Which used Hyundai Santa Fe should you buy?

If you’re considering a Hyundai Santa Fe, it’s a fair assumption that lots of space is a priority. Being such a big SUV, it has a roomy interior, with the boxy proportions meaning tall passengers should have enough headroom regardless of which of the seven seats they’re using.

But for the most spacious Hyundai Santa Fe possible, it’s best to go for one of the post-facelift models from 2020 onwards. These cars are a little bit taller, longer, wider and have a touch more interior room than the earlier versions.

Those facelifted cars are also the ones to go for if a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain is a pre-requisite, since the conventional hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines weren’t offered on the early cars.

If you do lots of driving around town, these promise to be economical by big car standards (especially the plug-in hybrid, which can cover up to 36 miles on a single charge).

Do bear in mind, though, that they’re a relatively rare sight in the classifieds and tend to be quite pricey when listed.

The Hyundai Santa Fe was also offered with a 2.2-litre diesel engine, which while not as frugal on paper as the plug-in hybrid, is still capable of returning good fuel economy, especially on long motorway drives.

The diesels have good low-down torque, too, so are well suited to towing caravans and heavy trailers. It’s also worth noting that the diesel models tend to be more affordable to buy than the hybrid versions.

Read our full Hyundai Santa Fe review

What used Hyundai Santa Fe trim levels are available?

As standard, the Hyundai Santa Fe is well equipped, with all cars coming with dual-zone air-conditioning, cruise control, automatic windscreen wipers, parking sensors and driver assist features such as lane departure warning.

When you’re browsing the listings, you’ll likely find the Hyundai Santa Fe Premium and Hyundai Santa Fe Ultimate models to be among the more common examples, so if you’re after more choice, these are definitely worth considering. Read on for our guide to the most prominent trim levels.

Hyundai Santa Fe SE

At launch, the range started off with this entry-level Hyundai Santa Fe SE model. While it was the most affordable variant in the range, it did still come decently equipped. But you won’t find any post-facelift Hyundai Santa Fe SE models, since this trim level was dropped when the car was updated in 2020.

• Adaptive cruise control
• Dual-zone climate control
• Automatic windscreen wipers
• Seven-inch touchscreen
• Lane departure warning
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera

Hyundai Santa Fe Premium

Hyundai Santa Fe Premium models fleshed out the equipment roster with some high-tech additions. Among the safety kit was a warning system to alert the driver of oncoming traffic when they’re reversing out of a parking spot. The Hyundai Santa Fe Premium trim’s equipment was carried over mostly wholesale on to the facelifted model, with one or two upgrades.

• Keyless entry
• LED headlights
• Eight-inch touchscreen with built-in sat-nav
• Powered tailgate
• Front heated seats
• Heated steering wheel
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Wireless smartphone charging tray (Post-facelift models)
• 10.3-inch touchscreen (Post-facelift models)

Hyundai Santa Fe Premium SE

As its name suggests, the Hyundai Santa Fe Premium SE model is one that was predominantly based on the Hyundai Santa Fe Premium trim, so most of their features were shared. However, Hyundai Santa Fe Premium SE models did get a few standard-fit extras, as detailed below. The Hyundai Santa Fe Premium SE trim wasn’t retained when the SUV was facelifted in 2020, so you’ll only find pre-facelift models in this particular spec.

• Panoramic sunroof
• Head-up display
• Adaptive headlights

Hyundai Santa Fe Ultimate

The Hyundai Santa Fe Ultimate trim was introduced as part of the 2020 refresh, and picked up where the old Hyundai Santa Fe Premium SE spec left off. We’ve detailed some of its key features below. If the Hyundai Santa Fe Ultimate you’re looking at comes with the Luxury upgrade pack, this means it also gets leather upholstery, artificial leather dashboard material and suede headlining.

• Head-up display
• Panaromic sunroof
• Cooled front seats
• 12.3-inch digital instrument display

Is a used Hyundai Santa Fe a good buy?

The Hyundai Santa Fe is one of a sizeable number of big seven-seater SUVs, and faces some serious rivals including the Kia Sorento (which is closely related to the Hyundai under the skin), the Peugeot 5008, and the good-value Skoda Kodiaq.

But the Hyundai Santa Fe makes a strong case for itself with its excellent build quality, spaciousness and reliability.

If you’re in the market for maximum carrying capacity and don’t want an MPV, then it should be on your shortlist.

The fact that a new model is due in 2024 may also push used values down further.