Faults:

I can't believe that the clutch is going on my Santa Fe, it's only done 49000 miles. A new clutch is going to cost £162 from a main agent, then another £240 to have it fitted. After reading the reviews on here about the clutch problem with the Santa Fe, where people seem to replacing the clutch every X amount of miles, I'll be selling mine as soon as the new clutch is fitted.

General Comments:

It's a shame as the car I like a lot, it has a stylish body, nice and comfortable, drives great and I get 35 to the gallon around town. Shame the clutch lets such a nice car down.

Faults:

Transfer case went out at 94,000. Otherwise I did most of maintenance myself and even got 80K miles out of the tires. I changed the spark plugs and plenum gasket. I did the oil changes, rotated tires on a 3000 mile basis and changed the brakes myself. It was a very easy operation. I did have it into the dealer to have the transmission and transfer case oils changed and the belt changed. Hyundai refused to honor the warranty because I could not produce service records. The warranty people told me that the records needed to be from a Hyundai dealer, but, I got them to back off of that it had to be a Hyundai dealer. They told me that owners don't really do the work that they say that they do. I was very dissapointed with Hyundai's response on the warranty. They told me that the transfer case leaked. They were the only ones that touched it.

General Comments:

Otherwise the car has performed well and was comfortable. It was just very disappointing to get the poor response from Hyundai. If it were not for the local dealer and the warranty department, I would get a new one in a second.

Faults:

ALL OK !!!

Faults:

Cigarette lighter.

General Comments:

Replacement battery.

The stock (OEM) battery is type MF 68 AH (600 CCA), which isn't readily available in the USA, and most battery companies don't list a replacement battery. The notable exception is Interstate, which specifies type 24T.

After considerable research, I settled on the EverStart MAXX-24FN, sold exclusively by WalMart for $62.28 with free installation. Specifications: 700 CCA, 875 cranking amps at 32 degrees F. Warranty:

3 years free replacement; 9 years prorated.

EverStart gets top ratings. It's distributed by Johnson Controls, which also makes several other top brands.

The EverStart battery fit perfectly with just a bit of trimming of the stock battery heat shield cover with scissors.

Significant upgrade from the stock battery. Highly recommended.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

OK SUV with amazing 5 year warranty. Cheap-ish to buy & run. Friendly dealer service. Loads of space.

Average on road handling - well, good if the road is smooth with no potholes - that excludes the UK, them!

Quite comfortable (much more car-like than a Suzuki Grand Vitara for example, and less bumpy too)

Loads of space, with OK performance for a heavy 2.0l vehicle (would tow my caravan better than a 1.9TDi Passat auto). OK turning circle, excellent brakes, medium weight steering.

This model has good "grunt" (plenty of torque) for towing, but its general performance is rather sluggish. If you don't tow, get the 2.6 petrol.

Cannot believe they have such a poor "predicted" reliability in the USA as mine and several other I know of ('03 on) have been faultless.

Lumpy wheel arches and bonnet scoop make it difficult to judge where the car ends when parking. Reversing sensors a must.

The only significant criticism I have is that both my wife and I suffered back pain from driving it (we're both over 50) - it seems impossible to get the right relationship between seat and steering wheel adjustments.