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I cheated on my Santa Fe

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  mwl001 
#1 ·
A little humor.

So while I was in Hawaii I had a rental car (well two actually but can't compare a Hybrid fusion with the SFS).

Anyway, I used Hertz at the Kona airport on the big island and it said "santa fe sport or similar".

Obviously I was rooting for the SFS since that way I would know my way around the vehicle.

Instead I got a Chevy Equinox (LOL). Oh the humanity!
I don't know the model year, or the trim level. It was FWD and I'm guessing the 4 cylinder version due to the excellent gas mileage.

Now, having owned a 2005 Equinox (POS), that was fairly comfortable to drive (just not a very reliable vehicle in terms of parts and stuff), it wasn't that much of a shock.

A few things:

1) Oh how I miss my surround view camera.
2) The electronic parking break on the Equinox actually works. Yes, it engages fully so there's NO movement at all when you lift the foot off the brake and there's no "locking" of the shifter knob either. Although its release mechanism was a bit funky (IMO). It doesn't disengage when you press on the brake pedal. But rather disengages when you give it gas. But you have to give it more than a "light" tap, so there's a bit of a "jerking" sensation. Or you manually release it with the button thingy.
3) The vehicle seemed remarkably quiet. Even more quiet than the SFS. However, I did not have my phone doing the sound meter testing, and even if I did, the road conditions over there are nothing like here in New York. There's no frost heave grooves cut into the road every 3-4 car lengths and no potholes to dodge or drive over and hear the lovely "cachunk" as your suspension gets beat up.
4) Seemed to have some pretty good pickup considering a 4 cylinder. Better than the 4 cylinder Equinox I had rented over in Denver a few years back, IMO. (and they do have steep grades in Hawaii as well). I was quite impressed.
5) Gas mileage. Wow, pretty good. It claims I drove like 220 miles and needed 7.5 gallons of gas. And that's doing lots of 40 mph driving (you can't really do a lot of 55-65 mph driving over there due to the terrain and whatnot).

Not saying that I'm going to trade my SFS in or get a new car any time soon, just that I was a bit shocked at how "nice" it was. Again, have no idea on the model year, trim level or option packages. It did have rearview camera thingy and the chevy my link (I think that's what they call it). Oh, and the annoying "look in the rear seat to make sure you didn't leave anything back there". I understand the reasoning behind it, but I can see it quickly becoming "tuned out".
 
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#4 ·
Most likely a 2018 since it has the "check the back seat for people / pets before you leave" warning. GM has a great edge in fuel economy. No question about that. GM also squeezes a lot of power out of their 4 cylinders, many of which are now turbocharged. Ride quality is generally quite nice and yes, they are very quiet.

It is obviously too soon to know how the 2018s will fare long term, but i can tell you that we are replacing a LOT of pistons and timing / balance shaft chains in the prior body style due to oil consumption and wear. Some have had multiple chain replacements occurring as often as every other year. Also replacing a fair amount of pistons in prior year vehicles using similar turbocharged engines due to breaking piston ring lands. Talking 2014 / 2015 models in the 30,000 mile or less range. Some are very low miles. Not epidemic yet, but enough to raise concern for me as a potential buyer. My gut feeling is that GM has these engines lightened up too much to get that fuel economy and pushing them too hard to get that "wow" performance... Keeping them too close to the edge so to speak. Pistons breaking is not a good thing....Cannot blame that on maintenance....That is design, manufacturing, and / or engine programming. Also do a fair number of transmission repairs.

Also seeing a lot or SAI passages in the cylinder heads clogging with carbon and ice (in cold weather) and some PCV ports plugging with carbon or ice. Repairs can be a few hundred dollars to clean the ports in the heads (If they can be cleaned) to major repairs as if the PCV ports in the intake manifold plug they blow out the rear main seal / rear crankshaft seal, and replacing that is no fun at all. Very labor intensive.

Now there are owners who have 200,000+ miles, have had few issues, and love them. Those are mainly highway drivers. There are quite a few things that I like about the GM models we sell, but sub par long term city driving reliability is one of the things that drove me to the Santa Fe instead of an Equinox or Traverse.
 
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#5 ·
I had one in Utah a few weeks ago, with AWD. It was unfortunately a poorly spec'd version, but I was overall very impressed as well. The noted improvements in my book were fuel economy, cabin noise, and steering response. I'd consider the diesel version maybe, and I like that these are available with similar option sets to an SFS Ultimate. Also intrigued by the new Tiguan - 3 row seating and a 6 year bumper to bumper warranty.
 
#7 ·
FWIW - a few reviews I saw were so so on the 1.5T version, but C & D likens it is some ways to a Q5 when equipped with the 2.0T. Rental were perhaps the 1.5T ?

www.caranddriver.com/chevrolet/equinox
I was wondering what the power plant was; based on how much throttle it needed to get power, and how much was there, I would guess you are right. The 4 cylinder I tested on one of these back in 2012 was unimpressive, this was a nice quiet engine with power when you needed it and terrific fuel economy.
 
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