Hello all. I'm in the market to buy a used Santa Fe or Rav4. I drove a Santa Fe for the first time yesterday, and I liked the ride more than the Rav4. However, I've had good luck with Toyota in the past and I would like to know how Hyundai compares. I've seen they are rated well, but I'd like to hear from real owners. I just had a Nissan Rogue die on me last year and my Altima went on me last week. Both had transmission failure. Both did not have very high miles either. As you can see, I don't want to get another piece of trash.

Before I go further, I know there are no guarantees with any car.

What should I expect from owning one? Do parts like the alternator for example hold up beyond 100k?
Are there certain years, models I should look for or avoid in this line of SUV?

I don't want to make the same mistake I did with Nissan. Thanks for any help you all can provide!

 

Let's face it, vehicles today are a lot more reliable than past vehicles.

The $64.00 question is what kind of maintenance was done and when. Even the most expensive vehicles require regular maintenance so that brings up the question of why did your vehicles not perform as expected?
Did you have the regular maintenance performed and where was it done?
You will see many older vehicles, all types ,going down the road and wonder why , when some newer ones are waiting in the shop for major repairs.
A good part of the time they are in there is because of neglect , whether intentional or not.
Folks who are maintaining their vehicles usually have less problems than those who don't.
We also know that 100,000 highway miles are less demanding than 50,000 miles city driving. I would think at this point the value of regular maintenance is realized and pays off in the long run. Things like alternator failure are not always predictable and usually don't have a specified mileage at which point they fail. A lot does depend on how the vehicle is used and maintained, however.