NHTSA Complaint #11440551 — 2015 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

On July 14, 2021, while the vehicle was MOVING, the cable in the spare tire hoist snapped resulting in the spare tire dropping to the ground and getting wedged between the ground and the trailer hitch. Fortunately, this occurred on a side street and the net effect was that the spare tire was partially dislodged from metal wheel and the wheel was knocked slightly out of round. Had this failure happened on the freeway, it could have been a very serious accident, perhaps even a fatality for us or other drivers on the road. This vehicle is kept in a garage, has never been used for off-roading and the spare tire has never been removed/used. Our local Hyundai service department confirmed that there was no observable indicator that would have caused this to happen. There were no noises, warning lights or symptoms prior to the cable snapping.