Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Hyundai Santacruz

Anyone have experience with one of these mini p.u.’s. I know it’s not a real truck, but other than that how about value as a grocery getter, or for a dump run?

Thnx

Bob

I would buy the Ridgeline before buying anything Hyundai or Kia, Build quality is substantially better .

From Car and Driver:

Outdoorsy? Ok, that's a grocery and golf club hauler. If you want something that will leave the pavement and negotiate a gravel parking lot, you need more than this. Within it's strict limitations, nothing more remote than a city park, it might be ok.

Thanks guys. You’re sharing my sentiments, but I might just be curious enough to have a close up look.

Bob

I'ts the alternative to the Ford Maverick; most people just can't get past the looks. For a "ranchette" vehicle, I don't see much of an issue. Other than it's just fugly.

Yeah and it is a 100k max vehicle because it is a Hyundai.

And they can't get past the plastic bed that has about half the payload of the steel bed in the Maverick. The Maverick is the better bang for your buck in the unibody truck class. It is only a bumper longer than the Santa Cruz while offering more lengroom and bed length.

The Santa Cruz is designed to drive like a sedan for the city person who wants to haul a couple bags of mulch or camp on a maintained roadway. It is a replacement for the ageing Subaru Outback Bajas.

Consumer reports ranks Hyundai brand reliability at #11, above Chrysler, Chevy, and Ford (#18), in that order.

Lexus is #1. Lincoln is last (#28). Tesla is next to last.

So, there's that.

https://www.kbb.com/car-news/consumer-reports-lexus-makes-the-most-reliable-cars-lincoln-the-least/

I've got a Maverick on order; I was surprised it has a 1,500 lb payload. Not bad for a trucklet.

Wheelbarrels
Lincoln makes a truck?????
Lexus makes a truck??Maybe a yota

They are being generous at 11 . I would not put much faith in what KBB publishes or where it gets it's data. Hyundai is a throw away at 100k.


Hyundai engines are almost entirely direct injected. Some manufacturers do that better then others but DI is not a good thing even in a properly designed engine.

Ok. The Elantra I had ran to 160,000 miles with literally nothing but oil changes before it got totaled by a little blue hair running a red light.

Sorry for doing it wrong...........

Even a blind squirrel..............

A Lincoln is just a Ford with $10k worth of expensive fancy crap added to make it 'special'.

I used to drive past a dealer with 2 of those in the parking lot. He was quite proud of them

Don't know anything about the Santa Cruz, but we have Hyundai Santa fe for our sales reps and everyone of those has over 300K miles. They have been good vehicles.

Pretty much every engine designed within the last 15 years is direct injected, that's not something that's even remotely exclusive to Hyundai. Direct injection is good for about 15% better fuel economy, it's basically a requirement to make CAFE standards. You seem to have a beef against Hyundai since you're bashing them in every post here. I don't own one but know several people with them and they've been universally happy. I'd certainly pick one over any domestic maker.

To the OP, you're probably asking this question on the wrong forum. As you can see, whenever someone asks a question like "I know it’s not a real truck, but other than that how about value as a grocery getter, or for a dump run?" the chorus immediately chimes in that nothing less than a $100K King Ranch Ford F350 PowerStroke dually will do to haul groceries or a bag of garbage.

I have a 2014 Honda and it does not have direct injection, my 19 Highlander did not have direct injection neither did my 2017 Tundra. My POS 2016 ford f150 had DI and they were known to have carbon issues. It was bought back by the factory because of issues DI caused (like low vacuum) They went to DI and MPI in 2017 to fix those problems.

I don't know of a person that has owned a Hyundai or Kia that has kept it long unlike those that have owned Honda and Toyota.

I'm not sure what kind of Honda you have so I can't speak to that. If you've got a 2019 Highlander with a V6 then it is direct injection, that's all they made that year. The 5.7L V8 in the Tundra is not a direct injection engine but it came out in 2007 which is why I said anything designed within the last 15 years or so. Yours might have been made in 2017 but it's an old, but reliable engine. I have a 2016 Tundra.

The early direct injection engines had carbon buildup issues on the intake valves. It was discovered that since the fuel was directly injected into the cylinder the valves weren't benefitting from the fuel cleaning them like in a normal engine. That issue was solved by using a dual mode injection which injects a small amount of fuel into the manifold (port injection) with the main charge being direct injected. This small amount of intake fuel is enough to keep the valves clean which solved the carbon problem. That's what Ford did that you described. The problem was not unique to Hyundai and to my knowledge nobody makes a DI engine that does not have the dual mode system today, Hyundai's webpage specifically describes their dual mode system. I think that when Toyota started using direct injection they always used the dual mode system so they never had the problem. Early on some of the luxury car makers like BMW and Audi went in heavy on direct injection before the problems were understood and they had a lot of problems with carbon buildup. So yes, they had problems when direct injection first came out but they've been solved now. While there may be a few older designed engines still being produced that don't have direct injection, almost all new gas engines are going to have it, it's good for about a 15% fuel economy boost because it lets them run a higher compression ratio.

I've never had a Hyundai or Kia, I'm a Toyota guy. I know several people that have owned them and all have had good service out of them. I've never heard of anyone with premature engine problems from them. I'd certainly trust them over any domestic manufacturer.

The Korean's offer a 100k/10 year powertrain warranty a 60k/5 year bumper to bumper warranty. Not sure how many others offer this.

According to the April Auto Issue of Consumer Reports, the top rated and only recommended mid size pickup trucks are the Honda Ridgeline 3.5L and the Ford Ranger 2.3T. The Hyundai Santa Cruz isn’t even listed with the nine shown.

Getting your auto information from Consumer Reports is like getting your news from CNN

NOt a fan of Consumer reports at all but when they say something is worth buying it usually is.

Only thing gayer than a Hyundai pickup is AIDS and leasing a Hyundai pickup.

Sheesh

Hold into the 4 cylinder

Sometimes all a guy needs is a place to toss a treestand and a dead deer.

If the Santa Cruz does that then proly good enough.

Design wise.

Dunno about approach angle.
Just pulling off the road to the field edge for a farm hunt can screw up some SUV plastic

Well, this is why (I'm NOT kidding, here, scout's honor!) the Maverick is coming out in, wait for it, wait for it, TREMOR trim for 2023!

Bigger tires and a modified front dam to improve approach angle.

I feel a giggle coming on.......

Hyundai Gets Slapped With $19.2 Million Penalty For Tarnishing Millions Of Customer Credit Reports

Hyundai Capital America – the captive finance partner of Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis in the United States – has been slammed by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for “widespread credit reporting failures” that harmed millions of customers.

According to the government, HCA repeatedly provided inaccurate information to credit reporting companies and didn’t take proper steps once problems were identified. Furthermore, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleges the company used “manual and outdated systems, processes, and procedures to furnish credit reporting information – which led to widespread inaccuracies – and resulted in negative inaccurate information being placed on consumers’ credit reports through no fault of their own.”

The scale of the problem was massive as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found HCA furnished inaccurate information about 2.2+ million customers on more than 8.7 million occasions between 2016 and 2020. Even worse, “In many cases, Hyundai knew it was providing inaccurate information and failed to take reasonable measures” to address the issue.

Click Here

Buy a new Hyundai or Kia, lower your credit score! LOL!

O

If someone were to want a small pickup then a Honda Ridgeline with a proven V6 motor and great resale value would be my pick over a Santa Cruz.

The Ridgeline and the Odyssee share a transmission that is known to be prone to failure around the 120K mark.

You make your choice and you take your chances....

Santacruz Sounds like a woke Christmas sleigh

LOL

What years are you talking about? Since both have been downsized in the last few years. Lot of cars fail because people are too stupid to know how to maintain them. As of 2020 the Ridgeline has a 9 speed auto transmission.

Take my chances on a Honda? LmFAO

I've only seen one Santa Cruz running our streets, it looks like an economy sedan without a truck lid. I didn't think much of it, frankly. It stays parked outside a shop that installs remote starting units and tinting windows.

The local Mitsubishi dealer has a Maverick "pickup" parked on it's lot, it kinda looks like a pickup, anyway, no matter how downsized it is. I haven't stopped to look at it, but I did drive down the road the other day and looked DOWN into one, from the cab of my Frontier!!! bone-stock mid-sized pickup. It didn't look like it had much ground clearance, which is a big deal for me, as I travel a fair amount of gravel roads now and then. Frankly, it looked too small for my fat azz.

Its just a hyundai tucson converted to a pickup I believe , get it with the 2.4 awd and don`t look back skip the 1.6 turbo or 2.0 option that seems to be the ones with problem motors , we have two tucsons a 2012 with over 120,000 miles and my 2019 with 40,000 so far oh get the made in korea one not the one made in usa . Our 2012 has had only a few problems that I had to repair blower motor and radiator fan motor at that was at around 100,000 miles other than that just oil, plugs, air cleaners, and brake shoes. Wife and I get like 28.5 to 32 miles a gallon . 93 isuzu rodeo 3.2 is still in driveway with 187,000 on it still going strong . Anything asian is a ok in my book anymore. And do to motor failures ours had warranty upped to 200,000 miles for warranty so I`m keeping em. I got mine out of seattle for under 23,000 dollars in 2019 I cant afford no 80,000 dollar american truck that gets [bleep] mileage.

I saw one of these today. Fugker drove up on the sidewalk at Walmarks to park. WTF . Fugkin Loser

For most folks who don't go off road much at all the Santa Cruz and Maverick would be just fine.
I have no experience with them but a friend has a couple for work trucks and they love them.
They are what they are.....a vehicle good on gas made for folks who run around town the majority of the time and every here and there down mild off road paths.

Any Hyundai or Kia has a problem motor. Poorly engineered, if you buy one just make sure you keep the 10k oil change interval , that way you will be looking for a new car before the warranty expires.

I have a recalled and failed honda ridgeline (Midwest frame corrosion). Can't say positive things about how they've handled it to this point; but it looks likely that they'll pay me a little above top KBB private party transaction rate to buy it back. Don't like new Ridgeline style, wish it had more power, and more competent four wheel drive; but... better ride, mileage, etc may convince me to get another.

The new ridgeline is a better vehicle than the old ridgeline in every definition one can find. I know of two of them they both get almost 30 on the highway. More power for what ?

A re branded ford f 150 .

Just revisited this post.l The Highlander has both port and direct injection.