Used 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe Consumer Reviews
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2008 Hyundai Santa fe V6 AWD 12yr rating
I bought my Santa fe from a dealer with 62000 miles on it. I just hit 100000 milrs after 6yrs of ownership, battery, brakes,tires stabilizer bars in front. That is it....Most reliable SUV i have ever owned. Now that i have no car payments i am keeping as long as possible. No sign of it not being reliable. The AWD is absolutely amazing in all weather, deep snow, beach sand. It does it all. Mostly driven in NY and PA, now in Florida and only use awd on beach. No rust, couldn't ask for more. Highly recommend it, so we bought another Hyundai, this time a used 2016 Tuscon, that now has 55000 on it, drive both daily with no issues. Love our Hyundai SUV'S!!!❤❤
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Absolutely Love This Vehicle
I purchased this vehicle used and by far my favorite. I have owned all types of vehicles and this is by far my favorite in terms of performance and luxury. My girlfriend has a BMW X3 and the Hyundai compares in terms of luxury and performance. In fact if you look at the specs the two vehicles are almost identical. The only difference is the BMW feels "tighter" steering wise. Overall plenty of power and luxury. The seats are comfortable and the ride is extremely smooth and quiet. Getting about 20.7 mpg in primarily suburban driving and over 25 on a long trip to and from the Jersey shore.
- SE 4dr SUVMSRP: $5,9956 mi away
- Limited 4dr SUVMSRP: $4,9959 mi away
- GLS 4dr SUVMSRP: $6,499118 mi away
2008 SANTA FE 2.7L
Hyundai 2 nd generation 2.7 l cvvt started in 2007, which has more noticeable power than the initial generation engine. Owned for 14years with no major problems @107 k miles. (owned 2003 model for 146 k miles & just had timing belt changed after 80 k miles).I do most of the maintenance diy but will have my private aes mechanic replace the timing belt kit. very pleased with this model . there are reports out there that say 2.7 l engines don't have enough power, but the second gen engines produce 185-194 hp,depending on the model &year.i have the fwd, with less weight, & burns rubber, if given too much throttle from a stop & has excellent passing gear power. The AWD models are heavier, so probably a bit slower. Maintenance is important, but like all mechanical things, anything is liable to break, no matter what make or model you buy. forward to 2020, 99,000 mi. +. Santa Fe still runs great @ 12 yrs. I just had a timing belt kit replaced, being I've decided to keep the Santa Fe.
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Excellent
Ex-owner of a Pontiac Grand Prix I was somewhat apprehensive about getting a Santa Fe. However after 2 months I have no regrets at all in having purchased the Santa Fe. The interior is spacious and well made. The exterior is an eye opener compared to the previous models. The drive is smooth and very comparible to the Grand Prix which was superb. The handling is very good. No regrets what so ever would recommend it to anybody.
Vibration
Our Santa Fe is now 14 months old and since the first day we bought it we have had a vibration when driving well after serving Hyundai with a 3rd and final attempt letter they are going to put the 3rd set of tires on it Seriously this is a bunch of crap. The experience has not been a good one at all Thank you Prime Toyota in Scarborough Maine this is the 3rd car from them in 2 years the others a Tucson and Toyota Camry were great and paid for. But they dropped the ball on this one even after calling the owner himself. They have done nothing to help us we had to go to another Hyundai Dealer and they and the Hyundai Rep are helping Just buy the vehicle back or give us a normal
Great Suv
My family and I are pretty pleased with our purchase. The suv is roomy but also small enough to handle & park easily. We love it. We had an easy time purchasing the auto from the dealer but the dealer once we went off the lot didn't care what happened after that. We had two incidents happen as we drove off the lot and one has not been addressed yet by them... yet they state that the autos go thru a 37 pt inspection. Will probably not buy from this dealership again, but will definitely buy another Suv like this one as we are enjoying it. After several years owning this car, I love most of it. What I don't like is while driving it is hard for me to see around the mirrors on the side, they are situated where they block my vision seeing to the immediate left/right of car. Most mirrors are not so bulky & not situated where your vision is interrupted. Hard to explain but it is very annoying when I have to push myself up to see what I need to when turning. Not the best riding Suv or auto I have had but seats are comfortable to a degree.
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best choice
My 1st Hyundai, will definitely not be the last! Looked at CR-V, RAV-4, Jeep and more, chose Santa Fe for a few reasons: best looking, best size, best price, best warranty, on and on and on. Bought as a program car, best vehicle purchase I ever made. Traded 03 Chev Trailblazer (possibly the WORST vehicle ever made!) and have been nothing but happy with the Santa Fe. North Dakota winters are no problem with AWD. Fuel economy not exactly what I expected (or told by dealership) but not too bad. Just drove the family to central Florida and back with no complaints.
Don't buy this car
My husband and I bought the 2008 Hyundai in September. We put 10,000 down on it. Well, It has had nothing but problems. The transmission slips, there is a rattling noise coming from the engine, the wheel alignment does not stay in place, gas mileage sucked, and when the kids hooked up there dvd systems or game systems in the back it would cause a frying sound thru the speakers. We traded it in today and lost almost 18,000 on it. We lost all of our investment and only had it 6 months. We bought this 2008 as a demo with low miles. I will never look at or consider buying another one.
Beware! Do NOT buy a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe.
I have had a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe for two years, and four times it has spontaneously stalled in the middle of the road (no gas, no power brakes, no power steering). It is a terrifying experience and a potentially life-threatening safety hazard. Because this is an intermittent issue, no mechanic or dealership has been able to replicate the issue over the short periods of time that they drive the vehicle, and they've therefore said there is nothing they can do. We reached out to Hyundai Corporate, and they put us through a hellish month and a half long process to finally tell us that because the dealer couldn't replicate the problem (which we told them in the first place), they won't assist in diagnosing and repairing the issue. The process was particularly frustrating because our assigned case manager never answered a single one of our countless phone calls or responded to any of the numerous voicemails we left her - it really felt like they were intentionally ignoring us and making the process more difficult so that we would give up. We have found many similar complaints about '08 Santa Fes online (and a class action lawsuit that Hyundai settled regarding the 2010-2012 Santa Fes - different model year, same generation - for the exact same issue we were experiencing), indicating that this is a problem inherent to the design of this vehicle. I will NEVER buy another Hyundai again due to the horrendous customer service, and would strongly advise anyone considering a Hyundai to avoid this manufacturer at all costs and avoid the fear and frustration we've had to deal with. I know a selling point of Hyundai is the warranty, but I will warn you that you do not want to deal with their customer service department.
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Traded it!
After 4000 miles on a Honda CRV. The Santa Fe was the absolute worse vehicle I have ever owned and Hyundai is the worse car company I ever dealt with. Transmission was defective and they would not recognize its problems or fix it. Bad design and quality problems. They may allege to have the best warranty in the business but that is because they won't fix any problems and keep saying that is the way the vehicle was made to operate. Never buy a Hyundai again ......ever!