Hyundai Santa Fe 2007+

carrito

RAV4 had a nice, smooth ride even over speed bumps.
if you tested them with different tire sizes i.e. 18" SF vs 16" RAV4 this could be the difference. with 18" you feel more the potholes and bumps.

canucker

At the end of January I purchased a 3.3 GL Premium FWD Leather Pkg (5 pass) with a production date of Dec 11/06. I have a “Door” button on the rear ceiling courtesy light but the front reading lights do not turn on when opening the doors, wish they did. What is the production date of your vehicle?

gopey

My SF was built 12 Dec 06. I think it is odd you have the "Door" button but it is not working. The button must have some purpose and I think it is for the front lights. Call the Hyundai maint. dept and ask how to engage the lights.

Loving my SF more everyday.

gopey

OK. Please diregard my earlier post. The "Door" button has nothing to do with my reading lights.

The only thing I can think of is that on my car, they have the reading lights connected to the door fuse. My reading light also comes on when pushing its button (obviously).

Call the Tech dept. I am sure they have the answer. Everyone would love to know how to implement this feature.

Good luck!

djdublm

I checked mine today it does have the door button on the dome light, mine has a production date of October 06 so mines older than your perhaps they did change it based on consumer complaints, i wish mine did work though as i stated before its dar in the front especially with the black interior.

gizzer777

My 07 Santa Fe SE was built in Nov 06....It has the Door Button (no sunroof) on the dome light, but the reading lights do not come either...

I also checked one on the lot with a build date of dec 06 and same thing....

I wonder if there is a TSB on it...sure is dark up front at night...For such a well thought out vehicle...I am surprised they missed this one. So far, I am liking it anyway. Only a few hundred miles, but it is very quiet and rides nicely. One Note: I had to turn down the intensity of the blue dash lights...way to bright for me but at dimmer levels is very pleasing

tinydog1

I also traded my 06 Sonata LX, dark cinnamon, for my 07 Santa Fe Limited. I owned my Sonata for 4 months and only lost $500 on the deal. Paid 18k out the door and got 17.5k at trade in. Not bad. The lack of proper lighting up front is my only complaint esp. since mine is Black on Black and has a sunroof which really blocks the dome light.

pelican19

I have seen a mod for this. Let me know if your interested and I will dig it up.

jta

We felt the same way.

The Santa Fe was last on our list initially. We only took one for a test drive too compare and test something different. We were about 90% sold on the Rav4, until we drove them both. I also drove the Mazda5, new GMC Acadia, and CR-V. We were so impressed with the Santa Fe. After driving the Rav4, we didn't like the way it drove, and we felt like it was not a good of a deal. Didn't like the side opening tailgate. The Santa Fe at least feels roomier, has a nicer interior, and better access to the 3rd row seating.

Needless to say, we purchased the Santa Fe. The car that was last on out list initially. :P

phatboyc

Had it in my bookmarks. http://elantragtclub.tripod.com/elantra/id502.html

Seems tricky to fish a wire around the sunroof between the headliner.

creis10

I have been looking for an 07 Santa Fe SE AWD and per Edmunds the invoice price of $24,400. I've had two dealerships quote me prices of $22,600 and $23,300 respectfully. I didn't know how to respond. Am I able to negogiate lower?

jta

If 24,400 is invoice, there is also a $1000 rebate, that get the vehicle down to $23,400.

I also was able to negotiate a price about $200.00 under invoice. The 24,400 quote is in line with what I believe most people should be able to get. The $22,600 is realy good! There is also the dealer holdback that they can factor in, plus there is also the $500.00 loyalty rebate and recent college grad bonus of $400.00.

So the prices you were quoted are very good. I believe I read somewhere that Hyundai Sales were down recently, so they may be getting aggressive with pricing to move some vehicles. I have also found that my dealer had a lot of Santa Fe's from Sept/Oct production. None with XM in the Limited Models.

As far as sales being down, you wouldn't know it at my local Hyundai dealer. It has to be the busiest car dealer I have ever dealt with. Every time we were there, it was extremely busy. It was almost like there were people waiting to be helped. Most of the time I go to a dealer, the salesmen are standing around waiting to "swoop" in on the next person walking through the door. No the case here.

Good Luck!

djdublm

A good tool is to use www.carsdirect.com you can look at new car prices with the options that you want and it will tell you what you should pay for the Santa Fe then there is an option to submit it to a dealer that they work with and see if they will match that. My dealer had an automatic email setup that replied back to me with what they would sale it for and then took the rebates off of it as well, they gave me 2000.00 off invoice. There is a 1000.00 rebate and a 500.00 owner loyalty rebate if you own a Hyundai, you dont have to trade it in just prove that you own one. Good luck with your purchase.

gopey

This is one put together vehicle. It is very spacious with plenty of leg room. It has seat multiple adjustments and a telescopic steering wheel. For anyone that is 6' or over, you must sit in this suv. There is a ton of room versus the Rav4 or CRV.

Also, I think the visibility you have inthe driver's seat is wonderful and shouldn't be under estimated. I believe the Edmund's article is a little bias towards Honda and Toyota but they are right about the SF does seem to feel a little "busy" on highway driving.

I don't know if it is correct to compare the SF to the Rav4 or CRV. Those vehicles are made more for the road. They fit more in the category of the Forrestor. I feel the SF is more SUV than CUV and should be compared to the escape or Wrangler.

Someone mentioned that sales are down for the SF. I find this hard to believe. Anyone know the figures of sales?

creis10

Actually the 22,600 was before 1000 rebate. So even at 23,600, I'm still 1,000 to 1,500 below invoice of 25,020 quoted by carsdirect and edmunds. I just didn't know how to negogiate after that. I'm aware of the hold back and after calculating the approx true dealer cost (not knowing dealer incentives and marketing assistance) I'm still below the number I usually shoot for. Any negogiating ideas from this point? I don't think I will use the $1000 rebate and shoot for the APR instead. I will end up with cheaper payments, but I would still like to see a better APR. I have an 06 Sonata at 3.9% and would like to see them drop the Santa Fe APR from 5.25 to between 3.9 and 4.9.

kokaneeslim

We purchased a 2007 Santa Fe AWD with the 18" wheels. Have the same dislikes as others have noted with the poor front entry lighting, poor fuel economy and I find the front seat a bit high making entry a little difficult. All in all I am very satisfied. One thing that really annoys me is the noisy suspension. When we travel over potholes or uneven pavement the suspension really bangs as though there's something loose under the vehicle. My dealer says thats just normal because of the gas shocks and all. I find that a bit hard to believe. Have any other owners encountered that same problem with the suspension?

jcspohr

When we first got ours last August, I hit a big bump and heard a noise from the back end. I thought it was the suspension.

A few more bumps and I still thought it was the rear suspension. Well, it wasn't the suspension at all.

I have the 5 seat version and it was the tools and stuff in the rear storage compartment that were loose. I tightened everything down and also stuffed in my road hazard kits, some towels, and such to fill the compartment to prevent rattles - problem solved - no more noises!

pelican19

Another possible source of noise is the spare. It MUST be seated correctly or it WILL rattle as well...

davesuv

I would check for loose tools or spare as described above. My 07 Santa Fe Limited AWD is perfectly quiet over bumps. I really enjoy the quiet smooth ride. We recently took it on a 2300 mile trip to Florida. What a pleasure to drive! It tracks perfectly straight, has more than enough power and acceleration, and was really fun to drive on the curving roads of the Smoky Mountains, which we visited.

This without a doubt is my favorite vehicle out of any I've owned (which currently include a 07 Lexus RX350 and 04 Highlander). Those others are great cars in their own right, but the Santa Fe just has more "personality". It's something that's difficult to put into words.

carrito

I am thinking of buying a SUV this fall or by the end of the 2007 year. I like very much the SF, my only concern is the mpg. Nissan will have the Rogue that goes on sale this fall with same looks (exterior/dimesions) as the SF but with a 4 cylinder engine 2.5 liter motor 170hp and a CVT it promisses better mpg. not so sure I'll like the interior as much as the SF. :P

carrito

here are two links:
link 1

link 2

john1626

I live in Nebraska and we get plenty of snow and ice. I have a 2006 Santa Fe and immediately after I bought it I replaced the OEM tires with Nokian Tires. Made in Finland and can be purchased in US. They have a SUV tire called the SUVWR series, which is an all season, 65M MS and most importantly it is a Mountain Snow Flake tire. Cabin noise is very low and handles snow and ice extremely well. I grew up in the Alps and we used Nokian tires there also,very popular in Europe and snow country. They have been making tires for close to 80 years. Go to their website Nokian.com and you will be amazed. I tell my friends that if you can not go with Nokians then God does not want you to go.
Check it out and you will be pleased
John

pelican19

Thanks for the link. Seriously looking to replace the original tires. VERY disappointed in them. Traction is very blah. The Nokians seem to be a very good tire. Where did you get your set?

djdublm

Had my SF in for service on Friday for the exterior temp sensor being stuck on 68degrees and Wednesday on my way home from work as soon as i hit the highway the rubber gasket around the windsheild on the passenger side came loose from the bottom of the windshield all the way up to the top corner, pulled over and tried to put it back in place but it came out again so when i got home i taped it down. So go to the dealer and they said i would have to come back because they would have to order the windshield gasket and then it will also take 3 hrs to fix the temp sensor. So he started getting everything setup asked me to wait so he could go over to parts and order that and get an idea of when it would be in. He came back said they actually have one in stock, and just so happens the windshield repairmen is on site in there bodyshop so they can take care of it all today. Turns out they were able to use the existing gasket they just had to reglue it to the windshield where it came loose. The temp sensor he said they litteraly have to take the fuse box out from under the hood clip wires and then reconnect at differnt points and put it all back in to fix the issue. So i had someone come and get me and by that afternoon everything is fixed. So just FYI if you have the sensor issue be prepared to leave it there for several hours when you take it in.

john1626

As you probably saw on the news, Nebraska had a blizzard this weekend and again the Nokians came thru just fine. We had everything from ice, wet snow slush and plenty of snow. Traction was just fine and I felt completely safe with these tires. One must note that most vehicles in the ditch are a lot of times 4x4's as people just do not slow down.

If you visit the Nokian.com site just go to their "dealer" tag and you can get the five nearest dealers to you based off of your zip code.

Most severe winter tires having soft rubber are not meant for driving on dry pavement during other then winter months. The Nokian WR series is different and I use mine all year long as they are also a great rain traction tire.

They also have a "tread code number" built directly into the tread of the tire so you can actually see how much tread you have left which is a great feature.

If you google "severe pursuit tires for law enforcement vehicles you will also see that this tire is at the top of the list from the sites I saw. What I am saying is the more you research this company and their tires the more you are impressed.

john1626

One other item on the Nokian Tires which impressed me beyond no end was Nokian test facility is located in Lapland 180 miles north of the artic circle and they test their tires for 5-6 months each year at this location.

I would think in that remote location that one would encounter just about any kind of severe conditions that you could think of...Need I say more?

pelican19

SOLD!

Thanks for the input.

guyf

I've got Nokian WR's on my XC90 as well. They are excellent! I'm in eastern Canada, so we have a bit of snow around.

edmac1

According to the service manual (hmaservice.com) the temp sensor fix should take 45 minutes. Maybe they were hoping you would not want to wait 3 hours and would just go away.

pelican19

I agree. 3 hours seems way too long. The end result is what counts tho. If your happy and it works, Great!

jimsist

just bought a new 2007 santa fe gls with 2.7 engine. got a good deal from keffer hyundai here in charlotte nc. just for all info all santa fe have auto door locks you just have to have them to program it i did this morning and its great at 15mph it locks all the doors and i don,t have to worry about. does any body know where i can buy some fog lights i,m going to add them it did not come with it. thanks jim

phatboyc

You wont regret it. The Nokian WR SUV has the best all around performance.

pelican19

E-Bay has a site called Autopia. They have a nice kit. Even comes with an LED Ring insert with a choice of colors. Seems pretty straight forward to install. IMO I would go with an OEM type lens.

supawing

I would be interested in the instructions on how to program the auto door locks, was it very difficult?
Thanks

pelican19

For some strange reason Hyundai had disabled this feature in production. Your dealer can set it during any service visit...

joe97

Some people wanted to set it at one speed while others at another speed.

pelican19

Yes. Hyundai caused the issue. Just one speed would have solved the problem. I just cant figure out why you would want your doors to lock any higher than 15 mph. If it were up to me the simple act of shifting out of park should lock the doors. JMO

edmac1

The only U.S. Nokian dealer I can find on their web site is in Nashville, Tenn. Am I doing something wrong?

stever

That's a funny little bug.

When you get to the USA box click on North American Dealers on the left side - link.

That even finds Boise, :-)

edmac1

I have been back to the dealer several times with my new 07 SF to ask questions about maintenance items and have also asked about getting the auto door locks turned on. They always put me off by saying "oh, we can do that when you bring it in for the first oil change." The message I am getting is that they want to extract some money from me before they will do it. If Hyundai really wanted to please their customers, they would ask the customer at time of delivery if they wanted the auto door locks turned on. Since I don't intend to have the dealer do any routine maintenance, I may never get it done.

tjk850

I believe auto locking doors is an important safety feature that Hyundai should make known to everyone. I watched as my dealer performed the turn on for free, it took less than ten minutes. It appears that only the dealers will have the equipment needed to plug into the car’s computerized system to activate the locking doors.

pelican19

IF YOUR HYUNDAI DEALER wanted to please its customers they would do it. Hyundai Motor company did please its customers by offering several different speeds to activate it. Thats why its not on by default. The Santa Fe lacks the ability to turn on the interior lights by the driver and the map lights do not come on when the doors are open leaving the front very dark at night when exiting the vehicle. This is a sad omission. My 07 Entourage SE has these features but lacks the door lock feature. Very strange, otherwise both are very capable automobiles...JMO

jimsist

just bought my 2007 santa fe from kiffer hyundai in charlotte.now i knew about the door lock when i bought it and they were not on so i took it to my service dealer of harrelson hyundai .they not only set the door locks but the auto light control also.now why not the selling dealer? i bought my first santa fe from harrelson and the service dept is the best i have ever worked with.As for buying my hyundai from harrelson never in a millon years.where can i get some fog light kit?

caribou2

I think I read somewhere that the 16" tires will perform better in snow than the 18" tires...I wounder if someone can confirm this?

I think I'm just about sold on the 07 Santa Fe. I am going to take the Chev Equinox out for one final test drive, but so far, everything I've tested (X-Trail,Torrent, etc) can't compare....I want them to (always been a Chevy guy), but they don't- maybe it's those fancy LED illuminated cup holders

I have a question about the 50/50 lock. Can I just leave the 50/50 lock on all the time when driving in snow (i.e., drop the kids off at school) or is it just for driving out of a ditch or something?

phatboyc

The 50/50 lock start to disable itself at 30 km/h and is fully off at 40km/h. If you leave it on it automatically starts to locks back up under 40km/h. The manual states it is meant to help you in mud and snow. Since it activates itself anyway when it detects 4% wheel spin, you find you don't need to engage it manually in most cases.

pelican19

AWD is NOT ALL TIME on the Santa Fe. Under normal driving conditions the Santa Fe is front wheel drive. If the sensor detects wheel spin in the rear the AWD kicks in. With the AWD 50/50 Lock AWD is enabled full time up to 19 mph or so miles then begins to release fully at 23 mph. It will not re-engage until your speed falls below 23 mph. Don't quote me on the numbers but I think I am real close. So the short answer is yes, you can leave it on but you do not have to. It will just waste gas when you dont need the traction below 23 mph. When you are in a ditch you want constant traction on all wheels and this is needed. If your in a ditch with the lock off the system will wait for wheel spin to engage. I apologize for the long winded response but I thought you would like to know how the system works. There are other factors to AWD systems I left out like the number of sensors greatly increases the response time and so on. Search the net for more information on AWD systems. Makes for some interesting reading...

caribou2

Thanks for the reply.
I thought I read somewhere that you can damage something if you left it on around corners or on dry pavement (if 50/50 is left on by mistake). Has anyone else heard of this?

pelican19

No. I have not read or heard anything like that. Again, if you left it on it disables itself at speed. Also, once the vehicle is shut down and re-started the 50/50 is re-set.

mycgilligan

Thought of a question...with the roadside assistance that Hyundai is now offering....what number do you call? I can't find it in my owner's manual, but may just be missing it.

pelican19

Hyundai Roadside Assistance 1 800 243 7766

You must have your VIN # handy when calling.