'23 Santa Fe Limited 2.5T 1300 mile review

W

wbwanzer

Joined
Mar 28, 2007
Messages
387
Location
York, Pa.
I received my Santa Fe on March 9 and have about 1300 miles on it now. I'm really liking it and thought I'd post up my thoughts on it so far.

I'll start with the negative stuff first:
The Limited and Calligraphy (at least in the US) don't come with a spare tire. I bought an aftermarket complete spare kit which for now I just keep in the back of the car. I'll pick up a carrier for it when Hyundai comes out with one for the 2023 model year. I know that there are carriers out there but not specifically for a '23. I'll wait for one that will fit for sure.
It has paddle shifters which I love, but the transmission won't stay in that manual mode. I reverts back to 'D' after a very short while.
No wireless Android Auto. It works well when plugged in. But why? My '19 Sorrento had wireless Android.
There are a lot of buttons. I prefer actual buttons and switches instead of touch screen for everything, but while driving, there's a lot of buttons to peruse when looking for what you want. Over time though, they will become memorized I guess.

Next is things that are not bad but just OK:
So far that is just the push button trans. It works. No more, no less.

Now for the things that I like:
I find the ride to be very smooth and quiet. The suspension could be a little stiffer though.
I love this 2.5 Turbo. It moves out pretty quickly. Passing on the interstate is effortless. That turbo torque is quite fun.
The seats are comfortable, but not the most comfortable car seats I've ever experienced. But they're good. Heated and cooled.
The radio is a giant upgrade from the radio in the Sorento that I traded in. That radio was pretty much like the transistor radio that I had when I was 9 or 10 and it had no satellite. The Santa Fe radio is much better.
The Santa Fe's MPG calculations are spot on. On my Sorento and my wife's Kia Seltos the car's calculation was optimistic by 10%. If the car read 30 mpg it was really 27 by hand calculation. This Santa Fe is correct to the tenth so far. When I filled up the other day the car was telling me 25.4 mpg and the actual calculation was 25.45. I'm very impressed with that level of reporting.

So that's my story so far. I know that there were some issues with the double clutch trans is the beginning, but I think they are worked out now. At least I hope so.
 
Edit: read your owners manual if you GENTLY depress the gas pedal for 6 seconds it will go back to automatic.
ugh.

Most of the DCT issues were with dry dct transmissions the hyundai is wet style(clutches)
 
Last edited:
wbwanzer said:
I received my Santa Fe on March 9 and have about 1300 miles on it now. I'm really liking it and thought I'd post up my thoughts on it so far.

I'll start with the negative stuff first:
The Limited and Calligraphy (at least in the US) don't come with a spare tire. I bought an aftermarket complete spare kit which for now I just keep in the back of the car. I'll pick up a carrier for it when Hyundai comes out with one for the 2023 model year. I know that there are carriers out there but not specifically for a '23. I'll wait for one that will fit for sure.
It has paddle shifters which I love, but the transmission won't stay in that manual mode. I reverts back to 'D' after a very short while.
No wireless Android Auto. It works well when plugged in. But why? My '19 Sorrento had wireless Android.
There are a lot of buttons. I prefer actual buttons and switches instead of touch screen for everything, but while driving, there's a lot of buttons to peruse when looking for what you want. Over time though, they will become memorized I guess.

Next is things that are not bad but just OK:
So far that is just the push button trans. It works. No more, no less.

Now for the things that I like:
I find the ride to be very smooth and quiet. The suspension could be a little stiffer though.
I love this 2.5 Turbo. It moves out pretty quickly. Passing on the interstate is effortless. That turbo torque is quite fun.
The seats are comfortable, but not the most comfortable car seats I've ever experienced. But they're good. Heated and cooled.
The radio is a giant upgrade from the radio in the Sorento that I traded in. That radio was pretty much like the transistor radio that I had when I was 9 or 10 and it had no satellite. The Santa Fe radio is much better.
The Santa Fe's MPG calculations are spot on. On my Sorento and my wife's Kia Seltos the car's calculation was optimistic by 10%. If the car read 30 mpg it was really 27 by hand calculation. This Santa Fe is correct to the tenth so far. When I filled up the other day the car was telling me 25.4 mpg and the actual calculation was 25.45. I'm very impressed with that level of reporting.

So that's my story so far. I know that there were some issues with the double clutch trans is the beginning, but I think they are worked out now. At least I hope so.
Click to expand...
Do your own homework on your spare diameter as you CAN NOT trust Hyundai/Kia dealers to get you the correct spare .......or at least you could not a couple of years ago. "Don't trust, but verify". Hyundai/Kia dealers were throwing in 2 to 3 inch diameter smaller spares and taking out transfer cases on the AWD cars/SUVs. Most Hyundai/Kia dealer are the bottom of the crop.

Go to https://tiresize.com/ and find the correct diameter and know you don't want to devate more then 3-4 mm in diameter then your original tires IF you have an AWD.
 
Mainia said:
Do your own homework on your spare diameter as you CAN NOT trust Hyundai/Kia dealers to get you the correct spare .......or at least you could not a couple of years ago. "Don't trust, but verify". Hyundai/Kia dealers were throwing in 2 to 3 inch diameter smaller spares and taking out transfer cases on the AWD cars/SUVs. Most Hyundai/Kia dealer are the bottom of the crop.

Go to https://tiresize.com/ and find the correct diameter and know you don't want to devate more then 3-4 mm in diameter then your original tires IF you have an AWD.
Click to expand...
So putting a spare on that may be 2 to 3 inches off blows the transfer case until you get to the tire shop? If you driving 70 on the freeway for 100 miles on a "donut spare" passing tire shops along the way you deserve what you get....IMHO. You can't trust "ALL DEALERS?" My we are making gross generalizations this after noon.
 
CKN said:
So putting a spare on that may be 2 to 3 inches off blows the transfer case until you get to the tire shop? If you driving 70 on the freeway for 100 miles on a "donut spare" passing tire shops along the way you deserve what you get....IMHO. You can't trust "ALL DEALERS?" My we are making gross generalizations this after noon.
Click to expand...
He is correct aout the transfer case. It will go in short order if tire sizes are not close. If you get a flat, however, just ensure the front tires are the good ones, and put the spare on the rear, as most AWD Hyundai's default more to FWD than RWD>
 
CKN said:
So putting a spare on that may be 2 to 3 inches off blows the transfer case until you get to the tire shop? If you driving 70 on the freeway for 100 miles on a "donut spare" passing tire shops along the way you deserve what you get....IMHO. You can't trust "ALL DEALERS?" My we are making gross generalizations this after noon.
Click to expand...
2-3" difference in size is a HUGE discrepancy. In some areas, like in the West, you need luck to find a good shop or shop at all in 100-200mls vicinity.
A Toyota dealer tried to scam me for donut. Wanted to charge $315 for it. Discount Tire sold me for $90.
 
CKN said:
So putting a spare on that may be 2 to 3 inches off blows the transfer case until you get to the tire shop? If you driving 70 on the freeway for 100 miles on a "donut spare" passing tire shops along the way you deserve what you get....IMHO. You can't trust "ALL DEALERS?" My we are making gross generalizations this after noon.
Click to expand...

What, who said "ALL DEALERS" No, not every one, but I did somewhat generalize for a reason. Hyundai dealers are not even close in the league of Toyota, Honda, VW, Audi, and Infinity ect....... that's just reality.

Kona AWD's were blowing transfer cases, the lowest being driving 6-8 miles going 25 MPH, another one I think was 10 miles an 50 mph, and a couple others I did not follow. It took 3 years for Hyundai to stop the dealers from putting in the wrong sized spares. If I would of used the spare that the dealer put in my AWD Kona for the extra add on $$$. I would of toasted my transfer case too. I have a full sized spare in my car as I use that weight and the trailer hitch as part of my suspension tuning, as the Kona AWD needs more weight in the rear for better weight distribution.

Most Hyundai/Kia dealers no, I can't even trust their engineers to fix their engines. 12 years and up to 3 engine models costing them 5 to 6 billion dollars in warranty repair cost. 12 years..........

I was willing to gamble with my car as my research found out my car has one of their best motors, so I went for it. Of course, the 1.6T Gama was a good motor purely by chance, a clock is right two times a day.
 
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How does the '23 compare size wise to your old '19?
From a seat of the pants perspective. Obviously the statistics are available on the manufacturer website, but, that doesn't always tell the full story.
 
Brons2 said:
How does the '23 compare size wise to your old '19?
From a seat of the pants perspective. Obviously the statistics are available on the manufacturer website, but, that doesn't always tell the full story.
Click to expand...
Well, this is a Santa Fe and my '19 was a Kia Sorento, but of course they are sister cars. The Santa Fe is .5 inches longer than the Sorento if I'm remembering correctly, so they are just about identical size-wise. I actually took the rubber mats that I had for the Sorento and put them in the SF. The drivers side mat has two hooks, one of which lined up perfectly. The other hook was close enough but didn't hook. The passenger side fits perfectly with the hook installing. So that's pretty darn close.

The SF is a bit more floaty than the Sorento. I wish the SF was a little firmer.

I got the SF instead of another Sorento just because the body shape is different. I didn't want the same body for the next four years.

And I'm loving the 2.5 turbo. It's way quicker than the 3.3 six that was in the Sorento.
 
IMG_20230309_160332891_HDR.jpg
 
Here's a picture. I couldn't find how to edit my original post. Maybe too much time has past. I don't know.
 
I got the 2023 Santa Calligraphy 2.5T AWD and love it. The engine and tranny are awesome. Engine is faster than I expected….torque is nice. Funny you mention about using the paddle shifters and it going back to Drive…that sort of bugs me too when I want to keep it in a lower gear going down a steep hill. But, not a big deal. Sport mode is fun.
 
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