Styling, Handling, Features vs Money and MOST IMPORTANTLY, SAFETY!!!!
If you go to www.iihs.org, you will find what I mean. This car is the most safest car between small SUVs. I considered Mazda Tribute (safety is marginal, means almost BAD..), now I'm very happy that I didn't go with...

None yet. Reliability needs to be watched...

Just GO with Santa Fe and be satisfied. You may worry about the Hyundai Quality like I did, but when you sit in this car and drive it, you will be surprised. I really hope Hyundai could show me the same quality level as Honda or Toyota. Anyway, I don't care of the reliability of engine and mission because they will be covered by 10 year/100,000mile warranty plan. If Hyundai could replace the parts continuously (I hope this would not happen anyway.), why should I worry???

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Mazda Tribute, Subaru Forester (good, but too small.)

This vehicle is almost the same size as the Pathfinder LE. This is NOT a SMALL SUV! A Honda CRV is small...this is much bigger...not to mention better. MY SUNROOF ROCKS! Head over to http://x-marksthe.com to check out the pictures of my sunroof installation

None...except I had to install a sunroof. I had a 2000 Civic SI, and gave that up for this!

This was the best of the crop. Now with the safety ratings, it's sure to sell out.

Take a look at my SUV @ http://x-marksthe.com

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I have wanted an SUV for 7 years. I drove the Pathfinder LE, X-Terra, Explorer, Expedition, Yukon, Rav (type), Kia, Escape, Tribute, etc. THIS BEATS THEM ALL! THE VALUE IS ALL THERE!

Excellent comfortability, the transmission is seamlessly perform shifting, Extremely quiet & very powerful V6, Shiftronic gear shift is fun to drive, Traction control & ABS add safety confident, The most beautiful SUV's design in history.

Korean made. (Discriminated by some North Americans.)

The best SUV under CDN$30,000. If U want to spend your $ smartly, Santa Fe is the no. 1 choice. The size & stylish design dare to compare to Lexus RX300 & BMW X5.

I bought in Nov 2000, so far 130,000Km in less than 6 months, not a major problem so far, break in period over, beat several Toyota Celica when get set go in Red light & high speed race in highway!

Great looks, quiet ride,excellent gas mileage,the leather seats are extremely comfortable, good power, good sound system. Loaded with luxuries. LX Model

None really , it would nice if it came with a 6 disc in dash cd changer.

I really like this SUV , it rides and handles extremely well. The seats are very comfortable, it is very quiet with no wind noise, no rattles or squeaks. The engine is very responsive, and has plenty of power, and gets very good gas mileage 26.5 miles to the gallon V6 engine.

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I test drove the Ford Escape, Toyta Rav 4 , Toyota Tundra crew cab, and honda CRV,before deciding to buy the Santa Fe. The Santa Fe was by far the best vehicle and had the best equipment for the price.

Value, options for money, wind noise, styling, overall ride is excellent

brakes, the front suspension tends to send a little rattle up to steering wheel over these vermont dirt roads with various bumps, holes, and mounds.

We saw this at a suburau/hyundai dealership after test driving the forester we decided to test drive the sante fe just for the kicks of it. Kicks turned to grins when I opened the door and got in it. The door slammed with authority with the rock solid thud. We drove it and came back and told the salesperson we liked it but we wanted to test drive the others. He allowed us to take it to every dealership we wanted to test drive the other suvs. Boy, did we get some looks from the other dealerships. To make a long story short, the others did not compare and we went back and struck a deal. We love it so far.

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The other mid size suvs do not compare. We test drove the CRV Rav 4, forrester, ford escape. We kept coming back to the hyundai

Aerodynamic qualities of the front end are far superior to the competition...wind noise is not as bad as Jeep, CRV, Rav4 and the rest. Wrap around design is very nice and visual field of view is very good. Took a little while to get used to the tinted back window but the interior design is something that deserves a WELL DONE! Ride is very nice and workmanship is superior in many ways to the competition. I test drove Jeep (and owned one), CRV, RAV4, and Forrester. The Hyundai had the better drive but the Jeep had the stronger engine. Go with the Sante Fe. Storage space is very good for this size of SUV. Amenities are a nice touch. I like the way the Sante Fe feels when you drive it. It is considerably more responsive than the other SUVs I have driven. External lighting system is very good.

Only complaint is the quality of the Stereo System. When playing the CD volume adjustment must be increased to compensate for the power surge caused by the CD System. So far as other complaints such as the moonroof ...my experience with moonroofs in SUVs has been that they are more trouble than their worth. Salesperson was rather slimy but the dealer took over and made this an easy purchase.

I would strongly recommend the Sante Fe to others. Since they are so hard to get right now they are somewhat a novelty here in Oklahoma City. My friends do double takes when they find out it's a Hyundai. You can see the second thoughts running past their eyes when they get in a I drive the vehicle.(I won't let anyone drive it!) I preferred the Obsidian Black colors to the others offered. I did see the Silver one the other day and was impressed by its lines and "stand out in the crowd" styling. People ask you what this is on a day by day basis. WAY TO GO HYUNDAI!

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Jeep-Stronger engine - Very little for the dollar. Honda-CRV - trying to live on reputation alone..Better look over your shoulder a Sante Fe with a V-6 is about to pass you.

good power,lots of passenger room, sleek body,beautiful interior.drives like a luxary car.awsome price and warranty unbeatable. very good on gas for a v6. i have a spoiler on mine but you have to fight for it doesnt come standard, also you can deal for a 10 yr bumper to bumper warranty. all in all i got a vg santa fe fully loaded with spoiler installed a 10 yr drive train and transmission warranty and a 10 yr bumper to bumper warranty out the door cash for $23,600. so fight for what you want its available and in my opinion its better than any other mid size suv's out there.

the only real weakness i have seen is the brakes you have to get used to but thats in any new car and you should be able to get used to it not bad in my opinion.

over all this is the best midsize suv on the market for the features you get for the price. all the others i drove and looked at didnt compare when you add in the full package and warranty of hyundai. if your looking for a suv or a van even make sure you drive the santa fe because i went from shopping for a van to pricing and test driving suv's after seeing the santa fe.

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honda crv-too high priced and real small inside. nissan pathfinder-too high priced.toyota 4-runner too high priced. mazda rav4-too small inside and over priced. ford escape-too much like the explorer, slow v-6, not much room inside.

i love the car because it has real grunt and leaves those cheap jeeps for dead..Heated seats are terific for those cold mornings and bullbar is great for hunting roadkill..

none

The santa fe is great for on and off road use. Even though it needs more power on the interstate for the price i paid i can't complain...

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crv(accident waiting to happen) rav4 ( where's the came)
jeep cherokee( 1950's design and build quality)...

Confort! All the extra goodies you get for the money are great also.

Like most everyone else said, lose the cheap salesman tactics and let these things sell themselves. Luckly I went through the Costco program and got it $300 over invoice but still had a little of the salesman savey to put up with. Also availibilty. I would have liked to have the ABS too but none were availible in this area. The salesman said that most of those models were getting sent back east because of the weather. Everyone knows how much we need ABS out here in California...get one drop of rain and the whole state is one big junk yard of accidents. Its a little slow off the line but that can be remidied later with a K&N filter and even some synthetic oil.

Do your homework. Sure I pay $45 a year for a membership at Costc but this is when it REALLY pays off! Do your homework for everything people. Even your trade in value of the vehical that you have. I did it all by computer.
The computer....its not just for porno anymore. Sure its a Hyundai but this is the model they are banking on to haul them out of the depths of humiliation so I'm just about betting the bank on it....litterally. This model didn't frown down on me for not making over 100,000 a year it actually made me feel like a somebody....sniff. lol!
P.S. Read the owners manuel on the window wipers if you don't want to look like Laural and Hardy (aka me and my wife) trying to turn them off.

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Tried the Ford Escape, they wanted more money for the same amount or less of add ons and also the interior was cheap looking. I'm a hardcore Ford fan but I got the impression that I was being looked down upon because I couldn't afford an Explorer or an Expadition. Mazda was basically the same since they are bedfellows. Didn't even look at the RAV4 or the Honda due too design of the swing open tailgate and overall.

Let me start by saying that I work for a Hyundai dealer and have owned SUV vehicles for years. I was shocked at the positive reviews of this cheap overpriced station wagon. The term SUV implies at least some ability to go offroad and there is none here. The engine is a dog, the transmission weak and the axles--forget about offroad.

It's a Hundai. Look around and tell me how many 6 year old Hundais you see. None. They die between four and six years old. The warranty is a joke. People just give up. Maybe someone who would drive a Daewoo or a Dahaitsu would consider this a step up, but it bogles my mind. If you can't afford new, buy a good used SUV like a Toyota or a Jeep--the smell of cheap last a lot longer and cost a lot more over the long haul. No one is impressed you bought a new SUV, they are laughing at you at the dealership and laughing at you at the red lights.

You would be surprised at how the yahoos smile when they find out they are getting a new engine. They never realize that the thing is junk to begin with. Everything starts falling apart, very soon. Just read the other reviews on Hundai. Soon, you sell it for what you can get--and we don't have to honor the warranty.

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There are only a few cars worse than Hundai-- Kia and Fiat, maybe Daewoo.