I do have the V-6, a very zesty power plant. The seats and ride have made traveling a look forward to prospect. There are alot of highways in Texas.

Often bump my head on the doorway getting in (? is it me)

My experience has been extremely pleasurable from ride to exceleration to dependability. I have enjoyed the inside trim and the ergonomics and placements of the various features, ie....window controls, door locks, mirror controls, and the clock (which doesn't get lost in the dash). This is the fourth Hyundai I have owned since 1986 and I can't say they have all been perfect, but for the most part they have been the best investments in transportation. Two of the cars were involved in colisions with the occupants walking away without anything more than bruises, both were totalled. You might say I bet my life on a Hyundai. I have spent eight hours driving to Austin and back, gotten out of the Santa Fe and felt refreshed, I've never done that in any other vehical.

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Have looked at the Pathfinder and Kia-Pathfinder has a higher center of gravity. Kia too small for my 6'3" son in the rear seat. (My measuring tool)

Feel and handling is secure and safe. All options work without problem.

Clock is difficult to read. To high in the car.

I have owned several new American made cars. Many were luxury models. The Hyundai Santa Fe has them all beat in workmanship, ride and style. This is the first car I've owned that didn't need to go back and have factory problems fixed.
Wonderful to drive, pretty to look at (love the blue), holds the road well and seating is very comfortable.
Gas milage is good for an all wheel drive vehicle. I've been getting 19 around town and up to 25 on long trips.

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Isuzu Rodeo had a very hard, truck like ride, 4 wheel drive difficult to put in and out of gear. Gas milage was awful.

My wife and I had been shopping for a SUV for several months and one day we saw this vehicle driving down the interstate and we couldn't figure what it was. We were very surprised to find that it was a Hyundai Santa Fe. We first thought it was a Lexus, then a BMW, or a Tribute. We went straight to the local Hyundai dealership and found that they had none in stock. To make a long story short, we were driving by there the other day and they had one out in front and we bought it. I seems that compared to all the other reviews in this forum we paid a little more for ours, but I still feel that we made a good purchase. All the features that come standard on this vehicle are overwhelming, heated mirrrors, heated seats, lights on the doors when you open them, etc... etc... I only hope that we have as much good luck as you folks have. We traded in a 98 Windstar so I feel that we can only have better luck than we had with that monster.

Seems a little slow in acceleration, but the engine isn't completely broke in yet, only 250 miles on it so far.

I really like the 100,000 mile warranty and I think that the vehicle looks great and I also really like the way it handles.

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We had a Jeep Grand Cherokee and I felt cramped in it and it didn't have nearly the storage in the back.

The looks to begin with are absolutely stunning. I first thought I was looking at some high priced SUV. Happily was shocked to find out just what I was looking for. Strong performance over all the competition...Ford Escape, Nissan Xterra, and Mazda Tribute.

Needs a sun roof! But I think the worst thing is just that it is such a great Vehicle that I never get to drive it enough...My wife always wants it!

Very pleased with the past six months, zero defects. Was worried about it being a Hyundai, but my views have since changed. Still see room for various improvements but so far I could not be more happy.

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Tops all the above that we test drove, glad we bought it!

Finish, lines, ride, interior, value, room both front and rear, instrument layout, and the fact that you don't get "optioned" to death like you do when you purchase a Toyota.

None thus far. I will revisit this review in 6 months.

This vehicle is clearly about value. I have read many comments regarding the reputaion regarding Hyundai. I was willing to take the chance considering the great warrenty they give you. I went to three dealers in my area and no SF could be had. I piked up the LX with traction/ABS in Merlot. A beautiful color. My wife just loves a warm seat in the morning. I think there has been made too much about the responsiveness of the engine. In California your lucky just to reach highway speeds because of the traffic. I can see if you live in a rural area and speed was of little concern, but not here. My wife loves the ride compared to the other two vehicles we own, 1993 VW Passat and a 1990 Pathfinder. What a difference.

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Honda CRV, Too small and more expensive, Rav4 don't like the size or the looks.

Quick engine, plenty of storage compartments, style of both the interior and the exterior, lots of luxury features, easy to drive.

none

I love my Santa Fe. Hyundai has thought of everything. It is a little slow off the line but once it hits about 3000rpms it takes off like a rocket. I have tested the handling in the snow and light off roading and am not disapointed at all. I highly recomend this SUV.

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Test drove the Ford Escape-Had a quicker engine but was not as nice, not very comfortable, more expensive.

looks great, nobody has one, solid vehicle, all the bells and whistles. ok pickup, holds the golf clubs in the back horizontially, cool auto

no sunroof

this has the potential to be the best car i have ever owned. inexpensive and quality as well. nice piece of work

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pahfinder,exterra, honda crv, toyota rav 4, ford escape, isuzu rodeo

Price/Quality Ratio & 5/60k,10/100k warrenty. Looks, ride, gas-milage, roomy interior - lots of leg room in back, seats comfortable, back window lift, saftey items (child-seat anchors, side-impact beams, steel roof rails, airbags)

At times, when accelerating hard, it seems to take the engine a second or two to catch-up, but it's the 4-cylindar and had the same problem with my 4-cylindar Daytona (til the turbo kicked in). Have not determined a pattern yet, but happens most often when the AC/Defrost is on. Have the 5-speed manual and sometimes hard getting into reverse gear. Don't like having to remove the head-rests when laying down the rear seats.

Was not really seriously looking for a vehicle, but watching for a "bargain". Only ever bought 1 new vehicle, 1985 Dodge Daytona Turbo, which I still have going at 135k miles w/rebuilt engine. Also have '88 Delta 88, '89 F150 w/200k+ miles, and the F350. Was checking into on-line extended warranties and found a list of current manufacturer warrenties - it's sad that most only offer 3/36 with the prices that they want for those vehicles. The Hyundai/Kia were the only ones with a 5yr/60 and the 10/100. With the length of time we keep our vehicles, the warrenties are important. We actually went to test drive the Kia and found the SF by accident. After doing research on-line (www.hyundaiusa.com is really great ), went back and test drove again. Tried the 4-cylindar and v6 automatics, but really liked the acceleration of the 5-speed manual, along with the extra gas milage. 1st tank of gas got 27mpg, then 25mgp on the next two doing city/highway driving. Don't even have 1200 miles yet, but love driving it to work. Right before New Year's, the dealer advertised $300 off so decided to go for it. They can't keep them in stock now.

It was a little difficult getting the child car-seat installed. With the car-seat, only can sit one adult comfortible in back, but without the car-seat, 3 can fit o.k. Really like how easily the back gate lifts, and the fact that I don't have to move a tire out of the way like the Kia.

Temp controls, lights, wipers, all easy to reach. I'm short and have to move the seat back each time to get out, but control is easy to reach and seat is easy to move. Power seat would be nice. Seems to get bounced alittle on windy days, but I really like being able to see better.

The thing I like the best is the price and warrenty - power everything, AC, cruise, CD - all for $17,998 - we've not really even looked at new cars because we didn't want to be driving something that cost 1/3 of what we paid for our house and only backed by a 3yr warrenty! Almost anything new, car or truck or suv, is at least $25-35k, until we found this.

Of course, if it ends up being in the shop every month to fix something, having it done for free won't be such a bargain. Don't know what the engine thing is yet, so will have to report back in another 6 months. But realize that this is the 1st year of productions, so it's taking a chance. But in general, I'm really impressed.

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F350 quad-cab - not quite the same thing, but the quad-cab was the "family" vehicle for many trips and I was tired of bouncing around all the time. Was looking for a replacement "family" vehicle and this ended up being the best value for the price. Looked at all the SUV reviews/prices on this web site for lower priced vehicles, but came to relize that by the time similar options were added, the SF was about $3-5k cheaper.

Space inside, style, features out-of-box (ABS,leather, electric sun-roof, side air bags, Automatic Air Cond., etc..), PRICE, confort on the road.

For the price and comparing to others in class, just small stuff, no ligths on the door window control buttons, clock position.

Own a Santa Fe 4cyl. awd since Nov/2000 already 22.000 km and never had a problem, just visit the dealer for oil change at 15.000 km as the policy here in Portugal by Hyundai. Never tried off-road, but on normal driving is a fantastic car, really impressed specialy comming from hyundai.

Others cars in the Santa Fe class and price are Honda CRV and Toyota RAV, but my friends and other persons use to compare with Jeep G. Cherokee, Nissan Terrano, Mitsubishi Pagero and Opel Frontera that are in terms of price in another class.
So I am a happy hyundai customer, who until now fells like receive more than what have paid.

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smooth ride

Electrical system
Size for packing with kids, probably should have gotten bigger

Nice ride, but wish I would have driven it longer at the dealership. After having it for a few months I don't like the overall room in it, but this is a smaller SUV. I have had some electrical problems that have been fixed by the dealer, glad they have a good warranty.

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I really didn't try anything else, I liked the price, but should have gotten bigger!