USED Hyundai Santa Fe 4x4 (06 - 12)

My car

I currently drive an Audi A4. I'm looking for something that is a bit bigger to facilitate two growing kids, powerful enough to cruise on long motorway drives because I drive a fair bit for work, and able to cope with the hills and weather in Derbyshire.

I must admit to being something of a badge snob; I love the build quality of my Audi and the refinement of its 2.5 V6 diesel engine. Until I read the reviews I had never thought of even considering a Huyundai. Now, having had a test drive, I'm seriously considering placing an order.

The cabin was excellent. It was spacious but the car didn't feel too big. It is in fact the perfect size for my needs. The seats and driving position were very comfortable. There were powerpoints everywhere for mobile phones and DVD players and many other cleverly thought out design features.

I was worried about a potential lack of power but even in the automatic version that I drove there was more than adequate umph for uphill country lanes and fast A roads. Sheer quality and excellence of design has overcome my badge snobbery.

If only they had not chosen the naff wood-effect dash (100% guaranteed plastic as the salesman put it) I would have hesitation. As it is, I think I will probably break the habit of a decade anyway and choose this as my next company car and save myself a few quid whilst I'm at it!

My car

If you can put badge snobbery aside and let yourself get behind the wheel of one of these you will find it hard to justify the extra £10k needed to buy one of its more "illustrious rivals" (XC90, Toureg etc.) Equipment levels are great - so many toys to play with - some of them are even justified (DVD for the 3 year old honestly guv - not the 33 year old)

It drives like a car not a bus, it has a quality interior, huge luggage space (5 seater)

Test drove the freelander HSE as well- half the kit, tired interior & more expensive list price!! - the dealer didnt even bother trying to do a deal when we told him we had just test drove the new Santa Fe; it was almost like he had heard it before.

Cant wait for it to arrive in a couple of weeks

My car

much improved car than the old model, i am waiting for delivery of this car as i am very much impressed with the overall package.

fit and finish of the dash is superb, for the price of the top model you get just about everything, sat nav,heated seats,dvd player,cooler between driver and passenger ect. if you are after a excelent drive lots of room £10,000 less than some makes with the same quality theres only one winner.

My car

Until recently, my view of Hyundais was based upon experience of them over fifteen years ago, when they were nasty things with dashboards made of the kind of plastic you'd find inside a box of Milk Tray.

Having read the first drive review of the new Santa Fe in the June 2006 What Car, I checked out as much as I could online. Things looked good, so I approached my better half: 'There’s no way I'm driving a Hyundai,' she said.

Undeterred, I persisted, showed her the photos, said that things appeared to have moved on, so she relented.

This morning, I visited my local Hyundai dealer and my first view of a Santa Fe in the flesh was a 2.7 V6 CDX parked outside. It looked impressive in black with a beige leather interior. The salesman was very amiable and, having taken me through the features, offered a drive of the petrol and the diesel. Not being interested in the petrol model, I tried a 2.2 CRTD GSI and was impressed. It's smooth, comfortable, quiet, has a great driving position, punchy engine and is very well put together (no Milk Tray to be seen).

We drove to my house to allow my wife (at home with our baby) to drive the car. First, she was impressed with the styling, size and the seven seats, and, after the test drive, professed that she liked it very much. She found it nice to drive, comfortable and much more solid-feeling than a Honda CR-V for instance.

We placed an order for a 2.2 CRTD CDX+ 7-Seat (manual) this afternoon for September delivery.