Faults:

I have loved every second of owning my vehicle... with the exception of the windshield-wipers having needed to be replaced; due to a freezing situation the very first winter during a sleet, slush, snow storm which was explained to me to have happened to all vehicles with these particular faulty windshield wipers. The same wipers which were replaced at the dealers expense, and on the same day I arrived at the dealership the following day of the storm, within a very short time; fault was totally acknowledged and expressed by the service representative of the dealership, and I was then courteously offered a hot beverage and a comfortable place to watch TV or read in the short time period it took to replace them all at the dealerships expense...

I can hardly call it a horrible experience at all and am thankful no accident occurred due to the mishap. It was handled with the utmost respect for my safety and cordially as I could have only had hoped for. More businesses could use to learn from the approach in which this was handled. No excuses were made, it was a faulty inferior product and the service person made good in replacing it, and said he regretted to have found out in such circumstances, but that the company certainly stood behind their products and they most certainly did with no debate at all and apologized for any inconvenience it may have caused me.

In comparison to my former vehicle, this far exceeds in performance, I trust it to get out of the way in time to avoid an accident far more than I ever could in the Isuzu unfortunately; and the Isuzu always seemed to be seeping air... losing heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer; and oddly when I hit over 55mph it sounded like a teapot... very strange... It might have been an attractive vehicle, but I never felt safe in it, especially carrying my 2 children in it... and that's not what one should feel about their vehicle. Not to say anyone should have any false sense of security, one must always drive defensively; but to drive in a sense of doubt isn't comforting at all..

I do however feel much better in the Hyundai... from traction to ability to move when you need it to, I just find it a better choice and would suggest one take a test drive and see for themselves.. a V6 of course... and judge for yourselves.

I just love mine... and would purchase another... so far I'll keep ya posted...

General Comments:

This vehicle is quick...

Not your typical mom-mobile...

Very comfortable.. yet I am a woman, my son says it could be a tad bigger but he is used to a full sized truck and that might make the difference in view; other males had no specific comments when driving it pertaining to its size.

Fuel efficiency could be better within city limits, but highway mileage I can't complain about...

Faults:

Nothing as yet. I bought the car brand new and have only done 1200k.

General Comments:

I can't understand why I haven't seen more Santa Fe's on the road. Toyota Rav's seem to rule, but I have put these two cars head to head (back to back test drives of 1 hour each) and I can't believe how much more value appears to be in the Hyundai.

My Santa Fe is a 2.2 turbo diesel and blows the petrol only Rav off the road. Torque from the diesel engine kicks in from about 1500 rpm and screams through to 4000 rpm, pulling hard all the way. You must alter your normal driving instincts from putting your foot flat to the floor as the diesel seems to respond better with half to three quarter throttle. Anything else is a waste.

In contrast the RAV requires your foot flat to the floor and then responds well as the revs increase up to near redline.

The interior styling in the Santa Fe is what really caught my eye. It has superior space and styling to the RAV and easily accommodates my 6ft 3inch son and 5ft 10inch daughter in the back seats.

It was disappointing not to be able to option up the base manual version that I bought (SX). I would dearly loved to have had the SLX version with its curtain and thorax airbags, electronic stability control, and traction control, however I did not want an automatic and I did not want 7 seats, being the only option in the SLX.

The 5 seater Santa Fe has a great wet storage box where the extra 2 seats are located in the SLX. I can live without the stability controls etc, but would have been happy to pay a couple of grand more to obtain the extra airbags, but nothing is an option in either the SX, SLX or Elite.

The claimed fuel economy (7.3l/100km) of the diesel looks close to the mark and it’s been great to go for a couple of weeks without having to refuel or watch the fuel prices!

I intend going to Fraser Island to test its 4WD credentials in late March so I will add a further review after a bit more driving, on and off road.

So far so good, but it's early days yet.