A great car with a few flaws
I like the overall design, ride and handling. Excellent driver safety features and infotainment system.
I have the following issues:
I selected the SEL convenience package. It comes with a useless mood lighting feature but lacks an important safety feature which is the little radar buttons at the back that warn you of a collision with a stationary object by beeping at increasing frequency as you are about to hit the object. To get this feature I would have to go with higher trims with features I don't need and the penalty of increasing costs. Even worse, higher trims would force me into going with larger rims which means less tire rubber, increased ride harshness and increased risk of damage from potholes which are numerous where I live.
I wanted to go with a hybrid, but the lack of a spare wheel was a non-starter. the mobility kit cannot resolve all flats. Nothing worse than getting a flat that cannot be repaired in a remote area.
I waited for this model year as it added physical controls for the climate and radio. However, a frequently used control is the fan speed and this is still by touch, which means you need to take your eyes off the road to access. A rotary knob would be a great addition (I have it on my 2016 Sante Fe Sport and it is SO convenient). I tried voice commands to set up the fan speed but they don't always work and it is awkward.
I like to downshift the gears to help with braking. Most of them are fairly smooth but the shift from 2nd to 1st is very abrupt and unpleasant. It is available only under 20 mph. I had several older Hyundai and Kia cars in the past and they all had a much smoother downshift between these two gears.
My worst gripe is the status lights on the climate control panel. The blue A/C status LED and the yellow LEDs for the other controls on that panel, like the heated seats, defroster etc. They are very dim and are practically invisible in bright daylight. Again, requiring to stare at the panel for a long time to figure out the status and not looking at the road. I thought it was my particular car but a friend of mine leased a Tucson Hybrid and it has the same issue.
Recommended