2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Consumer Reviews

I bought the Santa Cruz to replace my Tundra. I no longer tow campers or heavy boats, but I wanted a reliable truck to pull a small boat and my kayaks. I cross-shopped the Ford Maverick, the Honda Ridgeline, and the Toyota Tacoma and found the Santa Cruz suited to my need for a comfortable, quiet truck with decent gas mileage. I opted for the Limited model and am very pleased with the overall fit and finish, driving assistance features, and comfortable ride. The truck gets 23 mpg in town and 26-28 mpg on the highway. I love the Bluelink app on my phone. I can start and cool the truck a few minutes before jumping in on hot Florida days! I am very pleased with my purchase.

I have the 2024 XRT model and have enjoyed it for the few months I've had it. A nice get around vehicle with lots of features. Pros: Fast acceleration, comfortable front seats, many features to make driving nicer, quality sound system Cons: Back seats don't have much leg room, seatbelts for the front seats scratch the wall panel where they rest when not in use, I bought silicone covers for them eventually to prevent that now, expensive addons if you do decide to get those eventually, like the hitch. Wired car play, but no wireless car play. One other feature I won't count as a con since it sounds like it was addressed in the 2025 model and doesn't bother me is that most of the buttons were touch with no physical response, the newer year models should have actual buttons now with a physical response when you push it.

Simple engine and truck design. Small enough to survive the city and hardy enough to carry a motorbike to a trailhead.

If you are like me and miss a truck when you are driving a SUV, the Santa Cruz is the answer. This vehicle is so versatile. It rides like a well built car, has room for 5, and has a bed that is the perfect size for most weekend trips to Home Depot and outdoor adventures. A few weeks ago I bought a new SC, SEL trim without the Activity Pkg. I did not want the built in bed cover, I had read it shortens the length of the bed a bit. I have not taken any trips yet, but around town I am getting a solid 22 mpg. The vehicle is very well built, secure on the road and quiet. The only thing I would change is the some of the shiny plastic trim in the interior. It seems to be a dust magnet. I did find some carbon fiber trim on Amazon that really looks good, giving it a personal touch. You cannot beat the warranty, 3 years of free maint, and the dealership here in Lawrence KS was great to work with. Take one out for a test drive, you will be pleased, and maybe, like myself, you will drive home a new one !

I have owned my 2024 Santa Cruz SEL for 6 weeks now and I am pleased with the overall performance of the truck. It rides like a luxury car not a truck, which is very nice change from the stiff suspension of most trucks. It has a self adjusting suspension, which gives it a smooth ride when it is not under a load. It has a 2.5 L 4 cylender engine. This provides plenty of power while also saving gas. I drive over 60 miles to and from work, so this is a must. The best gas mileage I have attained is 35.3 MPG while driving 65 MPH. I don't us the cruise control while in hilly terrain. The cruise control tends to overreact and will go from 1.5k RPMs to 2.8k RPMs if the MPH drops just 1 MPH. Needless to say that will impact the MPG. I simply maintain the current accelleration and let the MPH drop a mile or two. Maintaining a steady RPM ration is key to better gas mileage. The 8 speed transmission helps to keep the RPMs low both while accerating and at speed. The truck is a crew cab providing ample room in the from with limited leg room in the back. The bed of the truck is 4'x4' and will hold a full sheet of plywood with the tailgate down. Just not between the wheel wells. There are adjustable tie downs, making securing the load an easy task. The tailgate itself, is soft opening and can be operated from the remote. Both the tailgate and the tonneau cover will lock with the vehicle. One feature i discover by accident was that you can lock the tanneau cover at various positions. This allows you to keep most of the bed covered while allowing for taller items at the rear of the vehicle. The bed cover does not roll back and forth unless you unlock the latch. Under the bed is a water proof trunk which also locks withe the truck. Its fairly large and sits above the spare tire. I am fairly pleased with the truck thus far. I only have two complaints. The first is the overly aggressive cruise control, this really needs to be toned down to make it actually useful. The second is the locking system. If any door is open, the vehicle will not lock. It simply refuses to. Whether from the outside door lock switch, the remote or from the inside. This is not only frustrating, it's a security/safety hazard. Frustrating from the point of needing to wait for everyone to exit and close all the doors to a hazard from harrassing individuals. If I am loading groceries in the back seat (driver side) and my wife is in the truck (passenger side front), the doors cannot be locked unless I close the door. If an individual approaches, my wife cannot lock the doors until I close the open door. Thus allowing any perpetrator to access the vehicle and/or my wife. This issue needs to be addressed. This provide an opertunity for theft and assault that could easily be prevented. You can configure the locks to only open the door when opened from the inside. We would need to both enter the vehicle and lock the doors, the I could exit and proceed to load the groceries. Is it doable? Yes. But very inconvient. Simply allowing the doors to be locked regardless of the state of the doors would resolve this easily. The truck already does a check for the key inside the vehicle, so there is no reason to NOT allow the doors to lock. If I had known of this issue, I would have second thoughts on buying the truck. As a small truck, it's a good value. The locks are an issue though. I hope this insight helps.

The technology, comfort, performance, warranty and price make this an excellent option to consider. I'm very happy with this purchase.

Had over 2 years.fun to drive reliable dependable. And great on fuel...the Santa cruz is quality with sporty style .

Coming from a 2019 Nissan Frontier with very little tech and and that slippy rear wheel drive in the rain. In 5 years ownership of the Frontier, never towed, never off-road. The Santa Cruz rides like a sports car compared to the Frontier. All-wheel drive is amazing and when I need to transport gas cans, mulch or project waste it's all in the back and not on my nice SUV carpets. The composite bed is a dream and it has a real shifter. Santa Cruz has port and direct injection (no carbon build up), no VCM and no "start/stop". I do miss the naturally aspirated 4.0L V6 in the Frontier but those engines are a thing of the past. I don't care what you call it but most most truck guys spend 90% of the time not doing truck stuff.