Please talk me out of buying a Santa Fe! (1 Viewer)

[Bloembuild]

So I've been looking for a 200/LX570 for two months now, and its getting discouraging.
I have about 40k to spend and I've been looking for a clean southern or western truck with excellent service history. This will be our daily driver, my wife's mainly, so we need the 3rd row to haul kids around. We are keeping our 100 to turn into a camping/adventure rig.
I randomly drove by a hyundai dealer and stopped in because they had a LX470 on their lot that looked great. Long story short, I test drove a hyundai santa fe, and it was great. It had everything in terms of tech a 2017 LX 570 had. As much cargo room as my 100, fold flat seats, all wheel drive and a center diff lock. Oh and it had a full panoramic glass roof. This thing was loaded! 290 hp / 315 ft pounds... AVG 20 MPG.
10 year/100k mile powertrain warranty, 5 year/60k bumper to bumper. Best part, 37K out the door.
Am I crazy? Please talk me out of it.....

 

[Sandroad]

Sounds like a nice vehicle. You might get a more helpful answer to your questions on the Santa Fe forum.

Santa Fe Forums.com

 

[Bloembuild]

I posted on this forum because I love land cruisers and really want a 200. I've grown up with Landcruiser's my whole life having grown up in Asia and in Europe. I just want to hear other peoples opinion on whether I should just spend the extra and buy a 200 or if should be "sensible" and buy a Santa Fe. .

 

[TonyP]

2018 Camry

 

[LALC]

Honestly, the comparables for the Santa Fe are the RAV4/Highlander/RX 350, not a LC/LX.

 

[AJP]

Hyundai's have evolved from the worst crap on the roads (cardboard and paper thin body work --- and thats no BS!) to what is now considered a pretty good vehicle with an impressive record of customer satisfaction. Was a time 20 odd years ago I was suprised to hear that GM was looking over their shoulders at Honda in fear. Well Honda overtook them and left them (GM) behind in terms of durability and quality. In the auto industry today ... the same thing is happening with Hyundai ... the 'players' are looking over their shoulders....

BUT having said that ... the Landcruiser/Lexus is a very different 'class' of vehicle and is generally designed to last a very long time (20++ years) and withstand pretty heavy use without significant problems. Many people wil never really push their Landcruisers to anywhere near the limit of its capability .. and for those people the Santa Fe may provide darn good serviceable transportation.

FWIW -- I have a couple of John Deere tractors and a 'Kioti' ... around my area John Deere is a 'religion' but I can honestly say that while the Deere have much better resale .. the Kioti (a Korean built machine) is as tough as nails and VERY capable. In fact built just like an old John Deere!!


(as an aside if you are looking for basic transportation -- buy a Corolla and beat the living hell out of it.... it will still give you at least a 1/3 of a million miles of loyal service before it gives up on you -- if it ever does!)

 

[mooneywa]

I don't think your consideration of the Santa Fe is unreasonable and it certainly is practical. It's the same reason @Canyonero has a Ridgeline - that he seems to love, I have a 2006 CR-V, and I'm sure many others have additional cars as well.

For me it wasn't a 200 OR the "airport car" it was that car to offset wear and tear, mileage, people who swing their doors too wide, etc. Why not get the 200, sell the 100, and get a Camry?

 

[gaijin]

Long story short, I test drove a hyundai santa fe, and it was great. It had everything in terms of tech a 2017 LX 570 had. As much cargo room as my 100, fold flat seats, all wheel drive and a center diff lock. Oh and it had a full panoramic glass roof. This thing was loaded! 290 hp / 315 ft pounds... AVG 20 MPG.
10 year/100k mile powertrain warranty, 5 year/60k bumper to bumper. Best part, 37K out the door.
Am I crazy? Please talk me out of it.....

If your wife likes it as much as you do, buy it! It's no Land Cruiser, but sounds like it would be a good fit for your family.

HTH

 

[ttFJC]

Buy once, cry once vs dump as soon as your out of warranty.

your choice

 

[NC237]

The SantaFe sounds like a good fit for the use case. I know you wanted us to talk you out of it but that would just be peer pressure on our part. From an emotion and passion stand point you'll have to decide if the SantaFe will work. I've bought cars before that I really liked initially. But then I grew to hate them. I cringed every morning when I saw whatever it was in the garage. I initially loved the LC, but now for me it's neutral. I'm getting to a point in my life where I don't care as much about cars. The LC has legacy but it's not sexy and it's not modern. But it is reliable and comfortable. Then again, many cars these days are too. The SantaFe is a good car. I think it's a good choice. It doesn't have the off-road cachet of an LC, but it doesn't sound like you would use it that way. Better tech, better mpg, better on road manners, better warranty, and less expensive over all - The SantaFe sounds like a practical choice for the use case. Btw- those are the main reasons the LC sells in such low numbers in the US. It takes a passion of the brand and legacy to spend that much on a car, that while very capable off-road, is impractical on paper.

 

[Bloembuild]

Great stuff. My wife actually doesn't like the Hyundai. But I think she may like it if she actually drives it specially with all the bells and whistles. I'm a general contractor and drive a 15 Cummins 3500 single rear wheels with 37s 4.30 gears and arb lockers front and rear. A little overkill for a work truck but I do use it like it's meant to be used.
I'm all about quality, and hate compromising. I feel like I'd be really irritated by the Santa Fe's cheap plastic and rattles. Like my dad used to say "there's a best way to do everything"
All that said. I just put a hold on a 12 lx570 with 72k on the clock. I'm just waiting to get undercarriage pictures before I put down a deposit. Thanks for the input, everybody!

 

[Bloembuild]

The SantaFe sounds like a good fit for the use case. I know you wanted us to talk you out of it but that would just be peer pressure on our part. From an emotion and passion stand point you'll have to decide if the SantaFe will work. I've bought cars before that I really liked initially. But then I grew to hate them. I cringed every morning when I saw whatever it was in the garage. I initially loved the LC, but now for me it's neutral. I'm getting to a point in my life where I don't care as much about cars. The LC has legacy but it's not sexy and it's not modern. But it is reliable and comfortable. Then again, many cars these days are too. The SantaFe is a good car. I think it's a good choice. It doesn't have the off-road cachet of an LC, but it doesn't sound like you would use it that way. Better tech, better mpg, better on road manners, better warranty, and less expensive over all - The SantaFe sounds like a practical choice for the use case. Btw- those are the main reasons the LC sells in such low numbers in the US. It takes a passion of the brand and legacy to spend that much on a car, that while very capable off-road, is impractical on paper.

Just read this after I wrote my post. Sometimes I feel the same way, maybe I need to quit caring about cars so much. I think about cars and wheels and gears and bumpers so much, reading forums, etc. etc. thanks for your input. Definite food for thought.

 

[Willy beamin]

Congrats on finding the LX570! Welcome to the club

 

[NC237]

If your wife doesn't like he Hyundai then the decision just got easier.

 

[ryanCA]

Congrats on the 570!!

Santa Fe is 3rd world country compared to a LX570

 

[Bloembuild]

Damnit! Just got a call from the dealer and said that the LX I wanted sold yesterday. Pretty pissed to say the least... back to the drawing board.

 

[40Man]

Sounds like your dealer doesn't know what a "hold" is. Reminds me of the Seinfeld car rental episode.

Comparing the Santa Fe to Toyota vehicles in a similar price range, all with around 50,000 miles excellent private party on KBB:

2014 Santa Fe AWD Limited MSRP: $35,750, KBB current value: 24,075=$11,675 in depreciation based on book value (33%). I am seeing this model with 50-65k miles for $18-20k on Autotrader.
2014 4runner 4WD Limited MSRP:$43,400, KBB current value $35,244= $8156 or 19% in depreciation. On Autotrader, it appears all of the 2014, limited 4Runners are listed at or above high private party value. I was offered $30k as a cash offer from my dealer for my 2012 Limited 4Runner with 60k miles which I passed on.
2014 Highlander MSRP: $43,590, KBB current value $33,167=$10,423or 24% in depreciation

In my experience, every Toyota I have sold as been sold at high blue book, with Tacomas holding the best value. If the new Tacoma was not gutless, I'd be driving one instead of a 200 (so in that regard I am a little happy the current Tacoma sucks). I lost roughly $500 a year on each of my Tacomas, and I owned each one 3-7 years.

If you are going to keep the car forever, depreciation will be less of an issue, and buying a used Santa Fe used seems like a bargain (not sure if the 10 year warranty transfers). My brother has a Santa Fe, and it is nice and very reliable for him, just not my cup of tea. I would not buy a new midrange vehicle that loses 33% of its value after 3 model years. Luxury vehicles tend to depreciate faster, so you will get similar depreciation in a new Land Cruiser as you would in a Santa Fe (which is why the LC is the only Toyota I purchased that was not new). The difference being that the LC will hold a strong value far longer. When comparing luxury SUVs, the LC holds its value better than any other in the segment.

 

[Mogwai]

Santa Fe is supposed to be a great SUV. But would you rather spend your time over on ih8malls.com or on Mud talking about Cruisers?

 

[Markuson]

I know of few forums that have thoughtful folks who, instead of slamming this option...are actually willing to give practical and thoughtful responses. I see a lot of those here. Not everyone needs a Land Cruiser. Hyundai has come a LOOOOONG way since they started shipping to the US in the mid 1980's. In 1986, I'd have avoided them almost as much as those junk-buckets from Eastern Europe... But times have changed, and so has Hyundai. They are very decent vehicles.

 

[TeCKis300]

I don't mean this in a bad way, but it seems like your needs in a SUV is only skin deep. It's less about the core capability, than it is about a modern fascade and tech. So paying for too much for capability with possibly too little up to date features might mean the LC/LX is not what you guys need?