuel*
Santa Cruz AWDGasAWD2.5L 4-cyl212723$2,700
Santa Cruz FWDGasFWD2.5L 4-cyl212623$2,700
Santa Cruz AWDGasAWD2.5L 4-cyl turbo192722$2,850

*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year and EPA reference fuel/electricity prices. Source: fueleconomy.gov vehicle records.

Out of factory warranty soon?

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is in the years where transmission, electronics and drivetrain repairs land on the owner. Compare extended-coverage quotes in about two minutes.

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Recalls (4)

Trailer Hitches

critical
Park outside584,784 vehicles

Problem: Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2019-2023 Santa Fe, 2021-2023 Santa Fe HEV, 2022-2023 Santa Fe Plug-in HEV and Santa Cruz vehicles potentially equipped with a tow hitch harness installed as original equipment, or purchased as an accessory through a Hyundai dealership. Water accumulation on the tow hitch harness module printed circuit board (PCB) may cause an electrical short, which can result in a fire.

Risk: A fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury.

Fix: Owners are advised to park their vehicles outside and away from structures until the remedy is completed. Dealers will install a new fuse and wire extension kit as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed starting May 16, 2023. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 244. This recall is an expansion of previous recall number 22V-633.

NHTSA campaign 23V181000 · reported Mar 17, 2023 · Hyundai Motor America

Structure

high
16,104 vehicles

Problem: Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2022 Tucson and 2022-2023 Santa Cruz vehicles. The roof moldings may detach.

Risk: A detached roof molding could become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.

Fix: Dealers will inspect and replace, or secure the roof moldings, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 30, 2023. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 241.

NHTSA campaign 23V038000 · reported Jan 31, 2023 · Hyundai Motor America

Power Train

high
56,148 vehicles

Problem: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Santa Fe, Sonata, Veloster N, 2022 Santa Cruz, Elantra N, and Kona N vehicles. The vehicle's "fail-safe" limited-mobility drive mode may be impaired, when prompted by a transmission oil pump malfunction, which can result in a complete loss of drive power.

Risk: Loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.

Fix: Dealers will inspect and replace the transmission, as necessary. Dealers will also update the transmission control unit software. All repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 10, 2023. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 236.

NHTSA campaign 22V746000 · reported Oct 6, 2022 · Hyundai Motor America

Engine And Engine Cooling

critical
16 vehicles

Problem: Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2022 Santa Fe and Santa Cruz vehicles. The oil supply pipe to the turbocharger may crack, which could result in an oil leak in the engine compartment.

Risk: An oil leak in the presence of an ignition source such as hot engine or exhaust components, can increase the risk of a fire.

Fix: Dealers will replace the turbocharger oil supply pipe, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 26, 2022. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall 222.

NHTSA campaign 22V197000 · reported Mar 28, 2022 · Hyundai Motor America

Owner complaints

180 complaints filed

4 involved a crash, 1 a fire, 4 injuries, 0 deaths reported by owners.

Filed by year — 2022: 80 · 2023: 51 · 2024: 22 · 2025: 17 · 2026: 10

Most-cited components

  • Power Train — 90
  • Engine — 49
  • Unknown Or Other — 34
  • Electrical System — 21
  • Fuel/Propulsion System — 21
“While driving on a surface street, engine stopped responding while pressing the accelerator. Vehicle would not go faster than 28mph. Once turned off and restarted, engine acted normally. Vehicle is less than 1 week old with approximately 200 miles. This appears to be the same problem mentioned by multiple Santa Cruz ow…”Mar 2, 2022 · Unknown Or Other · NHTSA owner report
“Washer fluid does not distribute properly on the windshield especially at highway speeds causing the wipers to leave streaks in the middle of the windshield right in the driver's field of vision. The vast majority of the fluid hits at the base of the windshield and runs off at an angle towards the driver's side window.…”Feb 25, 2022 · Visibility/Wiper · NHTSA owner report
“Santa Cruz SEL Premium 70 miles on vehicle While driving at night at 40mph I tried to accelerate but the car acted like I was in too high of a gear. It would not go faster and I had traffic coming up behind me. Luckily I got stopped by a red light. Not being sure what to do I turned the car off and restarted. It ran fi…”Feb 23, 2022 · Unknown Or Other · NHTSA owner report

Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.

Crash ratings

NHTSA has not published 5-Star crash ratings for this model year.

Other Santa Cruz model years

A

2027 Santa Cruz

0 recalls · 0 complaints

C

2026 Santa Cruz

3 recalls · 5 complaints

C

2025 Santa Cruz

3 recalls · 18 complaints

A

2024 Santa Cruz

1 recalls · 35 complaints

C

2023 Santa Cruz

2 recalls · 77 complaints

Sources & method

Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). Floor 35. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Complaint counts and NHTSA crash ratings are shown separately and are not blended into the grade.

EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records (ids 43983, 43982, 43984). Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed weekly.

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