2009 Hyundai Santa Fe CRDi Long Term Review
April 29, 2009 by Karl Peskett
2009 Hyundai Santa Fe CRDi Long Term
It’s probably one of the great secrets of the Hyundai line-up. The Santa Fe has been steadily increasing in numbers on our roads, without much advertising and fanfare, either. In its current form, unlike the dowdy predecessor, the Santa Fe is a stylish and practical wagon that’s now available in three specification trims and two fuel types, petrol and diesel.
As a family man, a mid-sized SUV suits me pretty well, and with the in-laws getting older and needing help with transportation, the space and seven seats are a great help.
Which is why we contacted Hyundai for a long term loan of what is now its biggest car. We intend on spending a few months with the SUV and see how it handles the family grind.
Hyundai’s PR mananger is about as helpful as you can get, even offering us a choice of colours, and any options we wanted.
We opted for a gun-metal metallic version, fitted with Bluetooth, parking sensors, nudge bar, floor mats, towball and, most importantly, a Trek’N’Tow package.
This raises the height of the car by 30mm for added ground clearance, as well as increasing the weight-bearing ability of the towball. It certainly stiffens up the ride, which is something you’ll get used to, but on the 18-inch wheels it also makes it a tad jittery, and if it means better off road performance, it’s a trade off I’m willing to live with.
What I’m not willing to live with is the leather popping out of the seat frame, which happened within a week of delivery.
Thankfully Hyundai was very prompt in sorting it out, with the dealer getting on the job immediately. Hopefully that’s the only issue we’ll have with build quality.
We also took the car to the excellent folks at Perth Graphics Centre for some signwriting, with special thanks to Tony and his team, and Ian for doing a great job of fitting the graphics.
We were able to watch the whole process, and with 3M vinyl being used, we’re assured of a quality run with our identification on the car.
So far, the Santa Fe has averaged 10.2 litres per 100km, but with only 1100kms on the clock from new, the engine still hasn’t been fully run in, and as a result is probably making less power due to being quite tight. A few more kilometres under the belt should see it ending up a little quicker, and using a bit less fuel.
We’ll report back soon, after we’ve had a longer run, and some off-road experiences as well.
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Just came across this thread by accident. Currently drive an 07 Mazda 6, and am disappointed with some trim issues I’ve had. Despite the dealers being helpful in trying to rectify the problem, it’s still not fixed, and apparantly, it’s a common fault. So, just shows that manufacturers aren’t perfect.
I was reading with interest the comments about Hyundai in Australia. I live in the USA and they used to be the motoring joke here for a long time. I bought a new one in 1989 as a family car, it was the Excel and the only model they sold. I got the 4 door with every option other than auto. Other than being rather under powered it never let us down for the 3 years while it was used as our main car (and nothing fell off). The only thing that had to be fixed was to change the clutch but that not really the cars fault. I got it stuck on a steep hill and after some clutch slipping (and burning smell) plus 2 kids learning to drive in it it just gave up. I was going to trade it in but the price I was offered was so low that I just kept it and gave it to my daughter. Now fast forward to 2007 and we needed to trade my wife’s truck for an SUV, after looking at quite a few we decided on a Hyundai Veracruz. It is bigger than the Santa Fa and I like the look more. I feel sorry for Tony as I went to a dealer on the way home to test drive the car as we liked it so much we took it home with us. We have now had it for two years, it did a trip to California (we live in Phoenix AZ) where we picked up my sister–n-law and niece then drove on in complete comfort to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and back to Phoenix. The only problem we have had was the throttle position indicator got confused so the engine warning light came on and it would not change out of 6th gear. This was fixed under warranty (10yr 100,000 miles over here) I had the same thing happen on my Jaguar XJ6 so it was in good company. The build quality is really good with soft plastics and it still looks brand new. I would recommend a Hyundai to anyone the only thing I wish they would do better is the selections of body colours as they are really dull so we just bought a white one.
By roy
I would like to know if South Korean made Sante Fe 2009 crdi SUV is as durable and long lasting as compared to many German, Japanese and American competitors ?
Has anyone had a reasonably trouble free 80,000 kms on a Sante Fe 2008 or 2009 model ?
I would also like to know If the Brakes, Transmission and Suspensions lasts Long for mostly safe highway drives in hot conditions?
Can experienced owners help me with my Queries ? thanks
My son has had a Santa Fe CRDI Elite for 18 months (in NZ). To date it has done over 90,000kms, about half towing a 1500kg approx caravan. He had a minor wiring fault with an aftermarket reversing camera and one flat tyre. No other problems at all. He did have problems unobtrusively but accessibly mounting the controller for the electric trailer brakes without defacing the trim. Dunno how he solved that.
Kenz
I have an elite CRDi with 70k on it.
Recently I have made two modifications which have made this car impeccable to dirve.
1. Fitted Yokohama GO51 tyres. (about $1200)
2. Fitted a racechip from Germany (racechip.de) (about $450)
Handles great, much more feel in the steering, no more flat spot and heaps of power.
Just do it !
Hi Ken. I also have an Elite CRDI with 30k and 2yo. I assume at that price you bought the “RaceChip PRO”. I’m thinking about just the basic one (E129.00). What was your thinking for going for the PRO? I’m so looking forward to getting rid of the low-rev flat spot! Otherwise I’m rapt with the car.
Cheers.