The Santa Cruz brings new life and adventure to the Hyundai Brand
I bought this new from dealer in 2024, looking for a small truck that gets decent gas mileage and can handle some off-roading, some towing, and some payload. It suits my needs in most cases. I have taken this truck on a 2000 mile road trip into the mountains of Colorado in the winter and drove snowy mountain roads, finding competitor's trucks stuck on the side of the road. When on normal roads, it drives just like a slightly heavier mid-size SUV.
I was worried about reliability and quality, due to Hyundai's past, but found the truck to be a vast contrast to the warnings I received from my friends.
In terms of build quality, I have one complaint regarding the fitment of the tailgate, which functions perfectly, but has an uneven panel gap.
Performance of the engine and transmission is great, but could likely benefit from tuning of smart mode shifting.
This truck is fun and easy to drive, in contrast to many body-on-frame trucks. On the trade-off of rigidity, you get comfort. Value is okay for modern vehicles, priced about on par with its competitors'.
It did come with free bluelink for life, which is incredibly useful, but the phone key functionality is not present (as of 10Oct2025). Android auto is great, but having to plug in your phone is inconvenient; I got a wireless android auto adapter which worked for about a year before the adapter failed. I really wish it came with android auto built in.
I have only ever had one fault on the Santa Cruz, where about 6 hours into an 18 hour road trip, the vehicle went into limp mode. After bringing it to the dealer, they did not know what caused it, but after turning the car off and back on again, the problem was gone. No issues since.
Overall, the truck looks great. The interior looks very good, with my only complaints being too small of cup holders and the middle seat in the rear does not fold down into an arm rest.
As far as the exterior, this is a gorgeous vehicle which I have received many compliments on. My only gripe is that due to the shape of the bed, no bed shells exist, which is a major inconvenience for using the truck as a work vehicle.
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