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Hi, and welcome to Talking Cars.
I'm Jennifer Stockburger.
I'm John Linkov.
And I'm Alex Knizek.
So we're going to start today with our final test
results of the somewhat quirky Hyundai Santa Cruz pickup
truck.
So I have to tell you, we took this truck to a college visit
for my young son.
And people were literally clamoring around it,
because it is kind of--
I use "quirky", but I use it in a positive way.
Very different-looking, very new.
I am a little sentimental, because I
had a boyfriend who had a Subaru BRAT back in the day.
But just kind of that next one in the small pickup segment.
So I think there's really, on this truck, two questions.
How does it perform as a vehicle?
And then ultimately, how does it perform as a little truck?
So I'm going to start with you, Alex, on the first question.
How is it as a vehicle?
It's pretty nice.
I walked away pretty happy with how it drove,
how comfortable it was.
It didn't quite dethrone the Honda Ridgeline
as our top small truck.
And keep in mind, this is quite a bit smaller
than the Ridgeline.
I think it's almost two feet shorter than the Ridgeline
in terms of length.
But it did well.
I really like the way it drives, and I'll start there.
The powertrain is strong, the handling is quite good.
I enjoyed piloting this thing around, and it's comfortable.
It doesn't really have that truck-ish ride
that you might think of when you think of like a small pickup
truck.
Not so much the Ridgeline, but something like a Tacoma
or a Ford Ranger, for example.
Right?
So those trucks, when they're unloaded in the bed,
they're bouncing around in the back, the ride's pretty rough.
They're a little difficult to drive.
And you just don't have any of that here.
So this is based on the--
actually, it's a really interesting vehicle.
It's kind of a mashup of different Hyundai products.
So the front doors, the hood, and the front fascia
are pretty much all Tucson.
And so was the dashboard and the controls.
And that's a good thing, actually.
That vehicle did well there in terms of controls and interior
comfort.
So everything from the B-pillar back
is unique to the Santa Cruz.
It's a bit smaller than the Tucson,
so the Santa Cruz is suffering a little bit in that regard.
It's a little less comfortable back there,
visibility is tight.
And then of course, the truck bed
is completely unique to the Santa Cruz.
And then it borrows some other components
from the larger Santa Fe.
So the rear suspension is more robust than the Tucson,
it's borrowed from the Santa Fe.
So it's heavier-duty, gets you some of that towing and load
capacity.
And then it also borrows the powertrain,
that 2.5 turbocharged engine, which
you can't get in the Tucson.
It's actually quite a bit of power for a vehicle that size,
and it gets it going pretty good.
The dual clutch transmission has some oddities,
but once you get up and going, it's pretty nice.
Yeah, and I think it's worth noting
that the base engine is 191 horsepower,
2.5 liter four, no turbo.
So may not be as pleasing as the turbo we had in all regards.
Right, and it wasn't in the Tucson.
We tested that base engine in the Tucson,
and in that smaller vehicle, we found it kind of a little lazy
and underpowered.
So I would suspect that you're definitely right about that.
Right.
And the obvious other question is, OK,
as a vehicle, pretty good.
And the mashup really does have some advantages.
John, I know you had occasion to use it somewhat as a truck.
How does it perform as a pickup truck?
Yeah, it's funny.
I'll consider it a truck-let.
You said BRAT, Subaru BRAT, I'll say
Subaru Baja, the same thing.
A lot of people I cycle with were really interested
in it because of the trunk.
It also has a trunk inside of the pickup bed, a sealed trunk,
sort of like the Honda Ridgeline.
It has a hard tonneau cover that you could get that accordions,
so it folds back.
So it's not just like something that you snap,
but you actually pull it, it's hard,
it can latch in a couple of different spots.
But it's a really short bed, so you
can't fit a bicycle in there and pull the tonneau at all.
And you may not even be able to fit a bicycle in there
with the wheel turned and put the gate up.
So I think you really need a two-inch hitch on the back
so you can have an external bike rack.
But if you do that--
or you could go the way that people are going now
with pickup trucks.
You get a pad over the tailgate, you hang the bike
with the wheel over there.
I'm not a big fan of doing that with my bikes,
but your mileage may vary.
You get a hitch, though, it really
does serve a lot of purpose for people who are particularly
going in the woods, have a mountain bike or something
like that, or going hiking or whatever,
where you can throw all your dirty stuff now
in this bed that is sealable.
You're not worried about it flying out or something
like that, or being exposed if you go and get something
to eat afterwards.
And you're not putting dirty stuff
inside the vehicle itself.
So you could carry four people and bikes
and their junk, let's just use that word.
And it's a lot nicer because it's not
exposed to the elements, or to someone passing
by who wants to grab it.
So in that way, it's great.
And I was able to put my road bike in the back,
because like a lot of pickup trucks,
you could flip the seats up, the seat bases up.
And they stay up, which is very nice.
Not all new truck-let, car-based trucks do that.
And I could fit it in there, so it was easy
and I didn't have to worry about having it bounce around
the bed.
So in that respect, it is a nice useful truck.
Yeah, and that larger power train
also gives it 5,000 pounds of towing capacity.
So not something we typically see in a vehicle of that size.
But again, that mashup that Alex is talking about
gives it that advantage of towing.
I agree with you.
And I think I've told you guys I've changed my
"if I were retiring today" car from the Kia Sorento
to the Honda Ridgeline for my gentlewoman farmer lifestyle.
For that type of lifestyle, I think it's very good.
But for me, it was still a little small.
Both in the cabin space.
As Alex alluded to, that rear seat.
Again, I got big kids now, not little kids, in that bed.
Certainly for a gardener or somebody like that.
Has all the advantages of a small SUV like the Tucson.
Access all of that simple controls that Hyundai's
done a great job with.
Good fuel economy over some of the slightly larger trucks.
So it's a balance.
It's certainly a vehicle, if you're
thinking gardening and small dirty things,
John, or hiking and that type of thing.
Fishermen, I think of rods and reels and fish.
it would be a great vehicle, I truly agree.
It's super quiet.
Yes!
The unibody, the car-based vehicle keeps it super,
super quiet.
And then you're not revving this kind of underpowered engine,
either, to keep 70 or 80 miles an hour
with traffic on the highway.
So you don't have that droning noise either.
I was going to say, it's pretty easy
to forget that you're actually driving
what you might think of as a pickup truck
while you're sitting behind the wheel.
It feels like driving a Tucson for the most part.
I mean, it's a little longer, so it maybe
doesn't turn in so quickly or something like that.
But who cares?
It's comfortable, it rides well.
Yeah, you almost forget that you're
pulling that bed behind you.
And like you said, Jen, my kids are 12 and 10 almost.
They fit in the back seat well but much like the Ridgeline,
Honda Ridgeline, based on the Pilot,
has a slightly smaller backseat.
This one drops down another class as well.
So at least the Ridgeline has an adult backseat.
This one is definitely a penalty box for adults.
For my 17-year-old boy, a challenge,
it's definitely a penalty.
And I do want to add on this truck-let-- which
I love that word, John.
Forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking
with pedestrian and cyclist detection, John.
Lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, all standard.
Blind spot warning, as we often see, optional.
Rear cross traffic warning, optional,
because it is not on the base SE.
Not even offered on the base SE.
So lots of safety, I do think.
And its overall score may not quite convey,
because it's being compared against some of those slightly
larger pickup trucks.
Again, better interiors.
But if it sounds like it might be right for your lifestyle,
or that you're only using the bed occasionally
for a run to the dump or some gardening,
it's definitely worth a look at.
And it's a very interesting truck.
Yeah.
I would like to add one anecdote.
I took this truck to my parents' house a couple of hours
away for a weekend.
And if you're thinking about this, coming from an SUV
where you can put all of your luggage in soft bags and things
like that in the trunk, and then still have people
inside the seats, sitting in these seats,
you might not be able to do that here.
Because it was a snowy, rainy weekend.
So we couldn't put anything in the bed,
because it's going to get soaking wet.
So now that's all in the back seat.
And I know this sounds kind of obvious, but until it happens,
you might not think about it right.
Now all of our luggage is in the passenger compartment.
And if we had more than just my wife
and I, no other passengers.
So there's some of that flexibility
that you might have with an SUV that you kind of lose here.
And it does have that tonneau cover,
but you can't really rely on it to be completely waterproof.
Yeah, not weather-tight, definitely.
It's great for dirty stuff.
And it's not an easy vehicle to justify if it's just dump runs.
I mean, a Beetle pickup truck is best for dump runs only.
But as travel, as a useful vehicle, less jouncy--
for a technical term--
pickup.
'Cause I know people will be going, it's not a truck,
it's not a truck, it's not a truck.
And it's not, but it also doesn't have all the drawbacks
of a truck, either.
So yeah, so certainly, we have all of the final test results
of the Hyundai Santa Cruz at ConsumerReports.org,
if you want to dig into those details,
depending on how you might want to use it.
Certainly a fun styled truck.
We're not rating style, but it definitely draws some reaction.
Moving on to our question of the week.
As always, your 30-second video clips, your questions.
Keep them coming, TalkingCars@icloud.com.
Love the interaction.
And this one comes from Alex, another Alex, from Canada.
Take a listen.
- I saw some reliability scores in the latest Consumer Reports
magazine that I thought were strange.
For example, the Chevy Trailblazer,
with a score of 100, and the Toyota RAV4,
with a score of 44.
I thought that was strange, considering
Toyotas are generally known to be long lasting cars and Chevys
maybe to break down early.
So I'm wondering, does your reliability score
take into account only the reliability in the first 12
months?
Or does it look into the long-term reliability?
Which car is more likely to do better in the long-term
and give long-term reliability?
Which one's more likely to last after 200,000 kilometers and 10
years?
The Chevy with the good reliability score,
or the Toyota with the bad reliability score?
Thanks.
- So Alex has actually a lot of questions within his question.
So I think the first one is about our reliability ratings
in general.
And Alex, maybe you can help Alex on that question.
- Alex, I'm happy to help.
So it's a complicated topic, reliability.
I mean, there are so many things that
can affect the reliability of a car.
But as far as our ratings, you asked about
whether it takes into 12 months or the life of the vehicle.
And we do reliability ratings on a yearly basis.
When we're calculating predicted reliability of future models
or upcoming year for an existing model,
it takes into three years of data, if it can.
Takes into account three years of data.
Of course, that's not always available.
So we might have to do our best to make the prediction.
But yeah, it is on a yearly basis.
And I know John's going to maybe go
into more detail on a specific model.
But just the models that you throw out
there, the Trailblazer and the RAV4, just one thing
can really go wrong with a model.
And there could be so many reasons
that happens, whether it's a supplier change
or just an inherent defect in the way
a part was designed from the get-go that
doesn't get resolved.
In the case of the RAV4, it's a fuel pump and fuel tank issue.
And basically every RAV4 has a fuel pump and a fuel tank,
so it proliferates throughout the whole lineup,
and it can really degrade.
And it's a critical function, right?
So it degrades the reliability of the model as a whole.
- And to Alex's point, in a traditionally very reliable
model, it just so happened.
So it just goes to show you, a very, very super-reliable brand
or model can have an off-year or a component problem.
- Every other thing in that car could be perfect.
Perfect as far as reliability goes.
But if you can't drive it because the fuel pump's failed
and it's constantly going to the shop for that one issue,
there you go.
- Yeah.
And John, in his question, going back
to what you were saying, that very direct comparison,
the Trailblazer versus the RAV4.
And you had some thoughts about why the Trailblazer
in this case may be so good.
- Yeah.
So a number that Alex touched on, where
we try to look at three years.
And one of the things that we do is, particularly
if three years of data are not available,
we look at other vehicles from the manufacturer
that use the same components or use the same platform.
So shared components, particularly the drivetrain
and such.
But the Trailblazer, introduced for '21,
is based on, basically, it's a Buick Encore GX.
There's different trim, there's different look and feel,
but the guts of it is a Buick Encore
GX, which was introduced for the '20 model year.
And like Alex said also, our reliability survey is yearly.
So we don't say, oh, everyone in the '21 survey
said this about the Trailblazer, there's a score.
No, we go out and say, OK, now it's 2021..
For the end-of-year survey, tell us
about your experience with your 2020 Encore GX,
which you told us about in 2020 as well in that survey.
So the first model year, one additional point
is, first model years of vehicles,
no matter the manufacturer, tend to have
a lower reliability score rating than the final model year
of the previous generation.
The final model year, they got everything worked out.
It may be old and long in the tooth,
as far as some technology and features.
But by that point, if they didn't get it right,
that's a star-crossed model.
So what you see in relation with the Encore, Encore GX,
it debuted as a '20.
It still has average reliability,
because there are still parts, the brakes, and noises
and leaks, and in-car electronics,
the specific categories that aren't above-average or well
above-average.
They're either average or below-average scores
that people tell us about.
So that model still, in its second year out there,
is still having problems.
The 2021 model actually is well above-average, which
is the same as the Trailblazer.
So what we're looking at with the Trailblazer is,
we look at the scores that we got from people for the 2021
model, but we also look at what the Buick Encore
GX has for the 2021 model, just for additional data on that.
And it's above-board.
It has well above-average reliability.
So very low problem rate percentage
compared to the average model for every category, which
is how it got its score.
The Toyota RAV4, people from that first model year
are still having problems with it today in the survey.
And that is going to affect it.
Because if people are having issues
with the vehicle that Toyota has not been able to address,
it does weight the score down for the current model
in the prediction for that for 2022.
Right, the subsequent years, if they can't work it out.
I always say when we talk about health,
it's one thing to avoid getting sick.
But the other thing I say, of people's general health,
is when you get sick, how quickly do you feel better?
How quickly do you jump back?
That's the same with the cars.
It's not that they're never going to have a problem,
but how quickly can manufacturers address them
and change them, so that subsequent model year is now
looking better?
Sounds like Buick having a little trouble
there, whereas Toyota, maybe in a couple of years, maybe '23,
show that they're better on that RAV4.
But again, I just caution you, research is key.
Not just on a traditionally stellar reliable brand,
but what's it share?
What's it share?
What does the Trailblazer share with that Encore?
Did they work out the kinks in the Encore first?
And John, often that luxury, more loaded brand,
like the Buick versus the Chevy, may
have more things to go wrong.
We've seen that as well in terms of electronics and things
like that as well.
- You definitely see that.
We saw that a lot in our survey this year.
And if you go to ConsumerReports.org,
you'll see our report where we talked about it with EVs
in particular.
A lot of the upper echelon, if you want to say,
the luxury-like EVs, the electric vehicle componentry
isn't necessarily the problem.
It's all the ancillary stuff that's caused issues.
And to what you're talking about,
a great example that kind of backs up the Chevrolet-Buick
issue, or what we saw with Chevrolet and Buick,
is Kia and Hyundai.
Hyundai tends to launch a vehicle first.
So the Hyundai Sonata is the first model,
the Kia K5 comes out a year later,
or at the time, the Kia Optima, for example,
the previous gen. The Hyundai launches,
they have first-year woes.
Second year, the Kia comes out, the Hyundai
is on its second model year.
That one actually has had the issues addressed,
and the Kia launches very well, because they already
took the learnings from that first year
and they applied it to the production line.
So avoiding first years.
But if you see twin models, if you really need a new one,
buy the first year of the twin, not the first year
before the child gets a gets a brother or sister, so to speak.
- That's right.
Again, new parents have learned, first-year woes, too.
So great question, Alex.
Hopefully we unpacked what you had in there,
and have a better understanding not just of reliability,
but those two cars in general.
So as always, we thank you for watching.
Thank you for listening.
Keep the questions coming TalkingCars@icloud.com,
and we will see you next week.
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