Reliable Sante Fe Sport running out its cycle

vehicle around.

Up and down: Add the Hyundai Santa Fe to a spate of vehicles with adaptive cruise control systems that weren’t smooth. The Santa Fe test vehicle had a distinct fast-slow cycle in its cruise setting, and was also disrupted noticeably when another vehicle came into range, and even curves and dips meant slowdowns.

Friends and stuff: Other journalists are calling this roomy, but the rear seat fails on all counts: foot room, legroom and general comfort. The passable headroom is not enough to save it, nor is the general lack of a hump in the middle.

Keeping warm and cool: The vents blow an ill Santa Fe Sport wind as well. Their overdesigned shape makes directing the airflow tough.

Play some tunes: The stereo in the Santa Fe Sport offers top-notch sound and simple operation, with two knobs for tuning and volume.

Night shift: I could see OK, but Hyundai’s given me more than one model now with weird headlight shadows — right in the upper middle. All night long, I’m thinking, “Deer?”

Fuel economy: I averaged about 21 mpg in the usual Mr. Driver’s Seat Path of Instruction.

Where it’s built: West Point, Ga.

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts its reliability to be 4 out of 5, and it’s received 4s or 5s since 2015.

In the end: Well, reliability and end-of-cycle bargain prices count for something, as long as backseat comfort and well-organized controls are not on your requirements list.