Ownership Review: Our 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Kept Its Promises (Mostly)

• We loved the Santa Fe's interior appointments and space.
• Its advanced tech helped make it King of the Road Trips.
• Fuel economy came up short, though.

Promises kept

The Santa Fe was the King of the Road Trips during its time with us, embarking on multiple long-distance journeys, including a couple of trips to Las Vegas, along with trips to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. Hyundai hopes the upright, boxy shape evokes "vintage Land Rover" vibes, but we just saw a wrapper for a huge interior. For example, the three rows of seating can all handle adults thanks to the square roofline, and the Hyundai makes it easy to use all three rows, too. "The third row is easy to access," wrote Jodi Tourkow, executive director, written content. "The second-row captain's chairs automatically move forward and fold just enough to let passengers in, and the third-row captain's chair seats can be accessed by pressing a button."

The flat tailgate also benefits cargo room. Without sloping glass, you can stack items, going well beyond the measured 14.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row. There's also plenty of storage space inside the plush interior thanks to generously sized door pockets and a big center console. "The center console box is a portal to another dimension," writes video content manager Will Kaufman. "It's a bag of holding with another bag of holding in the bottom. Seriously, there's a false bottom you can lift out, and once that's gone I can get my arm up past my elbow into the recesses of the box." 

Calligraphy is Hyundai-speak for luxury, and it was no joke, adding softer Nappa leather to an interior that's already punching above its weight in the class. "The materials all feel a cut above, even the fake open-pore wood on the dash," I said after spending a couple of weeks in it. Others praised the comfort of the seats and suspension and how tight and rattle-free the Santa Fe remained during its stay with us. Best of all, over time the Calligraphy niceties didn't wear prematurely, with the interior still looking fresh.

The Santa Fe's tech also stood out. The usual suspects were all in attendance: wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; wireless charging; a comprehensive suite of advanced driver assist systems; high-end audio and so on. But Hyundai's implementation stands out. For example, you can connect two phones at once, use one for CarPlay maps, and the other for music — perfect for road trips where the passenger likes to play DJ. We also liked how the wireless charging puts the phone on a raised pad that has just enough grip that it doesn't slide off. 

Advanced driver aids are a fact of life these days, and the Santa Fe's for the most part won praise. While some found the driver attention monitor too sensitive, nearly everyone liked how the Santa Fe reacted when it was active. Hyundai uses something called Highway Driving Assist, which combines adaptive cruise and lane keeping assistance into a single function. In heavy traffic, it increases the wait time to resume moving to 30 seconds instead of 3 seconds, meaning you don't have to manually toggle the gas or the "resume" button when traffic starts flowing again. On the open road, it maintains control and keeps in your lane without being intrusive. It's not quite hands-free driving yet, but it's a positive step. 

Promises broken

There were two demerits for the Santa Fe Hybrid. The first was more of an annoyance: the hand-wash requirement for the matte-finish paint. That means no quickie drive-through car washes if you park under a bird-filled tree overnight. We all agreed it looked great but also agreed it wasn't worth the hassle, or the extra $1,000. We say save your money and get a more convenient paint color; the Terracotta Orange or Ultimate Red are equally eye-catching and don't require special maintenance. 

But that pales next to the surprisingly poor fuel economy, which Tourkow summed up best in her logbook entry. "My most recent trip to Las Vegas from Los Angeles put the gas mileage to the test," wrote Tourkow. "Given that a one-way trip to Sin City is 288 miles, I thought we would have plenty of fuel to get my hubby and me there, plus enough to drive around town for two days." However, that turned out not to be the case. "On an open road (no traffic) at a steady 75 mph for three hours and 50 minutes, we only averaged 23 mpg."

Over the course of our time, it averaged only 27.3 mpg, and its best single tank was 33.1 mpg, despite an EPA-estimated combined score of 34 mpg. To be fair, 27.3 mpg isn't terrible for a big, boxy all-wheel-drive three-row SUV, and it handily beat a non-hybrid Santa Fe we tested. It's just frustrating to pay $1,000 extra and be so far off the estimate. By contrast, when we tested a Toyota Highlander Hybrid, our as-tested 33 mpg was very close to the EPA-estimated 35 mpg combined. The Santa Fe Hybrid's fine, but unless you plan on amortizing that $1,000 over a long time, the gas-only version might be the better call. 

The rest of our complaints are nitpicky. We weren't fond of the overreliance on touch-sensitive controls, but sadly that's not a complaint unique to the Santa Fe. Some drivers noted that the wireless phone placement can overheat your phone in direct sunlight. As for me, I whacked my knee on the steering-column-mounted gear selector knob on occasion and once accidentally knocked it into neutral in the process. 

Rock solid

We had zero quality-related issues with the Santa Fe Hybrid. Nothing broke or went kablooie, and our only noteworthy expenses were for a couple of routine oil changes and tire rotations, coming out at $165 and $115. Some manufacturers include free maintenance for a couple of years, but nobody can beat Hyundai's warranty, so it all evens out in our opinion.  

The Santa Fe did get sidelined for a while due to some road debris that smacked the front bumper. Nobody was hurt, but it did break off part of the front fascia. Once the part was in, a body shop quickly replaced it, and luckily the fancy paint job was a nonissue for this particular repair. Insurance covered the cost, which was great since otherwise we'd be about $4,000 poorer.

Is it a good value?

Our 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid cost $51,425, which included the $1,000 paint job. That's significantly less than a similarly equipped Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid, and the Hyundai has a roomier and much nicer interior. 

However, the Toyota makes up for it on the back end. At the end of our ownership, the Santa Fe had accumulated right around 20,000 miles, and we were able to sell it to a dealer for $36,000, a 30% drop. We checked with our data team, and they said year-old Santa Fe models with an average of 13,000 miles will depreciate around 26%. The Toyota loses only 13% of its value under the same circumstances, and gets better fuel economy to boot. If you frequently trade in your cars, the Hyundai's value proposition begins to fade a bit, but if you're a keep-and-hold, its upscale features and lower starting price have a lot of appeal. 

Should you buy it?

For the most part, we think the Santa Fe Hybrid Calligraphy kept its promises. The biggest letdown was fuel economy, which was well off the EPA estimates. As for the rest of it, everyone on staff who spent time with this SUV just liked it. The standout style, the roominess and high quality of the interior, and the plentiful features all made it a popular pick for a reason. Should you buy it? After a year of living with one, we don't any reasons big enough to talk you out of it.