2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz reliability

Is it reliable?

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz has 19 complaints with NHTSA after 2 years, or 10 per year. It is too early to rank against other Santa Cruz years: a year is compared here only after 3 years on the road. NHTSA has 3 recalls on file, including Automatic emergency braking, Curtain, and Wiring.

2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz — Photo by Zeometric, resized from the original. Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.0

Complaints

Per year

Recalls

Years on the road

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Forward collision avoidance (10 of 19), then Electrical system (3) and Exterior lighting (3). The most filings arrived in 2025 (10 of 19). Those filings include 1 that reports a crash and 1 that reports a fire.

Next to 2024 and 2026

The 2024 Santa Cruz has 35 complaints, 12 per year, and the 2026 has 0 complaints, 0 per year.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz. How we count. Data as of 2026-10-16.

Recalls (3)

Recall forward collision avoidance, automatic emergency braking 2026-05-19 · NHTSA campaign 26V316000

Summary Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Santa Cruz, Tucson, Tucson Hybrid, and Tucson Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV) vehicles. Software in the front cameras may cause the forward collision avoidance system to activate prematurely and unexpectedly apply the brakes.

Remedy Dealers will update the front camera software, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed July 17, 2026. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 302. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on May 20, 2026.

Recall air bags, side and window, curtain 2025-11-21 · NHTSA campaign 25V809000

Summary Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025 Tucson, 2025-2026 Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Hybrid, and 2026 Genesis GV70 vehicles. The side curtain air bags may not have been installed properly, which can cause the air bags not to deploy as intended.

Remedy Dealers will reinstall the side curtain air bags, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed beginning December 29, 2025. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's numbers for this recall are 289 and 029G. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on November 22, 2025.

Recall electrical system, wiring 2024-11-20 · NHTSA campaign 24V877000

Summary Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2025 Tucson and Santa Cruz vehicles. The console extension wiring assembly may be routed improperly, allowing the transmission to be shifted out of Park without applying the brake pedal.

Remedy Owners are advised to use the parking brake when parking the vehicle. Dealers will reroute the console extension wiring assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 17, 2024. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 273.

Complaints by component (19 total)

Forward collision avoidance

Electrical system

Exterior lighting

Service brakes

Engine

Fuel and propulsion system

Lane departure

Crash-flagged

Fire-flagged

Injury reports

Death reports

Complaints filed per year

Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings

"Making a left turn against oncoming traffic into a convenience store parking lot. There was a car in the driveway waiting to exit the convenience store parking lot. As I crossed the oncoming traffic lane the crash…"
Forward collision avoidance · filed 2026-09-15
"Loss of power while trying to accelerate. RPM's were going up, but the vehicle was very sluggish. Nearly got rear ended as I had turned right on a red from a stop to merge onto a 55mph road. I could not get up to speed…"
Fuel and propulsion system · filed 2026-08-29
"The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds at night on several occasions, the headlights were dim and created a shadow across the roadway. The vehicle was taken…"
Exterior lighting · filed 2026-07-08
"The contact owned a 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, a loud popping noise was suddenly heard coming from the engine compartment with no warning lights illuminated.…"
Engine · filed 2026-05-07
"While driving at night I happened to notice that the headlights failed to illuminate the road sufficiently. Specifically, the truck was going downhill. As it approached the bottom and soon to go uphill, I noticed that…"
Exterior lighting · filed 2026-03-17

NHTSA crash ratings

Version	Overall	Front	Side	Rollover
2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz PU/CC AWD	5 stars	5 stars	5 stars	4 stars
2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz PU/CC FWD	5 stars	5 stars	5 stars	4 stars

Stars are how this vehicle did in NHTSA crash tests. They are a safety result, separate from the complaint record. Not rated means that test was not run for this version.

Fuel economy

Trim	Engine	Transmission	Drive	City	Hwy	Combined	Annual fuel cost
Santa Cruz all-wheel drive	2.5L, 4-cyl	Automatic (AM-S8)	All-wheel drive	19	27	22 MPG	$2950
Santa Cruz all-wheel drive	2.5L, 4-cyl	Automatic (8-speed)	All-wheel drive	21	29	24 MPG	$2700
Santa Cruz front-wheel drive	2.5L, 4-cyl	Automatic (8-speed)	Front-wheel drive	22	30	25 MPG	$2600
Santa Cruz XRT all-wheel drive	2.5L, 4-cyl	Automatic (AM-S8)	All-wheel drive	18	26	21 MPG	$3100

Specs and fitment

1st generation, 2022–present

Body styles Pickup

Oil 0W-20 full synthetic , 4.5 qt capacity

Tire size 245/60R18 (SE/SEL/SEL Premium), 245/50R20 (Limited)

Known issues for this generation

Recall 22V-197 covers certain 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz vehicles, and also certain 2022 Santa Fe vehicles: the oil supply pipe to the turbocharger may crack, which could result in an oil leak in the engine compartment. Dealers replace the turbocharger oil supply pipe. Recall 23V-038 covers certain 2022-2023 Santa Cruz vehicles, and also certain 2022 Tucson vehicles: the roof moldings may detach; dealers inspect and replace or secure them as necessary.

Compare

Previous year 2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz See every Hyundai Santa Cruz model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz reliable?

What are common problems with a 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz?

Is the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz more reliable than the years next to it?

The 2024 Santa Cruz has 35 complaints, 12 per year, and the 2026 has 0 complaints, 0 per year.

Has the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz been recalled?

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz has 3 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz?

Owners have filed 19 complaints about the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz is 23 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

What oil does a Hyundai Santa Cruz take?

0W-20 full synthetic; capacity is about 4.5 quarts with filter.

What does recall 22V-197 cover on the Santa Cruz?

Certain 2022 Santa Cruz vehicles (and certain 2022 Santa Fe): the oil supply tube for the turbocharger may leak. See the NHTSA campaign for the remedy.

What tire sizes does the Santa Cruz use?

245/60R18 on SE/SEL/SEL Premium; 245/50R20 on Limited.