2004 Hyundai Santa Fe User Reviews

Pros

Lot of vehicle for a little money.

Cons

Factory horn sounds really wimpy.

In the 2 mothns that I've had my 2004 Sant Fe GLS, I've been nothing but pleased. It is a beautiful vehicle inside and out, and it gets outstanding gas mileage for an SUV.
And let's talk about passenger room. I saw one Sant Fe review, on Yahoo, where an owner claimed his overweight family member couldn't let the seats back far enough to accomodate. This simply isn't true. At my office, we pile into my office 5-deep. All guys with wide shoulders. All of us well over 220. It's got plenty of passenger room. It could use a little more cargo space, but that's why the seats fold flat.
All in all, it's a great car for the money, with one of the longest and most comprehensive warraties in the auto industry. Don't believe the hype! Drive it, you'll probably like it, and then buy it. I did...read morehide

Pros

Smooth ride and comfortable seats.

Cons

Gas mileage a little below EPA ratings, but I blame this more on the "reformulated gas".

We also own a 2004 CRV-EX. Both vehicles cost about the same, and get same gas mileage. CRV handles better, but Santa Fe rides better and has more comfortable seats. Many standard features on Santa Fe aren't even available on CRV.

Pros

Get your moneys worth

Cons

Heated seats broke early - but fixed

I have owned my 2003 Santa Fe for 1 1/2 years now... drove across country with it -- I can say i made a very good decision. I looked for six month - tried every car... even though there were better cars out there -- for my money and my feeling about cars in general - you can't beat a loaded santa fe - leather seats, heated seats, sun rood, AWD- 3.5l engine running boards etc etc for 23K. You are kidding yourself - if you think getting the same thing in a toyota or honda or GM or Ford product is a good financial decision. Its not - cars values drop - and why not get all the goodies for a great price and a warrenty. Theheated seats did break... but living in a cold cimate they were on 24/7 - so i got ti fixed and warm again!...read morehide

Pros

It runs.

Cons

Lousy mileage, fraudulent evaluations, smaller than a Camry

Well, it's almost an ok car, but...

I heavily researched the car (and several others) before even going to look at one. On paper it looked great.

I bought it in late October, 2004. EPA mpg ratings are 17-20 mpg city driving and that is what it has gotten: anywhere between 16.6 and 20 mpg from one tank-up to the next - that's 15-20% difference between tanks. Literally, I have twice gone from 20 to 16.6 - 17 mpg in one tank full.

Despite being an SUV, half the drivers in my family cannot drive it. One family member is very overweight and, tho she fits in a Toyota Camry just fine, the Hyundai seat will not go back far enough, nor will the steering wheel adjust enough that it is not buried in her stomach. Less driver room than a Camry!!!

The local dealership treated me like an idiot child, so I bought thru a broker. That distant dealership keeps sending me useless mail about silly things like a Hyundai owners' bar bq. Like I'm driving 250 mile for that. I wouldn't drive across town. Buying this car was not a social event - it was a mistake.

The dealership evaluation is a farce. Both Hyundai Corp and the dealership have sent me letters telling me how important it is that I give the dealer all "Excellent" ratings or the dealership will fail the rating. Even "Very Good" is failing and everything else gets a zero. A coerced and forced evaluation system - don't trust the evaluations you read about its dealers. Or anything else.

With less than 3000 mile on this car, I'm fed up with it. No, I will not go thru mediation with Hyundai - all such laws are written for the dealership's advantage, not for you and me. You can spend months getting screwed over and over again. I'd rather sell it now before it needs an oil change....read morehide

I owned a 2002 Santa Fe and I haven't had any problems with it. I try to do the maintenance when is due (belts, oil, etc) and my SUV is running great. The only thing that I would like to see improve is the folding of the rear seats to a more flat surface. I agree with liesl_Calgary and jstarlifter - this site should be restricted to serious owners that want to provide serious feedback (good or bad) on their experiences with a Santa Fe. To those people that love to cuss when they write, please learn to write and you won't need to use foul language to get your point across, the use of foul language only diminish you....read morehide

I know this site is reserved for reviews on the Sante Fe (I just bought one but haven't taken delivery yet). I just have to say this

We bopught our first one in 2002, first it was a Rav 4 then we drove the santa fe, and were sold on it..Now it was my turn to get a "new" car..so why not a santa fe..best thing that I ever did...the car is so peppy, and lots of fun to drive..wife is jealous of my "new" one..I got the 3.5 ltr engine..go get one..best one on the market for the price..even all the reports agree.....read morehide

Hyundai has a design fault or rather a poor design in the around the transfer case. The Exhaust manifold joins up under the Transfer case in the V6. They state in the service manual to change the oil at 90000km. Well the heat form the exhaust causes the oil in the transfer case to break down and stuff the seals in the transfer case (Expect to pay about $300 for the seals). The transmission expert whom I took it to stated. Change the oils at every major service to stop the oil breaking down to sludge and not to stuff the oil seal. Expect to pay $8500 for a new transfer case from Hyundai...read morehide

Our 2001 Santa Fe is a big piece of JUNK! It has spent more time in the shop then it has in our drive. In August, we have taken it in for repairs at least 5 times. We should have gotten rid of it before now, but when we do that, we are going to screw some other poor fool. I would not recommend this "vehicle" to anyone....read morehide

I bought a 2004 SANTE FE GLS 3.5L ENGINE 4X4 last Feb. of 2004. I've chosed plenty of SUV like the CRV, 4runner, RAV4, Highlander. But I end up with SANTA FE HYUNDAI because of the looks (inside & out), plenty of features that you couldn't find in other SUV like the Tiptronic transmission and tires & rim. The warranty is absolutely great for people who is looking for real savings. I recommend this SUV rather that high price TOYOTO'S (Highlander&4runner&RAV4) or HONDA'S. Wake up and drive smart now!!!!...read morehide