Hyundai Santa Fe 2022: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 90 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe were passes.

Summary

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 1,766 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
90 in every 100
Did not pass first time
10 in every 100183 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
3 yearsabout 27,750 miles
First tests counted
1,766

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: petrol engine warning light, 10 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 183 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Petrol engine warning light

Failed on 22 first tests10 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

The malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) on a petrol engine is a Major failure when it is illuminated indicating a malfunction. The detail line DVSA gives for the same row also names an inoperative lamp. The test covers only certain petrol vehicles, depending on their age, size and fuel type.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Visibility

One fault: windscreen wipers (front), 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Windscreen wipers (front)

Failed on 32 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Only a clearly damaged or worn windscreen wiper needs to be rejected. A wiper that is missing or not working is graded Major, and so is a blade that is missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen. A defective blade is graded Minor.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
90in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
1in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
9in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 89.6% of 1,766 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 91.4%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 1 fixed and the 9 not fixed make the 10 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

4060801002005201020152022Older cars
40608010020102022Older cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200455 in every 100367
200550 in every 100501
200650 in every 100831
200754 in every 100839
200857 in every 100543
200961 in every 100502
201051 in every 1002,661
201153 in every 1002,908
201252 in every 1002,682
201360 in every 1001,240
201466 in every 1002,324
201575 in every 1002,800
201678 in every 1004,095
201781 in every 1002,507
201882 in every 1001,850
201983 in every 1001,046
202084 in every 100501
202189 in every 100846
2022 This car90 in every 1001,766

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe follows the pattern of the model years either side. In 2025, 89.6% of 1,766 first MOTs on the 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 91.4%. Among 183 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Petrol engine warning light appears more often than on similar cars (12.0% of those tests; 22 observed failures; about 10× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Petrol engine warning light (12.0% of those tests; 22 observed failures; about 10× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Petrol engine warning light shows up more often than on similar cars (12.0% of those tests; 22 observed failures; about 10× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe include Petrol engine warning light, Windscreen wipers (front). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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