The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid was commonly sold on
Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) and
Hire Purchase (HP) finance agreements during the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) investigation period, which ran from 6 April 2007 to 1 November 2024. This investigation uncovered widespread mis-selling practices in the motor finance industry, affecting millions of consumers who purchased vehicles like the Santa Fe Hybrid.
How the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid was Typically Financed
The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid was frequently financed through PCP and HP agreements with typical loan amounts ranging from £15,000 to £30,000. Common lenders for financing this vehicle include
Black Horse, Barclays Partner Finance,
Close Brothers Motor Finance,
MotoNovo Finance, and
Santander Consumer Finance.
For PCP finance plans, the term typically ranged between 36 to 48 months, with a significant portion of the purchase price deferred into a balloon payment at the end of the agreement. This payment is often too high for most buyers to afford outright, leading many to return their vehicles or take out another loan.
The FCA Motor Finance Investigation
The FCA investigation revealed that motor finance providers engaged in
discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs) with dealerships and brokers between 6 April 2007 and 1 November 2024. These DCAs incentivised the sale of higher-cost finance products, leading to an estimated 12.1 million eligible agreements (FCA, March 2026) being affected across the UK market. The total mis-selling sum reached £7.5 billion (FCA, March 2026), with an average mis-sale amounting to around £829 per agreement.
The investigation highlighted a systemic issue where motor finance providers paid dealerships and brokers incentives for steering customers towards more expensive financing options, such as PCP agreements with higher interest rates or balloon payments. This practice resulted in consumers paying more than they should have for their vehicles, including the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid.
How to Check Your Agreement Look for any references to "discretionary commission arrangements" (DCAs) or similar terms that indicate the dealer received additional payments based on the type of finance plan chosen.
The relevant period for this investigation runs from 6 April 2007 to 1 November 2024, so if your agreement falls within this timeframe and includes elements indicative of DCAs, you may have grounds for a complaint. It is important to identify whether there were any unfair incentives that influenced the finance plan you selected.
If you suspect your Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid was sold under an affected finance agreement, you can complain directly to your lender without needing a
claims management company. Common lenders include Black Horse, Barclays Partner Finance, Close Brothers Motor Finance, MotoNovo Finance, and Santander Consumer Finance.
You do not need a claims management company; you can handle the complaint process yourself at no cost. Simply contact your finance provider and request an investigation into whether there were any mis-selling practices involved in the sale of your Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid.
Sources and References
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) estimates: 12.1 million eligible agreements (FCA, March 2026), £7.5 billion (FCA, March 2026) total, £829 average per eligible agreement
- Ongoing FCA investigations on motor finance from April 6, 2007 to November 1, 2024
Based on 38,380 MOT tests conducted in 2024 (source: DVSA anonymised test data), the Hyundai Santa Fe has a pass rate of 76.6%. This is close to the national average of 79.6%, meaning the Santa Fe performs about average in MOT testing.
The Santa Fe pass rate is slightly below the overall Hyundai average of 81.4%. The average mileage at MOT for this model is 90,478 miles.
- MOT pass rate: 76.6%
- MOT failure rate: 23.4%
- Tests analysed: 38,380 (2024 DVSA data)
- Average mileage at test: 90,478 miles
- Hyundai average pass rate: 81.4%
- National average pass rate: 79.6%
Data source: DVSA anonymised MOT test results 2024, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.