Hyundai Santa Fe (2012-2017) interior
The Santa Fe’s cabin comes with some nice materials and a decent selection of standard equipment but there’s no facility to mirror your smartphone
Style
The Hyundai Santa Fe’s practical interior feels reasonably well built but it’s slightly cluttered design doesn’t look as upmarket as the Kia Sorento’s slick cabin or feel as well built as the Skoda Kodiaq.
Most of its plastics are soft and yielding but you’ll find more hard, brittle materials below the door handles and under the dashboard than you do in the Skoda. Thankfully, the switches and knobs you touch regularly (such as the large central heating control) move smoothly and feel robust.
There isn’t much scope for personalisation but all Santa Fe models get heated part-leather seats with eight-way electric adjustment. Top-spec Premium SE models add a memory function, too – handy if you regularly lend your car to someone significantly taller or shorter than you.
All Santa Fes come with a seven-inch touchscreen satellite navigation system nestled in the dashboard. It’s not the fanciest looking unit out there but it does the job and physical shortcut buttons make it fairly easy to use.
You won’t be bowled over by the Hyundai’s fairly dull cabin but at least it feels like it’ll stand up to years of abuse
- Used
- £15,499
Infotainment
Both entry-level Premium and high-spec Premium SE models come with a seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system with built-in satellite navigation. You also get a stereo with DAB digital radio, Bluetooth connectivity and a bassy sub-woofer as standard.
The screen’s colourful icons are reasonably easy to read and you get a set of easy-to-reach physical shortcut buttons to help you skip between key features without taking your eyes off the road. It’s not quite as intuitive as the Kodiaq’s system but it’s a doddle to tweak the radio settings or pair your phone using the standard Bluetooth connection.
Speaking of phones, you can’t get Apple CarPlay or Android Auto smartphone mirroring on any Santa Fe. As a result, there’s no option to use your phone’s navigation or music streaming apps through the Hyundai’s built-in screen like you can in most newer alternatives.
Thankfully, the standard sat nav’s pretty easy to use and its simple directions are clear and easy to follow. The maps do look a little dated compared to the system you get in a top-spec Skoda Kodiaq, however.
- Used
- £15,499