Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Named The Car Connection’s Best Car to Buy 2025

The new Hyundai Santa Fe has been impressing everyone who takes the time to get behind the wheel of the luxurious crossover. The Santa Fe was fully redesigned for 2024, and both journalists and customers heralded the Hyundai for having such a bold and fresh design on both the exterior and interior. Thanks to that, The Car Connection has named the Santa Fe as their “Best Car to Buy 2025.”  

Who Is The Car Connection? 

The Car Connection is a well-known and respected car shopping website that specializes in helping car buyers research their next vehicle. It offers information, unbiased car reviews, and features that help customers gain real knowledge about the vehicles they are most interested in, such as the Hyundai Santa Fe.  

Engines and Power 

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe is powered by two different engines. The gas-only motor is a 2.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder with 277 horsepower and 311 lb-ft of torque that is mated to an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Buyers who are looking at the Santa Fe Hybrid will get a 1.6-liter turbocharged hybrid electric motor that outputs a combined total of 232 horsepower and 271 lb-ft of torque with a 6-speed automatic transmission. The key thing to note here is how much torque both engines produce, as that is more important for acceleration, such as when you are attempting to gain speed merging onto the highway or when you are trying to pass other cars on the road.  

A Word from The Car Connection 

“Hyundai continues to set a high bar for three-row SUVs with its latest Santa Fe,” said Marty Padgett, Editorial Director of The Car Connection, Motor Authority, and Green Car Reports. “The Santa Fe Hybrid offers something for the driver who needs it all—space, efficiency, and style.” 

A Word from Hyundai 

“It’s rewarding for our popular Santa Fe Hybrid SUV to be named the Car Connection’s Best Car to Buy 2025,” said Olabisi Boyle, Senior Vice President, Product Planning and Mobility Strategy, Hyundai Motor North America. “With standard three-row seating, outstanding efficiency and a generous compliment of advanced technologies, our new Santa Fe Hybrid is proving its appeal to more families and lifestyles than ever before.” 

Pricing, Trim Levels, and Fuel Efficiency 

For 2025, the Santa Fe has a base price of $36,675 for the gas-only model and is available in five trim levels: SE, SEL, XRT, Limited, and Calligraphy. The Santa Fe Hybrid starts at $39,175 and can be purchased in SEL, Limited, and Calligraphy trims. The Santa Fe comes standard with front-wheel drive and has an EPA-estimated fuel economy of 20 mpg city and 29 mpg highway, with all-wheel drive achieving just one less mile per gallon on the highway. The off-road-ready XRT will deliver 19 mpg city and 26 mpg highway. Hybrid FWD models get 36 mpg in the city and 35 on the highway, with AWD models only losing one mpg for each driving cycle.  

Interior Cargo Capacity 

New owners will love the amount of space the Santa Fe has for passengers and luggage. There are 14.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row, which swells to 40.5 cu.ft. when the third row is folded, and then a much larger 79.6 cu.ft. of space when both rear rows are folded.  

Some of The Best Safety Features on The Market 

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe is an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick and features some of the most advanced standard and available safety equipment that makes the vehicle among the safest on the road. Features include Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, Lane Following Assist, Driver Attention Warning (DAW), Forward Attention Warning (FAW), Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control, Highway Driving Assist, as well as Intelligent Speed Limit Assist, Rear View Monitor, Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, Front and Rear Parking Distance Warning, available Surround View Monitor, available Remote Smart Parking Assist, and Safe Exit Assist. 

Why Choose Dick Smith Hyundai of Greenville?

At Dick Smith Hyundai of Greenville, we value our customers and take great pride in providing some of the best prices and services around. With hundreds of new and used vehicles to choose from, our outstanding sales team and finance department will work hard to make sure you drive away happy. Our fantastic service department will take care of your new-to-you vehicle as if it were their own.