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

[garnermike]

And I've owned 3 hyundai and had major problems (flywheel not bolted properly, electric fans not working from factory, bad rear differential twice) with all of them so by my reckoning they're trash.
Anecdotal evidence is not really proof of quality or lack thereof.

So, by your reckoning "they're trash"?
And, yet, you bought 3 of them.
That tells me all I have to know.

Sponsored

 

[NotARealTruck]

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

Agreed. I saw a video on youtube of some guys trying to climb a muddy hill in one, when the truck kept starting/stopping they said they could smell burning. Also the tcs was freaking out and completely failing because I'm assuming it's programmed to not burn the clutches out. If you do any hauling or have a chance of getting stuck I would never trust a dct. They should be reserved for sportscars. This was actually the main reason I went with a maverick instead of a santa cruz.


Also just to add to this, I don't think I would ever buy a hyundai ever again. My sister-in-law got a brand new Tuscan from the dealer. They drove it for a few years and put 90k km on it. When it hit just over 100k, the engine spun a bearing. This was a known issue with the prior models, but her MY was excluded from the recall list. The dealership tried to push the blame saying she waited too long to change the oil, so she was going to have to replace the engine out of her pocket.

I asked her to show me the service records and She had literally everything. every oil change, every other fluid change, alignment records etc, all done on time, and through that dealership. I told her in no way should she be paying for a new engine.

She went back to hyundai and had to BATTLE them to get a new engine and they eventually gave in, but the whole process took over a month just to get it started.

My wife bought a Veloster turbo and it's been reliable, but the dealership lied to us on multiple accounts and didn't tell us until we came to pick up the car. Two of them were that "it's certified pre-owned so you get 150k warranty." and the other was "20 free oil changes at any hyundai dealer".

When we came to pick it up, suddenly it's not actually a certified pre-owned car, so no extra warranty. And imagine her surprise when she tried to book an oil change at another dealership and they told her she had to drive 2 hours back to the dealer she bought the car from for every single one of those 20 oil changes.

So even if this hideous abomination was a significantly better value, I wouldn't touch it with a 20 foot pole.

 

[Koolstang]

Agreed. I saw a video on youtube of some guys trying to climb a muddy hill in one, when the truck kept starting/stopping they said they could smell burning. Also the tcs was freaking out and completely failing because I'm assuming it's programmed to not burn the clutches out. If you do any hauling or have a chance of getting stuck I would never trust a dct. They should be reserved for sportscars. This was actually the main reason I went with a maverick instead of a santa cruz.


Also just to add to this, I don't think I would ever buy a hyundai ever again. My sister-in-law got a brand new Tuscan from the dealer. They drove it for a few years and put 90k km on it. When it hit just over 100k, the engine spun a bearing. This was a known issue with the prior models, but her MY was excluded from the recall list. The dealership tried to push the blame saying she waited too long to change the oil, so she was going to have to replace the engine out of her pocket.

I asked her to show me the service records and She had literally everything. every oil change, every other fluid change, alignment records etc, all done on time, and through that dealership. I told her in no way should she be paying for a new engine.

She went back to hyundai and had to BATTLE them to get a new engine and they eventually gave in, but the whole process took over a month just to get it started.

My wife bought a Veloster turbo and it's been reliable, but the dealership lied to us on multiple accounts and didn't tell us until we came to pick up the car. Two of them were that "it's certified pre-owned so you get 150k warranty." and the other was "20 free oil changes at any hyundai dealer".

When we came to pick it up, suddenly it's not actually a certified pre-owned car, so no extra warranty. And imagine her surprise when she tried to book an oil change at another dealership and they told her she had to drive 2 hours back to the dealer she bought the car from for every single one of those 20 oil changes.

So even if this hideous abomination was a significantly better value, I wouldn't touch it with a 20 foot pole.

 

[AutobahnSHO]

I saw Cadillac and MB are going crazy with 49+ inch screens across the dash!!?!?!?! So seeing more screen on the SC isn't surprising. Seems nuts to me.

 

[Blue_Max]

More important, where can I get some?

Try your local Hyundai dealer.

 

[JASmith]

Agreed. I saw a video on youtube of some guys trying to climb a muddy hill in one, when the truck kept starting/stopping they said they could smell burning. Also the tcs was freaking out and completely failing because I'm assuming it's programmed to not burn the clutches out. If you do any hauling or have a chance of getting stuck I would never trust a dct. They should be reserved for sportscars. This was actually the main reason I went with a maverick instead of a santa cruz.

Yeah, luckily the base engine is MPI so in theory no carbon fouling issues, it still gets the big oil cooler in spite of being much lower power compared to the turbo version, and it comes with a traditional 8-speed slushbox, so is probably the better option for offroad (assuming they have improved the HTRAC programming), and for a base model its nice it can tow 3500lbs with an auto-leveling rear suspension.

 

[JASmith]

I saw Cadillac and MB are going crazy with 49+ inch screens across the dash!!?!?!?! So seeing more screen on the SC isn't surprising. Seems nuts to me.

Peak car is when they get rid of the window weak points, make the chassis a solid cage, just give us a curved 85" 16K display with augmented reality, and when you crash into a water fountain you will be encased in a capsule of securefoam.

 

[Montana]

I saw Cadillac and MB are going crazy with 49+ inch screens across the dash!!?!?!?! So seeing more screen on the SC isn't surprising. Seems nuts to me.

*edit
I had to google it. It's so bad.

It's. So. Bad.

That doesn't scream luxury, it screams cheap manufacturing process and outsourcing for devices that will lose support in 5 years.

I really just want to see what a night drive behind these things would be like. Even on full dim or the far right screen off, I bet the brightness is overwhelming outside of well lit roads.

 

[PTLove]

I currently have a 2023 Santa Cruz, and honestly I love it. Bed is small but works for me (takes plywood!) and the interior is very car like, which my wife loves.
I have a 2025 Maverick on order however due to the center console on the Santa Cruz. It’s very high, my knees hit it, and I feel cramped (I am 6’5”). The mavericks is much lower and my knees easily go above it.
The refresh looks great, but that center console is still there. Dealbreaker for me.

 

[KeinoDoggy]

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.

No hybrid still. Pass!

 

[JASmith]

*edit
I had to google it. It's so bad.

It's. So. Bad.

That doesn't scream luxury, it screams cheap manufacturing process and outsourcing for devices that will lose support in 5 years.

I really just want to see what a night drive behind these things would be like. Even on full dim or the far right screen off, I bet the brightness is overwhelming outside of well lit roads.

Here's luxury:


Jealous of kids these days, I remember playing tetris on my 2.5" gameboy screen blindly half the time in the dark spots between street lights on the highway, lol!

Now kids are playing street fighter 6 from their parent's bimmer's heated seats.

 

[Montana]

Here's luxury:


Jealous of kids these days, I remember playing tetris on my 2.5" gameboy screen blindly half the time in the dark spots between street lights on the highway, lol!

Now kids are playing street fighter 6 from their parent's bimmer's heated seats.

The struggle was real. I had one of those light attachments and every road trip I was stocked on batteries on the way out and bored AF on the way home because a full battery would last maybe an hour.

A rear screen I can somewhat understand but still feels a bit dated unless you are really looking to distract some tiny humans in the back seats.

It does make it hard to buy a vehicle now though, because you see the nice new screens and then see the older model and think "wow that looks dated". I'm teaching myself to not care though. I've found there is a medium in a vehicle and too much screen is not a comfort selling point to me, but I also don't want something that looks like it's from 1996 when I'm thinking resale value 5 years from now.

 

[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

Here's luxury:


Jealous of kids these days, I remember playing tetris on my 2.5" gameboy screen blindly half the time in the dark spots between street lights on the highway, lol!

Now kids are playing street fighter 6 from their parent's bimmer's heated seats.

Sheite, we were destined to counting VW bugs with 1 headlight on the highway.

 

[Ryom]

I really just want to see what a night drive behind these things would be like. Even on full dim or the far right screen off, I bet the brightness is overwhelming outside of well lit roads.

If they used an OLED panel it would be fine, as that technology has pure blacks. However, a proprietary and completely custom OLED panel and driver of that size would be RIDICULOUSLY expensive, probably $10-$15,000 by itself at the limited quantities they'd have. There's NO WAY that it'd be cheaper than real buttons. I could see a panel like that used in an ultra-high end luxury vehicle, many hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more)... but not a regular luxury vehicle that tops out at like $150,000 max (so about 10% of the TOTAL price of the vehicle just for the panel). So in all likelihood it'd be a regular LCD panel and would be less than stellar at night.

Someone has to know more

 

[Blue_Max]

Here's luxury:


Jealous of kids these days, I remember playing tetris on my 2.5" gameboy screen blindly half the time in the dark spots between street lights on the highway, lol!

Now kids are playing street fighter 6 from their parent's bimmer's heated seats.

Dang, when I was a kid we just looked out the window or interacted with the other people in the car.

Sponsored