Hyundai Santa Fe 2023 review: Highlander 2.2D

What does it look like?

Well, the 2020 facelift has made this car a stylish contender for the market. It’s big but looks sleek with the tapered bonnet and long body lines. The roof blends seamlessly with the roof racks, giving the impression the Santa Fe has a mini mohawk. It’s a cool and edgy look, especially coupled with the large LED lights and daytime running lights. The rear is wide and tall, giving a sense of space before you even jump in but it’s not ‘big and burly’, nor is it super sleek. It sits somewhere in the middle, giving you the best of both worlds.

The interior is very plush with the two-toned leather accents and ridiculously comfortable quilted leather seats. The cabin feels like an aeroplane cockpit as Hyundai has seemingly given you a button for everything. I almost heard the Top Gun theme song when I first got in and, at times, the selection can feel overwhelming. You do get used to it though and it was lovely to not have to access the multimedia screen to adjust my cabin comfort.

My model has the panoramic sunroof and it makes the interior feel expansive but the black headliner also makes it feel plush and cosy, which is a nice duality to have in a cabin.

How does it drive?

The Highlander with the optional diesel engine is nice to drive. It’s got plenty of power, keeps up with the traffic and you feel confident when you need to overtake. It feels most at home on the open road where it can stretch its legs with the eight-speed transmission. In city style stop-start traffic, the gears can feel a little sluggish to shift and you’re left with a jerkier ride than I was expecting at low speeds. It didn’t bother me too much but it’s something to consider if you live in the city.

The cabin gets a fair bit of wind noise at higher speeds, which can be annoying on the highway when you have the air-con on too, but overall, the cabin is quiet enough for chatting.

It’s got a long wheelbase but you can still navigate twisty car parks with ease. The camera system is a highlight – you have a 360-degree view, reversing and front camera, so parking is no issue!

There is also an awesome parking assist feature. Say you’ve parked next to a column and can’t get exit the car. You simply drive forward, exit the car, then reverse the car back into place using the KEY FOB!

How spacious is it?

For the smallest seven-seat SUV on Hyundai’s dance card, this is pretty big. Front and middle row passengers will be spoiled for space, with both providing excellent headroom and legroom. The third row has wider seats than a typical third row but don’t expect your adult passengers to be fighting for them as legroom is tight. The tweens of the family will be happy back there, though, as both wheel arches have a cupholder and storage tray, plus there’s directional air vents and a USB-A port for connectivity.

The storage throughout is pretty good, with the glove box and middle console being large and deep. It's nice seeing some extra little spaces with the cubby at the base of the middle console (for a handbag or snacks on a long journey) and the shelf in the dash for the front passenger.

The boot space is relative for a large SUV and sits at 571L (VDA) with fives seats in use. There’s plenty of space for your gear and this would definitely be our family’s road tripper! Impressively, all Santa Fe’s come with a full-size spare tyre.

How easy is it to use every day?

The Santa Fe Highlander is an easy SUV to handle and for everyday use, it excels with its family and practical features. Front and middle rows are comfortable, provide connectivity with USB-A ports and have enough creature comforts that adults will be happy on a long family road trip.

My five-year old felt like a king and loved the high seating position which offered him a great view. The retractable window blinds in the middle row are always handy to have and offer flexibility with comfort. However, while there are directional air vents in the middle row, there’s no fan or climate control. Curiously, the third row has fan control and I’m not sure why you wouldn’t include that feature on the middle row, too.

The middle row seats are easy to slide forward for access to the third row. The third and middle rows both fold flat, creating a level cargo area for storage, which is fantastic. The powered tailgate is a handy feature but it lacks the handsfree kick function you can see on other seven-seat SUVs. 

How safe is it?

For an SUV this has some great safety features you’d expect, including some very clever family oriented features like the ‘child rear occupant alert' and 'safe exit assist', which are uncommon. It also has rear cross-traffic alert which is great in a car park or busy school zone.

A highlight is the blind-spot monitoring system which adds a blind-spot camera view that pops up on the instrument panel when you indicate. Which is a great feature, especially in the city with the bike lanes but it does take a little while to get used to.

The Santa Fe has a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating and it was tested in 2018 but the curtain airbags don't actually protect third row occupants, unlike several other seven-seat SUVs on the market.

The middle row outboard seats have ISOFIX mounts and three top tether child seat mounts. It’s pretty wide and you should be able to get three seats side-by-side, which offers flexibility. There’s plenty of room for front passengers when a 0-4 rearward facing child seat is installed, too.

What’s the tech like?

The Santa Fe’s popularity could easily stem from the fact you seem to get a lot of bang for your buck. So, you would expect the top-spec model to have some good tech and the Highlander delivers, in spades.

The cabin has a lot of cool features like the 12-inch digital instrument panel and 10.25-inch touchscreen multimedia system, which are both easy to use. The head-up display is a plus but the text can get a little skewy when you adjust it.

The built-in sat nav is simple to navigate but you also get wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s a shame these aren’t wireless because you do have a trailing USB cable in the otherwise sleek middle console, and that irks me when you’re at this price point.

The seats are a delight, and even the third row has wider seats than the standard. The front row enjoys heated and ventilated seats, while the middle row is heated on the outboard positions. I really like the nifty button on the right-hand side of the front passenger’s seat because it meant I could adjust the position of the seat without leaving mine. Now that it’s so chilly, the heated steering wheel was most welcome this week.

There’s a clever ‘voice’ feature that can be activated that pulls the drivers voice through the speaker system to the middle and third rows. I’m not sure if it would help with chatting, as it seems to be a one-way communication, but for driving updates (or cooing to a baby), this is pretty handy!

How much does it cost to own?

The 2.2L diesel Highlander is a top-spec model and will cost $66,050, before on-road costs. It’s no small chunk of change but you get a lot of features for the price tag.

The diesel engine promises good fuel efficiency with an official combined cycle figure of 6.1/100km. With longer trips and some city mixed in, I achieved 7.3L/100km. That is impressive given how large the car is, but my situation may be different than yours, and in the city that figure will be higher.

The Santa Fe comes with Hyundai’s five-year/unlimited km warranty, which is standard for the class. You can pre-purchase servicing, which is cheaper than paying as you go. There are three-, four-, or five-year plans and services average $459 on the five-year plan, which is okay for the class. Service intervals are every 15,000km or 12 months, whichever comes first, which is pretty good.

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Verdict