A Huge Disappointment
I absolutely loved my 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe. After purchasing it used (30,000 miles), I drove it for 15 years and 250,000 miles in all sorts of terrain and conditions, and it never failed me but once near the end (had to be towed but repairable). I expected the new Tucson which I purchased ca.16 months ago to be the same in terms of quality and facility of use, but that has not been the case. In terms especially of performance on the road (15,000), mechanically, and in terms of gas mileage, it has been excellent. That is what I was most focused on when test driving (several times). With regular use, it had been frustrating in terms of interior design/appointments and ESPECIALLY visibility. I am 5'4"--not a giant but not a midget either if the car is intended for purchase by women as well as men--and the driver's seat is virtually impossibe to adjust adequately. I must either hit my head or duck getting in and out of the car, or adjust the seat a bit further back which is not ideal (it still brushes my hair). Most seriously, it's impossible to see the road close to the car because the body is so high, which is a MAJOR safety concern. The center console between the front seats is inferior to any previous car I've had, both in terms of the storage area (previous Hyundai had two vertical compartments instead of one deep one) and the cup holders are not nearly as conveniently located--if I'm alone in the car, i can use the one evidently meant for a passenger, if there are two persons with cups, the driver's side one is impossible to reach without being a contortionist--NOT desirable while driving. The heating and air controls are almost exactly the same as in my old Santa Fe in terms of options, and yet they are MUCH more complicated/harder to use. They're not situated intuitively, so that you have to really look at them, which means taking one's eyes off the road if driving! The one (really helpful) addition in this car is the switches for front and rear defrosting quickly. Finally, the seat fabric is horrible--a light gray color which shows dirt more and is REALLY HARD to clean, as well as not being as cozy as the velour-like seat covering in my former Hyundai, which I NEVER had to clean. I will stop here. I spent a very LONG time with an in-depth evaluation previously.
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