Round Two: 2025 Santa Cruz Refresh vs.. 2025 Maverick Refresh 🥊

[Edge Haley]

100,000 mile powertrain warranty , 5 year 60,000 bumper to bumper warranty is a Hyundai advantage.
Me, I purchased Ford warranty from Granger. If Ford had Hyundai length warranty I would not have spent the extra money.

With the refresh Maverick gained significant improvements, Santa Cruz did not.

Neighbor bragged for months about her 100,000 mile, 5 yr warranty on a Hyundai SUV. First year it was in for 14 repairs....it was like very 2 weeks something was breaking...She ended up selling after one year simply because it was in for repair so often and never got a rental car during 2, 3 and 4 days of repairs on each service. Hyundai's need 100,000 warranty.

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[bgn]

Interior looks better on the Hyundai from a materials and build quality perspective. But there's no saving the exterior.

 

[Deleted member 5352]

The interior is a drastic change. It looks like every other modern Hyundai such as the Ioniq 5, Santa Fe, Elantra, Sonata, etc. I've been in many of these and the build quality is on a whole different level compared to the Maverick. Although the SC is ugly, I will say the interiors are their strong suit. Everything is put together well. There's no fitment issues, they use softer/more tactile materials and they have the nicest screens in the business, at least i.m.o. However, both Hyundai and Kia love using glossy black finishes which, I will admit, does look cheap and doesn't age well at all. That's the major caveat.

As far as the exterior is concerned, it still looks butt-ugly. The only difference is that it's a little blockier. The side and rear profiles are the same. I was hoping they would tone down the grille a bit like what Honda is doing. They went from radical designs to being more convential which does seem to win a lot more buyers. That's what made the pre-facelift Maverick work so well. It wasn't overstyled and had a conventional grille/headlight design. Now it's out the window and only looks a little less ugly than the SC.

Heaven for bid my Maverick was totalled and needed to be replaced with something immediately, I would maybe consider the SC. It's similar in size to the Maverick, has great tech, has better interior quality, they're readily available (thanks to the controversial looks/price) and they offer the best warranty in the business (although it's argued the reason being is that their engines/transmissions are major failure points so you'll end up needing that extra coverage.)

 

[Jaguarphd]

I think that the Santa Cruz is a much nicer daily vehicle - drives better, faster, tows more, great interior. But the style isn’t for everyone, the price is a little higher, and you lose more bed space to the rolling tonneau. Plus, and the reason I still ordered a 25 maverick lariat over a 25 Santa Fe, no hybrid.

 

[Jaguarphd]

I also think it’s a head scratcher to throw a DCT in a truck. I don’t trust that transmission.

 

[ripperAZ]

So what are the thoughts on Round 2 with Maverick's closest competitor, the Santa Cruz, now that both are seeing a significant refresh?

For those that haven't seen the Santa Cruz changes, here's a Limited:



I think they did well on the interior update, but not sure I like the new grill or Hyundai logo change. Hopefully they make a gloss black sticker to mellow that logo out. Seems both the SC's and Mav's refreshed front ends are controversial.

And finally saw what the non-turbo trims look like, the SEL sees only a $500 price bump from pre-refresh and the SEL with activity package actually dropped in price.

Finally gets a rear arm rest:

Also looks like a new dark green color option, in addition to the red.

Also new, the '25 sees a +4mpg highway fuel economy improvement for the SE/SEL FWD (non turbo), not competitive with the Maverick hybrid, but a nice bump.

It’s still competing with the Pontiac Aztec as the ugliest vehicle ever made. I wouldn’t be seen dead driving that thing.

 

[Milous]

It’s still competing with the Pontiac Aztec as the ugliest vehicle ever made. I wouldn’t be seen dead driving that thing.

Actually, the Aztec got pushed down a slot to #2, in First place now is the Tesla Cybertruck.

 

[MavDan]

Neighbor bragged for months about her 100,000 mile, 5 yr warranty on a Hyundai SUV. First year it was in for 14 repairs....it was like very 2 weeks something was breaking...She ended up selling after one year simply because it was in for repair so often and never got a rental car during 2, 3 and 4 days of repairs on each service. Fords need 100,000 warranty.

So, just like the Maverick, then.... FTFY.

 

[MavDan]

Still butt ass ugly.

awww.. cheer up, fella. There's a billion people on this planet. Your odds are pretty good!

 

[CurtisB]

I can't fit in the interior driver side with the raised center console. I like being able to move my legs. The front end doesn't do anything for me and it still looks like an SUV. I'm sure others will like it as it seems to be selling. But for me, I'm good.

 

[Scupking]

If they stretched the bed out by a foot it would balance out the current odd look it has…. Only thing good about the SC is it has a 5000lb towing capacity and 500lb tongue weight capacity. Wish the Mav would match that.

 

[NedF]

Even though I am not 100% sold on the new front grill of the Maverick, I would still take a MY25 Mav over a Santa Cruz every day of the week! I would definitely upgrade to the AWD and 4K. I have 8 year replacement cost insurance on my 24 heaven forbid something happened to it I hope they would let me pay the difference for the upgrades.

 

[2seater]

Does it bother anyone that this vehicle, and many others from various brands, actually have turn signals that are arrowheads or actual arrow shapes pointing the wrong direction? This certainly isn't a handsome front view but the almost deliberately misleading turn signals really bugs me Picking nits perhaps, but if that is all that is visible for some reason, why deliberately make it backwards? Rant over

 

[JASmith]

Does it bother anyone that this vehicle, and many others from various brands, actually have turn signals that are arrowheads or actual arrow shapes pointing the wrong direction? This certainly isn't a handsome front view but the almost deliberately misleading turn signals really bugs me Picking nits perhaps, but if that is all that is visible for some reason, why deliberately make it backwards? Rant over

Yes! And the '25 Tucson that its based on has a better design, it uses the switchback white lights in the grill to turn amber. Not sure why the Santa Cruz didn't get that as well.

For those curious, this shows how it looks like an arrow for the turn signals in the front headlight assembly:


The other offender is the Mini Cooper. Yes, its supposed to be the union jack, but c'mon a little common sense goes a long way as it looks like an arrow pointing right when you engage the left blinker.



Never let them know your next move...

On the plus side, the headlights that they are housed in are very nice for a lower trim, and a big upgrade from the base headlights they had pre-refresh.

 

[Solaryellow]

After owning a few Hyundai products, I was always left with a feeling of cheapness and so/so quality. The debacle with the theta engines really soured me even with replacement engines and increased warranty.

The Santa Cruz is Pontiac Aztek ugly and that says a lot.

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