I bought a first-gen Santa Fe 2WD (‘03 or ‘04 IIRC) new for my wife’s daily driver and, since I was paying for it, I had to test drive it. The worst I can say about it is it had 1 factory recall - the door jamb tire pressure sticker had to be replaced. I picked it up from the dealer’s service dept., declining the appointment I would’ve had to make for them to install it, and applied it in the parking lot.
Good V-6 power, didn’t feel under-powered, didn’t suck gas; good leg- and head-room for 6’1” me, even in the back seat; good cargo room.
We sold it several years later to a college-bound student, who was THRILLED with it, and couldn’t stop thanking me.
Hyundai has since expanded their SUV line with larger and smaller models. When I’m in the market for another car, I’ll be considering the Santa Fe (or the larger model) as an option.
I remember riding in my coworker’s 2006 Santa Fe back then. It was a nice ride and he and his wife loved it and for toting around their small child. It kinda reminded me of the Toyota RAV4 model.