Hyundai Santa Fe review

Sometimes when a car maker claims a model has been radically transformed, it’s code for "you’ll hardly notice the difference". But in the case of the Hyundai Santa Fe, "radically transformed" barely does it justice.

Out has gone the inoffensive but generic look of old, and in its place you’ll find a much more striking and angular design punctuated by various H motifs, including in the pattern of the headlights and taillights.

Dig deeper and you'll find familiar parts, though. You see, the latest Santa Fe's radical look hides the same underpinnings as the previous generation, as well as tweaked versions of the same regular hybrid (HEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) petrol engines.

Hyundai Santa Fe video review

Sure, the old Santa Fe was no turkey, but the above still begs the question: beyond the radical looks, is this latest version nothing but a shallow rehash or a thrilling instalment worthy of a glowing review?

Read on to find out how the latest Hyundai Santa Fe stands up against rival seven-seat SUVs – including the closely related Kia Sorento, as well the Mazda CX-80 and Peugeot 5008.

What’s new?

- January 2025 - The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid wins What Car?'s 2025 Best 7-Seat car award
- April 2024 - New Hyundai Santa Fe goes on sale with hybrid and plug-in hybrid power, three trim levels and a more upmarket presence

Whichever Hyundai Santa Fe you choose it will have a 1.6-litre petrol engine under the bonnet and an automatic gearbox. However, you will need to decide if you want the HEV or the PHEV.

What are they? Well, both use hybrid tech but you can plug in the PHEV to charge up its battery. A full charge gives the Santa Fe an official electric-only range of just over 30 miles, although 20 miles is more realistic in the real world. That's not great by current standards. A number of rival PHEVs, including the plug-in hybrid version of the Skoda Kodiaq, can travel much farther on battery power alone (around 70 miles officially). 

The HEV has a battery too but it's much smaller and charged through regenerative braking. It can drive along on electric power for short distances, and only if you're extremely gentle with the accelerator pedal.

When you're not – and pinning it instead – there's ultimately very little difference in how quickly the HEV and PHEV build speed. Neither is particularly spritely compared with some rivals – 0-62mph takes around 9.0sec, so straight-line pace at best feels fine rather than blistering. Still, it'll get you up to motorway speeds without issue. 

The PHEV has four-wheel drive as standard, whereas the HEV is available with front or four-wheel drive. For most buyers, we don't think spending more to upgrade the HEV to four-wheel drive is worth the extra outlay.

Whichever version you pick, the Santa Fe is easier to drive than you might think given its size. The steering is very accurate and, while it's quite light, it inspires confidence on faster roads. There's more body lean through tight bends compared with the Mazda CX-80 – more so in the heavier PHEV than the HEV – but for a tall, seven-seat SUV, the Santa Fe is still pretty composed. 

More importantly, it delivers a comfortable ride around town and the ride tends to get better the faster you go. It's better to stick with our recommended version, the HEV in entry-level Premium trim, though. The heavier PHEV doesn't ride quite as well as the HEV, and if you go for the pricier trims they come with bigger alloys that make things a bit bumpier. Either way, the Santa Fe is comfier car than the CX-80. 

While the ride is good you do hear the suspension working away on really rough roads, and when you accelerate hard the petrol engine becomes quite vocal. But when you're just bumbling along, the Santa Fe’s engine fades into the background and the hybrid system shifts unobtrusively between petrol and electric power. Another plus is that there's very little wind and road noise at motorway speeds. This adds to the Santa Fe's relaxed cruising manners.

One thing it's not great at is being a tow car, though, with a maximum towing limit of just 1110kg.

"Some rivals might be slightly more supple around town, but the Santa Fe's high-speed ride is superb; add in its hushed cruising manners and I found it's great for long distances" – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

The Hyundai Santa Fe's driving position is fantastic. There's plenty of steering wheel adjustment, and all versions come with electric front seats (including lumbar adjustment). Ultimate trim and above adds memory recall, too. 

Another plus is how high up you sit from the road. It gives you a terrific view forwards and lets you see all the way down to the nose of the car. Large wing mirrors give you a great eyeline down the sides of the car and the view out of the back is decent, too. Where most rivals have thick and angled rear pillars, which limit your over-the-shoulder view, the Santa Fe's boxy rear, with big, square back windows, is a real plus.

As is the fact that front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera are standard across the range. And if you opt for mid-range Ultimate trim you get an upgraded surround-view camera instead.

Another upgrade from Ultimate trim is a rear-view mirror that you can turn into a digital screen, showing a feed from a camera at the back of the car. It's handy because it means you can still see what's behind you even when the view out the rear window is blocked by passengers sat in the third-row seats.

Basically, then, even though this is a big seven-seat SUV, it’s easy to judge where its extremities are – something that's helpful when driving around town.

There are two 12.3in screens: a digital driver's display behind the steering wheel showing all the important driving information, and the infotainment touchscreen next to it in the middle of the dashboard.

The infotainment system has a relatively user-friendly operating system, with sharp graphics and reasonably responsive software. If you want to use your phone's software instead, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are included as standard. Another 6.6in touchscreen below the infotainment screen displays the various climate controls.

Trying to find screen icons while driving is always more distracting than using physical buttons but, thankfully, the climate screen is flanked by physical dials for adjusting the temperature. There are also some physical buttons above the climate screen – mainly shortcuts for the infotainment menus – and that's a big improvement over rivals that have next to no proper buttons. The Mazda CX-80 has many physical buttons, though, which is why we rate its usability as one of the best in this class. 

The Santa Fe has more than a passing resemblance to some Land Rover models. The boxy side profile, for example, looks suspiciously like a Land Rover Defender, and the steering wheel looks strikingly similar to the Defender's, too. We're not criticising that, though. After all, imitating a premium brand's quality at a lower price is a win for buyers, but does that Santa Fe hit the spot? Yes, in the main. It feels screwed together sturdily using some pleasing materials that are roughly on a par with the Peugeot 5008 for overall interior quality. The CX-80 just pips it for swagger, though.  

"Being such a big, chunky car, I thought the Hyundai Santa Fe might be a tad tricky to see out of. Fortunately, that’s not the case." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

There’s loads of room in the front of the Hyundai Santa Fe – not only for the driver and a passenger but also for storage. And when we say 'loads', we mean LOADS.

You’ll find big cupholders, huge trays between the seats, and a large compartment under the central armrest. Handily, the armrest has two-way opening so you can access it whether you're in the front seats or the second row.

There’s also a smaller glovebox above the main one, which is a good size, and on top-spec Calligraphy models there's a second storage compartment in the dashboard that uses UV lighting to sterilise objects inside.

Calligraphy trim also gets Hyundai’s Relaxation Seats, which we first saw in the Hyundai Ioniq 5. They recline right back and have leg rests to help you relax if you’re ever sitting waiting for something – or someone – in your Santa Fe.

But it’s in the back where the Santa Fe really excels. For starters, access to the rear seats is fantastic. The rear doors are large and open wide, and it’s a simple process to slide the middle row forwards and clamber into the third row of seats.

In the middle row, space is vast. The Santa Fe is available in seven-seat form (three middle-row seats, two third-row seats) or – if you go for Calligraphy trim – with six seats (two and two). Either way, there’s loads of head room and leg room to allow six-footers to really stretch out and relax, and you can slide and recline the middle row to improve comfort.

Even the third row is amazingly spacious relative to some seven-seaters available for similar money, including the Mazda CX-80 and Peugeot 5008. The Santa Fe's boxy styling means there's plenty of head room, and knee room isn't bad either – especially if second-row guests are willing to slide (or tilt) their seats forward a bit.

When the rear-most two seats are folded down into the floor, the Santa Fe's boot space is enormous, with 628 litres available in the HEV and 621 litres in the PHEV. Both of those figures exceed the amount offered by the Kia Sorento. If you want even more space, you can fold both second and third row seats down, which pretty much turns the Santa Fe into a van.

On top of that, the boot opening is incredibly wide but with a low lip, which makes hauling things in and out of the load bay a simple task.

"I’ve slept in the back of a Hyundai Santa Fe, and you’d have to be more than six feet tall to not fit comfortably." – Oliver Young, Reviewer

If you're a company car driver you'll be better off financially with the PHEV version of the Hyundai Santa Fe. Its low CO2 emissions combined with a respectable electric-only range place it in a sensible BIK tax band, whereas all versions of the HEV fall into the top bracket. That said, some rivals with a better electric range are even cheaper on tax, including the Skoda Kodiaq. 

However, the HEV is definitely the way to go if you're buying privately. That's because it's a lot cheaper to buy and slightly better to drive. 

And while the ability to charge the PHEV at home and run on electricity as much as possible might sound like a perk, the reality is that any fuel savings compared with the HEV are likely to be less than extra cost of upgrading. Indeed, during a 380-mile test on a mix of roads, the Santa Fe 2WD HEV averaged an impressive 39.6mpg – a slightly better result than its official figure.

On the subject of charging the PHEV, it's a process that takes around three and a half hours from a typical 7kW home wall box.

We reckon the Santa Fe's entry-level Premium trim makes the most sense. It’s well equipped, including heated front seats, keyless entry, two-zone climate control, wireless phone-charger, adaptive cruise control and a powered tailgate with hands-free opening. 

Mid-range Ultimate trim pushes the price up by a few thousand pounds but adds plenty more kit, including a head-up display, ventilation for the front seats, heating for the outer middle-row seats, a second wireless phone charger, a premium Bose sound system and dual sunroofs.

The price jump to top-spec Calligraphy trim is smaller by comparison, but it only really gains black 20in wheels, some black detailing on the exterior, the ability to have six (rather than seven) seats and a UV sterilising box.

The two top trims push the Santa Fe towards the price territory of premium-badged alternatives, including the Land Rover Defender and Volvo XC90, so are less recommendable.

While the latest Santa Fe has yet to appear in our What Car? Reliability Survey, Hyundai performed well in the 2025 survey, finishing 14th out of 30 manufacturers in the overall brand league table. That's not as high as Peugeot, Citroen or Kia, but above Skoda, Seat and well above Land Rover.

Giving you extra peace of mind is Hyundai's five-year/unlimited-mileage warranty. That’s a longer warranty than most – the typical duration is three years – although Kia offers seven years of cover on the Sorento, while Toyota goes all the way to 10 years if you use an official dealership for your annual servicing.

The Santa Fe's Euro NCAP safety rating depends on which trim you go for. Entry-level Premium models miss out some safety aids so score four stars (out of five). However, if you pay extra for the optional SmartSense+ Pack (standard on Ultimate and Calligraphy trims) this boosts the rating up to five stars.

“The Santa Fe gets quite pricey is you want four-wheel drive and range-topping Calligraphy trim. That's why I think the hybrid (HEV) version in entry-level Premium trim makes the most sense.” – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

Buy it if...

- You want masses of space, including the third-row seats
- A massive boot
- A comfortable car that's quiet at speed

Don't buy if...

- You want the quickest 7-seat car
- The best-handling 7-seat car
- A long electric range

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