I'll jump in on the other side of the fence regarding Hyundai. I'm on my second car from them and I've been very happy with both. The first new car I ever bought was the Hyundai Tucson the year it was introduced. I treated that little truck terribly and it still kept going. I finally passed it on to family with about 190k miles when my wife and I got married and we didn't need two SUVs, it's still going strong. She had the CRV that we are also passing on to family now that the Passport is on the way. The replacement for the Tucson was the Hyundai Veloster that has been the best car I've ever driven. I love that little spaceship. I know Hyundai has a long history as "that other car maker", but I can say that after the full line refresh in the early 2000's they have been a solid value choice. It's true that the resale value isn't where the main stream makers are, in large part due to the non-transferable nature of the warranty. I tend to drive cars until the wheels fall off or until they get passed on to family, so the value proposition for me may be different than for others, but I thought I should chime in with a pro-Hyundai perspective. I like their styling and was very tempted by the Santa Fe, but I do like having cars from different manufacturers. The CRV became the Passport, and some day the Veloster will likely become another Hyundai of some shape or form... probably an all electric.
