The last year of the old engine, and the first year the paint warranty stops covering you. Check the oil, then check the roof.

Be precise here, because the 2020 sits at the edge of the programme. The connecting-rod-bearing warranty extension bulletins in Hyundai's Santa Fe file name the 2013–2018 Santa Fe Sport (10 years/120,000 miles, and a Limited Lifetime tier) and the 2019 Santa Fe (10 years/120,000 miles). We did not find a bulletin naming the 2020 Santa Fe in that programme, so this report does not claim one. What the 2020 does share is the engine and the diagnostic: Hyundai's repair bulletins describe "applicable vehicles with 2.0L T-GDI and 2.4L GDI engines" that "may experience the Check Engine warning lamp illuminated with DTC P1326" and an engine concern "related to connecting rod bearing wear or damage," with the remedy being to "inspect the vehicle and replace the engine or update the engine ECU software based on the inspection results." There is also a separate Hyundai bulletin whose entire subject is "engine connecting rod bearing clearance testing." So the right move on a 2020 is to ask Hyundai directly, by VIN, what engine coverage exists, and to treat the answer as unknown until you have it in writing. Do not buy this year assuming the Sport's lifetime coverage follows it.

A distinct and repeated cluster on this model year. "2020 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited. The panoramic sunroof glass suddenly shattered/exploded without a collision and without any known impact. Glass sh[owered]..." "The contact stated that while driving 50-55 MPH, the sunroof made an abnormal, exploding sound and shatt[ered]." "The contact stated that while his wife was driving approximately 60 MPH, the sunroof shattered outward." A community teardown of the previous generation describes the same failure and attributes it to "a faulty glass tempering" process, which is consistent with glass that breaks outward with no point of impact. Hyundai did extend the panoramic sunroof glass warranty to 10 years or 120,000 miles — but that bulletin is scoped to 2013–2016 Santa Fe Sport and does not reach this car. On a 2020 this is a comprehensive-insurance claim, so check that the roof glass has not already been replaced with something cheap, and know that your policy is the backstop.

"2020 Hyundai Santa Fe quartz white pearl paint and the paint is blowing off as I drive in multiple places. I took it to the dealer because when [I]..." That is a familiar sentence on Hyundais of this era, and on the 2019 there is a good answer to it. Hyundai's bulletin extends the paint warranty to "10 years/unlimited miles" for excessive "paint peeling or bubbling of the primer/paint film on the exterior metal body panels" — and its list of vehicles runs "2017 – 2018 model year Santa Fe Sport, 2019 model year Santa Fe, 2021 – 2023 model year Santa Fe Hybrid." The 2020 Santa Fe is not in it. That gap is worth knowing before you buy a white one: inspect the hood edge, roof and tailgate in raking light, and price any lifting paint as your cost.

21V00M covers 2020–2021 Santa Fe along with the 2021 Sonata and Elantra: during manufacturing the windshield may not have been properly bonded to the vehicle, allowing it to detach in a crash. Dealers remove and reinstall the windshield free; owner letters went out in June 2022. 23V181 is the long-running one — water accumulating on the tow hitch harness module's printed circuit board can cause an electrical short and a fire, on 2019–2023 Santa Fe and the hybrid variants, but only where a tow hitch harness was fitted as original equipment or bought as a Hyundai dealer accessory. Hyundai advises parking outside and away from structures until it is repaired. Neither is complicated; both are free; both are the kind of thing that gets lost when a car changes hands.

The 2020 is the last model year inside Hyundai Service Campaign 9C2, and the same post-campaign complaints appear here. "I took my car in for the EVM engine update. Since then whenever it starts it is jumpy. The rpm rev more than they should." "The contact received a notification for an unknown emissions recall. The vehicle was taken t[o the dealer]..." The campaign updates the Engine Control Module on 2019–2020 Santa Fe and 2017–2018 Santa Fe Sport, issued after the California Air Resources Board determined these vehicles could exceed federal and California emissions standards. Hyundai's follow-up bulletin acknowledges the side effect directly: after 9C2, certain vehicles "may exhibit a brief hesitation or rough shifting condition during cold start operation," expected "only within approximately the first 1-3 minutes after engine start, while the catalyst is reaching its normal operating temperature." Flat for two minutes on a cold start is documented. Flat once warm is not.

Three electronic annoyances, one with a bulletin and two without. The rearview camera fades then dies: "The camera image was previously static/distorted and has now completely stoppe[d]." Hyundai's bulletin for "certain 2019-2020MY Santa Fe and 2018-2020MY Elantra equipped with the front multifunction camera" covers a separate but adjacent complaint, warnings for "Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS), Front Collision Avoidance Assist (FCA), High Beam Assist (HBA), Smart Cruise Control (SCC)" appearing on the cluster. And there is a phantom automatic-emergency-braking cluster with no bulletin behind it: "while driving approximately 60-75 MPH, the Automatic Emergency Braking system e[ngaged]" with nothing in front; another owner describes the car accelerating from a standstill with the collision warning firing. Test the reversing camera in daylight and at night, and take the car on a highway stretch with the driver-assist systems switched on rather than off.

This model year appears in Hyundai's anti-theft campaign population, which covers Santa Fe model years 2013 through 2022 built without an engine immobilizer. Hyundai's response is a set of campaigns, not safety recalls: Service Campaign 993, an anti-theft software upgrade with window decals; a steering wheel lock campaign; and, on request, a "zinc reinforced ignition cylinder protector" hardware upgrade "to be installed at the ignition switch location." There is also a class settlement covering 2011 to 2022 Hyundais built without the immobilizer. Ask whether 993 has been applied to this VIN. We publish no theft-rate or insurance figure here, because no insurance-loss data was pulled for this report.