Hyundai Santa Fe Review & Prices

The Hyundai Santa Fe is a large family SUV with seven seats and a bold new, ultra-modern design. It’s a stylish alternative to the likes of the Skoda Kodiaq, Kia Sorento and Land Rover Discovery.

It’s a bit like one of those designer prams, because it’s built to be useful in everyday life but it’s wrapped up in a desirably styled package.

And the Santa Fe really is handsome, especially for a seven-seat SUV. It has an almost retro-like boxy design, with sharp edges and a flat, upright front end. The quirky H-shaped front and rear light signatures give it a thoroughly modern look, though.

Inside, you get a panoramic display that incorporates two 12.3-inch displays for the infotainment and instruments beneath one panel. The dashboard has a flat, upright appearance similar to that of the exterior, which makes it look tall and spacious inside.

That roominess is no illusion though, because the new Santa Fe has a bigger cabin than the old one, promising more legroom for those in the second and third rows. There’s also a six-seat upgrade that swaps the middle bench out for two individual armchairs with armrests and a reclining function.

Don’t need the third row seats? Fold them down and you get a massive boot – at 985 litres it’s considerably bigger than most alternatives except for the cavernous (but more expensive) Land Rover Discovery.

Storage should be pretty good inside the cabin too, with a cubby hole that can be opened towards either the passenger or driver and a wireless charging pad that can accommodate two phones at once.

Under the bonnet you get the choice of a self-charging hybrid or plug-in hybrid. Both have four-wheel drive, but the regular hybrid is also offered with a more affordable two-wheel drive option. Fuel economy and electric range figures have not yet been confirmed, but you can expect the plug-in hybrid to be the most economical if you can keep the batteries topped up, and it will have the most company car-friendly Benefit-in-Kind tax rate, too.

We’ll update this review with driving impressions soon once we’ve behind the wheel. Can’t wait that long? Find out how much you could save with Carwow’s Hyundai Santa Fe deals, or get a great price on the outgoing model by browsing used Santa Fes. You can also check out other used Hyundais, and sell your current car through Carwow.

The Hyundai Santa Fe is priced around the middle of the pack when compared with other seven-seat family SUVs. It starts at around £47,000 for the entry-level Premium trim and two-wheel drive. It’s about £3,000 to jump between trims with an equivalent engine, and about £2,000 extra to get four-wheel drive. Meanwhile, plug-in hybrids are the priciest, commanding an extra £5,000 on top of the entry price to each trim, meaning top-spec plug-in models start at nearly £58,000. If you want the six-seat layout you’ll have to pay an extra £1,000, but this is only available on top-spec Calligraphy models.

The Skoda Kodiaq is the best-value seven-seat SUV, with prices starting at around £35,000, which still gets you a handsome SUV with a big boot, even if it’s not quite as massive as the Hyundai’s. However, even fully loaded Kodiaqs are only a bit more expensive than the starting price of the Santa Fe.

You could also consider the Mercedes GLB, starting at less than £40,000, but it’s considerably less practical than either of those cars. The Kia Sorento has a similar price range to the Santa Fe, though again, has a smaller boot. If your budget can stretch to the Land Rover Discovery, that starts in the region of £60,000 but has loads more badge appeal than the Hyundai.