2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The compact Santa Cruz isn’t technically a pickup truck. It’s a unibody crossover with a small bed plonked on to the rear. The trucklette is available in two trims in Canada: Preferred and Ultimate. Our test unit is the latter, in U.S. specification.

The Santa Cruz is about 35 centimetres longer overall than the Hyundai Tucson, but the two vehicles share similar front ends, complete with the cool Tron-looking grille. Every design element looks intentional, from the protruding fenders to the sharply raked C-pillar. If you want to blend in at the drive-through, this probably isn’t the vehicle for you.

The inside is neither particularly luxurious nor noticeably sparse, although the four-spoked steering wheel is a funky design choice. Materials here look and feel high-quality for the Santa Cruz's price point, and we spotted no problems with fit and finish. Even the plastics feel good when touched. A thin horizontal bar of trim spans driver and passenger space, clearly delineating the two. That trim continues on to each upper door panel as well for a cohesive look.

While front-wheel drive (FWD) versions of the Santa Cruz are offered in other markets, Canadian units are sold exclusively with all-wheel drive (AWD). We also skip over the naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine and its 191 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque and head straight to the turbocharged 2.5-litre four-cylinder, upping the power to 282 hp and 311 lb-ft of torque sent through an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. This powertrain is surprisingly peppy, allowing for easy passing, even uphill. The transmission offers up smooth shifts and drivers can take advantage of the paddle shifters for more control.

The ride quality is also excellent, soaking up rough pavement easily. However, it is really the maneuverability of the Santa Cruz that makes it stand out. Even the smallest midsize truck can be a pain to park in tight spaces, but the reduced footprint of the Santa Cruz makes it a great city car. It can navigate indoor parking garages easily and zip through heavy traffic just as easily as a car. Of course, you may want to take your Santa Cruz out and do some off-roading.

Hyundai has campaigned the Santa Cruz in the Rebelle Rally, a seven-day off-road navigational motorsports event, and it’s made it through with only slight modifications. You’ll definitely want to swap out the Michelin Primacy all-season rubber for something more aggressive, but the AWD system features a centre locking differential to split the power evenly front to rear for better off-road performance. There is even hill-descent control, although it can be a bit too quick depending on the steepness of the hill. Keep your foot over the brake, just to be safe.

You’ll also want to protect the underbody of the Santa Cruz if you venture far afield. Ground clearance is similar to other compact crossovers—21.8 centimetres—but the geometry is pretty terrible. Approach, departure and breakover angle sit at 17.5 degrees, 23.2 degrees and 18.6 degrees respectively. In all, your best bet is to keep to gravel roads unless you like going really, really slowly.

Some folks may eschew the Santa Cruz for not being a true pickup truck, but the truth is this little guy has all the utility most shoppers need. The Santa Cruz has a towing capacity of 2,268 kilograms (5,000 pounds), albeit with a braked trailer. If your trailer doesn’t have integrated brakes Hyundai recommends keeping the load to just 748 kilograms (1,650 pounds).

Cargo hauling in the tiny bed is pretty robust. The bed measures 1,230 millimetres long and nearly 1,368 mm wide, although there is only 1,085 mm between the wheel wells. To give you an idea of how much space that is, we went camping and hauled a shade canopy, two chairs, an air compressor, two Maxtrax recovery boards, a cot, a tent, a sleeping bag and recovery gear in the bed with no problem.

There is lockable underfloor storage as well as two little cubbies in the side of the bed for smaller items. Our tester came with multiple tie-down points and sliding rail anchors. Hyundai says total payload is 640 kilograms (1,411 pounds) across all trims.

Covering the bed is a sliding and locking tonneau cover, great for keeping things out of sight when parked. However, the latch on our tester seemed a bit finicky. It often felt like it was going to break when moving it to the open position. All trims get a dampened tailgate and side steps in the rear bumper to easily access cargo.

Inside, the rear seats fold up to haul taller items, which is pretty cool. However, legroom in the rear is just 926 mm. That might seem like a good amount, but remember, this thing is bigger than a Tucson which has over 1000 mm of rear legroom.

One detail we must mention are the heated front seats. They do not mess around, heating up to nearly scalding temperatures. Fortunately, there are three levels of adjustability, so drivers can keep their rear ends from overheating. You’ll get this feature standard in Canada. However, if you want ventilated seats you’ll have to pony up for the top Santa Cruz Ultimate trim. These work well, although they don’t offer hiney-freezing temperatures.

In Canada, a 10.25-inch display infotainment system. Unlike the smaller screen found in some Hyundai products, this larger version of Hyundai’s infotainment for some reason offers only wired smartphone compatibility. As a result, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not available on the Hyundai Santa Cruz in Canada.

On the whole, the infotainment system is easy to use and intuitive, with quick reaction times and clear graphics. However, there is no physical volume knob. Drivers have to use the steering wheel control or a touch-sensitive button under the screen to change the volume of the available Bose premium audio system. It’s fine but also a weird omission.

Aside from the volume control, there are also touch-sensitive buttons to access other stereo and media functions, the map and navigation, as well as the dual-zone automatic climate controls. Having physical buttons to quickly jump to a feature is great, but these icons are pretty tiny. If the driver’s finger doesn’t hit the exact centre of the button, it won’t respond.

Charging is a bit sparse in the Santa Cruz, with just dual USB-A ports up front on all trim levels. Our Ultimate trim also gets two USB-A ports for rear-seat passengers, which can be equipped on the Preferred trim via the Trend Package, but USB-C is not available. Wireless charging is offered only on the Ultimate trim.

Hyundai offers a pretty comprehensive set of advanced driver-assistance systems. All trims get forward collision avoidance with pedestrian detection, blind-spot collision avoidance, rear cross-traffic collision avoidance, lane-keep assist and lane-following assist, safe exit warning and rear occupant alert. Adaptive cruise control and forward-collision avoidance with pedestrian-, cyclist- and junction-turning detection, which helps deter accidents while turning left, are optional as part of the Preferred trim’s Trend Package.

However, the Santa Cruz Ultimate gets everything. Hyundai’s Highway Drive Assist pairs adaptive cruise control and lane-centring to take some of the stress out of commuting. This is a hands-on/eyes-up system, however, and the driver must pay attention at all times. The adaptive cruise control system also works with the in-dash navigation system to slow for curves. Also here is the nifty blind-spot view monitor that displays a side-view video in the gauge cluster when the turn signal is engaged. This is a wonderful feature that really shows the driver exactly what is or isn’t in their blind spot.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not given the 2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz an overall safety rating, but gave it a full five stars in a front crash and a rollover rating of four out of five stars.

The 2024 Santa Cruz has not yet been rated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). However, the 2023 model received “Good” or “Superior” ratings in all but seat-belt reminders and LATCH-ease of use where it received an Acceptable rating. The headlamps were rated as “Poor,” but the 2024 model now has Bi-LED projector headlamps standard across all trim levels in place of the halogen lighting on the lower trims where IIHS performed its testing.

In Canada, the 2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz starts at a $43,481 MSRP for the Preferred trim. Adding the Trend Package equips a power sunroof, 20-inch alloy wheels, Bose premium audio, additional driver assistance technologies, and more for $2,800 extra. The top of the line Ultimate trim adds plenty to the bottom line, coming in at $50,281. These prices include destination charges and dealer fees.

That might be a tough pill to swallow when a Ford Maverick, the Santa Cruz’s only compact competition, starts at just over $35,000. No version of the Maverick crosses the $50,000 threshold, though the hybrid versions don’t have AWD available. That hybrid can net a Natural Resources Canada fuel-economy rating of 6.3 litres per 100 kilometres combined.

The Santa Cruz doesn’t do nearly as well. Expect to burn 12.2 L/100 km in city driving, 8.7 on the highway, and 10.6 combined. At the end of our week with it we averaged 12.1 L/100 km over nearly 950 kilometres.

Buyers might also look at the unibody Honda Ridgeline, but it is closer to a typical midsize truck than the Santa Cruz and it starts where the Hyundai ends at more than $50,000. Currently neither Chevrolet nor Toyota offer anything equivalent in this segment.

Hyundai offers a five-year/100,000-kilometre new vehicle warranty and powertrain warranty on the Santa Cruz in Canada, including roadside assistance for five years with unlimited kilometres.

The 2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz is a great little runabout that does all the truck stuff most people need. We love its quirky, futuristic looks and excellent on-road manners. Hard-core off-roaders will want to look elsewhere unless they want to put in some serious money adding a lift and tires. Still, this compact unibody truck is great for weekend warriors who want to get out of the city for just a touch of adventure.

Note: Images show a US model.