Hyundai Santa Fe Problems

The answer all depends on what you call off-road driving, Javed. The Ford Everest, being based on the Ranger, is a very competent off-roader. In fact, it’ll handle anything most owners would ever throw at it, while the Endura is more of a replacement for the Ford Territory. Meaning it has abilities better matched to a trip to the snow, not a true log-jumping, river-fording off-road journey.

The Sante Fe is more of the same (as the Endura) that is; a car that can cope with gravel roads and slippery surfaces, but not the rough and tumble of the Aussie bush. So it really comes down to how far off road you need to go. And if the answer is a long way, even if it’s just occasionally, then the Everest is your best choice.

You can work this out mathematically if bald numbers don’t scare you. The petrol four-cylinder Santa Fe is $3000 cheaper than the diesel. In all-wheel-drive form, the diesel has an official combined fuel consumption figure of 7.5 litres per 100km, while the petrol scores 9.3 litres. That means, that for every 100km travelled (based on those official test figures, remember) the petrol will use 1.8 litres more fuel. Based on $1.50 per litre, that means the petrol will cost about $2.70 more to run for every 100km, and that means you’d need to cover roughly 111,000km before you broke even on the extra purchase-price of the diesel. Even then, it’s not that simple as the diesel might be more expensive to service and maintain. Either way, though, petrol starts to look good.

That said, you sound like you’re in the perfect situation to make the most of a diesel engine. Yes, the turbo-diesel will tow a small caravan better than the four-cylinder petrol Santa Fe and, provided you do at least some country driving every month or so, you shouldn’t need to worry about the diesel particulate filter filling up or failing. Country driving will also stretch the diesel’s fuel consumption advantage further.
My advice? Drive both and make a decision based on the smoothness of the petrol or the relaxed flexibility and towing smarts of the diesel.

The petrol V6 has a timing belt and should be changed every 90,000 km. The diesel has a chain that doesn’t require replacement.

There are many SUVs that would fit within your budget. I would suggest you try a Toyota Kluger, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, Isuzu MU-X, Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Most versions of the Santa Fe diesel had a timing chain, but there was a 2.2-litre CRDi diesel, codenamed aD4EB-V, made between 2006 and 2010 that had a belt. Check the code number of your engine to see if you have that engine.

For starters it’s not a new car; it’s six years old. But if as you say it has only done 61,000 km and has been properly serviced by a Hyundai dealer I would approach the company and seek a good will deal that would cover some or all of the cost of repairs. It does seem like a catastrophic failure, so if dealing with Hyundai doesn’t prove successful, try your state’s consumer affairs people.

I’m gobsmacked by the dealer’s advice to take it somewhere else. I’m sure Hyundai would be happy to hear that.

The noise is not normal, something is binding up, I would suggest possibly in the steering column, or a joint in the lower steering shaft. Unfortunately these things can be hard to trace, and sometimes it found by trial and error.