FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe

So… How big is the boot of the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe? How good is storage in the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe?

When using only the first two rows of seats in the Hyundai Santa Fe will hold seventeen shopping bags, which is comparable to the Kia Sorento and Mazda CX-9 that will both also hold seventeen bags. If you need more room, the Nissan Pathfinder will hold twenty bags and Toyota Kluger will hold nineteen bags.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The twin side-by-side stroller fits in the boot of the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe with nine shopping bags beside it.

The tandem stroller fits in the boot of the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe, with eight shopping bags beside it.

The single stroller fits in the boot of the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe with ten shopping bags beside it.

The compact stroller fits in the boot of the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe with twelve shopping bags around it.

Or an extra-large dog fits in the boot easily and the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe.

It comes with a carpet for the boot floor which makes it nice and flat for dogs, boot suppers and for emergency nappy changes!

When you are using all seven seats in the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe the boot isn't very practical for a family of seven and it will only hold five shopping bags, which is comparable to the Sorento that will also hold five. If you need more room, the Nissan Pathfinder and Toyota Kluger will both hold eight bags and the Mazda CX-9 will hold seven shopping bags.

The compact stroller is the only pram that fits in the boot of the Hyundai Santa Fe when using all three rows of seats with three shopping bags beside it.

The boot floor is nice and flat which makes a good ledge for emergency nappy changes or a very small dog will fit when using all three rows of seats in the Hyundai Santa Fe too!

Storage in the cabin of the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe is really good throughout. In the third row, there are cup and phone holders on both sides that are good sizes for a reusable coffee cup and water bottle.

In the second row, there are cup holders in a fold-down armrest in the central seatback. We found these a good size for reusable and disposable coffee cups.

There are map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold and conceal an iPad.

There are also storage wells in the door handles and door bins that will hold a large refillable water bottle.

In the front of the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe, there is some great in-cabin storage underneath the central console, just like in the New 2021 Hyundai Palisade. I found this a great improvement over the old Santa Fe and perfect for storing my handbag so it's not in the passenger footwell (it's perfect for those milk and loaf of bread convenience store runs too). There is also a USB and 12V socket down there too.

In the central console, there are two cup holders that are stepped. I found the top one good for a coffee and the lower one good for my water bottle.

The wireless phone charging well is a slot beside the cup holders that you drop your phone into. I found it fine as my phone is small however I did have some people with larger phones say it annoyed them because their phone stuck out too far and they kept hitting into it with their elbow but I didn't find this was a problem.

The central console box is a good size and there is a small tray in the top that is good for holding sunglasses. But it'd be better if there was a proper glasses holder in the ceiling.

The door bins in the front are large enough for a large refillable water bottle and there are storage handle wells too.

How noisy is the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe? How good is the media system in the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe?

The media system in higher-spec versions of the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe is modern, clean and easy to navigate.

It has great family-friendly features within it, like ‘Sounds of Nature', which for parents is basically white noise at your finger tips! There are a few different sounds to choose from such as lively forest, calm ocean waves or open-air cafe. I found these great with calming my littlest one (and even getting her to sleep) when driving.

The second is Quiet Mode, which allows you to quieten the sound from the rear speakers and bring it into the front. This is great if rear passengers fall asleep or are on devices you can bring the sound to the front so you disturb little passengers in the back.

The 2021 Santa Fe also has Passenger Talk, which amplifies the voice from the front through to the third-row passengers so you don't have to shout to be heard back there.

The 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe also has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The reversing camera image quality is very good, the image fills the whole screen and you have a birds-eye-view too.

There are several views available and you can mute the sensors down in the central console, as well as turning on the camera while driving too, which really helps if vision from your rearview mirror is blocked by a full load of big child seats!

There are also camera views down the sides of the car when you indicate, that come up in the driver display. I found these really helpful when changing lane and turning as visibility is compromised when you have child seats in the back of a car.

The new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe is not a noisy car full of beeps. There is a clear seatbelt removal visual in the ceiling for both rear rows of seats.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

Instead of a traditional gear lever, the Hyundai Santa Fe has press button gears like we first saw in the Hyundai Kona EV.

The top-spec Santa Fe Highlander that my family tested also has heated and cooled seats in the front and a heated steering wheel.

There are heated seats in the back too. The button however is in the door with the window controls and within reach of your kids in the back so they could easily be quietly cooking themselves without you knowing in the front.

The indicators are not too loud in the Hyundai Santa Fe and the doors and windows can be locked from the driver's door control panel. In the Highlander model I tested there is a child lock button that locks them both at the same time. I found the doors were not too loud to open and close.

There are controls on the side of the front passenger seat so the driver can control its position without having to get out. I love this feature for school pick-ups and when helping elderly relatives in and out of the car.

How many child seats fit in the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe?

The Hyundai Santa Fe, like the Kia Sorento, is a seven-seater family SUV with no airbags in the third row.

There are ISOFix points in the two outer second-row seats, they are not within plastic guides but are clearly labelled and easy to connect to.

There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three second-row seats.

I found three child seats would just fit across this second row.

We found that with two child seats installed in the outer second-row seats there was room for me to sit between them and I'm 162cm.

Unfortunately, the third-row seats don't have any top tether anchorages or ISOFix points so I couldn't install any child seats back there. I could sit back there comfortably though and I'm 162cm tall. To access the third-row seats you do have to uninstall a child seat from the second-row and fold a seat forward and climb through.

We found legroom good throughout the Santa Fe and when I was seated in the third-row. With a rear-facing child seat in the second row, then a 182cm driver could fit in front. Or with a forward-facing child seat in the second row, a 184cm+ driver can sit in front.

There are access buttons on the side of the front passenger seat, which make it easy for the driver to move that seat electronically without having to get out of the car. We fund this helpful for school pick-ups and helping elderly relatives in and out of the car.

Posting bub into their child seats in the second-row from inside and outside the car is nice and easy in the Hyundai Santa Fe. Being a large seven-seat SUV, the ceiling is nice and high and there is plenty of interior space.

Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

I found there is room to feed bub in the back with a child seat installed.

How comfortable is the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe? And How good is the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe to drive?

The front seats of the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe are REALLY comfortable and in the Highlander model I tested they are black leather-like upholstery with perforated central panels for the heated and cooled seats.

For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the second-row seats are very comfortable too. In the central seat, you can feel the firmness of the fold-down central armrest.

There is a small hump in the central aisle footwell that you can easily straddle.

For the first year of my first daughters life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with her so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!

Third-row seats are comfortable and easy to fold up and down.

The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down. The cruise controls are on the right on the steering wheel and are easy to use. I found the cruise control in the Hyundai Santa Fe to be accurate on both motorways and at lower speeds on undulating roads, which is great to be able to rely on.

There are four air-conditioning vents on the front dashboard of the Hyundai Santa Fe; two below the media screen and one at either end of the dash…

… and two more air-conditioning vents in the back of the central console box for the second-row passengers…

…plus two more in the walls above the cup holders for the third-row passengers (there is also a fan control for the third row on the right-hand side).

There are air-con controls in the central dashboard where you can turn the AC off automatically…

…or within the climate function in the main screen.

There are handles above both rear doors that are well-positioned to hold a baby toy for rear-facing passengers and window blinds built into the rear doors of the Highlander model I tested.

There are lights in the second-row of the Santa Fe behind the handles above the doors, but I couldn't reach them while driving.

I have found our kids do not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

Also, the model I tested had a large sunroof which we loved for bringing light into the car when it wasn't a super sunny day (and the blind is thick enough to block the light and heat when it's closed).

Visibility in the new 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe isn't too bad with the three child seats in the back out of the side but they do obscure the rear visibility. I found the rearview and indicator cameras in the top-spec Highlander model really helped with this.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and my daughter has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Santa Fe was simple to park as the visibility with the cameras is very good!

How safe is the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe?

The 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe has been given a five-star ANCAP safety rating from 2018 onwards. Scoring was 94% for Adult Occupancy testing and 86% for Child Occupancy testing.

ANCAP said of the Child Occupancy testing:

It comes with six airbags but does NOT have third-row airbags.

The 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe has a seatbelt removal warning for both rear rows of seats, which is clearly visible in the ceiling.