Love my 2012 SantaFe!
I have owned 20 cars. In January 2005, I was traveling to Minneapolis in January for a week, and rented my first Hyundai SantaFe. I was extremely impressed! It performed very well in the snow, the cockpit was thoughtfully designed, sightlines good, rear seating generous legroom (unlike my very uncomfortable 2002 Ford Explorer), very nice cargo area, including a spare plug-in, and a split window/tailgate.
I was driving a 2005 Chrysler DreamCruiser in 2006 when I bought a small boat and trailer. I did not want to overload its transmission and low-profile frame with a towing package, so I bought a used 2004 SantaFe with 60K miles on it for a very reasonable price. Again, even though it was a different model year, it had the same comfortable and thoughtful features, including easily cleaned premium cloth seats I really appreciated in the hot climates. I found myself driving the SantaFe most of the time just for the better mileage and cargo space.
And, when I was contracted to the Big Island, which is mountainous terrain, the SantaFe went with me, at some expense. I drove it for 2 years there, where it did astoundingly well with extreme terrain and expensive gas, and when it came time to leave, I sold it there to a dealership (at their prices, not owner-sale) for a net profit including shipping it there! Talk about retaining your value.
So when it came time to buy a new car, I bought my current 2012. That model year kept everything I liked about the first 2, except they changed the tailgate to a single piece. I REALLY miss having the split window; it was so useful when cargo shifted, or you had something long that had to stick out the back for a short drive. Could you Hyundai people PLEASE bring that back as an option?
Anyway, I'm extremely happy with my 2012 model. It's the medium options package, but suits my needs. Sadly, the dealer did not have the good cloth available with that package, so I make due with the leather, but it's light-colored enough I usually don't get burned in shorts.
I specifically like the ease of using the foglights, the compass embedded in the mirror (why every car doesn't have one is just beyond me), the low-air tire monitoring system, the rubberized cargo bed-liner that folds up just enough to access the underfloor storage, the 3 sets of overhead lights, the rear wiper with washer fluid, the center console night light, and the way the wipers, lights, and turn signals are configured on the steering column. The AC is crucial in Florida, and for 6+ years it has been very reliable and quick to cool the passenger compartment: best AC system I've had, and the motor does not seem to labor even when using max AC in terrain. (I have the 3.7L V6 - not sure that would be true of the smaller motor). I also appreciate the change between the 2004 and 2012 models that changed the electric system to turn off interior lights if a door isn't fully closed. I think it's on a 10 minute delay now, but I had a couple dead batteries under the old system, where that's no longer a problem.
Things I would like to see improved a bit better, I really want that split window tailgate back! There's a little larger than usual blind spot in the left and right side-mirrors unless they're adjusted exactly, so they could be a bit larger or have a convex inset. My satellite antenna had a strange paper tape wrap protecting it rather than a hard shell, and car washes have torn that off and it doesn't work as reliably as it first did now. For some reason, my right headlamp and fog light both quit working last week after only 67,000 miles. They were a bit expensive to replace, and I would have expected them to last much longer than that. The back of both front bucket seats have leather pockets that are very tight at the lip, and one tore open very easily. I would prefer they had a gusset or a bit of an elastic gather so a realistic amount of things could be placed in them.
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