I have two 05 Santa Fe gls 2.7v6 4wd and one 03LX 2.74wd. The white 05 one has 4500 miles on it and the silver 05 has 900 miles on it. The mileage on both of these 05s is awful compared to the 03. Whitey gets 12 mpg while silver gets 15.3 mpg and the 03 gets 21.7 mpg. All these figures are pure stop and go city by the way. Whitey gets 15.3, silver gets 17.7 and the 03 gets 28.8 on the highway. Hyundai must have de-tuned these new 05s for some reason. The gas tank on the 05 is 19 versus the 16 on the 03. The bigger 05 is so that you don't notice the fuel going as quickly as it is.
The other thing that I find really annoying is that the compressor constantly cycles even in the heat mode. All of the vehicles in my stable have the climate control but the 03 only brings on the compressor when the cabin temp goes above the set point. This is not only eating fuel but, when your sitting in heavy traffic or at a light you feel a constant surging because every time the compressor engages the idle goes up and when it dis-engages one or two seconds later the idle drops. This is enough to put you in a really bad mood while its happening. They are probably doing this to keep the humidity down in the cabin for those dummies that don't know how to use the recirc button and drive around all fogged-up. I would love to hear from anyone who knows how to circumvent this system and still have automatic air.
Other that this we love our Santa Fes.
MULTI

 

Multi:

I did get your email, I will do my best to respond to your issue. You do have a couple of issues working against you at this point. 1 - they are both very low in miles, I usually advise customers not to even consider accurate fuel mileage until after 6,000 miles. Motor should be broken in by that point. 2 - not sure what region of the country you are in, but if it is cold i.e. winter below freezing - fuel mileage drops a considerable amount - 4-6 mpg. I am in Wisconsin, once weather is consistantly below 50 degrees - mpg drops are quite common despite vehicle make. The A/C cycling may have an effect, but to my knowledge your 01 is the same system. I am a bit concerned when you say the compressor is quite noticable when at a stop in gear. I would compare to another like-model vehicle. If the difference is that noticable between the two, there may be something to look into.

I honestly believe once you have some more miles on these vehicle you should see a change. If not let me know, as a rule Santa Fes are not the best on gas. That is probably the only complaint I hear from S/Fe owners.

Hope this helps,

Serviceguy

 

Thanks for getting back to me.
The white 05 s/fe now has 5100 miles on it and the silver 05 s/fe has 1550 miles on it. The white one is only getting 11.7 mpg while the newer silver one with much less miles on it is getting 19.3 now. That's what is so disturbing. I won't believe that in 2 or 3 thousand miles the gas mileage will double on the white one just because it is more broken in. And as I mentioned my 03 s/fe gets a consistant 22 mpg city and has ever since it was new with 12 miles on it. All have the same engine and all are 4wd and all run on the same fuel. I fully understand the concept of engine and trans break-in period. I expect the mpg on the silver one to increase to about 20 or 21 as it breaks in further. McCafferty Hyundai here in PA scanned the white one on 1/3/06. As I expected they found no codes and the fuel curve is within spec. They observed the a/c constant cycling on both of my 05s and gave me the deer-in-the-headlights response of "we don't know, they all do that now". As I said to them, my 01 sonata and my 03 s/fe both with climate control don't do this but both of my 05 s/fes (with climate control) do. When you are at work and have a s/fe or xg w/climate control in for service observe this new system in the heat mode with a/c switch off and recirc switch off. You'll note that once the vehicle reaches operating temperature the idle will continue to fluctuate and the compressor will continually cycle off and on without tripping the a/c light on in the cabin. The only way to achieve a steady idle is to turn off the climate control. This will result in the customer freezing to death in the winter or roasting in the summer. But, it is o.k. because "they all do that now". The surging is anoying enough to make me sell both vehicles tell Hyundai to pound sand and buy 2 fords or chevys unless the come up with an answer to the issue. Other than that I love my Hyundais! Thanks for listening.
Multi

 

The gas mileage mystery is solved! If we drive without the heat on the Santa Fe gets 18 city and 25 highway. The only problem is that we are freezing. It's like I told you earlier, the compressor is constantly cycling in the heat mode and robbing fuel mileage. This trick really works. Please see if there is a fix for this problem. Thanks.

Multi

 

I have also experienced your problem with the same results .I have a 2005 awd 3.5 8000 miles on it I get 3 miles more per gallon with the heat off. With gas at its highest prices ever and only getting higher you would think Hyundai would put a by pass switch to turn off the compressor in the heat mode. I expect to use more gas in the warm weather with my airconditioner on .If I knew at the time of purchase that climate control worked this way I would never have purchased the vehicle.