Is anyone out there able to comment on the availability of aftermarket parts for Hyundai's. I realize this vehicle is still new so aftermarket parts have not yet been made available, but are there any previous owners out there who can comment on how this changes as the vehicle's warranty tends to run out, and what pricing tends to be like. Is it comprable to the domestics and other vehicles out there or are they over the top and is that why some people choose to trade there vehicle in after a few years. Just curious as I know that was the case with the Hyundai Steller a friend of mine owned once.

My Santa Fe is too new to comment, but the company has come a looooooong way from the days of the Stellar and is probably competitive.

My numerous Nissans and Hondas over the years have been dirt cheap to own, because they rarely needed parts (at least not during the first 4-6 years), and the Santa appears to have more robust construction. The only way I'd give the advantage to a domestic is parts availability, especially if I lived in a remote town where Bubba's Garage was the only service available.

While I can't comment on the Hyundai yet, I will say that it's probably much better than that of Volvo. I owned an S40, and could only purchase OEM parts for it. I made an attempt to pickup an oil and air filter at autozone and the **** things didn't even fit right! I think most of the asian car market is pretty well supplied over here.. especially considering that they are manufactured here as well.

Parts availability for a Hyundai, you say????? That's a funny one! The rear brake on our santa fe with only 27,000km's totally disintegrated on september 29th. We looked around to see if aftermarket brake pads were available but no luck so we were stuck going with the Hyundai original parts. We called our dealership to order a set and guess what........for a dealership covering basically all of Northwestern Ontario, they didn't have one set of brake pads in stock. Then, they give me the runaruound saying their order for parts has already been placed for that week so I would have to wait till October 6th for them to order the brake pads and they would get them in on the 10th and send them out to me on the 14th meaning I'd only get them on the 15th.

This is ridiculous and totally unacceptable. I'll be damned if I'm gonna pay over $500 a month payments on a Lawn ornament. Cause that's alll our santa fe would be good for if I let the dealership have thier way. We eneded up having to pay extra $$$ for shipping to get the parts earlier. This brings me to the price on the parts. I also have a 2008 Chevrolet pickup. Just for fun, I called a local garage to see about a set of brake pads for it. They asked me what type of brakes I wanted as their were already 5 different sets available and they could have a set the next day. When I asked what the price was on the brakes for my truck, they said $45.00. Now, the price of the brakes on our santa fe.........$95.00. Again, totally ridiculous. Oh, and both the santa fe and Chevy are new models for the year 2007 so I won't accept that as an excuse as to why no parts were available for the santa fe.

I told the wife before we bought the santa fe that we should go with a domestic brand of vehicle but she wouldn't listen to me. Oh well, too late for that now. We're just stuck paying twice as much for parts and waiting 3-4 times longer for parts availability. Not a happy camper right now and our dealership is gonna hear about it when I head to the city next week.

This post has been edited by BDinNWO: Oct 11 2008, 08:51 AM

One of my main concerns is the lack of aftermarket parts for the Hyundai brand. When I owned my Honda Accord I could literally walk into most places and they would have the part in stock. I'm not sure this is the case with Hyundai, even though the Sonata and Santa Fe are their most popular models and sell fairly well. I found a guy on Ebay that has alot of OEM parts for these models, but that's not the same as your local auto parts place having the items you need. I believe for the most part we will be slaves to our Hyundai dealerships....

Not if I get my way but you have to be in the UK or Ireland.

The aftermarket parts for my 07 SF do seem to be rare here in eastern Canada. If I want to get my oil changed at my local garage, I still have to go purchase the oil filter from the Hyundai parts and service counter before hand. I was at the Hyundai dealer today for a winter service package which included the oil change. The mechanic brought out to me one of my rear brake pads which is falling apart (28,000kms). Basically he said the rear pads (or one of them) was seized up inside the caliper and not releasing away from the drum when there is no pedal pressure. This apparently causes a lot of heat, the pad cooks and separates from the backing plate. Hyundai said they would replace (with lifetime) rear pads for $159. I will go back in a week, but first I am going to look around for my own pads. Also the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) lite was coming on periodically so they need to change some "brake switch", which is under warranty, but they had none in stock. I guess I will get that fixed next week as well. Anyone else having rear brake problems with their Santa Fe? On my last car (Honda CRV) I replaced the original rear pads at around 60,000kms.

This is ridiculous. Obviously I'm not the only one to have brake problems with the 07 santa fe. I've found many other posts on the web with many, many people complaining about the same exact thing. The rear brake pads stick and wear out prematurely. Again, this is ridiculous. This will be the last time I ever buy a Hyundai or anything foriegn for that matter. I want parts to be available for my vehicle when I need them.

I've owned several GM products and one dodge product and have never had brake pads stick on them. I'm thinking Hyundai better step up to the plate and do some serious research on this and make a recall before people start wisening up and switching back to domestic vehicles that are reliable.

I read somewhere that sticking/seized brake pads on the 07 Hyundai is quite common, especially on the drivers rear side. Not sure why drivers side would be worse than the other. I was told the reason for the sticking pads is the open alloy wheels and the fact that the calipers get all the salt corrosion and road grime sprayed on them. Sounds like a regular cleaning/maintenance every 18,000 kms is in order. Sometimes my Santa Fe will sit in the driveway for 2 or 3 days without moving and I can see this being a problem for the pads seizing up. (I often go out and notice that my rotors are all rusty) I checked around and found different prices for new pads. Two different Hyundai dealers sold the same OEM pad, one for $106 and the other for $76. One aftermarket shop had Raybestos pads for $88 and another had ceramic pads for $100. I agree with you, brake pads should not seize up and separate from the backing plate with less than 30,000 on the Odo. But I bet it has a lot to do with how much the vehicle is driven and under what conditions.

Almost every vehicle on the road today is most likely to have a problem once in a while.

Oh, by the way, the Hyundai Santa Fe is not a foreign automobile. It was designed in the good old U.S.A. and is built in the good old U.S.A.

Most posts that are put on various forums tend to be negative. Usually they are posted so that they can find solutions for problems.

Most people, by a huge margin, are completely happy with their 2006 through 2009 Santa Fes.

I agree with you however, that if the rear brake problem on the Santa Fe is common problem, Hyundai is going to have to either have a recall or at least a TSB.

Mine is totally trouble free but I live in a relatively dry climate.

David <><

I agree with David. Two or three people experiencing the same problem does not a lemon make. I had the same problem on my last Nissan, and have heard of many other makes experiencing the same thing. Open wheels + rear disc brakes = annual maintenance... especially if you live in the snow/salt belt.

Don't get carried away with your frustration over one premature brake job. I recently talked with a guy who traded a Honda for a "domestic" Mexican-built Chevy, and in the first year of ownership his car spent 50% of the time in the shop for countless problems, many of which rendered the car un-drivable. Another guy was angry at his 300,000km import because it cost him $300 one day, so he bought a Dodge Neon. I don't have to tell you how that story turned out. It's all relative, man.

I hope you guys have better luck from now on, and continue to enjoy your ride :beer: