Review: Hyundai Santa Fe Limited

Winston Braithwaite
by Winston Braithwaite

A recent conversation with a blubber-lined autojourno archetype:

He: “What’re you driving this week?”

Me: “2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited”

He: “I hate crossovers. People should just buy wagons. In Europe…blahblahblah…diesel…estate….shooting brake…nomnomnom…where’s the bar?”

Koo-Koo-Ka-Choo, my friend The Walrus doesn’t get it.


I avoided conflict by changing the subject, but I should have told him this: “The 2014 Santa Fe Limited is not for you. Neither is that brown E-Class wagon you will never afford. If you like the European way of life so much, move there. They have funny underwear, so enjoy your man-panties. Over here, the crossover is sticking around for a while.”

The math is simple. People want crossovers. Car companies make money by building what people want. That means lots of crossover choices. The end.

Besides, if wagons all of a sudden became the next big thing, people would hate them. That’s how it used to be. If you hate crossovers or offer the “if you want a truck, get a truck, if you want a wagon, get a wagon” argument, they’re not for you. Crossovers like the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe are for THEM.

THEY are the folks with kids and dogs and fully-scheduled weekends. Rising stars who not only need to spend money, but have money to spend. Of course the Santa Fe isn’t likely at the top of any driving enthusiast’s list, but it ticks all the boxes for the Alternadult.

That word mashup is Hyundai’s own creation to describe the Persona used during the development of the Santa Fe. If that’s led you to ask “what’s a Persona?”, here we go.

Personas are a way to humanize your target audience, and they’re widely used by makers of consumer goods. For example, Ford created 28 year old Antonella, a Roman club rat to help focus development of the Verve, a concept car that previewed the current generation Fiesta. That’s probably why it’s got neat little cubbies for your stash of Molly.

From toothpaste and orange juice (reverse that order for less gag reflex) to tablets and even tableware, bringing the demographic information to life gives everyone a bag of bones to develop products for and determine how to get them to buy. Personas are why bloviating car reviewers are peeing into the wind when it comes to crossovers. Hyundai did its homework, and it appears to be working. Just count the Santa Fes the next time you’re at the grocery store on a weekend.

Hyundai wants to boost its sales by 10 percent for 2014, and the Santa Fe is key to that. I’m noticing more of these because they’re selling well. Santa Fe sales are up significantly; 36 percent in October 2013, and nearly 20,000 more Santa Fes have found buyers this year.

So who is this Alternadult and why develop a vehicle for them? After all, the selfish-ass Baby Boomers are still exerting big influence over the car business. Here’s what Hyundai has to say about it:

Hyundai has historically done well with younger singles and older families, but an opportunity existed to create a vehicle that would capture younger, higher income families. We knew that Santa Fe could be that relevant and modern product for this emerging persona.

Translation: There was a lucrative hole in the Hyundai customer demographic. Poor youngsters and value-minded older families are steady, even loyal business, but that vast, meaty middle is where the money is drifted deep enough to shovel. These people have needs and the means to address them in a way that tickles their wants at the same time.

Hyundai continued:

The target for Santa Fe was someone we ultimately referred to as the “Alternadult.” They are Gen Xers who were “latch key kids” and gained independence early. That spirit of independence has brought them success in life; they are doing well for themselves but also have a strong family focus. For them, a successful life is measured by more than just money, it is also about being there for their kids to pass along their values and their passions. Exploring and learning together with their kids is key. It’s also important that their kids ultimately be “street smart” as well as “book smart.”

This persona needed a product that could deliver on all fronts and enable their active, family-centric lifestyle: distinctive styling, technology, quality, craftsmanship, a sense of premium-ness without stuffiness, spaciousness, and safety. That is what inspired Hyundai to set out to create a product that would deliver an uncompromised combination of class-leading design and technology, quality, durability, and functionality. It challenges what a CUV can and should be, uniting functional utility and style and sophistication – both interior and exterior.

So, the Alternadults are occupying the space in the marketplace Boomers did 30 years ago. Remember the early 1980s? Minivans. Crossovers are the minivan of the post-Baby-Boom middle-ager. For a family buyer who needs to take three different sub-ten-year-olds to two different schools for 9 months of the year and then traipse to soccer, gymnastics, and dance all back-to-back on the weekend, the Hyundai Santa Fe Limited delivers.

Don’t start with how your beloved Panther-platform Fords and fundamentally-horrible W-body Impalas with bench seats would work a treat for that. Because no. Families want more than just enough seats. They want space for the stuff of everyday life, plus maybe a dog with extra-humid breath, too. You know, features that make it easy to go over hill and dale, and wrap it in some style, too, please.

Part of the draw of the Santa Fe is the way it’s drawn. The crisp lines look expensive, and because it looks great in a vaguely-European luxury kind of way, and it’s outfitted well, it’s easier to have higher regard for the Santa Fe Limited. It’s a get up that’s equally stylish tailgating, or in the parking garage at Nordstrom, or with “SENIORS 2013 YEAAAAHAHHHH” written all over the windows. That’s good design. It looks like a million bucks but it sure doesn’t cost it.

That doesn’t mean the Santa Fe Limited is exactly inexpensive. Mention that you’re driving a $41,000 Hyundai and people will roll their terrible eyes and gnash their terrible teeth. Of course, any Hyundai costing that much is loaded. The Santa Fe Limited starts at $35,540 with all-wheel drive. The same basic vehicle with fewer standard features and front-wheel drive is the $29,800 Santa Fe GLS. Regardless of trim, a 290 hp 3.3 liter V6 is your prime mover, the only transmission is a six-speed automatic, and all-wheel drive is a $1750 upgrade over front-wheel drive.

The Hyundai thing has long been the automotive version of a Golden Corral gut-busting dinner. Instead of steak, lobster, orca and mollusk for $9.95, the Santa Fe Limited I drove was a three-row crossover that will play nice and can stand up to the corrosive effects of children for $41,155. With features by the pound, the Santa Fe is very good at fending off competitors.

The Limited trim level’s standard features outfit you like a $40,000 vehicle for about $35,000. The Santa Fe Limited I drove also carried the Technology package, a $4,850 hunk of HIDs, LEDs, touchscreen navigation, ventilated seats, Infinity audio, panoramic roof, 115-volt outlet and parking assist that slides the price across the $40,000 threshold.

This used to be where the Hyundai story ended, “you get a lot of stuff for less money in a vehicle that’s also generally less good.” That is no longer the case. The Santa Fe is a strong competitor on price, and the technology and features you get are mature and well-developed. The touchscreen navigation is easy to use and the audio and climate systems have a mild learning curve compared to systems like MyFordTouch. The touchscreen doesn’t dim quite enough to satisfy me for night driving, but you can easily shut the display off to reduce cabin light pollution. The mind does wander to consider how long the leather-wrapped steering wheel is going to feel nice in your grip and just when the seats are going to start getting scruffy or the trim marred up, but the Santa Fe packs one of the nicer interiors in the class.

The 3.3 liter V6 has spirited enthusiasm, especially when you let it rev, and the six-speed auto is generally unobtrusive, The transmission thinks too much in situations you’d expect it to just bang through the gears, like merging onto a highway. There seemed to be some extra dithering going on with power delivery. THEY are probably not going to notice that, but I did, and I’m one of THEM. The Santa Fe isn’t going to win you any pinks, and it may feel winded if you drive the larger-engined competition back-to-back, but on its own, it’s at least solidly adequate if you don’t mind waiting.

Another historical Hyundai shortcoming has been chassis tuning. The Santa Fe does not feel like the ‘92 Buick LeSabre was the benchmark, nor does it crash over bumps like previous attempts at chassis discipline. The structure feels more solid than ever before and the ride and handling balance is good. There’s the occasional jarring impact, stuff that doesn’t happen in the crushingly-heavy GM Lambdas, Camry-based Toyota Highlander or Ford Explorer. The Santa Fe is lighter on its feet and more economical than the GM three-rows, miles ahead of the departing 2013 Highlander in terms of cabin materials and fit and finish, and more space-efficient than the Volvo XC90-based Explorer and its blatant built-to-a-cost first impression.

The closest competitor for the Santa Fe is probably the Nissan Pathfinder. Both have grown to fit the same niche of easy-living three-row. The Pathfinder returns better fuel economy thanks in part to a more hateful CVT centric driving experience. The Santa Fe is a winner in most other measures, from styling to price/features to driving dynamics. There’s something more like steering feel in the Santa Fe, partially due to the FlexSteer selectable assist, and it feels less like a relaxed-fit metal box than the Pathfinder.

You can love wagons all you want, you can hate crossovers even more, but in terms of being in the right place at the right time with the right product, Hyundai has a solid entry with the Santa Fe. In Limited trim, feature-conscious buyers have a place to go that’s not fraught with penalties for seeking value. It’s feature-packed in an environment where it’s hip to get more for your dollar. The Santa Fe even gets high marks for resale value. It’s nothing that’s going to send you over the moon when you drive it, but I didn’t hate life behind its wheel. It’s certaily set up as an ideal life-support vehicle for its Alternadult target, and at least now I have a markety-speak thing to call myself.







Winston Braithwaite
Winston Braithwaite

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  • Setnbe Setnbe on Jan 01, 2014

    Context: I'm not really a car guy (I haven't bought or researched one in 8 years; and I couldn't figure out some of the acronyms used here), nor am I one to register with a site just to leave a comment. But... I was enamored with the marketing language of Hyundai, and the term 'Alternadult'. And what a nice bit of writing, Winston. I was also amazed with the different opinions of this car in the comment section. (Calling it a car I'm sure tips my bias somehow.) All of this drove me to register and leave my own opinion. We own this car (2014) and I guess we mostly fit into the demographic. After 10 years with a Town and Country, my wife wanted a car. She wanted what she wanted - a CUV that was more C and seated 7. And the totally tricked-out Santa Fe was what she wanted. We drove a new Durango for a week and the Mazda CX9, rode in a neighbor's Enclave, and researched a dozen more in the same class. But this was it. On the post buying side she looks even more like the demographic. But man, what a car. And what a great set of creature comforts. We didn't find a car with the same options for the money (again, back to technology). The CX9 was the closest, but in her vernacular it wasn't quite a 'car'. My $0.02 says the Santa Fe is doing what it is supposed to do. Decent car, great technology, great warranty, and a fair price. I'm glad I didn't see this prior to buying the car, no telling how my feeble mind would have responded to seeing the marketing behind the curtain.

  • Markdr Markdr on Mar 03, 2014

    Somehow stumbled across this and was entertained by the back and forth in the comments. It all boils down to personal opinions of what you do and dont like. I had an 06 Mercedes with 4matic. Nice car, ok in bad weather but not great. I needed more room and looked around. I traded my Mercedes in for the Santa Fe Limited. Not sure where the pricing in this article is from, I paid far less then the 41k mentioned here for an AWD Limited without the technology package. Im exceptionally happy. Looked at BMW, Ford, Toyota, and a few others, and none came too close (with Toyota being the closest) to what this vehicle has, and it beats ALL of them in the price range in power. Towing capacity for this vehicle is 5000lbs, which is something I was interested in for various reasons. Also, lets not forget the 6/7 passenger configuration which others in this price range fail to meet. Cargo space is great on it too. I put a 14cu refrigerator in this thing with no problem. At about 300hp, the Santa Fe can certainly get up on the highway with no issues with the on ramp. It has a pretty nice "growl" to the exhaust too, when punched. The list of amenities it has for under 35k (after negotiations) isnt going to be matched (electric tailgate, 115v power adapter built in, heated seats both front and rear, rear controls for heating / ac for 3rd row, split climate regions, full power seats including great lumbar, choice of 3 steering "feels", bluelink with navigation that works great, remote start, and trust me the list continues). I do have one complaint about it, but its not all the cars fault. The gas mileage on it is definitely not at the top of the savings chart. At about 18 city (even less for my 12 mile stop and go commute which is my complaint) could be better, but I have hit 26mpg on longer highway drives out of town. I feel very safe and confident with its abilities in inclement weather, and feel confident my 2.5 year old daughter is safe in her car seat behind me. The reason I opted for the non technology package is because having done my research on this subject I found a 3rd party made an exact fit unit for this car which increases the entertainment abilities drastically from even the top of the line navigation system that you can get from Hyundai. This is not a cheap Chinese made system, so if you have this car and are interested, just reply and Ill get notified and shoot you some info on the unit. All in all, bang for the buck cant be beat with a 10 year 100k warranty to boot. As far as appearances, I dont know. Some people say it just looks average. I love the way mine looks, I have received a few compliments on its style and rims especially (factory 19"rims for the limited), but I would have liked to see a bit more LED on it instead of just the rear and front accents. I added the roof cross bars (functional to 150 pounds) and while I wont say the car stands out from the crowd since they all look a little bit like each other, but its really not a bad looking vehicle at all. Interior to me looks awesome, and the quality ir very good, nothing on it rattles or shakes even a little bit. Oh, rear storage with the 3rd row of seats in use is very limited. I can put a folding stroller or 2 back there and a single row of groceries but not much more. There however is ample storage UNDER the floor behind the 3rd row where I keep everything from the tire changing tools to spare coats and clothes etc.

  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
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