Great comfort and technology, but the Powertrain needs improvement
To be fair, we have mostly really enjoyed our Santa Fe. We knew the first model year might have some bugs - and it does. We have had 4 recalls. The dealer has been great, but it is annoying to have so many. We love the ride comfort, interior layout and overall look and feel of the car. It really stands out among the competition. But the Engine/transmission makes it somewhat unpleasant to drive. We have the ICE version, not the hybrid. The engine is quite powerful, but it has noticeable turbo lab. That, coupled with the odd choice of a dual wet clutch transmission, makes our front-wheel drive version ungainly when accelerating. You press on the accelerator, and not much happens right away, so the temptation is to give it more gas. In this second, the RPM's have risen to the "sweet spot" and it takes off with a burst of power that nearly always overwhelms the traction of the front wheels. The traction control system can't keep up either. This makes it unpredictable and less fun to drive. At times it even feels unsafe. So much power in a large vehicle with only front wheel drive is a bad decision (in my opinion). I'm sure the additional traction of all wheel drive eliminates the loss of traction and the tremendous torque steer. But the delay in power would surely still be present.
Finally, even though our 2024 ICE version with the Dual Clutch transmission has not had transmission problems, so many others have that our car's value is VERY low compared to other comparable vehicles. For once, I am grateful we leased because the residual value is far too low to consider buying - even if we wanted to.