Highlander vs Santa Fe/Sorento

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Dulouz

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#213964 21-Apr-2017 09:10

I'm in the market for a 7 seater mid-sized family SUV. So far I have boiled it down to the Toyota Highlander or Santa Fe/Sorento Diesel engine. My only concern with the Korean diesels is they will lack power on the open road compared to the v6 highlander. Any suggestions welcome.

Amanon

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#1768300 21-Apr-2017 09:37

Diesel should have no problem on open road (that is what the engine is design for).

If you like fast car, but not so well with towing - Highlander should be your 1st choice.

You can't go wrong with Santa Fe/Sorento/Fortunner/Pajero Sport etc. They are similar. Choose what features you like and budget. Please avoid buying used Diesel if the servicing is not well documented.

Dingbatt

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#1768302 21-Apr-2017 09:39

Some no nonsense reviews on this Aussie website. Also some entertaining videos from the same source on YouTube. Just be aware he is somewhat crass.
http://autoexpert.com.au/

He is pretty complimentary of both the Hyundai and Kia brands. I get the impression he thinks you get the same quality vehicle for less money by going Kia over Hyundai (essentially the same base vehicle from the same parent company).

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

nakedmolerat

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#1768304 21-Apr-2017 09:43

That's not true anymore. Hyundai is now a premium brand.

Dingbatt

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#1768307 21-Apr-2017 09:46

nakedmolerat: That's not true anymore. Hyundai is now a premium brand.

What's not true? Are they no longer the same base platform?

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

nakedmolerat

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#1768314 21-Apr-2017 09:53

Dingbatt:
nakedmolerat: That's not true anymore. Hyundai is now a premium brand.

What's not true? Are they no longer the same base platform?

Their price is now premium.

MikeB4

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#1768387 21-Apr-2017 11:13

The Highlander is essentially a high riding Camry. I have driven a few of them, they are comfortable but have a lot of body roll in corners and quite costly to run. I would punt for the Hyundai, their build quality is very good now and the power plants are excellent. Their diesel is excellent efficient unit and gives good power and torque early in the rev range.

The choice of diesel over petrol should depend on the uses you are putting the vehicle, if you are towing a lot (eg boat) doing a lot of hill work and travelling over 20,000 KMs per year then diesel, if not then petrol should be the choice.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

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meesham

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#1768388 21-Apr-2017 11:13

nakedmolerat:
Dingbatt:
nakedmolerat: That's not true anymore. Hyundai is now a premium brand.

What's not true? Are they no longer the same base platform?

Their price is now premium.

And their warranty is only 3 years vs the 5 years you get with Kia (I'm a very happy Kia owner).

John Cadogan's (AutoExpertTV) style can be a bit in your face but I agree with a lot of what he says, I found the video he did on dealing with car salesmen helpful. He did a review about 12 months ago on what he believes are the top 6 7-seater SUVs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLrdXcYT6Gw

meesham

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#1768393 21-Apr-2017 11:21

Also have you considered the Mazda CX-9? Then you can get a petrol turbo and don't have the hassle of having to drive it on the highway every couple of weeks.

jonathan18

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#1768402 21-Apr-2017 11:47

meesham:

Also have you considered the Mazda CX-9? Then you can get a petrol turbo and don't have the hassle of having to drive it on the highway every couple of weeks.

Yeah, I was going to say the same... the CX-9 a lot of car for the money, given it tops out at not much over $60k for the top-spec model. More economical than all the opposition as well, plus the three years' free servicing. Biggest downside at the moment is the lack of Android Auto/Apple Carplay, but assume this will be fixed in the near future going by what was reported in an earlier post here on GZ.

And, yep, ensuring the DPF is cleared regularly is a real annoyance with owning a modern diesel; I'd avoid it next time unless I needed the specific benefits of diesel as highlighted earlier.

SumnerBoy

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#1768404 21-Apr-2017 11:50

We recently bought a car and it boiled down to the Highlander and Sante Fe. We ruled out the Highlander due to the running costs and felt it was oversized for what we wanted. The Sante Fe seemed higher quality (in our inexperienced-eyes). However we struggled with the price of them, second hand vehicle having done 70-90K costing just under 50K.

In the end we bought a brand new Skoda Octavia Scout for 43K. The features and build quality of the Skoda is exceptional for the price, and it drives very well being lower to the ground than the other two. The only thing missing was the 7 seat option, but that wasn't a requirement for us. The boot is enormous (bigger than either of the other two from memory) and we get all the new-car benefits - i.e. warranty and after sales service.

Couldn't be happier, but realise they are probably not everyones cup of tea!

dan

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#1768417 21-Apr-2017 12:17

i got the 2.4L Petrol Santa Fe 2015 brand new when it was out, it is surprisingly powerful, if the 2.2 diesel is not far off it, i wouldnt be worried, its more than enough

take it for a test drive...

Santa Fe is great vehicle im extremely happy with it, i got about 10K off the sticker price at the dealer so they do have some wiggle room..

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Batman

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#1768441 21-Apr-2017 13:15

Lack power on the open road? Test drive one with TC off and you will spin all 4 wheels at leisure. But that's torque, if you mean the top end power - the Toyota has more top end (redline, high revs) power but gutless in low and mid revs. The Korean diesel has so much usable torque it will blow your brains out.

From what you're asking I think the diesel will suit you best, unless you're talking about TED (time exposed to danger) while overtaking - then the Toyota should complete an overtake quicker if you know how to floor the pedal to use the high revs.

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#1768442 21-Apr-2017 13:17

Also I didn't like the prev gen Highlander because they lean too much. Can't take any corner properly. Even roundabouts were trying to tip you over. Not sure about current gen. But yeah floor the pedal and it flies like a bullet.

1cloud

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#1768454 21-Apr-2017 13:43

Dulouz:

I'm in the market for a 7 seater mid-sized family SUV. So far I have boiled it down to the Toyota Highlander or Santa Fe/Sorento Diesel engine. My only concern with the Korean diesels is they will lack power on the open road compared to the v6 highlander. Any suggestions welcome.

consider of my previa 7 seat 3.5L nz new ?

t0ny

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#1768460 21-Apr-2017 13:48

I have a Santa Fe and dont have any complains about power. I did have two headlights get a fault and the windscreen cracked for no apparent reason but maybe i had a bad batch. All of it was fixed under warranty.

Would suggest driving them both and see what you like.

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