Used 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe Consumer Reviews
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After a year....a good choice
Luisito, 12/19/2004
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS Fwd 4dr SUV (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
After a year, my Santa Fe has been extremely reliable. The power from the 3.5 is adequate if not outstanding. The engine is "silky-smooth" and not noisy. I like the interior design as it is very ergonometric and almost everything is accessible.The brakes and stopping distance are very good for this type of SUV. The A/C design is perfect for me and my family, as the vents are out of your face and we truly like that.
Dead car in middle of freeway
woman, 06/18/2010
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe Fwd 4dr SUV (2.4L 4cyl 4A)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
A few days ago my car lost all power while driving on the freeway at night. The car has been acting up now for about 5 months, maybe more. while driving, sometimes, with my foot on the accelerator the car looses all RPM then after about three seconds it comes back to normal. It happens all over, on the freeway to neighborhoods at 10 miles an hour. But A few days ago at night the car did its no RPM thing then died. all lights turned on. And now, two mechanics shops cannot tell what is wrong with it. (one had a reading about transmission) but then the transmission place can't get the same reading.
Chirp has always served me well!
catt33, 07/15/2011
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS Fwd 4dr SUV (2.7L 6cyl 4A)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
Yes, I named my Santa Fe "Chirp". It has been a great vehicle. I bought it used in 06 and until this year, only needed routine maintenance (Crank Shaft Sensor went out in March). I just rolled over to 90,000 miles last week and I am looking forward to many more miles with Chirp!
LOVE GROWN COLD
Linda L. Evans, 07/28/2015
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS Fwd 4dr SUV (2.7L 6cyl 4A)
17 of 21 people found this review helpful
Oh the tears I have shed. I have owned two of these vehicles. One was 3.4 v6 and the one I have now is 2.7 v6. I truly loved this car enough to purchase my second one. I didn't drive my first one but for 30,000 miles. It had 67,000 miles on it when I traded it in. I have been very happy with the vehicle and would have purchased a third one had I not lost my career employment. I drove over 1,000 miles per week so went through 100,000 mile warranty in two years or so. It has been a mechanically sound vehicle until the latter years. I have experienced power steering going out, while driving in the rain, and no one can find why it does that. Now I can't use the hand operated door open and lock because it triggers something to do with the parking lights or signal lights not sure which, coming on and won't go off. I can hear a ticking sound like the signal lights. When this happens and I do not realize it the car is dead the next morning and I have to jump it. Plus the automatic lock feature is not a good idea. The seats are not that good. They were hard when I bought the car new and they are hard now 11 years later. Now the paint is peeling off on the hood and the clear coat is coming off in other places causing the paint to peel. On the hood the paint was peeled by a hard rain, not hail, but rain. It peeled on the hood on each side and in the same place on each side. Strange to say the least. The clear coat had not come off on the hood but paint still peeled. I have persuaded a few friends to purchase this car because of its performance which I can say is the best on the highway. But now that they have seen how my paint has done they are reconsidering. This was to be my last car because now I am old and unemployed and can't purchase another car. I was so proud of the one I have now because I took care of it. It still looked in appearance nice enough, but now is an atrocity from the paint peeling. I could cry a lot over this. Now the vehicle I once loved has turned cold like the car. T
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What A Lemon!!!!!! I will never own another Hyundai
kylemack, 11/07/2012
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS AWD 4dr SUV (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
17 of 22 people found this review helpful
I have had 3 transmissions replaced, timing belt, power window motors replaces... and not to mention all the cheap little plastic parts braking and cheap chrome pealing off. Not only does this tin can want to make me never own another hyundia agian but makes me want to just ride a bike. OH And The Side airbag went off while i was driving down the road, no accident or anything. I called hyundai and they said it would all be out of my pocket to fix and that I should call my insurance and insurance said they cant do anything about it because there was no accident. Hyundai support was a bunch of run arounds and not helpful at all. I will never buy another Hyundai. What a money pit!
Still strong
Jay, 04/12/2016
updated 04/12/2018
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe Fwd 4dr SUV (2.4L 4cyl 5M)
17 of 22 people found this review helpful
I cannot really give a long term review as I have had the same 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe since new and I only have 77 thousand miles on it. I live on Oahu so travel is short no matter where you go. I commute 16 miles a day and have every day since I owned it. I did replace the power steering pump that seems to be a Hyundai problem that is fairly common, serpentine belt which is just good maintenance and proper oil and fluid changes to transmission, power steering and brakes and cooling. The cabin has one flaw, the plastic dash and various parts chirp from bad fits and lack of insulation. Always has been that way. Other than that, I keep it covered both at home in a car port and in an underground garage and always have, perhaps that is why I have no paint issues at all. I hand wash it and always have since Oahu has no public spray wash booths, this seems to have given the paint a long lease on life. The only real issue is that it is realiable enough to get bored with it after so many years. To add, I have since traded the car, but I did have ongoing front end issues, alignment, and knocking and rattling of bushing or parts became very noticable due to age and the repairs costing more than the value of the vehicle. It was a solid, basic transport that ran great and reliably, but did have other suspension issues.
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Not a bad car at all!
jourdanrose, 09/06/2003
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS AWD 4dr SUV (2.7L 6cyl 4A)
6 of 7 people found this review helpful
The pick up on highways is awful! City driving is just fine. My very tall children fit quite nicely in the back seat and the drivers seat is spacious and comfortable. I have the v6 model and the gas milage is average. I also purchased the full 10/100,000 warranty and for a single mom it gives me peace of mind.
Love the car - but now it's a beater...
leftoverchef, 07/25/2012
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe Fwd 4dr SUV (2.4L 4cyl 5M)
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
Well, I've had the car since brand new and have loved it. I haven't been too punctual with the routine maintenance (oil changes, etc.) and the car still has performed well (until recently, but more on that later). I made it to 100k miles on the original clutch - which is a record for me. I didn't even replace the timing belt until 110k miles! The only problem I really have had with it has been a faulty clutch pedal sensor when we bought it - and a crank-shaft position sensor that died just before i replaced the timing belt. That said - recently the Catalytic converter broke and the Exhaust manifold cracked - a $2600 repair - but my son will pay that to buy it from me instead!
2004 Base Santa Fe
SanDiegoRN, 08/25/2009
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe Fwd 4dr SUV (2.4L 4cyl 5M)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
I bought the base, manual, without a lot of bells and whistles because I wanted a manual, not an automatic. My gas mileage is probably better because of this varying from 24-28 mpg depending on how much city driving I do. On trips hwy mileage can even approach 30 mpg. I had a problem with the check engine light for the first couple of years d/t accelerator sensor position problems, but o/w very reliable. Just had to have the crankshaft sensor (and accelerator sensor) replaced as it caused the vehicle to quit completely, but overall I am very, very happy with it. Scratches do tend to occur in parking lots. Very comfortable and I want to keep this till it stops running completely.
Hyundai still surprises me
snowman_201, 01/03/2005
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS AWD 4dr SUV (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
I have owned 2 Hyundai's so far. I keep waiting for something bad to happen to them like everyone wants. All I know is this, I buy them because of their ausume warranties and never have to take them in... It's crazy, I've owned Lincolns, Cadillacs, even a 328 BMW. The only vechicle that can compare to the quality of my Hyundai are my Toyotas. Reliability the same, great, but Toyota quality still tops the list with Lexus. But, my Tundra 4 door 4x4 cost almost twice what my wife's Santa Fe cost.... You do the math.....
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