In the search for a luxury SUV with lots of stuff, I was surprised to see the Santa Fe come up. I actually first thought about it when looking at a BMW forum online and a few people compare the X3 to it. Since I was out and there was a dealer, I swung by.
In my t-shirt, I got a newbie, which was fine. He had lots of numbers and specs.
We drove the non-third-row version of the Santa Fe first. A 4 cylinder, but a turbo. It's loaded, and nice, though certainly a step down from the BMW and Lexus. It drove well, had rear seat heaters, a panoramic roof, leather, cooled seats, which was really nice. On a hot day, with a cotton jacket, I could feel the seat getting cooler.
There was lots of room behind the rear seat, and overall, if I wanted a new car, with the features, this is a good choice. New this is about what a 3 year old BMW costs.
There was turbo lag, and the finish inside just isn't as nice. I switched to the third row seat version, which has a semi-usable third row and captain's chairs in the middle. All I all, a better fit for the family. However using the third row removes pretty much all cargo space and it's just not what I want. The seats don't quite compare.
A nice one, but not for me. Still, I'm glad I drove it.
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