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MM Static-Review: 2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz
A Static Review of the 2022-2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz
https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/vehicles/santa-cruz
IN A NUTSHELL: The only Korean-brand crossover-pickup available in the U.S.
CLOSEST AMERICAN-MARKET COMPETITORS: Ford Maverick, Honda Ridgeline
OVERVIEW:
While the concept of the crossover-platform vehicle with a separate bed, styled more or less like a traditional body-on-frame pickup, is nothing new, the general market for them recently, in the U.S., has not been particularly strong. The general concept of combining passenger-car and truck was first started on a significant scale in the 1950s, with the Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino, although neither one, of course, sold as well as their sedan/coupe/convertible/wagon counterparts. And most American vehicles in those days, of course, even regular passenger cars, were body-on-frame….although Chrysler products and a few other vehicles were unibody. Chrysler did not market a mid-sized or full-sized size car/truck hybrid like the Rancheros and El-Caminos, but did, in the early 1980s, market the subcompact Dodge Omni Rampage and Plymouth Scamp. Subaru marketed the 2-door Brat….and the later 4-door Baja. In Australia, the interesting 2-door Holden Maloo was offered….but, sadly, never made it to the U.S. as a nice rebadged GM-Holden product like the Pontiac GTO/G8/Chevy Impala SS.
Later, as these vehicles became more versatile and family-oriented, the general configuration became 4-doors with the separate bed instead of 2-doors. I’ve already mentioned the Subaru Baja…..later, the Honda Ridgeline also joined this class. Mercedes marketed a similar vehicle overseas, but did not bring to to the U.S. because it was perceived (probably falsely) but their marketers that it would not sell in the American market. And, in just the last year or so, to compete with the Honda Ridgeline (still in production), two extremely successful new designs of this type have been added to the American market…..the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. I say extremely successful, not because they have necessarily sold in extreme numbers like the traditional full-size American pickup trucks, but because, due to several economic and production factors, demand for them consistantly exceeds supply, and both Ford and Hyundai very quickly sell every one that they can produce……you will generally not find then sitting around on dealer lots unsold.
It must also be remembered that these crossover-platform pickups, with a bed, are significantly different in general design/layout from traditional American body-on-frame trucks, and, in general, ride, handle, and drive differently and more car-like…although some traditional body-on-frame trucks, like the Ram 1500, have made remarkable advances in smoothness/comfort in their road-manners by going to different steering and suspension systems and adding more sound-insulation. Whereas traditional full-size American pickups (and even the mid-sized Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon and Ford Ranger) are body-on-frame, longitudinal engine-orientation, live-axles in back, and rear-drive or 4WD, crossover pickups like the Ridgeline, Maverick, and Santa Cruz are unibody, front-wheel-drive, All-Wheel-Drive, and have transverse-mounted engines for space-efficiency. The crossovers also don’t have a hood-line out ahead of the driver that is mounted a half-mile high off the pavement (the truck-designer’s idea of a Macho-Styling)….so road-visibility out the front is much better. Indeed, the hoods on some pickups have become so high (with their poor visibility) that Congress may be holding hearings into the issue….perhaps (?) to require standard front-cameras on these trucks. Traditional American pickups, of course, are also primarily designed for work and hauling/towing things, not relatively light-duty errands or hauling like the crossovers.
The Hyundai Santa Cruz, introduced for 2022, is one of the latest of these crossover-type pickups to enter the American market, introduced about the same time as Ford’s Maverick…and both, of course, will compete with Honda’s existing Ridgeline. The Santa Cruz is the first attempt by a Korean manufacturer to sell a crossover-pickup in the American market, and shares a general platform with the latest versions of the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage. Like with the Maverick, demand for the Santa Cruz has exceeded supply for months….the Maverick plant, for example, shut off orders for 2022 models months early because it couldn’t supply the demand. Part of it, of course, is the worldwide shortage of computer-chips for vehicle-production. But much of it is just the simple attractiveness of these vehicles to a lot of potential buyers….which, of course, has allowed some dealers to price them over list. (IMO legalized robbery, but that is the way the auto-sales-buisness often works).
For the U.S. market, four different trim-levels of the Santa Cruz are offered……SE ($24,440), SEL ($27,640), SEL Premium ($36,130…a big price-jump), and Limited ($40,170). SE and SEL versions come with a non=turbo 2.5L in-line four of 191 HP/181 ft-lbs. torque and a conventional 8-speed automatic, while SEL premium and Limited versions come with a turbo version of the 2.5L with 281 HP/311 ft-lbs. torque and a dual-clutch 8-speed auto-manual. As expected in this type of vehicle, All-Wheel-Drive is standard in the SEL Premium and Limited versions, and an option in the SE and SEL. I did not personally test-drive an example (for reasons which I will explain in a minute)….but some other sources, such as Car & Driver, report relatively comfortable and pleasant car-like road-manners, but with the non-turbo engine being somewhat sluggish under load, particularly with AWD. Since the Santa Cruz is slightly smaller than both the Ford Maverick and Honda Ridgeline, all else equal, it can be expected to also be somewhat more maneuverable and easier to park. But the bed-length, as a result, although well-constructed, is relatively short, and cannot carry long items. But, nevertheless, it is just the thing for the needs of many owners, unless you are going to Lowe’s or Home Depot to buy 8-foot-long lumber-boards.
I’m doing this write-up for two basic reasons….First, a friend and ex-co-worker of mine is maybe interested in a new Santa Cruz, and Second, as I was driving past a local Hyundai dealership on the way home from shopping, I saw a gray Santa Cruz sitting just outside the showroom. So, as these are relatively hard to find, I decided to stop and take a look at it…and, by the luck of the draw, it was not (yet) sold. It turned out to be an SEL model with the non-turbo engine and AWD. So, I looked it over, inside and out, while I had the chance. Since there was apparently only one Santa Cruz on the lot (some were In Transit to the dealership, but had not arrived yet), I did not ask for a test-drive. Even over and above the question of whether the dealership would allow a test-drive, my own personal policy is that I usually don’t take the only sample of of a vehicle in stock to on the road, where, if something should happen to it and it got damaged or wrecked, it would be on my watch, and the dealer wouldn’t have any more to sell or demonstrate. Although I have never damaged or wrecked any vehicle in a half-century of test-drives, I have had two close-calls……one in a 1st-generation Porsche Panamera, and the other in a Late-90s Pontiac Firebird formula. So, that is simply my own policy….usually no test-drives if and when it is the only vehicle of its type in stock, unless I am checking it out by request for a possible sale to someone I am shopping with.
Even without a test-drive, though, one can often learn a lot about a vehicle just by a static review, and this one was no exception. Details coming up.
MODEL REVIEWED: 2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz SEL Activity AWD
BASE PRICE: $29,290
OPTIONS:
Activity Package: $3,270
Cross Rails: $315
Carpeted Floor Mats: $195
Cargo Net (Bed): $80
Cargo Net (Envelope): $55
DESTINATION/FREIGHT: $1,295
LIST PRICE AS REVIEWED: $34,500
DRIVETRAIN: AWD, N/A 2.5L in-line 4, 191 HP @ 6100 RPM, Torque 181 Ft-lbs. @ 4000 RPM, 8-speed automatic with sport-manual shift.
EPA MILEAGE RATING: 21 City, 25 Highway, 23 Combined
EXTERIOR COLOR: Hampton Gray
INTERIOR: Light Gray Cloth with Black trim
PLUSSES:
More maneuverable and agile than many traditional body-on-frame trucks.
Comfortable ride by truck standards (according to reviews).
Engine compartment well-laid-out.
Excellent headroom front and rear, even with sunroof.
Good quality trim and plastic panels inside
Durable, impressive materials for bed and pull-cover
Lockable cargo-cover for the bed.
Lockable gas filler-door.
Easy-to-use traditional fore/aft shift-lever.
Relatively widespread dealer network for sales/parts/service.
MINUSES:
Standard non-turbo engine somewhat pokey (according to reviews)
Door-closings less-solid-sounding//feeling than in past Hyundai/Kia products.
Prop-rod hood.
Flat, overly-firm fabric seats not particularly comfortable.
Somewhat flimsy-feeling dash knobs/buttons.
Unusual thumbwheel-controls for audio volume/tuning are sensitive.
Ridiculous exterior paint-color choice.
Relatively short bed limits cargo-length.
Old-fashioned tethered gas-cap.
Widespread Hyundai/Kia fire-hazard recalls, including the Santa Cruz.
EXTERIOR:
While the Santa Cruz probably competes most closely with the Ford Maverick and Honda Ridgeline, is is actually slightly smaller than those two rivals, and somewhat more rakishly-styled, especially in the front grille-headlights and the fairings between the cabin and the bed. The rather garishly-styled front end, which was not exactly my cup of tea, is more or less along the lines of several other recent Hyundai SUVs. The sheet-metal quality felt decent, although, like with several other recent Hyundai/Kia products the door-closings lacked the Thunk-solidness/precision of the past. I liked the thick, solid black moldings around the entire lower body and in and above the wheel wells, protecting the lower-body from damage from salt/sand/road-debris. The paint job itself was decent…about average in quality by today’s standards, but IMO the paint-color choice probably couldn’t be worse if Scrooge himself came up with it. For all versions of the Santa Cruz, there is a choice of five super-dull colors….white, black, a cement-looking gray, a traditional gray, and a light blue-gray. Give us a break. In many ways, however, the exterior is a slightly-larger version of the old Subaru 4-door Baja.
UNDERHOOD:
Although the cheap prop-rod for the moderately-heavy hood was somewhat annoying, I was impressed with the way the underhood itself was designed and the 2.5L non-turbo in-line four fits in. There is an insulation pad on the underside of the hood. Although most people these days don’t do much of their own engine-work or service/maintenance (some owners don’t even bother to open the hoods and check the oil LOL), for those who do, there is an adequate amount of room around the sides of the block to reach engine/underhood components. The engine, as with most gas engines these days, does have an annoying plastic top-cover…but it does not hamper access that much. The battery, to the right of the engine block, is uncovered, with its terminals easy to reach and/or clean. The color-coded dipstick, filler-caps, and fluid-reservoirs are relatively easy to reach.
INTERIOR:
The interior on my sample-vehicle was light-gray fabric seats, with black trim everywhere else. It generally looked neat and attractive, although I wasn’t a big fan of the steering wheel design with four horizontal spokes….. straight from the recent Hyundai/Kia parts-bin. The door-panels had a lot of plastic on them, but it was a durable-feeling and well-made plastic. The general layout of the controls/gauges was fairly simple and easy to use/comprehend, although the wide thumb-wheel volume/tune controls, on the dash, for the audio system, were quite sensitive while thumbing up or down. In some ways, it reminded me of the narrower and less-sensitive vertical thumbwheels for the radio in the late-60s Chrysler products I remember so fondly from high school and/or learned to drive on. Headroom was excellent (surprisingly good) both front and rear, even under the sunroof panel. Legroom was fine up front….somewhat tight in the rear, although the rear legroom, as with most vehicles, depended on how the front seat was adjusted. Some of the controls on the dash and steering wheel felt a little cheap and unsubstantial. One thing I REALLY liked inside was the simple, no-nonsense, traditional fore/aft PRNDL shift-lever. After being introduced in the 1960s, some 60 years ago, it is, IMO, still the best, simplest, and most foolproof way of controlling the automatic transmission, despite the tendency of many automakers to use all kinds of complex, unnatural, and unintuitive designs…some of which have actually injured or killed people because they thought the vehicle was secured when, in fact, it was still in gear. I simply don’t want such nonsense in my vehicle….one reason why I chose an Encore GX.
BED/REAR CARGO AREA:
The Santa Cruz’s bed is not particularly large or roomy even by small-truck standards (48 inches/4-feet in length and 54 inches wide, with 27 cubic feet of volume). However, IMO, the relative lack of cargo-space is atoned for with excellent (even bordering on superb) materials and construction. As with the Honda Ridgeline, there are covered compartments built into the inside of the walls for carrying small items. A thick, durable bed-liner covers the flooring and walls. A pull-type cargo cover shields items in the open bed from prying eyes. There are tie-down hooks/loops on the floor. This particular truck I looked at had both the cargo-net bed and envelope options. Practically everything in the rear cargo area and its hardware felt like it was intended for an Abrams M1 Tank…Hyundai certainly did not skimp on the quality there, although, like I said, the bed does not hold a huge amount of cargo.
As with most small trucks, the compact donut temporary spare tire is located under the rear bed. Accessing it requires several steps…..the tools required are stowed under the rear passenger seat, and you have to uncover and go through a hole just above the rear bumper with the tools. This private-video describes the procedure…No, that is not me in the video LOL.
ON THE ROAD:
I did not test-drive this vehicle, of course, but the Car & Driver magazine-report is that its road manners are generally comfort-oriented, the standard non-turbo engine somewhat on the pokey side, and the turbo engine much stronger.
THE VERDICT:
Although I’m a little concerned about the large number of fire-hazard recalls that have been plaguing Hyundai and Kia products lately, I would not necessarily let that stop me if I were in the market for a truck like this. While I (personally) prefer the more-squarish/traditional styling of the Maverick and 2nd-Generation Ridgeline, the slightly smaller size of the Santa Cruz makes it a little easier to maneuver in and out of tighter spaces, at the cost of some cargo capacity. The doors do not seem to have the same solidness and Thunk-closings of Hyundai/Kia products built between, say, the early 2000s and just a couple of years ago..a trend I have clearly noticed with other latest-generation Hyundais and Kias), and some of the interior controls and dials lack their former solidness. But the bed is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar. EPA mileage ratings with both engines are reasonable for an AWD small truck. And the relatively widespread dealer network will make sales, service, and repairs easier if or when they are needed. But, before signing on the dotted line, check both the front and rear seat-comfort…..the seats are both too firmly padded for my tastes. If it passes your tests, and you can get along with this size truck without the need to carry really large or bulky items….go for it.
And, as Always, Happy-Vehicle-Shopping
MM
__________________
DRIVING IS BELIEVING
A Static Review of the 2022-2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz
https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/vehicles/santa-cruz
IN A NUTSHELL: The only Korean-brand crossover-pickup available in the U.S.
CLOSEST AMERICAN-MARKET COMPETITORS: Ford Maverick, Honda Ridgeline
OVERVIEW:
While the concept of the crossover-platform vehicle with a separate bed, styled more or less like a traditional body-on-frame pickup, is nothing new, the general market for them recently, in the U.S., has not been particularly strong. The general concept of combining passenger-car and truck was first started on a significant scale in the 1950s, with the Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino, although neither one, of course, sold as well as their sedan/coupe/convertible/wagon counterparts. And most American vehicles in those days, of course, even regular passenger cars, were body-on-frame….although Chrysler products and a few other vehicles were unibody. Chrysler did not market a mid-sized or full-sized size car/truck hybrid like the Rancheros and El-Caminos, but did, in the early 1980s, market the subcompact Dodge Omni Rampage and Plymouth Scamp. Subaru marketed the 2-door Brat….and the later 4-door Baja. In Australia, the interesting 2-door Holden Maloo was offered….but, sadly, never made it to the U.S. as a nice rebadged GM-Holden product like the Pontiac GTO/G8/Chevy Impala SS.
Later, as these vehicles became more versatile and family-oriented, the general configuration became 4-doors with the separate bed instead of 2-doors. I’ve already mentioned the Subaru Baja…..later, the Honda Ridgeline also joined this class. Mercedes marketed a similar vehicle overseas, but did not bring to to the U.S. because it was perceived (probably falsely) but their marketers that it would not sell in the American market. And, in just the last year or so, to compete with the Honda Ridgeline (still in production), two extremely successful new designs of this type have been added to the American market…..the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. I say extremely successful, not because they have necessarily sold in extreme numbers like the traditional full-size American pickup trucks, but because, due to several economic and production factors, demand for them consistantly exceeds supply, and both Ford and Hyundai very quickly sell every one that they can produce……you will generally not find then sitting around on dealer lots unsold.
It must also be remembered that these crossover-platform pickups, with a bed, are significantly different in general design/layout from traditional American body-on-frame trucks, and, in general, ride, handle, and drive differently and more car-like…although some traditional body-on-frame trucks, like the Ram 1500, have made remarkable advances in smoothness/comfort in their road-manners by going to different steering and suspension systems and adding more sound-insulation. Whereas traditional full-size American pickups (and even the mid-sized Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon and Ford Ranger) are body-on-frame, longitudinal engine-orientation, live-axles in back, and rear-drive or 4WD, crossover pickups like the Ridgeline, Maverick, and Santa Cruz are unibody, front-wheel-drive, All-Wheel-Drive, and have transverse-mounted engines for space-efficiency. The crossovers also don’t have a hood-line out ahead of the driver that is mounted a half-mile high off the pavement (the truck-designer’s idea of a Macho-Styling)….so road-visibility out the front is much better. Indeed, the hoods on some pickups have become so high (with their poor visibility) that Congress may be holding hearings into the issue….perhaps (?) to require standard front-cameras on these trucks. Traditional American pickups, of course, are also primarily designed for work and hauling/towing things, not relatively light-duty errands or hauling like the crossovers.
The Hyundai Santa Cruz, introduced for 2022, is one of the latest of these crossover-type pickups to enter the American market, introduced about the same time as Ford’s Maverick…and both, of course, will compete with Honda’s existing Ridgeline. The Santa Cruz is the first attempt by a Korean manufacturer to sell a crossover-pickup in the American market, and shares a general platform with the latest versions of the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage. Like with the Maverick, demand for the Santa Cruz has exceeded supply for months….the Maverick plant, for example, shut off orders for 2022 models months early because it couldn’t supply the demand. Part of it, of course, is the worldwide shortage of computer-chips for vehicle-production. But much of it is just the simple attractiveness of these vehicles to a lot of potential buyers….which, of course, has allowed some dealers to price them over list. (IMO legalized robbery, but that is the way the auto-sales-buisness often works).
For the U.S. market, four different trim-levels of the Santa Cruz are offered……SE ($24,440), SEL ($27,640), SEL Premium ($36,130…a big price-jump), and Limited ($40,170). SE and SEL versions come with a non=turbo 2.5L in-line four of 191 HP/181 ft-lbs. torque and a conventional 8-speed automatic, while SEL premium and Limited versions come with a turbo version of the 2.5L with 281 HP/311 ft-lbs. torque and a dual-clutch 8-speed auto-manual. As expected in this type of vehicle, All-Wheel-Drive is standard in the SEL Premium and Limited versions, and an option in the SE and SEL. I did not personally test-drive an example (for reasons which I will explain in a minute)….but some other sources, such as Car & Driver, report relatively comfortable and pleasant car-like road-manners, but with the non-turbo engine being somewhat sluggish under load, particularly with AWD. Since the Santa Cruz is slightly smaller than both the Ford Maverick and Honda Ridgeline, all else equal, it can be expected to also be somewhat more maneuverable and easier to park. But the bed-length, as a result, although well-constructed, is relatively short, and cannot carry long items. But, nevertheless, it is just the thing for the needs of many owners, unless you are going to Lowe’s or Home Depot to buy 8-foot-long lumber-boards.
I’m doing this write-up for two basic reasons….First, a friend and ex-co-worker of mine is maybe interested in a new Santa Cruz, and Second, as I was driving past a local Hyundai dealership on the way home from shopping, I saw a gray Santa Cruz sitting just outside the showroom. So, as these are relatively hard to find, I decided to stop and take a look at it…and, by the luck of the draw, it was not (yet) sold. It turned out to be an SEL model with the non-turbo engine and AWD. So, I looked it over, inside and out, while I had the chance. Since there was apparently only one Santa Cruz on the lot (some were In Transit to the dealership, but had not arrived yet), I did not ask for a test-drive. Even over and above the question of whether the dealership would allow a test-drive, my own personal policy is that I usually don’t take the only sample of of a vehicle in stock to on the road, where, if something should happen to it and it got damaged or wrecked, it would be on my watch, and the dealer wouldn’t have any more to sell or demonstrate. Although I have never damaged or wrecked any vehicle in a half-century of test-drives, I have had two close-calls……one in a 1st-generation Porsche Panamera, and the other in a Late-90s Pontiac Firebird formula. So, that is simply my own policy….usually no test-drives if and when it is the only vehicle of its type in stock, unless I am checking it out by request for a possible sale to someone I am shopping with.
Even without a test-drive, though, one can often learn a lot about a vehicle just by a static review, and this one was no exception. Details coming up.
MODEL REVIEWED: 2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz SEL Activity AWD
BASE PRICE: $29,290
OPTIONS:
Activity Package: $3,270
Cross Rails: $315
Carpeted Floor Mats: $195
Cargo Net (Bed): $80
Cargo Net (Envelope): $55
DESTINATION/FREIGHT: $1,295
LIST PRICE AS REVIEWED: $34,500
DRIVETRAIN: AWD, N/A 2.5L in-line 4, 191 HP @ 6100 RPM, Torque 181 Ft-lbs. @ 4000 RPM, 8-speed automatic with sport-manual shift.
EPA MILEAGE RATING: 21 City, 25 Highway, 23 Combined
EXTERIOR COLOR: Hampton Gray
INTERIOR: Light Gray Cloth with Black trim
PLUSSES:
More maneuverable and agile than many traditional body-on-frame trucks.
Comfortable ride by truck standards (according to reviews).
Engine compartment well-laid-out.
Excellent headroom front and rear, even with sunroof.
Good quality trim and plastic panels inside
Durable, impressive materials for bed and pull-cover
Lockable cargo-cover for the bed.
Lockable gas filler-door.
Easy-to-use traditional fore/aft shift-lever.
Relatively widespread dealer network for sales/parts/service.
MINUSES:
Standard non-turbo engine somewhat pokey (according to reviews)
Door-closings less-solid-sounding//feeling than in past Hyundai/Kia products.
Prop-rod hood.
Flat, overly-firm fabric seats not particularly comfortable.
Somewhat flimsy-feeling dash knobs/buttons.
Unusual thumbwheel-controls for audio volume/tuning are sensitive.
Ridiculous exterior paint-color choice.
Relatively short bed limits cargo-length.
Old-fashioned tethered gas-cap.
Widespread Hyundai/Kia fire-hazard recalls, including the Santa Cruz.
EXTERIOR:
While the Santa Cruz probably competes most closely with the Ford Maverick and Honda Ridgeline, is is actually slightly smaller than those two rivals, and somewhat more rakishly-styled, especially in the front grille-headlights and the fairings between the cabin and the bed. The rather garishly-styled front end, which was not exactly my cup of tea, is more or less along the lines of several other recent Hyundai SUVs. The sheet-metal quality felt decent, although, like with several other recent Hyundai/Kia products the door-closings lacked the Thunk-solidness/precision of the past. I liked the thick, solid black moldings around the entire lower body and in and above the wheel wells, protecting the lower-body from damage from salt/sand/road-debris. The paint job itself was decent…about average in quality by today’s standards, but IMO the paint-color choice probably couldn’t be worse if Scrooge himself came up with it. For all versions of the Santa Cruz, there is a choice of five super-dull colors….white, black, a cement-looking gray, a traditional gray, and a light blue-gray. Give us a break. In many ways, however, the exterior is a slightly-larger version of the old Subaru 4-door Baja.
UNDERHOOD:
Although the cheap prop-rod for the moderately-heavy hood was somewhat annoying, I was impressed with the way the underhood itself was designed and the 2.5L non-turbo in-line four fits in. There is an insulation pad on the underside of the hood. Although most people these days don’t do much of their own engine-work or service/maintenance (some owners don’t even bother to open the hoods and check the oil LOL), for those who do, there is an adequate amount of room around the sides of the block to reach engine/underhood components. The engine, as with most gas engines these days, does have an annoying plastic top-cover…but it does not hamper access that much. The battery, to the right of the engine block, is uncovered, with its terminals easy to reach and/or clean. The color-coded dipstick, filler-caps, and fluid-reservoirs are relatively easy to reach.
INTERIOR:
The interior on my sample-vehicle was light-gray fabric seats, with black trim everywhere else. It generally looked neat and attractive, although I wasn’t a big fan of the steering wheel design with four horizontal spokes….. straight from the recent Hyundai/Kia parts-bin. The door-panels had a lot of plastic on them, but it was a durable-feeling and well-made plastic. The general layout of the controls/gauges was fairly simple and easy to use/comprehend, although the wide thumb-wheel volume/tune controls, on the dash, for the audio system, were quite sensitive while thumbing up or down. In some ways, it reminded me of the narrower and less-sensitive vertical thumbwheels for the radio in the late-60s Chrysler products I remember so fondly from high school and/or learned to drive on. Headroom was excellent (surprisingly good) both front and rear, even under the sunroof panel. Legroom was fine up front….somewhat tight in the rear, although the rear legroom, as with most vehicles, depended on how the front seat was adjusted. Some of the controls on the dash and steering wheel felt a little cheap and unsubstantial. One thing I REALLY liked inside was the simple, no-nonsense, traditional fore/aft PRNDL shift-lever. After being introduced in the 1960s, some 60 years ago, it is, IMO, still the best, simplest, and most foolproof way of controlling the automatic transmission, despite the tendency of many automakers to use all kinds of complex, unnatural, and unintuitive designs…some of which have actually injured or killed people because they thought the vehicle was secured when, in fact, it was still in gear. I simply don’t want such nonsense in my vehicle….one reason why I chose an Encore GX.
BED/REAR CARGO AREA:
The Santa Cruz’s bed is not particularly large or roomy even by small-truck standards (48 inches/4-feet in length and 54 inches wide, with 27 cubic feet of volume). However, IMO, the relative lack of cargo-space is atoned for with excellent (even bordering on superb) materials and construction. As with the Honda Ridgeline, there are covered compartments built into the inside of the walls for carrying small items. A thick, durable bed-liner covers the flooring and walls. A pull-type cargo cover shields items in the open bed from prying eyes. There are tie-down hooks/loops on the floor. This particular truck I looked at had both the cargo-net bed and envelope options. Practically everything in the rear cargo area and its hardware felt like it was intended for an Abrams M1 Tank…Hyundai certainly did not skimp on the quality there, although, like I said, the bed does not hold a huge amount of cargo.
As with most small trucks, the compact donut temporary spare tire is located under the rear bed. Accessing it requires several steps…..the tools required are stowed under the rear passenger seat, and you have to uncover and go through a hole just above the rear bumper with the tools. This private-video describes the procedure…No, that is not me in the video LOL.
ON THE ROAD:
I did not test-drive this vehicle, of course, but the Car & Driver magazine-report is that its road manners are generally comfort-oriented, the standard non-turbo engine somewhat on the pokey side, and the turbo engine much stronger.
THE VERDICT:
Although I’m a little concerned about the large number of fire-hazard recalls that have been plaguing Hyundai and Kia products lately, I would not necessarily let that stop me if I were in the market for a truck like this. While I (personally) prefer the more-squarish/traditional styling of the Maverick and 2nd-Generation Ridgeline, the slightly smaller size of the Santa Cruz makes it a little easier to maneuver in and out of tighter spaces, at the cost of some cargo capacity. The doors do not seem to have the same solidness and Thunk-closings of Hyundai/Kia products built between, say, the early 2000s and just a couple of years ago..a trend I have clearly noticed with other latest-generation Hyundais and Kias), and some of the interior controls and dials lack their former solidness. But the bed is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar. EPA mileage ratings with both engines are reasonable for an AWD small truck. And the relatively widespread dealer network will make sales, service, and repairs easier if or when they are needed. But, before signing on the dotted line, check both the front and rear seat-comfort…..the seats are both too firmly padded for my tastes. If it passes your tests, and you can get along with this size truck without the need to carry really large or bulky items….go for it.
And, as Always, Happy-Vehicle-Shopping
MM
__________________
DRIVING IS BELIEVING
Last edited:
