Okay silly question, perhaps.. But I have wondered if anybody knows of any Santa Fe's that have been used hard on washboard roads, ranch roads, actually doing utility work, etc.. Did it fall apart? I know it's based on the Sonata platform, which is sturdy enough.. but probably not quite a Subaru if you know what I mean. Now of course I'm not referring to 'wheeling' it. But let's say you had miles of bad road everyday to your house and had to haul some stuff on a regular basis, but still wanted to get decent mileage and have affordable tires, maint, etc.. Is it a worthy alternative to a true SUV? Just wondering because I have been considering it for my future plans.

 

With more severe use, things wear faster. Expect shorter service life for shock absorbers especially. Everything that is barely holding on on a street car will fall off on a rough road car. You could use it, but if you want a long service life, it will be more expensive.



To an unknowable degree.

 

Sure. That makes sense. As long as they don't have a reputation for any particular weakness it would probably do what I need it to just fine. And I'm thinking mostly of the early generation. Something affordable and efficient but with a little extra ground clearance to maintain speed on rough roads.