2007-2008 Hyundai Santa Fe opinions

[fisher83]

I've been considering replacing our Dodge Caravan with one of these. We have had plenty of Hyundai/Kia products before and all have been good (2005 Kia Optima, 2001 Hyundai Accent, 2004 Hyundai Elantra). We would most be interested in one with the 3.3 and AWD. Does anyone on here have one of this generation of Santa Fe's that can provide some feedback? Is it a good car, bad car, etc? Things to watch for?

 

[JTK]

I owned a 2008 GLS AWD 2.7L, 4spd auto from ~37K-72Kmi. The only odd issues I had were one bad coil pack and three failed wheel bearing hubs. BUT, I was the third owner of this vehicle.

I loved the way it drove. It was large, very comfortable and versatile. Fuel efficient it was not. The best the 2.7L/4spd would do was ~21mpg winter ~23mpg summer.

The 3.3L, A5HF1 will be slightly more fuel efficient on the highway due to the 5th gear. 3.3L is a timing chain engine, which is nice. IMO, 2008-09 is a sweet spot for the Santa Fe. They use drivetrains that have been around a long time, are well proven and really had the bugs worked out by 08-09. 2010+ use 6spd autos that I'm personally not too keen on.

Joel

 

[fisher83]

We had the 2.7 in our Optima. Very smooth engine but I did think it was short on power and not very fuel efficient which is what makes me lean toward the 3.3. The thing the 2.7 has going for it is that it has been around for a long time and I have seen several used Santa Fe's nearing 200k miles with that engine.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Friend's 2.4 2003 Santa Fe gets around 15MPG.
Granted it's out of alignment and the tail pipe is covered in soot.

 

[ernied]

i have a 2009 santafe with the 3.3 and have had no problems with it. it only has 45000 miles on it runs great.i get about 23 miles on the highway with it using regular gas with ethenol.get 26 miles using gas without the ethenol.had the 3.3 in my 2006 sonata ran 100000 miles no problems i gave my son my 2003 sonata to my son he has about 200000 miles on it now no problems but that is the 2.7 v6 had to change the timming belt a few times though. 2.4 is in my 2010 sonata with 35000 miles on it no problems so far but not a very guttsy motor compared too the sixes.

 

[JTK]

The only issue I've ever heard of with the 3.3L is oil leaks. Problems with the A5HF1 trans are very rare. It's a real good 5spd AT.

The trans, transfer case and rear differential are super easy to service on these as well. Valvoline Maxlife ATF for the trans and 75w90 gear oil for the transfer case and rear diff. They are TANKS in the snow with AWD. They've got a very nice AWD system.

Joel