Hyundai Santa Fe Real World MPG

obkt · July 2010

Averaged 27.8 MPG on a 1350 mile round trip from southern New Mexico to Colorado Springs. 2010 Limited, fwd with 2.4 engine. All but about 100 miles was freeway, 80 mph with cruise. AC on the whole time. Each time I gassed up my computer said the range was about 345 miles.
Still happy with our purchase.

dvancleave · July 2010

I recently sold my 2006 Santa Fe 3.5L AWD SUV due to poor gas mileage. No matter what I did I could never manage better than 21 MPG with it, even on the highway. Otherwise I liked the vehicle. But it was second car for me. I also have a 2005 Elantra and love it. It has 121k miles on it now and still returns 30+ MPG consistently winter or summer. And I run the A/C in the summer too. But I am a taller and stocky fella and considering the idea of buying another Santa Fe. I really like the 2010 Santa Fe SE with AWD. I am interested in hearing from folks on their experience with real world gas mileage who have a 2010 with the 3.5L engine. I got bitten once taking the advice of the window sticker and sales folks on my 2006. I'm not about to repeat that mistake. Thanks to all who help out.

wetsfee · July 2010

I have the 4 cyl Santa Fe and get 20 to 22 mpg around town. NOTE: This is not city driving but urban driving. Car has plenty of power and I'm not one to tromp on the gas when I pull out. Have not had it on a total highway trip, but just going for short trips on highway, it gets 26 to 27 mpg. I really like the car with the AWD. Need it here for the winters. Not sure about the room though if you are a "tall stocky fellow". My son-in-law thought there could be more room.

mtnman1 · July 2010

I am only adding this to this thread because I believe the Santa Fe V6 is the same engine used in the Kia. I have a 2011 Sorento EX V6 Fwd with just over 1000 miles on it in which about 360 of those miles were put on this past weekend on a trip from Columbus to Pittsburgh and back. I started tracking our driving on the tank prior to our trip and we filled up as we left Columbus and got an actual 19.1 mpg which was about 90 to 95% city driving. The second fill up on the way back which was on road that at times was 2 lane 55 mph with traffic and other times 4 lane expressway at 70 mph. Ran into a good amount of construction and also had some city driving while in Pittsburgh visiting relatives. Also, anyone who has traveled between the two cities will tell you there are many long steep hills to go up and down. The Actual MPG was 23.92 and the cars computer read out was exactly 24 mpg. I thought both fill ups MPG was outstanding on a vehicle that will only get better as I put more miles on it. I had a 2003 Hyundai Sonata V6 that I gave to my daughter a couple of years ago and it didn't really start getting it's full MPG potential until it had about 5000 miles on it. It was rated 27 on the Highway, but I usually got 30 mpg. I only bring up the Hyundai because I consider Kia and Hyundai pretty much the same company.

dvancleave · July 2010

This actually is quite useful information to me. You are right, the powertrain is basically the same for the 2011 Sorento and 2010 Santa Fe. I appreciate the input. I could certainly live with that kind of gas mileage from a(n) SUV/CUV. THANKS!

mtnman1 · July 2010

Your very welcome. Glad I could help. Have you test driven a Sorento? I was looking at the Santa Fe one day and saw that the dealership also sold Kia vehicles. I decided to go ahead and test drive the Sorento. I thought it was beautiful inside and out. The ride was great. Very smooth and quiet. I got the EX with the premium Package 2 I think it was. It was the package with Heated Leather Seats, Panoramic Roof, and a couple of other things that I can't remember off the top of my head. Also got carpeted floor mats, Security cover for the cargo area, and wheel locks. It Retailed for $31,100 and my out the door price was $28,673 which included Tax, Title, and Fees. There are many great offer out there on this vehicle in my area such as $1000 under invoice and a $2000 Rebate. There is also 0% for 36 months on a loan in lieu of the rebates. I went with the rebate and 3.24% for 36 from a bank that the dealership came up with. Sounds like you are sold on the Santa Fe, but I just thought you may want to look at the Sorento.

bigbruno · July 2010

Greetings, I recently purchased a 2010 Santa Fe Limited. Now it has about 1,500 miles. I am getting between 17-18 mpg in suburban area driving and 25 MPG on the highway. The computer says I average 24 miles an hour. This seems a bit low compared to the mpg stated on the sticker.
Do you think I should bring it back to the dealer for a check up?
Thanks Big Bruno

obkt · July 2010

I wouldn't. My 2010 Limited got about the same mileage as your getting, but after about 3500 miles the MPG really changed. I'm now getting 22-23 MPG in town and 27MPG in the highway. See my posts #397, 405 and 410.

bigbruno · July 2010

ok thanks. I'll take you advice. For now I only drive the car on weekends as I still have my 98 Camry...they didn't want to give me much on a trade-in but the car is in fine condition. Hopefully as the milage goes up I will improve on gas milage. I still LOVE the car though. I will be using it in retirement when I begin volunteering to transport pound dogs to and from the vets, and to others who adopt the dogs. Too cool. Thanks again.

designingwoman · July 2010

Edgar, I feel your pain. When I purchased my 2007 3.3 Limited SF 2WD almost three years ago, it averaged less than 14.5 miles per gallon. And like your dealer told you, my dealer told me that I could expect my mileage to improve as the car aged and was "broken in." But the number NEVER budged.

After 33,000 miles, it broke down. All repairs (due to a "leaking front valve cover gasket causing oil saturation & failure of the alternator") were covered under warranty. But here's the funny thing: after we picked it up from the dealer, our mileage jumped to 17.3 mpg.

I'm at a loss. Why did my mileage improve so suddenly? More to the point, does this mean I've been overpaying at the pump all these years because of a factory fault?

edgarheil · July 2010

Thanks for your post; it validates what I suspected (which is that the car should get a higher mileage - as some owners report - and, therefore, there is something 'wrong' with it). I also think about how much I overspent in gas due to this and it makes me sick. I'm going for one more round of trying to get this resolved with the dealer / Hyundai...

dakotakid78 · July 2010

I own a 2005 Hyundai Elantra that gets 30 miles/gal in the city and it's been a great car. Really impressed with Hyundai's build quality. That good experience, and some thorough research is what led me to purchase a new 2009 Sante Fe Limited AWD to replace our aging Chrysler minivan. The only thing I'm dissapointed with so far is the highway mileage. It's rated at 17 city and 24 highway which I would be satisfied with if I could average that kind of highway mpg. It had 5000 miles on it when we purchased it 2 weeks ago. We took it on a long trip last week to Big Sky Montana from Minneapolis (2200 miles round trip). We had 4 people in the vehicle and the back was loaded with gear and we drove 75 mph the whole way out and back. We had the air on most of the trip and we were bucking a pretty strong head wind about half the way on the trip out. The elevation was climbing the whole way out (Minneapolis - 900 ft, Big Sky - 7500 ft). We averaged 19 mpg on the trip out. I wasn't too concerned about that given the elevation climb and the head wind. However, on the way back we only averaged 21.3. I did notice that the instantaneous mileage seems to improve by a couple mpg if you slow down to 65 mph. We now have 7900 miles on the vehicle ... so I assume it would be considered "broken in". We have only driven it around town (metro driving) for a couple of days (with 1 person in the vehicle) and so far it's averaging around 20 in the city (which is fine with me).

bigbruno · July 2010

Greetings, when you say you got 20 to 22 MPG with urban driving, do you know what your "average miles per hour" was? Thanks, Bruno

treyal · July 2010

The book says that my 2010 sante Fe 3.5 v6 requires 87 octane or better. Any one running 86 octane and see performance or mpg changes?

obkt · July 2010

I live at 4000 feet and most of my driving is at that altitude or higher. 86 octane is the standard at all the gas stations here and the Santa Fe runs just fine. On a recent trip to Colorado, where the altitude was 6000 feet, I put 85 octane in and it was fine. I have put 87 in when I can find it but I don't notice any difference in performance or mileage.

zaky · October 2010

Dear helpers
I just purchased a used 2001 Santa Fe , 75000miles, a month ago and since then I realized the millage is as low as 13-14 MPG. I couldn't believe it and I kept recalculating in all the 5 times I fueled and nothing but confirmation, the car consumes a gallon for every 13 miles!!!

In all forums I did not find a MPG similarly low. A trustable car mechanic examined it and told me everything seems fine and nothing could be done. I confirm I am absolutely not an aggressive driver and the AC was turned on only twice for less than 30 min each.
Please help me what should I do.Should I get it back to the dealer?It is a completely unaffordable situation.
Thanks a lot
samer

ivak · October 2010

Have just taken our 2010 Santa Fe on its maiden voyage. Left to drive from Niagara area in Ontario to Myrtle Beach, SC. The car had 505 km on it when we departed and we returned with 3706 km. Primarily highway with some driving around in Myrtle Beach.
Did a bunch of conversions to get a figure of 20.1 mpg (US gallons). I guess this isn't too bad and hopefully we will get an improvement after a break in period. I should add that I drive to maximize mileage but my wife tends to be a lead foot at times.

bokonon3 · October 2010

Gas mileage on the Santa Fe does improve over time. Don't worry. It is not a gas hog (unlike, say, some of the competition).

My wife and I have a 2008 Santa Fe with about 33K miles on it, and we drive it all over the place here in Colorado - local driving, highway, up and down mountains, etc. We generally get around 19 to 20 mpg around town, and around 25 mpg on the highway. We have even gotten as much as 28 mpg driving at constant speeds on long, straight, western highways, but as low as 17 mpg in spirited local driving.

All the way around, not bad.

I find the car does better on mid-grade fuel, and with something other than the OEM tires.

edgarheil · October 2010

I'm glad to hear that someone is getting good mileage on a SF. We have a 2007 Limited FWD and, as far as we can recall, we have NEVER gotten anything over 24 MPG (driving for mileage). In town, our mileage varies between 17 and 18 and, on the highway, between 20 or 21. I fill it up with 87 gas (Costco brand) and still have the original tires... I have taken this to the dealer and they say that's just how it is. Overall, we like the car but the mileage is lagging in my opinion...

rppauto · December 2010

I bought my first new vehicle.
2011 Hyundai Santa FE AWD SE v6. Done 1500 miles so far.
mpg are heartbreaking.

Pure highway 230 miles = 13gallons = 17.6mpg.
Speed 70mph. Temperature 32F.
Tire pressure OK
Load = 1 passenger
AWD lock = OFF
A/C = OFF and yes, i drive very smoothly.

I did several long distance highway trips and i got just about same mpg.

This is heartbreaking and very disappointing.
Any inputs would be greatly appreciated.

bigbruno · December 2010

I purchased a 2010 Santa Fe 6 months ago. The gas mileage is improving as I rack more miles on the car. I've been told it should get a lot better around 7,000 to 8,000. I have about 4,000 right now.
Please keep us up-to-date.
Thanks Big Bruno

rppauto · December 2010

Thanks. How much do you highway mpg do you get for your vehicle?

Did you do anything special (ex: synthetic oil change, engine flush etc) do get more mpg?

bigbruno · December 2010

You're welcome. When I purchased the car, I was getting 18 MPH (mostly suburb driving). At about 4,500 miles, I'm getting around 20 MPG. My friend also has same car (4 cylinder front wheel drive) and is getting 24 MPG at 7,000 miles. Hope this helps.

rppauto · December 2010

thanks. 18 or 20mpg for city is quite good and close to EPA.

However, i am not sure how much will my Santa Fe progress from 18 mpg HIGHWAY.

At times, i wonder if my Santa Fe is internally always locked in AWD OR
is it incorrectly configured to have very rich fuel : air ratio?
Do we know how is the fuel : air ratio controlled? Is that something we can check?

I will continue posting here.
Thanks again for your inputs and wish you 'Happy Holidays'.

edgarheil · December 2010

FYI, I was told the same thing by a dealer in San Diego but I now have a little over 25K miles and never saw any big improvement (I have a 2007 FWD Limited 3.3). I got so fed up that I opened a case w/ Hyundai and they arranged for the District Manager to look at the car. He measured the mileage on the highway (he actually did a pretty "controlled" experiment, noting the route he took, speed (70 MPH) having A/C on, etc.) and got 21.9 MPG. The problem with that is the it's the suburb/city mileage that is bad and the one that really reflects how we use the car (we get around 18, being light on the gas and hardly no A/C).

After that, I pretty much gave up on getting better mileage. My "theory" is that other drivers get better mileage due to variances on car build (besides differences in driving style, terrain, etc.). Any suggestions would be appreciated...

Edgar

rppauto · December 2010

In my case, i topped the tank and started for NH from NJ.
I again had to top up the tank in 230 miles. had to fill in 13 gallons.

So, this was pure 100% highway miles @ 70mph.
No slow traffic.

To me this is very discouraging.
Can you please tell me the path to get Hyundai's attention?
I would wait for another 2-3k miles before approaching them.

wetsfee · December 2010

When I bought my Santa Fe, I was driving it in the local area and on the highways. I was getting 20 to 23 mpg. I then retired and drive mainly in my local area which involves more stoppng and starting. My mileage is now down to 18 to 19 mpg. Also, I noticed a big difference when the cold weather came. It took a lot longer for the "ECO" light to come on. I am assuming that is also causing less mpg. I am still satisfied with the car. It is a 4 cly model.

graceh · January 2011

Something is definitely wrong with our 2009 Santa Fe. We cannot get more than15 mpg on the highway. My husband has been back and forth with multiple dealers and nothing has improved in the past year. We are now looking to buy an Equinox! Any suggestions???? please???

bigbruno · January 2011

Is it a 6 cylinder or 4? Is the car under any warranty? did you buy it new or used? What are the dealers saying/doing? thanks Bruce

rppauto · January 2011

I have a new 2011 Santa FE AWD SE.
I learnt that the max mpg is at 60ph and then its all downhill to 22mpg at 70mph+.

I am not very confident on the transmission (it appears to downshift and seems to dampen the speed) everytime i leave my foot of the acceleration.
However, there is no actual downshift because when i immediately shift to manual tx mode i see that the gear is still in 5th/6th gear.

At times, i also feel that the vehicle is too rigid and "bound" i.e. its AWD locked internally at all times.

Is your a/c running too high?

Perhaps, above things could be pointers to help your case

somedai1 · February 2011

what kind of driving do you do? short trips, idling, warming up the car before driving - these will make the mpg lower...

graceh · February 2011

my husband drives all highway, 65mpg. 40 miles round trip per day. We will never buy another Hyundai every again! The amount of $ we spend on gas supercedes the warantee that's supposed to be so wonderful. There are no words to express our disappointment. Tires are checked, oil is changed, air filter is clean, etc. Does anyone get more than 14mpg on the highway? We'll buy American from now on. HOpefully we can trade this car in soon...

rppauto · February 2011

yes, i do realize your frustration.
For the given gas mileage and resale value, it is not worth buying Santa FE.

Santa FE costs less than RAV4 (v6) and other SUVs but probably is not worth venturing away from more popular manufacturers.

mtnman1 · February 2011

You are making a blanket statement about an entire line just because a small minority of people aren't getting the mpg they should. I have spokent to many Santa Fe owners and they are very pleased with the vehicle and the Mpg. I bought a 2011 Kia Sorento EX V6 and have been getting about 19 city/26 Hwy. It has about 7400 miles on it. I would say that if someone is only getting 14mpg they need to take it to the dealership and ask them to go over the engine with a fine tooth comb. They can run all kinds of diagnostic tests on it and if they don't find any issues then it has to be driving style. Cold months will reduce Mpg for all brands as well. You have got to realize that 90% of people that participate in threads like this are looking for a place to vent. The vast majority that are pleased with their vehicles have no interest, so will never post anything. The other 10% of participants just love cars and like to see what's going on in the car world. I believe Hyundai and Kia are making some of the best vehicles in the world right now. And I'm mainly a Ford man which I think are also tops. Just personal experience.

mikea11414 · February 2011

I've been reading these board for awhile now, mostly been in the thread about the tranny problems. I picked up my 6 cyl AWD Santa Fe Limited yesterday and so far with 200 miles I'm getting 20.3 MPG. I know it's early so I'll drop in here from time to time to let you know what kind of MPG I'm getting.
Love the car so far. I had a leased 09 Murano before it, loved that too but I'm buying the Hyundai.

mtnman1 · February 2011

This is normal for these vehicles. I have a 2011 Sorento EX V6 and it does the same thing though it is FWD. The Sante Fe and Sorento have the same drivetrain and it is something that you will get used to. At first I thought the same thing. Now I don't think anything of it and have not had any problems with the transmission or my fuel economy. I don't buy the theory of 60 mph. Don't know who told you that, but it is a load of crap. We have driven back and forth between Columbus, Ohio and Pittsburgh about 6 times since we bought the car back in June and we have averaged about 26 mpg on the Highway going 70 mph. That's even when we had the A/C on back in the summer and Fall.

graceh · February 2011

Dear Mike,
good luck with your new Santa Fe...I hope you continue to have good mileage. Our 2009 tops out at 15 mgp highway..that's it. When the car is filled up at the pump, we ave 20mpg/highway for not more than one day's travel back and forth to work.. Then it's back to 14/15mpg/nighway. Our frustration level is quite high after being to numerous car dealers with absolutely no improvement. Just less mileage as the car ages. Too bad we only had it 13 months...can't image what next year's mileage would bring! WE love the car, but can't afford to pay the extra $$ every month on gas. The sticker on the window was sadly misleading. I think it's mechanical, but 3 mechanics cannot find anything wrong.

mikea11414 · February 2011

Thank you graceh, my friend has an 09 santa fe. I'm going to ask him what kind of mpg he's getting . I'll let you know. I really like this car but there's at least 2 things I miss from my murano. One is the keyless entry and push button start. It was nice not having to look for my key to open the lock or start the car. The other thing is the murano had a softer ride and took the bumps better, not as much noise on bad roads. I'll learn to live with it though. Good luck getting your problem figured out...did you try calling customer relations over at hyundai? Maybe they can send you to a dealer with a top man there to look over your car.

rppauto · February 2011

Thanks for your comment on FWD and tranmission.

But, mpg does fall dramatically for me.
I get 27-28mpg at 60mph and then it falls to 23mpg at 70mph+.

This is with the same driving conditions that i have at 27-28mpg.
If you see previous messages in this forum you will notice others having similiar mpg at higher speeds.

Comment for the other person who is getting 14mpg on the highway:
I learnt from my other car that having new spark plugs (if they have gone bad) and cleaning fuel injection system increased my mpg by 4mpg.

Hope this helps.

mikea11414 · February 2011

graceh,

I spoke to my buddy and he said he has about 40,000 miles on his 09 Santa Fe and he's getting about 22-24 mpg...most of his miles are highway miles.

graceh · February 2011

Hey Mike, thanks for your msg. My husband was at the dealers yesterday and they did a 15,000 mile checkup and changed filters, etc. They told him to keep a journal and they will continue to monitor our problem. Yesterday mileage was 15.4mpg...strictly highway driving. Will keep everyone posted on progress throughout Feb. If this doesn't work, we're getting rid of the Santa Fe....maybe it's a "lemon"???

rppauto · February 2011

1) Did anyone check the fuel injection system?

2) Is it possible that the fuel : air ratio is set too high?

karhanter · February 2011

what are your speeds while driving on the highway? if you drive at or above 85 mph you will get around 16 . i have a 2011 Santa Fe GLS FWD Automatic. When i am going at 60-67 the trip computer shows 28 - 29 MPG. While Driving at 68 - 72 it is showing 24-25 MPG. For speeds about 73 - 80 it is showing 21-23 MPG. Above 80 - 85 it shows 18-19 MPG. Above 85 it shows 15 - 18 MPG. These are my observations during a 2000 mile long drive. During this trip, i drove 190 miles at speed of 85 - 95 mph (average speed 90 mph) and i got 15.3 MPG. I think upto 75 mph you will get decent MPG i.e upto 23-24 MPG.

mtnman1 · February 2011

Just wondering if you are going off the car's computer for Mpg or if you are actually doing the calculations yourself. If by the car's computer this could be way off. You may have stated earlier that you are doing the actual Mpg manually, so I apoligize if you have.

graceh · February 2011

my husband drive 65-70 mph highway. We're hopeing that the maintenance done on his car last week improves the mileage...the dealer asked him to keep a ledger.

graceh · February 2011

we're using the car's computer...no need to apologize. We also let the car go almost empty and filled it up to see how many miles per tank he was getting. It had decreased by almost 100 miles since her purchased it last Oct.

mtnman1 · February 2011

Using the car's computer can be very inaccurate. Now you may have been saying what I'm suggesting here in your message, but just in case try the following. Fill up and reset your trip computer. Do not squeeze anymore gas in the tank beyond when the trigger on the fuel pump stops. Then on your next fill up record the number of miles showing on the trip computer. Take the total miles traveled since the last fill up and divide the number of gallons it took on the current fillup into the miles traveled. Ex: traveled 200 miles and put in 10 gallons (200/10 = 20mpg). Do this on every fill up and you will get a much more accurate idea of your MPG.

ecotrklvr · February 2011

All vehicles get fewer miles per gallon in colder weather. All the fluids n the engine and transaxle are cold and thick, and this robs some power every trip you take.

Don't forget to check tire pressure - you'll need to add air in cold weather just to keep the pressure up. I run mine at max recommended - 33 psi. Underinflated tires are one of THE major reason for poor gas mileage, in all seasons. Cold weather just makes it happen without us noticing.

obkt · February 2011

mtnman1 is right. I have a 2010 limited 4 cyl and I found that my computer is reading low. Not by much, only a mile per gallon, but my Fe has the optional 18" wheels. The computer would be off more if I had the standard 17" wheels. BTW, even with the computer error, I get an average of 23 around town and 26 HWY. However, in west Texas where the speed limit is 85, I get about 21 at those speeds. I have also found that buying named brand gas, like Shell or Exon, increase mileage. The cheaper stuff is just that, cheaper.

kyfdx · February 2011

Optional wheels won't affect your trip computer... The outside circumference of the tire should be the same, whether you have 17" or 18" wheels.

Hyundai Santa Fe Real World MPG

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