2004 Hyundai Santa Fe

I originally picked the Santa Fe over the competing Highlander after two considerations: I had driven a rental Hyundai, and decided that the feel of the driving experience was as good as my years with Toyota and Honda (my baseline), and secondly, I could get a fully equipped Santa Fe for about the same price as the baseline Highlander.

I test drove Jeep, Hyundai, Toyota, and others, and decided that the feel of the Hyundai was as good or better than the alternatives. And knowing that I was going to tow a tent trailer, I needed the vehicle with at least a V6 engine, preferably a larger V6. So at buying time, I chose the 3.5L V6 Santa Fe, fully equipped, excepting the lack of four wheel drive – I decided the 4WD wasn’t necessary for towing, and that the gas mileage hit was not worth it, since I would primarily be commuting in the car.

After putting nearly 90,000 miles on the car, lugging around four kids (I’ll get to that later), and traveling all over the west coast, I’m still completely satisfied with my purchase. Having chosen the larger engine, I get plenty of power, the handling has maintained its feel which I liked since I drove it off the lot, and the maintenance has been hassle-free. I have yet to have anything major happen which was the car’s fault; being rear-ended can’t be blamed in any way on car design.

Two weeks into having the car, I took it on a eighteen-hundred mile road trip. The comfort of having this car versus a smaller sedan was immediately felt, and since then, this car has been the road trip vehicle of choice for all of my friends.

When I moved from bachelorhood to married with four kids, and reviewed whether to move on to another car, I chose the route of adding an aftermarket third-row seat to the car, instead of replacing the car with a newer, and more expensive model. Since then, I’ve still been completely satisfied with its ability to carry around a large family safely, and securely, and am very grateful for having gotten the leather interior included for less than the Highlander.

The only wish I do have for this car is that it had better gas mileage, but who doesn’t wish that all the time? If I had a car getting 30 miles per gallon, I’m sure I’d want 40, and if I had 10, this car would feel like a dream. Having recently switched to a smaller car for my regular commuting (so that the family could use this for shuttling the kids around), I realize how much the fuel economy was costing me. Yet still, for all longer drives, I still prefer the Santa Fe over my compact alternative, as the comfort and drive feel are superior.

I’m sure, had I gotten the Highlander, I would be equally satisfied, but the Hyundai has lived up to all of my expectations, and saved me over ten thousand dollars in purchase price. As well, I got some features, like a moon roof, that I wouldn’t have paid for with the alternatives, and yet enjoy regularly since I have it.