Need help in deciding between a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport or a Mazda CX-5...

Hey guys,

I'm new on this forum and was seeking your help in deciding to purchase either a brand new Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2.0T Limited AWD or a Mazda CX-5 GT.

I've narrowed down the search from a VW Tiguan (as I don't want to pay for premium fuel) and a Subaru Forester XT (again premium fuel and CVT). I don't want to go for a Honda CR-V or Toyota Rav4 because I want to try something different this time.

After test driving both, here are the pro's and cons that I've come up with for both:

Mazda CX-5 Pros:
- Aggressive styling
- Fantastic gas mileage (approx. 24-26mpg mixed driving and approx. 20mpg highway driving) with 2.5L engine.
- Tight handling (good feedback from the wheel and solid cornering)
- Better price ($35,000 fully loaded and under $500 per month finance with my current lease buyout and $0 down)

Mazda CX-5 Cons:
- Very dull interior (everything is dark in the cabin with the black on black interior)
- SMALL NAVIGATION Screen with 5.8 inches and feels very unresponsive.
- Rear seats don't slide or recline.
- Lack of technology features at this price point such as rear vents or panoramic sunroof.
- No diesel option yet

Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2.0T AWD Limited Pros:
- Fantastic performance with the turbo engine
- Aggressive styling as well
- Wonderful interior layout with better interior choices (although it really sucks that we can't get the beige leather interior)
- Array of really cool features (Panoramic sunroof, rear sliding and reclining seats, rear vents, rear widows shades, etc...)
- 8" navigation screen that feels quite responsive.
- 5 year/100,000kms comprehensive warranty (I was told that we can't get the 10yr powertrain warranty in Canada)

Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2.0T AWD Limited Cons:
- Bad gas mileage (approx. 21mpg mixed driving and approx. 24mpg highway driving)
- Expensive price ($39,000 fully loaded and over $500 per month finance with my current lease buyout and $0 down)
- Steering wheel modes didn't have that much effect on road handling and handling didn't feel as sharp as the Mazda. Is there a real effect with the steering modes?

My wife and I are both leaning toward the Santa FE Sport, however I wanted to check with you guys who already own a Mazda CX-5 with these questions in mind:

- I've owned Hondas for over 15 years and had a pretty bad experience with a Mazda RX-8, so how reliable is the CX-5 over the year and a half or so (I'm assuming this question applies to the people that bought this as a 2013 model when it first was on sale, possibly late 2012)?

- How is the gas mileage...for eg: if you fill the tank from full and drive it to empty, how many kms do you get?

- Should I wait till October and get the next year's model? It appears Mazda is working on a refresh for the CX-5 which may address some of the pain points or it may not.

In any case, I love the sportiness (coming from a Honda Civic Si 2dr), gas mileage, and price point of the CX-5, but I love the practicality, technology, and features of the Santa Fe. Reliability is also a concern because I would like this car to last 10 years or so.

Thanks very much for any help you all can give and God bless.

If you want a car full of features and tech.. Go with the Santa Fe. If you want something fun to drive/sporty, go with the CX-5. Reliability, hard to say at this moment as both cars are fairly new.

Just like above,the cx-5 is a fun sporty cuv,and I'm getting 6.8 -7.2l average. Gas prices will only go up. Ive had 5 mazdas and all of them have been extremely reliable. Go with what's best for you...

I test drove a UK SF for about a mile, it was the worst car I had test driven, from a CRV, BMW X3, Volvo XC-60.
I would have been happy with any of the last three but never the SF, it looked great inside and out but was awful to drive, my car then was an Xtrail.

For what it is worth CU reports average reliability for the Hyundai and better than average for the CX-5.

$39K for a Santa Fe is nuts,IMO.
I'd rather go RDX w/tech pkg.

Interesting on the Santa Fe pricing...I was cross-shopping an RDX and didn't feel like it was worth the extra $10k. I never did drive a Santa Fe... I guess it never really jumped out at me.

My Mazda dealer is both a Madza and Hyundai dealer.Different address showrooms but Mazda building service center services both brands.
I had a SF Sport 2.0T for a loaner.Nice but I feel I made the right choice with the CX.

I considered Santa Fe, until I read forums on reliability and warranty work. You can count on using that warranty many times and getting a lot of resistance to get it fixed. Transmissions seem to go out often.

I actually test drove the santa fe sport 2.4 when shopping. My Mazda dealer also has Hyundai. I just liked the overall feel of the Mazda better and I wasn't getting nav anyway so that wasn't an issue. I also really wanted better gas mileage from the Jeep I had (husband now drives that) so that kind of ruled out the santa fe. I'm averaging 29 mpg on my cx-5

joe427 said:

$39K for a Santa Fe is nuts,IMO.
I'd rather go RDX w/tech pkg.

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I agree. I will likely get flamed for this, but I don't think any of the Korean brands command $40K, especially considering the historical reliability issues and so forth. Even if they have recently made strides, it takes a while to solidify your reputation when competing in the $40,000.00 range. That segment gives you many great options.
Even the big three Japanese brands created premium labels long ago (Lexus, Acura, Infinity) when they wanted to compete in the premium market. Their traditional brands (Toyota, Honda, Nissan), while reliable, were still considered too "economical" to draw spendy buyers who care about labels.

I would never buy a Hyundai....but that's just me. With the exception of the USB resume play issue.....I absolutely love my CX-5.

Bon

My close friend's company gets amazing deals with their local Hyundai dealership for their company cars. They've had a fleet of new (usually fully loaded) Tucsons and Sonatas the past few years. The lease for their cars last about a year before swapping for another. Of course their catchy 10year/100,000mile warranty covers any defects. Unfortunately that warranty gets put to good use.

There are obvious cut corners for Hyundai's. Most consumers won't notice though. Let's begin with the minor things- black vinyl wrapping instead of black paint, wax paper like headliners, not-so-ergonomic interiors (absolutely painful Tucson seats), poorly molded hard plastics, panel gaps more loose than Amsterdam's Red Light District's girls, etc. The more obvious? Interior electronics and chassis assembly. It's the small things like the navigation and instrument system completely failing, sunroof jamming, panels rattling, and seats (literally) shaking. All these can be fixed for the interim via manufacturer warranty. But who wants to stop by the service center every week?

It is still an on going situation for my friend's company fleet. They are company cars, so things that do not need imminent fixing will not be fixed. They recently leased a Santa Fe Sport after trading in a Sonata Hybrid. Same issues with panel rattles and a navigation system that would go out. Probably a loose connection as a simple punch to the dash would temporarily fix it. I believe MotorTrend's Truck of The Year judges commented on the Santa Fe's seats shaking badly during their test run as well.

I had a (well respected) Korean college professor that taught engineering classes. He worked for Hyundai and was a test and design engineer for safety. I asked why he drives a Toyota Camry and he mentioned that after learning the operations of Hyundai's cost cutting, he would never put his family in one. Not sure how much value that statement is, I suppose it does have some value from an ex-engineer from Hyundai.

Hyundai has a great strategy that involves great value, industry leading warranty, and styling to go with. Unfortunately they still have average reliability and build quality.

SayNoToPistons said:

Of course their catchy 10year/100,000mile warranty covers any defects. Unfortunately that warranty gets put to good use.
...
Hyundai has a great strategy that involves great value, industry leading warranty, and styling to go with. Unfortunately they still have average reliability and build quality.

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I consider the 10 year warranty a minus instead of a plus. Its there to try to build confidence in the buyer, but in reality no maker can afford to actually cover a car 10 years and make a profit. Quality of warranty work has to suffer. While in Atlanta, one Hyundai dealer was offering a 20 year warranty!

I don't find anything particularly wrong with Hyundais. I've rented many during my business travels. But I think at the end, that's sort of the "issue"... they feel rental to me. Not that the Cx-5 is some sort of high end car, but it doesn't feel rental to me.

I have two Adult family members who own and drive the 2.7L Santa Fe. The vehicles each have in excess of 70,000 miles on them and only one has had a warranty repair. One, had a battery and alternator replaced at ~ 10,000 miles. The dealer couldn't prove it was the battery so they replaced the battery & the alternator. I drive a CX5 because I like to drive and the gas mileage. Reliability of either was never a part of the decision because of personal experience. Ed

I almost pulled the trigger on a santa fe, but in the end I like driving too much.

Its a good looking suv in and out, and the idea of a 2.0t with 264 hp, got me thinking this would be a good trade for my mazdaspeed 3... but driving it, I found that the power is not that impressive (better than the CX5, but it doesent seem like a 80 hp difference). the price was also a big turn off.

Go try the santa fee on a highway for at least a few miles, the steering (even in sport mode) seems loose and I found myself always searching for the center, like I was driving on a uneven road.

My father even bought one after looking at the specs, and he drives to florida every year. He told me his arms hurt so bad he had trouble sleeping after long road trips, just by always correcting steering angle. he also told me recently that gas mileage is not impressive, having trouble getting 400kms on a full tank (66 litres vs 58 for the CX5).
Personally My computer reads 600kms range + when I fill up. (I stop for fuel at 1/4 tank and regularly have 500kms done and put about 40-43 litres, and I have a heavy foot, and drive at 115-120 km/h regularly, so if I drove it a little smother I would probably get 650km on a tank or more) this would be close to 700-750 on a 66 litre tank to compare to the Santa Fe.

for pure driving pleasure alone, I love my CX5, and the only other suv in this price range I tried that was as fun to drive was the tiguan, but it was a little too small and lacked features I love in my CX5 (like keyless entry, push start to name a fiew)

Personally, for the money, the CX5 is a very good value.

I was actually trying to get a Tiguan before I ended up in the cx-5. In the end for the options I wanted the $ was too steep. Ofc it has a stronger motor.

RG_Flyer said:

I agree. I will likely get flamed for this, but I don't think any of the Korean brands command $40K, especially considering the historical reliability issues and so forth. Even if they have recently made strides, it takes a while to solidify your reputation when competing in the $40,000.00 range. That segment gives you many great options.
Even the big three Japanese brands created premium labels long ago (Lexus, Acura, Infinity) when they wanted to compete in the premium market. Their traditional brands (Toyota, Honda, Nissan), while reliable, were still considered too "economical" to draw spendy buyers who care about labels.

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I agree with you. A couple of years ago wife and I were shopping in this price range for a CUV to use as our long trip vehicle. We came home with a lightly equipped M-B GLK 350 4Matic because my wife, with her 2 hip replacements, found it very comfortable, and I loved the performance. She's now driving our new CX-5 a good bit, and, really likes it as well. One of our kids buys Hyundais, and, I'm just not impressed with them.

Regards:
Oldengineer

Oldengineer said:

I agree with you. A couple of years ago wife and I were shopping in this price range for a CUV to use as our long trip vehicle. We came home with a lightly equipped M-B GLK 350 4Matic because my wife, with her 2 hip replacements, found it very comfortable, and I loved the performance. She's now driving our new CX-5 a good bit, and, really likes it as well. One of our kids buys Hyundais, and, I'm just not impressed with them.

Regards:
Oldengineer

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only thing about hynudai/kia I really like are the motor choices. they even sell crate v6/v8's..