[SusieQ]

the 2021 Santa Fe smart cruise control cannot be disabled so that you can use regular cruise control. Let me share why this is a safety issue and ask other owners if you would chime in so something can be done about it.

I am in the left lane with cruise set at 75mph and 1 car distance. The distance between me and the car in front of me is very generous and invites other cars to get in front of me. My speed suddenly goes from 75mph to 54 mph. Before the car can automatically accelerate, other cars are getting in front of me, thinking i am a jerk driving in the wrong lane when in fact my speed is set over the speed limit. Not only does this impact cars pulling in front of me, but the sudden drop in speed causes near rear end collisions as there is no warning to the drivers behind me that my vehicle is slowing over 20mph instantly.
So far, i can only use this dangerous smart cruise when there are no other cars near me on the highway which is not very often.
Odd that a feature that was intended to promote safety has taken the control away from the driver who is ultimately in charge of that.

We have taken this issue to 2 dealerships, we have 2 case numbers with Hyundai Customer Service who fails to contact us back.
Next step I guess is to go to arbitration under the Lemon Law if Hyundai refuses to acknowledge and fix this problem.

 

[GCyr42]

If you don't know how/when to use the smart control and don't understand its limitations, is someone forcing you to use it? If the distance is set at the closest distance, that distance won't be "very generous." Good luck with that Lemon Law...

 

[SusieQ]

If you don't know how/when to use the smart control and don't understand its limitations, is someone forcing you to use it? If the distance is set at the closest distance, that distance won't be "very generous." Good luck with that Lemon Law...

I realize that by posting on the forum I open myself up to personally directed comments but know this is a safety issue with the 2021 Santa Fe that is not consistent with the other Hyundai vehicles and I was asked by my dealership to make this post to prompt a recall or software update.

 

[Laynet]

I realize that by posting on the forum I open myself up to personally directed comments but know this is a safety issue with the 2021 Santa Fe that is not consistent with the other Hyundai vehicles and I was asked by my dealership to make this post to prompt a recall or software update.

Not a safety issue, a GREAT feature, just set the distance shorter and problem goes away. Your car is simply preventing you from tailgating. I had it on my 2015 Genesis and learned how to best set distance. Only gripe i had was using it in stop-and-go traffic. The Genny usually was slow to react and cars cut in front. Haven't had my 2021 Calligraphy in stop-and -go. I do use lane keep, lane centering and cruise nearly any time I am on a road where speeds are 55 or more. The 2021 works MUCH better than the 2015 Genesis. FYI, both systems pick up on trailer hitches on pickup trucks.

 

[zipfan]

the 2021 Santa Fe smart cruise control cannot be disabled so that you can use regular cruise control. Let me share why this is a safety issue and ask other owners if you would chime in so something can be done about it.

I am in the left lane with cruise set at 75mph and 1 car distance. The distance between me and the car in front of me is very generous and invites other cars to get in front of me. My speed suddenly goes from 75mph to 54 mph. Before the car can automatically accelerate, other cars are getting in front of me, thinking i am a jerk driving in the wrong lane when in fact my speed is set over the speed limit. Not only does this impact cars pulling in front of me, but the sudden drop in speed causes near rear end collisions as there is no warning to the drivers behind me that my vehicle is slowing over 20mph instantly.
So far, i can only use this dangerous smart cruise when there are no other cars near me on the highway which is not very often.
Odd that a feature that was intended to promote safety has taken the control away from the driver who is ultimately in charge of that.

We have taken this issue to 2 dealerships, we have 2 case numbers with Hyundai Customer Service who fails to contact us back.
Next step I guess is to go to arbitration under the Lemon Law if Hyundai refuses to acknowledge and fix this problem.

It's not a defect issue.....it's working as designed, albeit maybe a poor design. Why are you using cruise in congested driving?? Not a lemon law issue Hyundai...maybe update the distance calculations but don't cave.

 

[SusieQ]

Not a safety issue, a GREAT feature, just set the distance shorter and problem goes away. Your car is simply preventing you from tailgating. I had it on my 2015 Genesis and learned how to best set distance. Only gripe i had was using it in stop-and-go traffic. The Genny usually was slow to react and cars cut in front. Haven't had my 2021 Calligraphy in stop-and -go. I do use lane keep, lane centering and cruise nearly any time I am on a road where speeds are 55 or more. The 2021 works MUCH better than the 2015 Genesis. FYI, both systems pick up on trailer hitches on pickup trucks.

I do have it set the shortest distance and other cars cut in front of me which causes my vehicle to drop over 20mph. I have no control other than shutting smart cruise off for my safety. There has to be a better option like on the other vehicles. Maybe smart cruise is why the passing lane is for Camping out these days

 

[mikeb62]

I have a 2019 Ultimate and had the same situation arise a couple of times just last week on a long trip. I agree the sudden slow down when someone (inconsiderate, jerk driver) squeezes in front of you is dangerous. However you are the driver & you are in control. Cruise Control regardless of type is not a set & forget function, you are still the driver. If you were not on Cruise Control and someone did that to you, you would probably also brake to give yourself more room from that A**hole driver. If you do not like the quick slow down caused by the cruise control, you can always put your foot on the accelerator, thus overriding the cruise control and stay close to that driver in front of you. You can also put your foot on the accelerator to close the distance before someone does that to you, the car will allow you to do that, again you are in control and cruise control is still active but you are overriding it. You would then slow down at a more gradual pace that you are comfortable with, however would be in a tailgate situation with the car in front for a longer period of time.

All of that said, I am not sure why Hyundai did not allow the owner to disable the Adaptive function in your model, disabling it is allowed on my 2019 Ultimate.

 

[Laynet]

I do have it set the shortest distance and other cars cut in front of me which causes my vehicle to drop over 20mph. I have no control other than shutting smart cruise off for my safety. There has to be a better option like on the other vehicles. Maybe smart cruise is why the passing lane is for Camping out these days

Rather odd behavior. Mine does not respond so forcefully if the "lane weaver" is going as fast or faster than me. On rampers cause a bit of an issue if the left lane is occupied and I can't move over for fools that don't know the on ramp is for them to match speeds and blend in to the gaps.

 

[droric]

I thought I read that you could override the smart cruise control by holding down the cruise control button and changing the setting back to manual mode?

 

[GCyr42]

Page 7-56 of the 2021 SF Owner's Manual confirms that pressing the Driving Assist button will turn off the Smart Cruise Control System. Then it states:
"If your vehicle is equipped with Manual Speed Limit Assist, press and hold the Driving Assist button to turn off Smart Cruise Control. However, Manual Speed Limit Assist will turn on."

I have not tried this but it's worth a try if the Smart Cruise Control system is not your "cup of tea"...

 

[SusieQ]

I have a 2019 Ultimate and had the same situation arise a couple of times just last week on a long trip. I agree the sudden slow down when someone (inconsiderate, jerk driver) squeezes in front of you is dangerous. However you are the driver & you are in control. Cruise Control regardless of type is not a set & forget function, you are still the driver. If you were not on Cruise Control and someone did that to you, you would probably also brake to give yourself more room from that A**hole driver. If you do not like the quick slow down caused by the cruise control, you can always put your foot on the accelerator, thus overriding the cruise control and stay close to that driver in front of you. You can also put your foot on the accelerator to close the distance before someone does that to you, the car will allow you to do that, again you are in control and cruise control is still active but you are overriding it. You would then slow down at a more gradual pace that you are comfortable with, however would be in a tailgate situation with the car in front for a longer period of time.

All of that said, I am not sure why Hyundai did not allow the owner to disable the Adaptive function in your model, disabling it is allowed on my 2019 Ultimate.

That is the question since this is the first year it cannot be disabled.

 

[SusieQ]

Page 7-56 of the 2021 SF Owner's Manual confirms that pressing the Driving Assist button will turn off the Smart Cruise Control System. Then it states:
"If your vehicle is equipped with Manual Speed Limit Assist, press and hold the Driving Assist button to turn off Smart Cruise Control. However, Manual Speed Limit Assist will turn on."

I have not tried this but it's worth a try if the Smart Cruise Control system is not your "cup of tea"...

Oh I wish.....it does not work on the 2021 Santa Fe. I drove 2 hours to my dealer because they assured me it could be disabled and we hoped it could be. But at this time it cannot be. Just needs software upgrade we were told....if Hyundai sees fit to do it.

 

[SusieQ]

Not on the 2021

 

[droric]

I got a chance to try out the highway driving assist on the expressway over the weekend and noted the following. I thought the following distance when set to 1 was too close and ended up settling on 2 for the following distance. When a car would cut ahead of me the car did not slow down at all if the car ahead was traveling at a faster rate of speed. The only time the car slowed down was when the car ahead was traveling slower. I guess for me it seemed to work perfectly and had no issues when a car merged in ahead of me.

 

[SusieQ]

I got a chance to try out the highway driving assist on the expressway over the weekend and noted the following. I thought the following distance when set to 1 was too close and ended up settling on 2 for the following distance. When a car would cut ahead of me the car did not slow down at all if the car ahead was traveling at a faster rate of speed. The only time the car slowed down was when the car ahead was traveling slower. I guess for me it seemed to work perfectly and had no issues when a car merged in ahead of me.

I appreciate that you shared your experience. Maybe it's just in the Midwest that cars cut too closely in front of you and our vehicle drops from 75mph to 54 mph. That makes the distance you are following irrelevant. It's been driven on busy highways on Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Unless the highway is open, we are not able to safely use smart cruise control. But thanks for weighing in. We were told it could be disabled to a regular cruise at the time we bought the vehicle so we got a bum steer.

 

[zipfan]

I have a 2019 Ultimate and had the same situation arise a couple of times just last week on a long trip. I agree the sudden slow down when someone (inconsiderate, jerk driver) squeezes in front of you is dangerous. However you are the driver & you are in control. Cruise Control regardless of type is not a set & forget function, you are still the driver. If you were not on Cruise Control and someone did that to you, you would probably also brake to give yourself more room from that A**hole driver. If you do not like the quick slow down caused by the cruise control, you can always put your foot on the accelerator, thus overriding the cruise control and stay close to that driver in front of you. You can also put your foot on the accelerator to close the distance before someone does that to you, the car will allow you to do that, again you are in control and cruise control is still active but you are overriding it. You would then slow down at a more gradual pace that you are comfortable with, however would be in a tailgate situation with the car in front for a longer period of time.

All of that said, I am not sure why Hyundai did not allow the owner to disable the Adaptive function in your model, disabling it is allowed on my 2019 Ultimate.

It's true.... there needs to be an override; 'manual' cruise. But why are people using cc in traffic?

 

[bronze2020$$]

He isn't in traffic until those who are probably driving over the speed limit overtake him and cut in front of him. Or in my case I come upon someone driving under the posted limit and if the cruise were on the smart setting it would slow me and allow more cars to come in front of me. I am glad my 2020 has the override. I just got back from a 5000 mile, 10 state trip in which I was able to time it to allow cars to pass and move to the passing lane to then pass slower cars without canceling the cruise setting.

 

[droric]

He isn't in traffic until those who are probably driving over the speed limit overtake him and cut in front of him.

I know that with the 2021 at least if the car that is overtaking you is moving faster than your set speed limit, which is usually the case, comes into your lane then the cruise control does not slow down at all. It seems to factor in the speed of the car when it merges in front of you.

 

[Laynet]

I think you can control this by setting the response time to a slower setting. Your experience is the same as mine. The big issue is people entering from on ramps that do not speed up and enter your lane going slower and the next lane over is occupied and you can't move over. Hyundai can't teach people how to merge into traffic!

 

[LHThread]

The smart cruise on the Santa Fe is not so smart and may give a false sense of security... "Smart" or otherwise cruise control should be reserved for 'wide open' highways with minimal traffic. It's not intended to be a 'self drive' feature on congested freeways, or even in "moderate' traffic !! I remember an advanced driving instructor's sage advice: " Turn off the cruise...leave adequate space, pay attention and stay awake!! "