Lot of info here..

http://rav4world.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2856

 

if she wants the santa fe buy it..

 

if she wants the santa fe buy it..

Sound advice! Actually we did finally make a decision., and it was a tough one.

Note: We were looking at : RAV4 Base V6 and Santa Fe SE V6 , both models without the 3rd row seat.

The way we looked at it:

RAV4 - Better brand reputation, Santa Fe - Hyundai has greatly improved, but still is a step behind Toyota.
RAV4 - V6 wins hands down! Santa Fe - 3.3 V6 not bad, adequate power, smooth & quiet, but lacks the excitement of the RAV.
Santa Fe - Handling , actually both vehicles dove quite well. The Santa Fe is a bit quieter, and the Rav seems to handle high speed turns a bit better, but no real flaws in either vehicle.
Santa Fe - Better interior and features, more comfortable seats, better interior lighting (blue interior lights at night are cool). RAV4 - Interior seems a bit cheap, seat backs are harder than the Hyundai and rear seats don't recline in the base model.
Santa Fe - More cargo room with second row seats up or down. Actually, both vehicles are very close in interior dimensions, but the Santa Fe seems to have a better design to maximize available room.
RAV4 - Better choice of exterior colors. Santa Fe - Somewhat bland choice of colors, no Barcelona Red to be found!
RAV4 - Full-size spare on rear gate. (I know this is quite a debateable issue here, but I actually like the full-size spare and the way it looks on the back). Santa Fe - Temporary spare positioned under rear of vehicle, less desirable in my opinion.
Rav4 - Sound system-I'm not an audiophile and both sound systems seem more than adequate. Santa Fe - Offers a 3-month introductory subscription to XM Radio. (This seems to impress my kid more than either me or my wife)
Rav4 - More and better interior storage (maybe a small matter, but lots of storage "cubbys" reallly appeal to my wife). Santa Fe - A bit skimpy on the storage.
Santa Fe - Experience shopping at dealerships far better than Toyota. Less pressure and far more willing to negotiate. RAV4 - Toyota dealerships were more "old school" with pressure tactics (the visit from the sales manager, etc) less willing to negotiate. I do understand that the RAV is in more demand than the Santa Fe and this makes Toyota less likely to deal.
Santa Fe - Price , wins hands down. Comparably equiped Santa Fe averaging $ 2000- $3000 less than the RAV. RAV4 - Higher priced coupled with dealers less willing to bargain.
Santa Fe - Hyundai warranty much better, bumper to bumper 5 Yrs./60,000, Drive Train, 10 Yrs./100,000. RAV4 - Toyota warranty, 3 Yrs. 36,000.

Well, enough already. We did finally decide on the Santa Fe Se. I went with the front-wheel version ( I'm not an offroad guy and if it snows here in DC enough to require AWD, I'll park it).
The real determining factors were : "bang for the buck" the Santa Fe offers a lot for considerably less than the RAV. I was able to negotiate a good deal and got a good finance rate through Hyundai finance. Hyundai was able to find the vehicle I wanted in the color my wife picked without any runaround or added charges.
My wife and son (yes, we got him involved too) liked the Santa Fe's interior comfort and features much better than the RAV's

Buyers Remorse? Well, I still love the RAV's looks and the RAV's V6 just smokes. Right now I'm still enjoying having a new vehicle. Buying a Hyundai is still a "leap of faith" for me, so we'll see how it does over time. Let's hope I don't have to use that warranty much.

DM

 

looks like the wife won ... enjoy your Santa Fe

 

The Santa Fe is an excellent vehicle. Congratulations on your purchase!

I extensively test drove the Santa Fe and still occasionally find myself drooling over their looks. The SF is really a nicely designed vehicle with nice lines and proportions. Hyundai's colours also seem a little more defined than Toyota's... Ie: Whites and blacks just seem to look a little more high-end than what Toyota ships with. Could be a simple matter of a clear coat, hard to say.

The interior of the SantaFe was exceptional. It was very comfortable to drive. I'm 6' tall and don't fit nicely into a lot of vehicles. The Rav4 and Santa Fe were two very comfortable cars for me. The one major drawback of the Santa Fe though for interior is the rear seat comfort for an adult. I was very very uncomfortable back there in the SF wheras the Rav4 has exceptional comfort in the rear seats. This matters alot to me because while my wife & i don't have kids, we do have parents that often ride in the back seats. They always comment on how comfortable they are in the back of our RAV.

As far as features go, the Santa Fe lost out in one KEY area for my wife and I, it didn't have an available AUX port... where both my wife and I have iPods, this was critical to us.

As for PRICE... I was surprised at your comments on the price. But I guess it depends on which Rav4 model you are looking at. Here in BC Canada, we wanted a base model 4cyl. This was actually significantly cheaper (2000-3000 less) than the Santa Fe and the Hyundai dealership was just as stubborn about a deal as the Toyota dealership which doesn't deal at all. Once we found out the Santa Fe wouldn't save us anything, and cost us more in the long run in terms of fuel economy, the choice was settled on the Rav4.

Also the Hyundai dealership was horrible to deal with. They took 2 weeks to get back to us with a price on the Santa Fe! We figured if they couldn't handle the sales process correctly, how would their service be. Scary.

Nevertheless, these last two points are clearly regional and it looks like you did save some $$$ by going with the Santa Fe, so that's great news It's a really nice vehicle and I'm sure it'll serve you well.

~Frost

 

rear seats don't recline in the base model.

Actually they do. Better take the Santa Fe back! :lol:

I'm a bit surprised that mpg didn't figure into your decision, but nothing says it has to. Enjoy your new ride.

 

rear seats don't recline in the base model.

Actually they do. Better take the Santa Fe back! :lol:

I'm a bit surprised that mpg didn't figure into your decision, but nothing says it has to. Enjoy your new ride.

Interesting, Regarding the seat, we were at the dealer taking a second look at the RAV4 Base right after our first test drive of the Santa Fe and the sales person could not get the back seat to recline. Neither could we. When we were "visited" by the sales manager a short time later, I mentioned it to him and he just shrugged his shoulders. I believe you, but that day it just wouldn't work.

Regarding the mpg, that was an omission on my part in my comparison. (I was starting to get tired of typing, LOL) The RAV4 does have better rated mileage than the Santa Fe, but didn't seem to be enough to be a deal breaker.

DM

 

As far as features go, the Santa Fe lost out in one KEY area for my wife and I, it didn't have an available AUX port... where both my wife and I have iPods, this was critical to us.~Frost

That was an issue for my son. Neither my wife nor I have IPOD's, but he does. I told him that I might go ahead and pick up the XM Radio after the introductory offer runs out and that seemed to make him happy.

DM

 

I also test drove a Santa Fe before choosing the RAV4, and I agree with pretty much all the comparison points made in the first post. One addition is that I felt there wasn't as much headroom in the Santa Fe as the RAV4. Also, the current version of the Santa Fe doesn't have a rear window that can open separately from the hatch, a feature that I loved in my '07 CRV. The RAV4 doesn't have that either, but the difference is the RAV4 never had it while the Sante Fe had it but got rid of it.

In the end the deciding factors for me were that the RAV4 will have better resale value, and it has a full size spare. That's a big issue for me. I've only had two flat tires in the last ten years, but both times I was more than 400 miles from home, and having a full size spare was a godsend.

I've had my '08 RAV4 for two weeks and about 250 miles. So far, so good for the most part, but is that damn hesitation when I step on the accelerator ever going to go away? I complained to the Toyota dealership's service manager, but he said it takes time for the computer to adjust to my driving, and talk to him again if it's still doing it after 5 to 7 thousand miles.

 

I think it is difficult to compare the two by cost. MPG and depreciation should have them about the same in four years. Right now, they are a tick behind Toyota in product, but catching up quick. I think Toyota has more to worry about from the Korean car makers, than was the US brands are up to.

 

I've had my '08 RAV4 for two weeks and about 250 miles. So far, so good for the most part, but is that damn hesitation when I step on the accelerator ever going to go away? I complained to the Toyota dealership's service manager, but he said it takes time for the computer to adjust to my driving, and talk to him again if it's still doing it after 5 to 7 thousand miles.

5-7k miles for the ECM to adjust :shock: That sounds like a brush off line to get you out the door. I don't believe him.

 

I think one would get that money back in resale value when you buy a RAV over a Santa Fe. The RAV can be bought at invoice, you just have to shop around a little more. Also the Santa Fe is a bigger SUV, but interior cargo room is about the same as the RAV. Like someone already mentioned, the 2nd row seat in the RAV is like a limo, space wise compare to the Santa Fe. Comparing both drive trains, the RAV V6 have 84 more horse power than the Santa Fe's V6 and yet the RAV4 gets 3 MPG more than the Santa Fe on the highway. Not to mention a better stability system and safety features on the RAV4.

 

Hi All,

I have a 2004 Santa Fe and just decided on the RAV4 over a new Santa Fe. Some people have commented on the cost of a new Santa Fe is lower then that of the RAV4. In the Limited package it was actually cheeper to get the RAV4 then the Santa Fe because I didn't want the stupid leather seats. Standard in the SF so I can't delete them. I suspect that cost of ownership also helps make up for the price differences. My 2004 SF had some expensive standard ($500 at 45,000 miles) maintenance and is due shortly to have it's timing belt changed at 60,000 miles. That procedure can run over $1000. If you don't have the dealer perform that maintenance, Hyundai can void the 100,000 mile warranty. The RAV4 uses a timing chain that doesn't need to be replaced as often. The most expensive service I saw on the RAV4 was about $200. Also, and this is just a personal observation, the RAV4 was much more fun to drive then the new SF. My SF has soft brakes and soft steering and the RAV4 seems much more responsive. That said, the SF was my second choice and a great car (I love my SF).

 

comparing a hyundai to a Toyota is like comparing a quarter pounder to filet.. And like Mcdonalds, they do sell a lot of crap to people who don't know better.. :roll:

 

Didnt one of the Hyundai commercial compare the Hyundai Sonata to a BMW 5 series sedan. According to the Hyundai commericial, the Sonata has more interior space and longer warranty then the BMW and when comparing both with similar options, the Hyundai Sonata is more than half of the price

 

yea.. lol talk about reaching for the stars!! LOL

 

I looked at several CUV's including the Santa Fe, and had a test drive. I found the Santa Fe seats did not go low enough for me, though I'm only 5'11". I also found that while Hyundai always promotes a long "features" list, that in person the execution of these features seems cheap and plasticky and the interior components look fragile. Perhaps it's partly a bad feeling left over from the few years I had my 1987 Hyundai Excel - that kind of disappointment stays with you. The Excel looked pretty in the showroom but didn't stand up well at all. Everyone is saying how much Hyundai quality has improved, and I sincerely hope so! Meanwhile in the final analyis I wanted reliability above all else, a primary factor in choosing the RAV.

 

Hyundai dealership here is dirty and feels like a used lot

I'd made up my mind to get a Santa Fe over Rav4 after 2 short test drives a few months ago, but when I went back to the local Hyundai dealership to do my final test drive, I walked out without even driving one.

It feels like a used car lot. At this particular Hyundai dealership the cars are dirty, there's bird crap on the back of some of them, the place is run down, and the people working there seem sketchy. I shudder to think about having to bring the Santa Fe in to be serviced if there was a problem, it's just awful.

That's a reflection solely on this dealership, not Hyundai overall, but it's a bummer. I don't need to be pampered too much, but how about making my future car look NEW before I buy it, how's that for a concept? Frustrating...

 

I have to admit that when I was looking for a new vehicule, I was not enough curious to spend time taking a look at a Santa-fe.

But I can think of a few advantages to decide to buy one.

1- I assume a dealer have to have all the parts in inventory (motors, transmissions, computers, differentials, etc) ready to be installed...
2- The box that contains the part is always very clean as it does not have the time to accumulate dust on the shelf...

A downsight would be to decide to buy a dealer's shuttle car as it would have way to much mileage on it...

Seriously, if the goal is to buy it, I would personnaly not go for it (re-sale value and reliabily in long term has to prove itself a bit more).

Renting? I would have to have in interest in a Hyundai product to have an opinion!

 

You can buy a real Rolex watch or a knock-off, from what I have seen, All Korean vehicles are knock-offs.

And do not let that 100k mile warranty fool you, my mechanic says that they vary rarely pay off after the standard 36k, unless you follow the rules of the warranty exactly, (witten proof of oil changes and recomended service) they will deny you and 99% of the time do deny.

 

My question is what is wrong with a vehicle when you have to offer a 100k warranty just to sell them.

 

I think people look at the wrong things when buying a vehicle. I understand cargo and interior etc. But the interior in the santa fe will fall apart far quicker. The Santa Fe is a full framed vehicle I think this less road noise BUT worse gas mileage. I always stand by "you get what you pay for" I have been a mechanic for over 12 years and I can say hyundai has come a long way. But no way in my mind does it beat toyota, honda, or any of the other big auto brands.

 

I'm always brand conscious but with a reason. Toyota vs Hyundai, hands down Toyota for me is the winner. The engine and the tranny is the heart of an automobile and Toyota is making the best engine and tranny combination imo.
I've owned Honda and Toyota cars before the RAV and i find Toyotas to have smooth silky tranny, nimble but at the same time smooth and silent when putting pressure to its engine. Between Honda and Toyota, the Toyota's also have lower road noise than the Hondas and Toyotas are more agile than their Honda counterpart. But frankly i was surprised with my new RAV4, the road noise is not as good as what i experienced with my Corolla and Lexus ES.

 

I prefer Rav4 because I have a 1991 4Runner with 240000 miles on it, and it's in great shape. I hope my 08 Rav4 does the same.

 

I've had my Santa Fe for 3 mths and 3500 miles. No issues so far. Couldn't be happier with the vehicle.

DM