2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Exterior lighting Problems

Vehicle is equipped with automatic headlights. They constantly turn on and off during the day as soon as you enter any type of shadow. This causes the headlights to “flash” the driver in front of you. While traveling on the interstate at 75 mph if you go under an overpass they turn on, less than 1 second but take 30-60 seconds to turn off! During that time the dash darkens and you cannot see the speedometer,HVAC controls, etc. Even with the headlight switch turned to OFF the dash continues to dim as if the headlights were on! I have had the dealer (San Tan Hyundai in Gilbert AZ) check them twice. Each time I am told operating as designed. This needs a software update to make the automatic headlight system less sensitive. There is no reason why my dash is dimming while the system is off or why the headlights are coming on during a bright sunny day because I drove through a shadow.

NHTSA ID

11553737

Incident

Nov 6, 2023

My LED headlights have a massive dark spot in the top left corner. It looks like a triangle took a bite out of the light. It creates a big blind spot at night when driving in poorly lit areas and again, Hyundai won't do anything about it.

NHTSA ID

11504455

Incident

Sep 9, 2022

The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low beam headlights were not illuminating as needed. The driver used the high beam headlights while driving. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contact but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 4,500.

NHTSA ID

11496569

Incident

Oct 1, 2022

Mileage

4,500 mi

Headlights are dismal low beam is useless

NHTSA ID

11496566

Incident

Dec 7, 2022

Low beam lights shine very low and only light about 20’ ahead. On Arkansas curvy country roads, it is difficult to see what is on the road ahead. I have talked to dealer and was told nothing can be done to improve them. Mine are LED. This has been a problem since purchase in April. I avoid night driving because of this.

NHTSA ID

11487090

Incident

May 5, 2022

2022 Santa Cruz 764 miles. Washed vehicle April 1st with hose, water & soap bubbles in grill of DRL. I was told that its a lens cover & not the LED DRL, but it collects and holds water & soap. I can't clean in there. Field service engineer came out, deamed normal by Hyundai, grill & lens are not sealed. Unacceptable, water collecting by electrical component. Can't get behind lens cover to clean. Eventually im going to have a film in there, and DRL won't work as they should. If soap and water get in now, what happens during winter when it gets road spray from rock salt melting snow and ice turn things to a slush? Who's going to clean that? What happens when the water turns to ice? I mentioned windshield gets foggy and has to be cleaned inside, I was told to use my defroster to clean it. There is no defroster in grill. I'm seeing water collect by an electrical component and soap during a wash. Thats now, the winter road spray won't be as kind. Those are not individual lights, it's one component of 4 lights. The longer this goes on, the effectiveness of those lights will go down. That's not gonna help me at night. Those lights are expensive and you have to have the entire panel replaced. Im not a mechanic or body & fender man. Who's going to pay for that? But, the big question is, "why aren't these lights sealed?

NHTSA ID

11464351

Incident

Apr 12, 2022

The low beam headlight position creates a "shadow shelf" in the middle of the windshield making visibility poor while using only the low beams. This is made worse in inclement weather. This is a hazard as the illuminated area distance is drastically less than that of most other vehicles.

NHTSA ID

11462198

Incident

Apr 23, 2022

My Santa Cruz headlights have a dark shadow on the drivers side while driving at night. It is extremely distracting and it can be a danger. The blind spot is very obvious. It can lead the driver to look at the shadow instead of the road as well as a portion of the headlight projection is not illuminating the road. The 2022 Tucson has the same front headlight configuration and while searching the Hyundai forum, the same problem exists for that vehicle. This is a constant problem while driving at night.

NHTSA ID

11455969

Incident

Jan 22, 2022

Halogen headlights too dim, even on high beams. Called dealership and was told they couldn’t switch to a brighter bulb. Was also told I couldn’t convert to LED headlights without voiding warranty; that if I wanted LED headlights I should have “purchased a higher trim model”. I purchased the SEL with activity package trim and you would think an almost $40,000 vehicle would have better headlights than this.

NHTSA ID

11449050

Incident

Jan 20, 2022