Hyundai Santa Fe Review

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Hyundai Santa Fe
★★★★☆
4.3
88.0% of users recommend this
  • Performance

  • Practicality

  • Reliability

  • Value For Money

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johngolding's review of Hyundai Santa Fe

“This Hyundai Santa Fe is my first SUV, which I bought...”

★★★★★

written by johngolding on 20/04/2006

Good Points
Comfortable and spacious. Very well equippped as standard, excellent value for money, 5-year transferable warranty.

Bad Points
A bit on the thirsty side.
Hyundai badge doesn't impress car snobs.

General Comments
This Hyundai Santa Fe is my first SUV, which I bought after hiring a Jeep Cherokee in Canada last year. I liked the practicality, the high driving position and the good all-round visibility. My car is one of the last old-model Santa Fe's, and as a result I was able to get a really good deal - £14,700 OTR for a 2.4 petrol manual CDX. With some haggling I got a 12 month tax disc instead of six, but try as I might, I couldn't persuade the dealer to fill the tank right up as well!



There was very little to buy in the way of options as the car came with practically everything as standard - Alloys, heated leather seats, air con AND an electric sunroof, trip computer, cruise control, CD player, electric windows all round, lots of airbags etc. It's even got a digital compass! I did shell out an additional £300 for privacy glass, but passed on the built-in SatNav and reversing sensors.



On the road, the car is fine. Performance is adequate but not breathtaking, but my days as a boy racer are a long way behind me anyway. It is easy to drive and carries five adults in comfort. There is plenty of luggage space, and with the rear seats folded down the load area is equivalent to that of a small van. There are plenty of cubby holes and storage trays inside, and I was pleased to find that the car came with a proper, full size, matching alloy spare wheel - not a cheap steel one, or even worse, one of those skinny temporary wheels.



Handling is better than I though it might be with the high centre of gravity, and it feels very safe. I have only covered a few thousand miles so far, so it is early days regarding reliability. All I can say is that the car was delivered to me in immaculate condition inside and out, and that it has been 100% reliable so far.



I haven't really tried any serious off-road driving yet, and I probably won't. The Santa Fe will cope with farm tracks and grassy fields OK, but it it not engineered as a serious mud-plugger - after all, it IS an SUV, not a Land Rover!



On the down side, there is really very little that I can complain about, but here goes anyway - Even with the seat fully lowered, driver's headroom is rather limited for those over six feet tall. I would think that anyone taller than 6'2" might find it too cramped for comfort. Being picky, it would have been nice if more of the switches lit up at night, and I have found that the remote locking buttons on the key fob can be triggered when you put it in your pocket - it needs stronger springs under the buttons. The trip computer is of limited use, as it appears to be calibrated in US gallons. This has the effect of making the fuel consumption performance appear even worse than it actually is! Around town I am getting about 24mpg; this goes up to about 29mpg on a run, so fuel economy is certainly not a strong point.



In summary, assuming that the reliability remains high, I think that the Santa Fe is an excellent SUV in its own right, and represents superb value for money when compared against its competitors.



As an example, my boss has just got himself a BMW X3 SUV. It is smaller, less well equipped and in my view not as good looking as the Hyundai. Although its engineering is probably more sophisticated, it's not even made by BMW but by a sub-contractor! It is hard to see where the additional value lies - it cost £32,000 - i.e. You could get TWO of my car AND put a grand cash in each glove box for the price he paid. Surely that little blue and white badge isn't worth that much?

  • 2005

    Year Manufactured

  • 5 months

    Length of ownership

  • 5

    Doors

  • Performance

  • Practicality

  • Reliability

  • Value For Money

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