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Exterior lightingPart report

2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz Exterior lighting Problems

Complaints
4about this part
Share
18%of 22 total for the year
Median mileage
200miles
Trend
Too newThis model year is less than 4 years old, so a trend is not meaningful yet.

NHTSA recorded 4 complaints about the exterior lighting of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz, 18% of the 22 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 200 miles.

Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“One or two times a week, while driving at night, my headlights and head unit display both power off briefly, typically about 1/2 a second. Then they resume as if nothing had happened. No warning lights or errors, no boot up screen... just back to normal instantly. The only thing that changes is my seat belt indicator illuminates for a few seconds, then goes back off. After some online digging, it seems plenty of other people have this issue, but no one has found an official cause or solution.”

NHTSA complaint #11774411, filed 2026-10

“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 there was a strict delineation in what was lit up and what was not. Being on a country two lane with no ambient lights and travelling at the posted 55mph I realized that I did not have enough distance to stop safely in the event that something be on the road ahead, e.g., deer. So concentrated is the light that it does not create any vertical illumination. …”

NHTSA complaint #11724893, filed 2026-03

“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 to a dealer on multiple occasions. The dealer was initially unable to duplicate the failure but later diagnosed that the driver-side headlight bulb needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer on several occasions. The dealer ultimately deemed the headlight performance normal. …”

NHTSA complaint #11749015, filed 2026-07, 200 miles

“I was driving on a highway at 55mph at night today 3/1/2026 and all of a sudden the headlights, instrumentation lights, and computer display went out, very scary, the all turned back on about 1.5 seconds later.”

NHTSA complaint #11721312, filed 2026-03

Related service bulletins

Exterior lighting: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
2025418%
202413%
202345%
202295%

Other parts of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz

Forward collision avoidance
10 complaints
Electrical system
4 complaints
Other or unknown
3 complaints
Brakes
2 complaints
Engine
2 complaints
Fuel system
1 complaints
Lane departure
1 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Nov 1, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology