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Vehicle Min Max 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe $7,991 $7,991 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee $27,981 $45,115 2013 Ford Explorer N/A N/A 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser $31,000 $31,000 Average $22,324 $28,035 
Used Car Price Range$7,991
Vehicle Min Max 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe $136 $136 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee $475 $766 2013 Ford Explorer N/A N/A 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser $527 $527 Average $379 $476 Based On: 10% down, 5% APR, 60 months
Estimated Monthly Payment$136 per month
MPG city hwy 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe 18 23 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee 16 22 2013 Ford Explorer 17 24 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser 17 20 Average 17 22 MPG18 City | 23 Highway
$1,250 Rebate Expires 05/31/2012
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2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Review Summary
What reviewers liked most about the 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe:
...V6 engine is a powerful, smooth, free-revving engine that's close to being the best V6 engine in its class.
- Canadian Driver...suspension represents a good compromise between ride and handling, with the edge given to ride.
- AutoWeek...we liked how the Santa Fe drove, both on and off paved roads.
- New Car Test DriveThe driving position is upright and offers a commanding view of the road, while the rear seat has been packaged to maximize leg room.
- Automobile...excellent 10-year/100,000 limited powertrain and 5-year/60,000-mile limited bumper-to-bumper warranties.
- Edmunds.com...an SUV-shaped package with all-weather mobility, yet it's soft around the edges like the Sonata sedan from which its hardware is derived... follows the pattern set so successfully by the Lexus RX 300.
- Automobile...4-speed automatic 'Shiftronic' transmission that can be shifted manually (the only one in a compact SUV).
- Canadian DriverInside are storage nooks everywhere, including under the seats.
- AutoWeekSanta Fe is a full featured, car-derived sport/ute with a starting price of just $16,499.
- The Car Connection...full-time, all-wheel drive was surefooted in conditions that befuddle more-expensive systems.
- USA Today
What reviewers liked least about the 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe:
[Full-time all-wheel drive] comes at the price of an additional 331 pounds, and the added weight makes the Santa Fe lethargic in the way it steers, corners, and accelerates.
- Automobile...a scant 7.4 inches of maximum ground clearance...
- Edmunds.com...the four-speed automatic seems random in its decisions to shift.
- Car and Driver
2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Comparisons:
...larger and roomier than Asian competitors as the Honda CRV, Toyota RAV4 and Subaru Forester...
- Woman Motoristcomes close to rivaling the haulage capacity of seven-seaters like Acura's MDX and the Mercury Mountaineer.
- The Car ConnectionThe rear liftgate avoids the mistake made by the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, whose right-side hinged tailgates force U.S. buyers to walk around the tailgate to load and unload from the curbside.
- New Car Test DriveCargo-wise, the Ford Escape is the only competitor significantly bettering the Santa Fe.
- New Car Test Drivethe Escape drives as if it's in a class far above the Santa Fe.
- Automobile
Best one-liners about the 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe:
It's a crowded poker game, but Santa Fe is holding a decent hand.
- The Car Connection...the best thing to come from any Korean automaker since forever.
- USA TodayAt $20,234 as tested, this is the screaming bargain of the [compact sport utility] bunch.
- Car and Driver
2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Introduction
The Hyundai Santa Fe drives well on and off paved roads. It's an inexpensive, compact sport-utility with a tall seating position and generous cargo capacity. Its curvaceous body looks friendly, yet ready for the outdoors. All of this belies the Santa Fe's car-like ride and handling.
2003 Santa Fe models come standard with side-impact air bags. New interior upgrades include a revised dashboard center stack, larger air conditioning vents, and a revised overhead console, and GLS and LX versions come with a new 218-watt Monsoon stereo.
The Santa Fe is backed by Hyundai's long and comprehensive warranty, making it one of the most attractive small SUV's on the market.
2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Walkaround
The Hyundai Santa Fe was designed to look different from other sport-utilities. Its visage is softer, more subdued than the demi-brutish, jut-jawed facade prevalent on today's quasi-off-roaders (think Ford Escape). Yet the Santa Fe still looks forceful and its curvy lines continue to draw attention as it enters its fourth season.
Santa Fe's proportions are nicely balanced. The friendly front end blends smoothly into gentle flanks. The design suggests sufficient robustness for off-road capability. Large wheel arches reinforce this impression of strength. The glasshouse is adequately sized.
Open the engine hood on a 2003 model, and you'll find that gas-charged struts have replaced last year's prop rod. But the windows in the rear doors still don't roll all the way down, a shortcoming shared with other small SUVs.
The Santa Fe's rear liftgate works well. Hyundai avoided the mistake made by the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, whose tail doors swing to the right, blocking access from the curb. That design is not convenient at U.S. airports. By hinging the hatch at the top, Hyundai provides a universal solution. Opening the rear hatch is a cinch with its pistol-grip latch handle and gas struts. Closing it is just as easy with a pull-down grip mounted inside. When open, the liftgate easily clears six-foot foreheads.
2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Interior Features
Getting in and out of the Hyundai Santa Fe is easy, thanks to its low step-in height. You don't have to climb up to get in or climb down to get out. And rear-seat passengers don't need to turn their feet sideways to clear the doorjamb.
Once in, the interior is friendly to the touch. Large controls for the stereo and heating/ventilation/air conditioning offer easy adjustment. Climate controls look and feel and plasticky, though.
For 2003, Hyundai revised the center-stack section of the instrument panel, and moved the Santa Fe's digital clock from the overhead console to the middle of the dashboard where it's easier to see. The center air conditioning vents are larger now. Bright trim dresses up the inside door releases and parking-brake handle. On GLS and LX, the shift knob and shift quadrant are brightened by chrome trim. On all Santa Fe models, Hyundai has added illumination to the power window switches and glovebox interior, improved the map light, and revised the layout of the overhead console.
Front seats are quite comfortable, and the driver's seat adjusts eight ways to accommodate different body shapes and preferences. Space-wise, the Santa Fe equals or betters the competition. Only the Ford Escape tops the Santa Fe by more than a half-inch in front-seat headroom or hip room.
Rear-seat headroom equals or beats all its competition, except for the Suzuki Grand Vitara. Rear legroom in the Santa Fe equals or tops everyone's. Rear-seat cupholders are molded into the door-mounted map pockets. The rear seatback reclines, and last year's awkward reclining mechanism has been redesigned for 2003.
Hyundai has added ISOFIX child-seat anchors at both outboard seating positions to the 2003 models. Head restraints and three-point seatbelts are provided for outboard passengers as well, while the center-rear passenger must make do with a lap belt only. The outboard shoulder-belt anchor loops are fixed, not adjustable (though we sometimes wonder whether anyone actually adjusts the adjustable kind). The restraining loops for rear seat-belt buckles don't appear to be very durable (but that isn't a safety item).
The Santa Fe provides as much or more cargo space than any other compact SUV except for the Ford Escape, and offers as many as nine tie-down loops to keep your gear from shifting around. Sub-floor storage bins help hide your more valuable cargo, provided it can fit in one of the bins: in other words, nothing too tall, too wide or too thick.
2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Driving Impressions
The Hyundai Santa Fe offers excellent handling, with minimal top-heaviness in corners. The brakes are refreshingly responsive, even before the ABS steps in.
We preferred driving the two-wheel-drive version. The front-drive Santa Fe proved to be much more fun, and more responsive, freed from the 203 pounds and whatever friction the four-wheel-drive system adds. EPA estimated fuel economy is 20/26 mpg city/highway for a front-wheel-drive V6 Santa Fe, and 18/24 for a V6 with four-wheel drive.
The available 2.7-liter V6 produces 173 horsepower and 182 pound-feet of torque. Those are good numbers when compared to the V6s offered in other compact SUVs. Indeed, only the Ford Escpe and Mazda Tribute, which share an optional 200-horsepower, 3.0-liter V6, offer more power in this class. The V6 Santa Fe can accelerate more quickly than the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, which offer four-cylinder engines only.
With its standard 2.4-liter four-cylinder and optional automatic transmission, however, the base model accelerates with far less vigor. Getaway from a stoplight is about as quick as a Toyota RAV4, but lags behind the CR-V, Tribute and Escape. Slamming down the throttle at highway speed brings on a smooth and prompt downshift, but acceleration that's less than fulfilling. We don't doubt the rated towing capacity, but we suspect that a 1500-pound load would be taxing.
The Santa Fe's full-time four-wheel-drive system is compact and clever, and was developed by Austrian four-wheel-drive specialists Steyr-Daimler-Puch. A planetary differential inside the front transaxle splits the drive torque equally between the front wheels, and 60/40 between the front and rear axles. The latter figure is not arbitrary, but based on the Santa Fe's 60/40 front-to-rear weight distribution. A viscous coupling overrides the differential if the wheels at either end begin to slip. The system combines proven engineering in innovative ways.
We found the four-wheel-drive Santa Fe more than up to some light off-road driving at a sometime-motorcycle circuit in Southern California. The system appears to do a good job of sending the torque where it's needed, even without the optional traction control. We jacked up the back tires, then stood on the accelerator, and our Santa Fe raced eagerly ahead.
2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Final Word
The Hyundai Santa Fe is fun to drive, particularly with a V6 and front-wheel drive. The optional four-wheel-drive system improves traction in slippery conditions, but places a burden on the V6 engine. The standard four-cylinder engine works best if it isn't burdened by an automatic transmission.
All Hyundais come with one of the best warranty/service plans in the business: 10 years/100,000 miles on the powertrain, five-years/60,000 miles bumper-to-bumper, five-years/60,000 miles on corrosion, and 24-hour roadside assistance for five-years with unlimited mileage.
Overall, the new Hyundai Santa Fe is worth a look if you are already considering the Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute, Honda CR-V, Suzuki Grand Vitara or Toyota RAV4. Take a look. You might like what you see.
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Find more information on Hyundai vehicles
- 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Specs
- 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Colors
- 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Pictures
- 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Safety
- 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Prices
- Hyundai Santa Fe Rebates
- Hyundai Santa Fe Generations
- 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe Reviews
- 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe Reviews
- 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe Reviews
- 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe Reviews
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