Review: 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe GL

As our 1994 Ford Explorer Limited was showing signs of age and managed only 27 mpg on the highway, and the price of fuel had risen a great deal, in July of 2008, we opted to buy a 2002 Santa Fe SUV with 115,000 km showing on the odometer for about 25% of its new price. We had reservations about switching from the luxurious Ford to the Korean-built all-wheel-drive (AWD) but have successfully accepted the change after 2 months of driving.

Initially, the first complaint was my own, and that was concerning the comfort of the seats. Although they are heated (haven’t had enough cold weather yet), are manually adjustable, and are leather, I find that they are quite small and do not support my legs and hips very well. The cushioning is very firm and the leather not soft. Initially, the arm rests seemed to be too far from our elbows to be useful. However, we have adjusted to both of these shortcomings fairly quickly.

The typical complaint with this particular model of Hyundai is the noise coming from the engine, brakes and tires that one hears when driving at various speeds. Although this is somewhat bothersome, it does give one a better feel for what is going on mechanically with the vehicle. That being said, the all-wheel drive imparts a great feeling of confidence when driving. I must say that this is the best vehicle I have driven for that “connected-to-the-road” feeling. Combined with the very responsive 185 hp 2.7 litre DOHC 24-valve V-6 engine, this makes the vehicle very much fun to drive. The engine is very willing to rev and with the automatic transmission, this makes for a somewhat busy (for the motor) time when travelling through hilly country with the air conditioning on. The transmission seems a little uncertain at times as far as the shift points are concerned but I have adapted to this. At first, my starts from a stop were a little vigorous as the engine is very responsive to small throttle settings. This too required some learning.

Our first impression of the size of the Santa Fe was that it was significantly smaller than the Explorer. However, the overall dimensions are very similar. The interior dimensions are a little smaller as the Santa Fe does not have the vertical box structure of the Ford and so loses a little spaciousness on the interior. That being said, the useful space behind the rear seats seems adequate for our purposes. There are many places to store various items, with cup-holders front and back, and pockets here and there to make life easier. I am happy to say that the Hyundai has covered power outlets front and back in addition to the regular cigarette lighter outlet. Although, it won’t affect most drivers and passengers these days, the front ash tray is unusable if one has a drink in the front cup holder. Getting in and out of the Santa Fe also requires ones to lift one’s feet a little higher as there is a significant body lip to clear which has received some scuffing since new on our example.

All of the driver’s controls seem very well placed and accessible, the instruments are easy to read and the heating and air-conditioning work well.

This vehicle is a pleasure to drive, is easily capable of any cruising speed desirable and will pass easily, albeit with sufficient revs from the motor. The cruise control works wonderfully. The sound system is good, although for someone with less than excellent eyesight, it will take some time to remember what the tiny controls are for. The windshield wipers work well throughout the range of speeds.

As far as fuel consumption is concerned, we have gained by the switch to the Santa Fe. I have been keeping accurate records for this. The best consumption on a highway trip has been 30.0 mpg (Imperial) and the overall consumption in 3500 km (so far) is 27.7 mpg (Imperial). With this vehicle, our average fuel consumption is a little better than the best highway numbers we achieved with the 4L Explorer. As we didn’t want to give up the SUV option, this is quite acceptable to us at present. As far as other maintenance costs are concerned, we haven’t had the vehicle long enough yet to get a good feel for this aspect. I will hopefully be able to give a good report after our first full year (including winter performance) of driving and ownership.

My own rating scale follows:

• Appearance: 7 out of 10
• Drive-ability: 9 out of 10
• Power: 8 out of 10
• Braking: 8 out of 10
• Comfort: 6 out of 10
• Convenience: 8 out of 10
• Economy: 8 out of 10
• Overall: 7.7 out of 10