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4X4
As the reader reviews on the popular WhatCar? website show, owners like the Santa Fe, and there's much to like about it. You can start the list with those purposeful, butch looks, the prospect of clockwork reliability, and plenty of room for five adults and their luggage.
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Then, there are the stacks of equipment to keep them comfortable and safe, a good driving position and, of course, four-wheel drive so you can go off-road if you want to. Most owners don’t, which is just as well because the Santa Fe is no Land Rover Freelander in the rough. Mild excursions away from the Tarmac are fine, just don’t expect miracles. It isn’t as good as a Freelander on the road, either. It rolls too much in corners, but it’s competent enough for the undemanding driver, and the soft ride soaks up the bumps. The V6 petrol and turbodiesel are decent performers, too, and help ensure the Santa Fe is a reasonably refined motorway cruiser.
Running Costs
The Santa Fe was keenly priced as a new car and lost value fairly quickly, so used ones are very affordable. It’s a 4x4 and they’re complicated bits of kit, but even by class standards, a Santa Fe is costly to maintain. A Kia Sorento, Honda CR-V, Nissan X-Trail and most Land Rover Freelanders will be cheaper. Still, at least Hyundai’s five-year warranty should remove the risk of unexpected repair costs on many used Santa Fes. Ownership costs were one of the few areas of criticism in a JD Power customer satisfaction survey, and the 2.7 V6 model adds 25mpg thirst to the above-average servicing costs. The four-cylinder 2.4 is only slightly easier on the wallet, at 29mpg. However, the 2.0 turbodiesel should be good for about 40mpg, so there are no complaints there. The diesel is also the cheapest to insure in group 11, with the 2.7 slotting into group 13 and the 2.4 in group 12.