We’ve put 85,000 miles on our Santa Fe, including a trip from Maryland to Idaho and Utah, and have consistently been happy happy with it. It’s needed no work/repairs, other than routine maintenance.

I am the original owner (“OO”) of a 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe Ultimate FWD 2.0L Turbo. I bought the vehicle because there is a 100,000 mile Power Train Warranty (“PTW”) for the OO. I started experiencing vibration about 98,000 miles after balancing and rotating the tires. After three more attempts at re-balancing the tires, they were replaced under the tire warranty, but still the vibration persisted. The tire shop noticed nothing abnormal the four times they had my car in the shop. At 99,580 miles (“weeks” later), I finally got a Service Appointment at the local Hyundai Dealership. The Service Manager test drove the vehicle and said, “Your CV joint(s) and/or drive shafts are bad…” I contacted Hyundai and they approved the service to replace them under the PTW… but… The Service Manger said the “boots” were leaking grease at the CV joints. After the repair, I noticed those boots were not torn, ripped or broken in any way. The failed CV joints caused the boot clips to open and let grease out. Since Hyundai returned previous warranty parts to the Dealership after post-warranty review, the Dealership was caught eating those repair cost. As a result, the Service Manager refused to process a PTW claim “unless” Hyundai guaranteed the parts would not be returned after the service was performed. He didn’t want to be burned by Hyundai yet “again.” Hyundai USA could not guarantee anything, and my Case Manager could not even identify the post-warranty location within their organization that did post-service inspections and returns. Going back and forth between Hyundai USA and the Dealership caught me in the middle, and cost me $2,500 to return my Santa Fe to working order. Without the repair, the transaxle, engine or other power-train components could have been damaged. Yes, Hyundai advertises a “too good to be true” (“TGTBT”) warranty for their vehicles, and probably the best in the industry until warranty service is needed. Hyundai USA puts their vehicle owners in the middle, and forces the Dealerships to perform repairs on their nickel. Hyundai USA Case Managers are not technically knowledgeable, and rely on the Dealership Service Managers to referee any warranty repairs. Since Dealerships are in business to make money, the owner bears the brunt of the cost… even for covered warranty work. Even if a valid PTW repair, some unknown gremlin in Hyundai USA returns warranty parts to the Dealerships to reduce Hyundai warranty-claim costs. BOTTOM LINE: Buy a “reliable” vehicle — like a TOYOTA — and forget about a TGTBT warranty from car makers like HYUNDAI.

I wanted a nice car at a value price at a great price so I got the 2019 Santa Fe and it had 30,000 miles on it and this thing runs and drives as smooth as glass