I have been thinking of buying the new Hyundai Santa Cruz Ultimate. The vehicle is close to $50000.00 here in Canada. Firstly I think it’s way over priced but my main concern is all the information I have been reading on the net of how bad Hyundai engines are and how they are failing with major class lawsuits involved. Then there are reports of water getting into brake lines etc and transmission problems. Then now reports of water getting into the headlight units. What are the **** is going on with Hyundai. I thought this brand was supposed to be a superior auto manufacturer. I’m really rethinking my decision to buy this product. Anyone got any thoughts on this ???
First, I'll point out that the comments about the base SE/SEL models are US-only. So you can comfortably read past those. They missed that you are in Canada.
As a new (last Friday) Ultimate owner myself, here are my thoughts on your post.
Price: Yep. It ain't cheap. You can shave off about 6k by going with the base Preferred trim if you don't want the extras. Originally, I ordered the Trend. I'm very happy that my wife said to go Ultimate instead. The extras that are missing from the Trend (SEL Premium-ish in the US??) are some of my absolutely FAVOURITE features. No, not the cooled seats - the adaptive cruise and 360 cameras. Seriously, worth. every. penny. Sorry, nickel. We ain't got no pennies no more. Honest to Timmies double-doubles (which, let's be real, holds more value than "god" up here.) it is NOT overpriced for what you are getting. Is it expensive? Ummm ... yes-ish? About 50% over my previously most expensive vehicle. So yeah. If budget is big for you, I'd suggest taking an honest look at a Maverick, if you're cool with the look of it. Similar size (slightly larger), similar power (slightly less) from the 2.0T version. But you can certainly spec it cheaper if you're willing to forgo the everyday driving luxuries that the Ultimate offers. Ford has no direct competitor in any Maverick trim, even the more pricey First Edition. The price of every new vehicle has shot up in the last 10 years. It's the new reality.
As far as what you read on the net about Hyundai, temper those screaming from the rooftops about how awful it is with how many NORMAL owners (not forum-goers or fanboys/girls) a: care two hoots about the vehicle itself to ever go to such places and b: the fact that when someone DOES have a problem the first place they run is online forums to complain/ask for help/see if they're alone - and then post the same problem on the same vehicle across no less than 17 different forums/Facebook groups/review sites/etc. What you see online is ALWAYS skewed in both directions - the extremes. As far as reliability goes, we had a good discussion at our dealership about their service team vs. my local GM service department. Our GM dealer has 7 full time mechanics working 6 days a week with a minimum two week wait to get a basic oil change. They're THAT backed up. At my Hyundai dealer, they had a mechanic leave because he got bored at never doing more than oil/lube/filter service jobs because they didn't see enough broken vehicles. And their service bay is only open 5 days a week. They will book Saturday appointments for service with their out of town customers (like me). Which one do you think is more reliable? Yes, you will read about problem engines. They DID (Kia as well, same engines) have an issue with I think it was the 1.6L engine in the Soul and Kona. May have been some others. I have a friend who's had a couple of Souls now who was impacted with it and frustrated by the dealer/Kia since it was before the recall on them. That's where you're probably hearing about lawsuits - because the early victims of the issues really got screwed around/over until it was acknowledged. The 2.5T in the Santa Cruz is used in many other Hyundai products, and from what I've seen has been quite problem-free. I have zero worries about mine.
Never heard of issues with water in the brake lines, can't comment on that. But there are only a very few ways that could happen.
Transmission problems? We've had ONE report on the forum of it blowing up after 330 miles - and it was replaced and (if I recall correctly) sent back to Hyundai to study the cause of the failure.
Water in the headlights. Just plain false. What was observed/shown is water AROUND the sealed DRL units in the grille, because they are separate pieces. You can either blow it out with compressed air or simply wait for the water to dry. There is no water getting into the light itself.
I have FAR fewer worries about the longevity of my Ultimate than I do with the Equinox we bought last year, last week of August. By this February (5 months old) it was off the road for a full MONTH because of a poorly designed PCV system that freezes up in the winter, an intercooler that's prone to icing problems in the cold, and blew out both the front AND rear crank seals. I've seen another Equinox sitting at our dealer for over a month on dollies because it is ALSO missing its engine/transmission. Not sure if it's the same or similar issue, but let me tell ya, it reinforces our original plan last year to ditch it for something else by year five. I'm planning on making the Santa Cruz a 10 year or until something more irresistible comes along vehicle. That's why I added the 200,000km extended bumper-to-bumper warranty too. Don't care that it added 4 grand to the price. I call that pretty cheap insurance, given all the tech in these things and how pricey it will be to replace out of warranty.
Ultimate-ly (see what I did there?) it's your decision. Do what you're comfortable with. I absolutely had my doubts about buying it once they finally released the Canadian pricing.
Absolutely considered the Maverick. Bookmarked a couple of different builds. Made comparison spreadsheets. I looked at the Canyon AT4, the Ranger XLT, the Ram 1500 Classic, and test drove them all this summer. I looked online at the Ridgeline, Tacoma, Frontier, even the Veloster N. I realize that's not a truck, but man, I'll bed that would be some kind of fun on the daily commute!! LOL
I have more faith in Hyundai's engineers than darn near any other brand on the road today. Look at the industry awards and the customer satisfaction reports. Hyundai today is where Toyota was a decade or more ago. But the internet has a long memory and some of the "problems" you'll find are generations old. Hyundai/Kia have been KILLING IT the last few years. Probably in part because of the former BMW executives they've brought on board to specifically change their market position.
Sorry if I'm a little long-winded. Do yourself a favour. Find a dealer with a demo model - MOST dealers in Canada have specific demos that they are not allowed to sell so that people can see them/drive them/order them - and get in it. Take it for a drive. Then you'll know for sure if it's the right size/comfort for you. For me, this little truck NAILED IT on a good 95% of everything I wanted and my list of dislikes are petty little things like the manual rear window that you can't reach from the front seat, the start button dance you have to do to get the wipers to sit up so you can lift them off the glass, the lack of power front passenger seat, and the gloss black trim.
