I have to say this car has really surprised me in ways I didn’t expect. I thought I was getting a high-tech ride with my previous car, but this one keeps impressing me with new features. Some things I ‘dislike’ more than ‘hate,’ and I’m adjusting to them over time. For example, I’ve learned to be okay with the car being ‘on’ while I open or close the garage door, especially since it’s usually running on battery at those moments. It’s not as big a deal now as I thought. My previous habit was 1) open garage, start car, 2) turn off car, close garage.
LIKES:
ACC/Lane Keep/Auto Lane Change feels like almost self-driving.
Built-in ambient music with a great memory stick feature.
Variable one-pedal driving.
Passenger Talk and Passenger Quiet features.
Luxury features for the price.
High battery usage, even at speeds over 70mph.
One-button hatch close and lock.
Three years of useful over-the-air features.
Two programmable buttons for frequent features (plus voice control).
DISLIKES:
Lack of storage for glasses, coins, and other small items.
The ACC turns off (no minimum speed kept) if you touch the gas pedal.
The garage door opener (GDO) is dead when the car turns off.
Many exterior seams and designs collect dirt (mine is black).
I’m planning to buy a Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid soon. Can you share more about the ACC? And just to confirm, the GDO is built into the car, not the remote device, right?
Calvine said:
I’m planning to buy a Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid soon. Can you share more about the ACC? And just to confirm, the GDO is built into the car, not the remote device, right?
The Automatic Cruise Control (ACC) is pretty impressive. It’s not perfect (I’ve had a Chrysler with very tight controls) but definitely better than some others I’ve tried. On hills, the Santa Fe will fluctuate speed by about 1 MPH, but it works well overall. As for the Garage Door Opener (GDO), yes, it’s the built-in one in the car. Other cars I’ve had let you operate the garage door even when the car is off, but this one doesn’t do that. You can still use an external GDO remote if needed, though.
Calvine said:
I’m planning to buy a Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid soon. Can you share more about the ACC? And just to confirm, the GDO is built into the car, not the remote device, right?
I’d love more details on the ACC too. I’m waiting for comma support before I make the purchase. Or maybe I’ll go for the new Tesla Model Y instead… tough choice.
@lizbeth
If you’re talking about the dashcam, there’s a nice built-in one that’s basically invisible, no cords needed. I’m considering giving it a try myself.
Sadie said: @lizbeth
If you’re talking about the dashcam, there’s a nice built-in one that’s basically invisible, no cords needed. I’m considering giving it a try myself.
@lizbeth
The Santa Fe does a good job with Lane Keep, very smooth through turns. It’s as close as you can get to self-driving, though it won’t handle stop signs or anything like that. The lane changes are smooth too.
@lizbeth Comma.ai seems interesting. I’ve read it’s not compatible with the 2024-2025 Santa Fe yet, though, maybe because of the eye-watcher cam or the wheel touch feature.
I actually prefer the GDO turns off when you turn the car off. My last car kept it on all the time, and I wasn’t comfortable leaving it outside with the door open like that.
HyundaiFanaticX said:
The car has more storage than many others, in my opinion. The only thing missing is a dedicated place for sunglasses.
What’s ACC? And what’s the issue with the GDO? I don’t really get that part.
ACC is Automatic Cruise Control.
GDO is the garage door opener.
The issue with the GDO is that it’s powered off when the car is off. You have to either press start twice or turn the car on to use the garage door function. This is less of a problem with the hybrid model but can be annoying with the gas model, especially on cold days.
@Barbara
I get why HomeLink is like that. It’s for safety—if someone breaks into the car or leaves the doors open, it’s good for HomeLink not to be active. I think that’s a useful feature.
HyundaiFanaticX said: @Barbara
I get why HomeLink is like that. It’s for safety—if someone breaks into the car or leaves the doors open, it’s good for HomeLink not to be active. I think that’s a useful feature.
That’s how it works in my other cars, too. I could always use HomeLink even without starting the car. You’d start the car in a closed garage and open the door. With this one, I have to start the car first to use the garage door.
HyundaiFanaticX said: @Sadie
So in both your examples, the car is on and HomeLink works. I’m just trying to understand why you need to use it when the car is off.
My old habit was to drive in, turn off the car immediately, then use HomeLink to close the garage. Now, with this car, I have to restart the car to use HomeLink. It’s just a bit of a shift in routine, but not a big deal.
Christopher said:
We just bought a 2025 Calligraphy Hybrid too, and we’re really happy with it. Congrats on your purchase!
I’m curious, what’s the memory stick feature you mentioned for the ambient music?
The ambient music is built into the car (like forest sounds, seashore, etc.). You can plug a memory stick into one of the USB-C slots, and the music will pop up under the media section. You can also load MP3 or FLAC files onto the stick. I’m not sure which trims have this feature, though.