The Family Friendly 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe

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I was flown to Coronado, CA to learn about and test drive the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe. Travel and Food were provided, but no other compensation was received and all opinions are 100% my own.

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to go to San Diego for the weekend, to hang out with Hyundai and learn about the 2013 Santa Fe. I’ll talk more about my trip in another post, but for now this post is all about the Santa Fe and there is a lot to tell. So grab a drink, your reading glasses, lock the kids in their rooms (totally joking) and read on…

It didn’t really say that, but it sure is the perfect family car. Besides, If cars could talk… It would totally say it!

Where do I even begin? There is so much to talk about. From the new design to the fabulous features and more. I guess we’ll begin from the outside in and go from there! The new 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe has a new bold design and is longer then previous models. The Longer design allows the new Santa Fe to fit 5 to 7 passengers, depending on the seating options you pick. Available in 9 exterior and 4 interior color combinations. All of the colors are beautiful, but I was loving the red a.k.a “regal red pearl”. It is a nice shiny red color and made the car look beautiful. I really like the new bold, but sleek design of the CUV and it’s something I would love seeing parked out in my driveway.

Now let’s get onto the features, since we all know those are top contenders when buying a car, Right?

The new Santa Fe has some great new features. The one that really stuck out to me were all the charging ports. All of my cars have 1 port and it’s a pain when going out if my husband and I both need to charge our phones. The new Santa Fe has 2 ports up front along with a usb port, a port in the middle seat area, and a port in the trunk/back area along with a 115V power outlet, perfect for charging your electronics on the go. I love how they added so many charging ports and added some in the back so your teen, kid, or another adult can charge from the back seats. Long gone are the days of fighting over who gets to charge their phone or only being able to charge one of your electronic devices while on the go or on a trip.

Lots of Room

When we moved to Colorado my Husband bought be a huge SUV and while the front and middle seats are roomy, the third row has no leg room and I’ve noticed this is a common problem in a lot of SUV’s and CUV’s. With the Santa Fe I got the chance to sit in the middle row and loved how spacious and roomy it was. I never felt cramped and I was able to stretch out with no problem. I glanced into the back (the 3rd row) to see how spacious it was and was shocked that there was a decent amount of leg room back there. While I didn’t sit back there, I’m confident in saying that anyone who sits in the 3rd row would have some leg room and wouldn’t be too cramped.

The trunk is also spacious as well. When the 3rd row is up there is a small amount of trunk space, but the third row folds down fully or can fold down in sections, if you only need one of the seats and the middle row folds down in sections as well. There is also a storage compartment under the floor board in the trunk. For a family on the go there is enough room for everything you should need and more.

Stain Resistant Seats

I think it’s safe to safe kids are messy and with those messes come odors and stains, but the Santa Fe has YES Essentials Stain Resistant Cloth Seats. YES Essentials has advanced, repel-and-release technology that offers stain resistance and fast drying time, so even the messiest spills clean up easily. The Odor-eliminating fibers significantly improve air quality by removing the lingering smells that stains and moisture can leave behind and the high-performance interiors offer a lifetime of protection by preventing stains, improving air quality and even reducing static shock. This is a #winning combination for the Santa Fe and a must have for families.

Blue Link

Blue Link combines safety, service and infotainment features to simplify owners’ lives and reduce distracted driving. Blue Link brings seamless connectivity directly into the car with technology like voice text messaging, POI web search download, turn-by-turn navigation, and monthly vehicle reporting. Hyundai Blue Link telematics is standard on all Santa Fe models with up to a one-year complimentary trial period. Blue Link can be easily accessed from the buttons on the rear view mirror, the web, and via a smart phone.

Another great perk of Blue Link are the alerts parents can receive when their teen driver takes part in unsafe behavior behind the wheel. The Geo-Fence feature allows you to set boundaries. If  you don’t want the vehicle and your teen driver to go beyond a certain speed or a certain area you can tell Geo-Fence and it will notify you via text, email, or voice mail of your teens misbehavior.

Power Tailgate

I really love a power tailgate. There is nothing worse then walking to your car and having your hands full of stuff and not being able to open your trunk. With the push of a button your trunk automatically opens by time you reach your Santa Fe and you can easily put your bags into the CUV’s trunk and there is even a button on the trunk door that will automatically close the door once you’re done.

Some other noteworthy features of the 2013 Santa Fe are the panoramic sun roof, heated second row seats, remote keyless entry and push to start, built in window visors, and climate control.

Safety

Family comes first and riding around in a safe vehicle is a must. The Santa Fe has driver and front-passenger advanced airbags, driver and front passenger seat-mounted side-impact airbags, roof-mounted side curtain airbags with rollover sensors, driver knee airbag, 3 point seat belts and upper and lower anchors. The Santa Fe is the big brother to the Santa Fe Sport, which has good crash test ratings and the Santa Fe is expected to follow right behind those ratings. It’s a car that not only looks good, but keeps your family safe.

I’ve talked about the features, which are all awesome, but I still need to tell you how it drives. I got to drive this bad boy from Coronado through San Diego and up into the mountains to Julian. We drove along some windy and bumpy roads. The Santa Fe handled beautifully. Way above my expectations. It hugged every turn and curve with ease, the bumps were minimal, and overall it was a smooth and pleasant drive. It handled hills with ease as well and when I needed to put the petal to the metal the Santa Fe was able to do it’s job.

The new 2013 Santa Fe is an overall great CUV to have. I really liked everything about it and that’s rare. There is usually something on a car I don’t like, but I can’t think of one thing in the Santa Fe that I didn’t like. They thought of everything a family would need when making this car and it really shows. It’s perfect for a growing family on the go!

The Hyundai Santa Fe starts at just $24,450 and comes in a variety of colors, seating, and technology options. Price varies on model purchased.

Make sure to stop by instagram and twitter and check out the #newsantafe hash tag to see the thoughts and pictures of all the other bloggers who got to check out this fabulous car and stop by my instagram page to see the adventures I took in this bad boy!