My 2021 Santa Fe rolled backwards as I was walking away!

Asked by Tonya Aug 30, 2022 at 10:48 AM about the Hyundai Santa Fe

Question type: General

In April I had just put the car and park and got out to go to cookie crumble. I got
out the car and started walking to the restaurant and my friend and my son
started yelling for me to come back.
THR CAR WAS ROLLING AWAY BACKWARDS!!!I
I tried to get to it in time to jump back in and hit the break but I was
unsuccessful. It Slammed into a flag pole!!
I filed a claim with my Hyundai and mmy friends insurance company. Neither of
them are willing to pay for the damages.
My Hyundai told me they would reimburse me for rental fees if we got a rental
car and dropped our car off for diagnosis. I was certain that it was going to
come back on diagnosis how could it not? The car literally went out of park and
rolled backwards.
We got a rental and took the car for diagnosis.
Before it even made it to the back,  the technician was telling us that it wasn't
going to show up on diagnostics. He swore that it was impossible for this
cuertain car to go from Park and to neutral or reverse and roll away. The car has
a safety mechanism that if you open the door,  it automatically goes in the park.
And if you are stopped and you open the door and you push reverse, the car
shifts right back in the park.
So the technician did a show to show me and my friend how his car should not
have gone from Park to reverse or neutral.
Problem is ....the car did go from Park to neutral or reverse because it rolled
away when nobody in the driver's seat.
There was nobody in the driver's seat and the car moved backwards and rolled
into a pole.
So since  a code didn't show up on diagnostics, my Hyundai won't cover it and
my insurance isn't covering it either.
I don't even know if this would be a collision or comprehensive, because once
again, nobody was in the driver's seat.
I know that this 2021 Honda Santa Fe is not going to be the only Hyundai to roll
away when parked!
Hyundai recently recalled the ionic and Kia 2022 versions for rolling out of park
and rolling away.
Ford also has recalls for same type issues.
I've just ran out of options! My friend now has a 2021 Santa Fe that basically
sits in the driveway.
It is kind of scary to think about driving it. What if I would have walked behind
the car? I would have been hit and ran over. Then would my Hyundai listen? Is it
going to take for this car to rule out of park again and roll over a crowd of
people.? Or roll into a open business, oncoming traffic?
I filed a omplaint with the attorney general's office and haven't heard back. I just
do not know who to contact when you have a Hyundai that malfunctioned and
Hyundai is not taking responsibility for it.
They basically called us liars.
A security guy even witnessed it. He seen my leg all scratched up and trying to
save the car.
Surely someone out there has to have a similar story or have some kind of
advice for me on where to go from here.
What do we do now!!??

2 Answers

157,625

Thank goodness you or nobody else was hurt, or worse!! You need a lawyer! Depending on where you are it gets tricky when private property is involved. For example, most people don't realize that your automobile insurance will not pay for a telephone pole if you crash into one. There's a part inside of the automatic transmission called a parking pawl. When the transmission is put into park it is supposed to engage and lock the transmission, which is connected to the drive wheels to prevent the vehicle from moving while it is in park. Obviously the parking pawl didn't engage for whatever reason. So the vehicle rolled away! First of all the vehicle should be covered by warranty, bumper to bumper unless it's out of warranty because of mileage. The damage to the vehicle should be covered by the warranty and the flag pole by the liability protection of the insurance policy, in my opinion. But I'm not an expert in legal matters so your best course of action is to hire a lawyer. Good luck to you! Hope that helps! Jim

2,130

also in order for Hyundai to do anything, there will have to be many other owners having similar issues, an isolated incident like yours won't warrant a recall.

1 people found this helpful.

Your Answer:

Santa Fe

Looking for a Used Santa Fe in your area?

CarGurus has 1,600 nationwide Santa Fe listings starting at $3,950.

Postal Code:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    me29
    Reputation
    6,550
  • #2
    JP1956
    Reputation
    2,870
  • #3
    SubaruTech5862
    Reputation
    2,030
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Hyundai Tucson
98 Great Deals out of 2,246 listings starting at $599
Used Hyundai Palisade
19 Great Deals out of 1,064 listings starting at $21,678
Used Kia Sorento
73 Great Deals out of 2,351 listings starting at $4,499
Used Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid
5 Great Deals out of 161 listings starting at $22,995
Used Honda CR-V
100 Great Deals out of 3,907 listings starting at $1,795
Used Toyota Highlander
29 Great Deals out of 737 listings starting at $2,495
Used Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
35 Great Deals out of 830 listings starting at $4,995
Used Toyota RAV4
93 Great Deals out of 2,122 listings starting at $3,888
Used Kia Telluride
12 Great Deals out of 630 listings starting at $18,995
Used Honda Pilot
38 Great Deals out of 1,264 listings starting at $4,495
Used Hyundai Santa Cruz
13 Great Deals out of 347 listings starting at $27,989
Used Hyundai Sonata
35 Great Deals out of 1,107 listings starting at $3,112
Used Kia Sportage
62 Great Deals out of 1,898 listings starting at $4,400
Used Nissan Rogue
134 Great Deals out of 5,546 listings starting at $2,495
Used Toyota 4Runner
13 Great Deals out of 302 listings starting at $9,700

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.