The 2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz is a small pickup-style vehicle from Hyundai. The hosts focus on the new engine/transmission setup and how it compares to other small trucks like the Toyota Tacoma.
The Hyundai Santa Fe is an SUV, which means it’s a taller vehicle with more room for passengers and cargo. It’s designed for everyday driving and family use. The podcast is talking about Hyundai’s newer SUV-related models, which is why the Santa Fe comes up in that general area.
Term
CR testing
“CR testing” means the kind of vehicle testing done by Consumer Reports. They use consistent tests so you can compare cars more fairly.
All-wheel drive (AWD) sends power to all four wheels, improving traction in rain, snow, and low-grip conditions. It can also help the vehicle accelerate more confidently off the line compared with front- or rear-wheel drive.
A powertrain is the vehicle’s main mechanical system for making and delivering power—typically the engine (or motor), transmission, and drivetrain components. Here, the hosts emphasize that the Santa Cruz changed its powertrain architecture, which affects how it drives.
DSG stands for Direct-Shift Gearbox, a type of dual-clutch automatic transmission. It uses two clutches to pre-select gears, which can make shifts feel quicker and more responsive than a traditional torque-converter automatic.
A 2.5-liter turbo engine is a gasoline engine with a turbocharger that forces more air into the cylinders, allowing more power from the same displacement. In this episode, the previous Santa Cruz used a 2.5-liter turbo setup producing 281 horsepower.
A 2.5 non-turbo engine is a 2.5-liter engine without a turbocharger, so it relies on naturally aspirated airflow rather than forced induction. The hosts contrast it with the prior turbo engine to explain why the driving feel and power delivery change.
A “traditional automatic transmission” typically refers to a conventional torque-converter automatic rather than a dual-clutch system. These transmissions generally prioritize smoothness and ease of use, though shift feel can be less immediate than dual-clutch setups.
The Ford Maverick is a compact pickup that’s used here as a benchmark for sales performance in the small-truck segment. The hosts mention Hyundai’s cancellation rationale included competition from models like the Maverick.
The Toyota Tacoma is the sales leader in the small-truck market, and the hosts use it to show how much lower the Santa Cruz’s volume is. They cite typical monthly sales for the Tacoma to contextualize the Santa Cruz’s “fraction of the number” sales.
The Subaru Baja was a weird, short-run Subaru that mixed SUV/crossover styling with a small truck bed. The hosts use it as an example of a model that seemed uncommon and then got discontinued.
The Subaru Outback is a car-like vehicle that’s made a bit taller and more versatile. It’s meant for people who want room for passengers and gear, plus easier driving on rougher roads. The podcast mentions it as a different version or approach within the Outback idea.
The Chevrolet Colorado is a midsize pickup truck. They’re using it as an example of a truck that feels more like a traditional pickup than smaller, car-like ones.
The Ford Ranger is a midsize pickup truck. The hosts are grouping it with other midsize trucks as the kind you’d choose if you actually need to tow or haul things.
Unibody means the car’s body and frame are built as one piece. The hosts are saying some trucks are built more like cars, which can change how well they handle heavy hauling and towing.
“Half-ton” is a common way people talk about pickup size and how much they can carry. They’re saying that even a half-ton truck can be too small for certain jobs, depending on bed length and what you’re hauling.
A short bed is a pickup bed length shorter than the standard or long-bed options. Bed length matters for hauling long materials because it affects whether items fit inside the bed or require using the tailgate or straps to secure them.
“Bluetooth reconnects” means your car can automatically link back up to your phone after you’ve paired them before. That helps music and calls work right away when you start the car.
The Ford F-150 is a big, full-size pickup. They’re using it as the example of a truck that’s harder to park and live with compared to a smaller pickup.
In this context, “parking lot” is used to emphasize low-speed maneuverability—how easy the vehicle is to position in tight spaces. It’s not a technical term, but it’s part of the hosts’ practical usability argument for smaller trucks.
The GMC Envoy is a midsize SUV, meaning it’s a larger family vehicle with more space. The podcast mentions it with a personal experience about how it felt and how it was handled. It’s being discussed as part of a set of SUV ownership stories.
A dual-clutch transmission is a type of automatic that shifts quickly using two clutches. The host is saying the transmission in this version doesn’t have the same problems they experienced before.
Horsepower is a number that describes how strong the engine is. Here, the host uses it to show that the turbo version has more power than the non-turbo.
Concept
wind the motor out
“Wind the motor out” means rev the engine higher. The host is saying you have to do that more with the non-turbo, and it makes the truck feel louder and less comfortable.
Bed cargo weight is the maximum weight you’re allowed to put in the pickup’s cargo bed. It’s separate from towing capacity, and both limits affect how useful a truck is for hauling.
Term
onboard weight
Onboard weight here is being used to mean the truck’s payload/carrying capacity (how much weight it can carry). In pickup discussions, this is often discussed alongside bed cargo weight and towing capacity.
Underpowered describes an engine that doesn’t produce enough power for the vehicle’s size and intended use, especially when accelerating, climbing grades, or towing. The hosts connect it to how the truck feels in real driving, not just on paper.
Steph Schrader is a frequent guest on Talking Cars, and in this segment she offers her opinion on the vehicle’s lack of power. Her comments are used to support the hosts’ critique of the truck’s drivability.
Term
no beam
“No beam” appears to be a metaphorical phrase used by Steph Schrader to describe a lack of power/drive in the vehicle—i.e., it doesn’t feel like it has the “pull” you expect. It’s not a standard automotive term, but it’s a specific quote worth clarifying for listeners.
“Base engine” is the simplest, lowest-power engine option you can get in that car. The host is saying it may not feel strong enough when you need quick acceleration for safety.
Adaptive cruise control is cruise control that can slow down and speed up to keep a safe distance from the car in front of you. The host is saying this Santa Cruz trim didn’t include that helpful feature.
This means the steering wheel is made with cheaper-looking materials instead of nicer finishes. The host is saying that some trims save money in obvious places like this.
The Toyota Corolla is a very common, everyday car. The host is using it to make a comparison: if a Corolla has adaptive cruise control, it’s disappointing that this Santa Cruz trim doesn’t.
Concept
on the chopping block
“On the chopping block” just means something might be canceled or ended. Here, they’re talking about the possibility that the vehicle program was at risk of being discontinued.
Shared parts are the same pieces used on more than one car model. That usually means it’s easier to get replacement parts and sometimes cheaper to build and repair the vehicles.
City driving means typical urban traffic—slower speeds, lots of stopping, and frequent starts. They’re saying their test route is more aggressive than what you’d normally see in a city.
Term
uphill merge
An uphill merge is when you’re trying to speed up to join traffic while going uphill. It takes more effort from the engine, so it’s a good test of whether the car has enough power.
Term
40 roll
A “40 roll” means you’re already rolling along at around 40 mph before you accelerate again. The hosts use it to talk about how quickly the vehicle can build speed for merging or passing.
Here “bumper sticker” is a joke about how hard you might feel you need to push the vehicle to keep up with traffic. The point is that the base engine may not feel strong enough without more effort.
The Honda Ridgeline is a pickup truck from Honda that drives more like a regular car than many traditional trucks. In this conversation, it’s mentioned as a bigger option compared with the smaller trucks they’re discussing.
The Bristol Bullet is a very uncommon car model. The podcast mentions it as part of a comparison or decision-making story, where the speaker talks about choosing a full-size truck instead. It’s not being discussed as a mainstream everyday option.
The Ford F-100 is an older full-size pickup truck. It was built to do practical truck jobs like hauling and carrying. The podcast mentions it while talking about Ford trucks they’ve had or considered.
The Dodge Ram is a large pickup truck. It’s designed to carry things and tow when needed, but some versions are also made to feel comfortable to drive. The podcast mentions it in the context of how it rides.
The Ford Ranchero is an older Ford that blends a regular car with a pickup truck bed. It’s the kind of vehicle where you get the everyday car feel, but you can still haul things in a bed.
Body-on-frame means the car’s body is mounted on a separate heavy-duty frame underneath. That design is common on trucks because it can handle work and rough roads better.
A single cab means there’s only one front seating area (no extra back seats). It’s usually more focused on hauling and simpler interior space.
Concept
merge it with a truck
This describes the design idea of combining a passenger car’s platform and layout with truck functions like a bed and utility. It’s essentially the “car-to-truck hybrid” philosophy behind vehicles like the Ranchero and other small truck-like offerings.
Car
Chrysler Rampage
The Chrysler Rampage was a small pickup-style car made by Chrysler. Because it drives the front wheels, loading the bed can change how well the front tires grip and how the truck feels to drive.
The Dodge Omni is a small compact car. The podcast mentions it along with other names that refer to different versions of the Omni. It’s included as part of a list of cars the speaker has referenced.
Volkswagen made a small pickup-style vehicle based on the Rabbit. Since it’s front-wheel drive, putting weight in the bed can make the front tires grip less and affect how it drives.
Front-wheel drive means the front tires both steer and push the car forward. If you put heavy stuff in the bed, the front tires can lose some grip, which changes how the vehicle feels.
Traction is how well the tires can grip the road. If the setup causes the front tires to grip less, the truck can feel less stable and less able to accelerate without slipping.
Dealer lots are the inventory areas where new cars are stored and displayed before being sold to customers. The hosts suggest Hyundai may be offering incentives to move these vehicles quickly.
Incentives are discounts or special financing offers that make a car cost less than the sticker price. The host is saying Hyundai may be using incentives to get these trucks sold.
Cross-shopping is when you look at a few different cars and compare them before you buy. The host is saying you can use their ratings to compare the Santa Cruz with other similar vehicles.
Used cars are vehicles sold after their original purchase, typically after the first owner. The hosts are emphasizing that even if a model is discontinued, it can still be evaluated over time through ownership experience and reliability tracking.
Reliability means how likely a car is to avoid annoying breakdowns and big repair problems. The hosts are saying later owners can benefit from what’s learned about the car over time.
Fuel economy testing is how testers measure how much gas a car uses. It helps you estimate what kind of mileage you might realistically get.
Term
small bed
A “small bed” means the truck bed is shorter and holds less stuff. The point is that some people buy this kind of truck because they don’t need a big bed every day.
The Nissan Maxima is a midsize sedan, meaning it’s a regular passenger car with room for families. It’s generally positioned to feel more sporty than a basic commuter sedan. The podcast mentions it while listing different cars and years.
The Toyota RAV4 is a popular compact SUV that many people use as a regular daily vehicle. Here it’s just one of the cars the listener says they’ve owned before the Santa Cruz.
The Toyota Camry is a regular passenger car (a sedan) meant for daily driving. It’s known for being comfortable and practical, and some versions are hybrids. The podcast mentions it while listing different cars and model years.
The Mazda CX-5 is a compact SUV that’s meant for daily driving. It gives you more space than a sedan and sits higher off the ground. The podcast brings it up while talking about different cars they’ve owned or considered.
Bed size is how big the open cargo box is on the back of a pickup. Bigger beds usually let you carry more, which is why it affects how trucks are rated.
The Jeep Wrangler is a popular off-road SUV with a very distinct personality. They’re using it as an example that some cars feel rougher to ride in—like being stiff and noisy—even if people love them.
An expandable pipe frame box is a measurement fixture used to determine how much volume fits in a vehicle’s cargo area. By using a standardized box shape and expanding it to the available space, they can calculate cargo volume more consistently than eyeballing it.
Cubic feet is a way to measure volume—how much space something takes up. They’re using it to compare how much room the truck beds have for carrying items.
A “compromise” here means the truck can’t be perfect at everything. If it’s easier to drive and park, it often means you give up something else—like how much space you have in the bed.
A hard tonneau cover is a solid cover that goes over the bed of a pickup. It helps keep items dry and secure, but when it opens it can take up some space in the bed area.
A soft tonneau cover is the flexible, fabric-style cover over the truck bed. It’s usually easier to move around than a hard cover, but it may not be as sturdy.
Threaded inserts are built-in metal threads in the truck’s cargo rail. They let you screw in tie-down pieces or knobs so you can secure cargo and adjust where the hardware sits.
They’re talking about a 1976 Toyota Celica. It’s a sporty older Toyota, and in this case it was paired with a manual transmission, which makes it more fun to drive.
A five-speed manual is a car where you shift gears yourself with a clutch pedal. “Five speed” means there are five forward gear choices to help the engine run well.
“G bodies” is a nickname for a group of older GM cars that share the same basic platform. The host is saying those cars are great because they’re solid and well-built.
“G body” is a name for a specific GM car platform used in certain years. Enthusiasts use it to group cars that share the same basic underpinnings, like the Cutlass and Monte Carlo.
This is a 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass, a classic GM car from the late 1970s. The host mentions it because it was extremely popular and they even owned one.
The El Camino is a classic Chevrolet that’s basically a car with a small pickup bed. They bring it up because it shares the same GM platform group (“G body”) as other popular cars from that era.
Here, “fleet” just means a set of cars that an organization keeps and uses for testing. They’re not customer cars—they’re vehicles the group runs through its program.
This is Consumer Reports’ vehicle testing setup. They’re saying that in their testing work, they use trucks a lot, so their experience shapes what they recommend.
LIVE
Welcome back to Talking Cars, I'm Michael Croson, I'm Mike Quincy, and I'm Ryan Pislakowski.
So today we're going to be talking about the 2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz.
We bought another one and we'll kind of get to that here in a minute, but it has completed
all the CR testing and we thought we would talk about it.
So we purchased this 2026 Santa Cruz SEL Activity all-wheel drive, quite the name, base price
of $35,700 and as tested $38,680 that does include a destination charge of $1,600.
Now why did we buy another one so soon after we had our 2022?
Well the answer is this new powertrain.
The previous one was a 2.5-liter turbo that made a whopping 281 horsepower and had a DSG
transmission.
This new one is a 2.5 non-turbo, makes 191 horsepower and has pretty much a traditional
automatic transmission.
So because the drivetrain is so different, we figured it was worth buying and then here's
the thing we need to mention, about 10 days after we bought it, Hyundai canceled the Santa
Cruz.
Isn't that just like our timing?
It's even funnier because, well we'll talk about it.
So we bought one and they canceled it and they cited poor sales numbers and high dealer
inventory against other smaller trucks like the Ford Maverick.
So with that, and let's maybe shed some light on why this went away, Mike, what does the
small truck market look like in terms of sales?
Well Hyundai wasn't wrong.
The Santa Cruz sells a fraction of the number of the other small trucks and when you look
at the leader like the Toyota Tacoma, which in a kind of good or normal month will sell
about 20,000 units a month and the Santa Cruz would be lucky to sell 20,000 units in an
entire year.
So for the month of May, Hyundai sold approximately 375 Santa Cruises, if I can say that correctly.
I think one of those was ours.
Yeah.
Well, Toyota in that same period sold 23,814 units.
These numbers are coming from the automotive news, the industry trade paper that we all
know and love.
Tacoma's not even fair to really compare, really.
But it is sort of the juggernaut and it is that medium sized truck, but you scale it
back down to the size of the Maverick.
The Maverick is still pulling around 16,000 units a month.
That's a better comparison and that's like still like way more, right?
And you think about it, I think I see more Subaru Baja, remember the Subaru Baja?
Yeah, yeah.
Every now and again that I see a Santa Cruz.
You rarely see Santa Cruises.
I don't ever see them.
I feel like other than ours.
But maybe the question is why did Subaru stop selling the Baja?
One why did Hyundai stop selling the Santa Cruz?
That was a long time ago, right?
I mean, I don't even know what year that was, but.
Yeah, I don't know what the sales numbers were, but that was definitely a bit of a quirky
kind of thing.
Right.
Just different take on the outback, I guess.
But I think we'll sort of get into this small truck thing because we mentioned, you know,
we threw the Tacoma in this list, but it is a larger size truck, but we're still not
up to full size truck.
But the Tacoma, the Colorado and the Ranger are, you know, quote unquote, let's call them
real trucks, if you will, versus these other more unibody car based kind of things.
So ultimately, like how much truck is enough truck?
And I guess that depends on the type of things that you do, you know, is you don't know about
Mike Quincy, luckily, I do not own a boat because I want financial solvency, but someone
I know does.
So Mike, you don't have to tow a boat, but right, you might have a need to tow a boat.
So you're using the truck.
The boat's really not even the heavy thing.
I mean, I have other stuff like equipment trailer and a tractor and all this stuff.
So that's a heavier, but also like I'm still working on a house and I need to go get like
a bunch of eight foot sheets of sheetrock.
Right.
Like even a regular full half ton truck with the short bed is like I have to leave the
tailgate down.
Not quite enough still.
Kind of generally strap it and go home without, you know, too much fuss.
But right.
That's where I need like a real truck, you know, but I also look at it as I mean, we
have our vehicles here.
So we don't need, you know, you can usually find a tow vehicle.
Yeah. Right. Right.
But even if I had my own vehicle, I would have a full size truck and I would probably
it wouldn't get a lot of miles, but I need it when I need it.
I need it.
And I need a full size one.
Absolutely.
Probably three quarter ton at times, you know, so.
And you know, if you have a truck, lot more friends because your friends, your
always want to borrow their truck.
So but a truck of this size, Santa Cruz, a Maverick, something like that might be
enough truck for for some people for certain homeowners or maybe you live in a condo and
you're not bringing home sheets of plywood.
So so in the Santa Cruz, what do we like about it?
Well, I mean, the thing that we're criticizing about actually is also one of the more
appealing aspects of it.
It's size.
It's it's very it's very maneuverable.
It's easy to park compared to the bigger trucks.
It's certainly better on on gas.
So so that's easy to drive.
Yeah, it's easy to drive.
It has kind of typically good Hyundai simple controls.
The Bluetooth reconnects when you pair your phone.
It's easy to get into.
It has a decent ride, has pretty good handling.
There's a lot to like about the truck.
And it's and it's not it's not huge like an F-150.
Sure. So so it is pretty pretty easy to live with.
I mean, I like the idea of a small truck, because I don't think most Americans need
a full size truck.
Well, I like it all for all the things that it is not a truck.
So it's easy to get inside.
It's easy to drive.
It's easy to maneuver in a parking lot, Hyundai controls, everything you just said.
But the truck part of it isn't I don't like because that's not it's not enough
for me, in other words, right? Right.
There are people I think this it makes a ton of sense for a lot of people,
especially when this this first came out, the Maverick, even the Ridgeline.
I mean, that's sort of like the beginning of it for me.
Those make a ton of sense.
They're quiet.
They're nice to drive.
And it's just enough bed for most people.
A lot of people drive around a full size truck.
They do not need a full size empty all the time.
Right. Right. Right.
Exactly. So I think most people buy more utility than they ever use.
Of course. Yeah.
And a lot of these quad cab short bed trucks, the full size, it's like an SUV.
The back seats huge.
They can do a lot of it with it.
But they probably really still don't need that much, right?
I mean, the tows 10, 12,000 pounds, depending whatever it is.
They don't towing that, you know?
Or, you know, how many times a year did they tow it?
Yes. Or they go in a couple of family vacations.
Yeah. It's like, I don't know.
The percentage is pretty small.
Yeah. And it's sort of just, I think, sensible, right?
It gives you a little bit more flexibility than an SUV might.
You can put something tall in the back, like from the garden center.
Like the Baja would have been a good example for that.
Or remember when the Trailblazer, but it wasn't the Trailblazer, it was the GMC.
The had the rollback, the strange envoy rollback thing.
It was like super heavy and awkward driving.
Oh, yeah. It was on the extended wheelbase only.
But like an extra thousand pounds up in the air.
But you could like put a tree in the back of it if you needed to.
Yeah. I don't know if it was practical, but you could transport trees, I guess.
And I don't think they sold a lot of them.
No, no. You see one every now and again.
But yeah, they didn't sell a lot of those.
Yeah. So, so, Ryan, what don't you like about this thing?
Which I think I know, but let's hear it.
No, it's the the powertrain and this is it's weak.
The transmission doesn't have the dual clutch issues
that I did the first time. Right.
But I would take those issues with that.
That more. Yeah.
So so the non turbo is a hundred and 91 horsepower versus 200 and eighty
one on that turbo. Yeah.
And it's a huge amount of power and just a huge difference in our driving experience.
Yeah. And because of that, it's when you, you know, you have to wind the motor out.
It gets loud. The engine gets loud in there.
It's just a lot less pleasant.
So really, that's a big issue for me when it comes to driving it as it is, right?
Still, it's not a big enough truck for me, but that's besides the point at this point.
So I think, yeah, we tested this thing.
They tell us when they're getting rid of it and then it's not great on top.
So it's like this is a real bad way out.
It's it's a it's a real double whammy for this for the Santa Cruz.
Yeah. And I will say, too, on the truck side of things,
you just have the biggest bed. Sure.
It's towing capacity is actually not terrible, but it is less with the non turbo motor.
So you take the hit on just your everyday driving, you know, merging and things like that.
But then you can actually tow less with it, too.
The non turbo can tow 3500 pounds, which is actually not terrible
when it comes to a smaller truck.
But the turbo can tow 5000 pounds.
That's getting up to a much more useful kind of towing way.
Yeah, that's where it's like Maverick's can tow 2000 pounds.
I mean, that's basically nothing.
And then, you know, if you need to step up to Coma's over 6000 pounds
in the Ranger in Colorado, both can tow over 7000 pounds.
I don't know if Maverick is that low.
Yeah, it's very low.
Bed cargo weight, too.
Like, you know, the onboard weight is pretty low as well.
But yeah, I think I'm with you guys on this.
It's sort of a questionable thing.
The vehicle itself is a little questionable, like why is it enough truck?
But then they took away a bunch of power.
And I don't think we saw a real big difference
in terms of like fuel economy out of losing the turbo and losing all this power either.
So a bit of a questionable choice, I think, personally.
I probably wouldn't buy one anyway.
I'm skipping ahead here a little bit, but definitely not in the non-turbo.
Well, can I circle back to the end?
Absolutely. OK, because it is it is so underpowered.
It's almost scary. It's almost it's almost I'm not going to say unsafe,
but it's it's just horrible.
And I was talking to to Steph Schrader about this, you know,
frequent guest on on talking cars.
And she said the car simply has no beam.
She said it's the chili of cars.
And I thought that was awesome
because some people that like chili, like, oh, there shouldn't be no beans and chili.
But that's, you know, that's if you're from Texas and I'm from Texas, right?
And no beans and chili.
But but when you try to pass a car on the highway and I experience this myself,
so I'm I'm moving out into the left lane and I'm asking for power.
And I put my foot down and you're right, Ryan, it's noisy,
but there's nothing there.
At least you can get a reaction.
You can absolutely mat the accelerator pedal.
And it's going to and it doesn't.
But it's not it's there's no more power to give.
Correct. And it's going through now a traditional automatic.
So that's soaking up some of that power as well.
And it's just a little easier in terms of shifting and the engine is screaming.
And it's not really moving.
And so you can have some anxious moments if you're thinking
I'm going to dip into this well of power that you do in almost every
single car and and with the Santa Cruz, there's there's no reserves.
Right. And there's a lot to be said.
I mean, that's that's a real like like real life situation.
Yes. I mean, you're getting on the highway,
especially like where they're doing work over here and there's a one lane.
You're merging into one line.
You better figure it out.
And like that thing doesn't leave you a lot of room to figure it out.
I think I think people people misinterpret when we talk about a car's
a power that we just want to go out and drive like a hot rod.
But in some ways, you need a burst of power to get you out of a of a sticky situation.
Which could be dangerous.
And it really is a safety thing.
And I'm not and I'm usually slightly sarcastic when I'm doing this,
but I'm not being sarcastic here and and the advice to the talking cars
audiences is just like, do not if you're thinking about a Santa Cruz,
do not get the base engine at all.
I mean, you'd have to step up.
You'd have to step up to the XRT or the limited.
But now you're looking at, you know, 41 to 43000 dollars
for a pretty small truck.
Yeah, that's getting spendy.
Yep. So so that in our trim line,
you know, we're kind of hammering it here,
but our trim line didn't have adaptive cruise control,
which like every Toyota Corolla has, it had added a plain plastic steering wheel,
which I find so depressing.
I mean, how much is it going to cost an auto manufacturer?
Put some kind of a wrap on the steering wheel?
I don't know. It's it was a weird combination of there's some value there,
but they also took out all this other stuff.
So interesting question.
Do you think maybe they knew that it was on the chopping block when they sort of
they had some parts back this and out or they're just like to have a time to just
kind of get these out, get these out of here.
Maybe. I mean, I don't know.
They build a lot of parts for these things way ahead.
And because the body is the same, right?
Right. A lot of that stuff is the same.
And there's going to be a lot of shared parts, too,
with like the Tucson and things like that.
Right. You know, a lot of this, they just have this stuff on shelves.
Yeah. And they knew the motor wasn't great in the first place.
I don't know. It's just fine.
Look at my notes and like the the the reason to like it is is it's not huge
like an F-150.
And the reason not to like it is it's not huge like an F-150.
So I guess.
That being said, real quick, driving around town, it isn't horrible.
Like it's a regular old urban driving.
It's not bad.
But just like the merging thing.
I mean, imagine if you had that you were driving by yourself likely.
There was. Yeah, there was.
There was no.
Me, I didn't have nothing in the bed.
Put some stuff in the bed and maybe two or three people.
That's the thing.
That's yeah.
Yeah. When we do fuel economy testing, it's on the track.
And it's it's a bit of an aggressive sort of course, if you will, for for city driving.
And it did have enough power to do that.
And, Ryan, you've done a bunch of fuels driving.
You know, some of the the burst of Excel, some vehicles,
like I'm not sure I'm going to make it your foot's practically to the floor.
And that wasn't really the case in this.
It had enough to do that.
But it's the right circumstance, maybe an uphill merge.
You know, you're at a 40 roll already and you need to get up to 65 or 70.
You know, to get yourself out of the situations.
Yeah, I would say, you know, if you're interested in one of these,
definitely drive a couple of different trim levels and make a call from there.
But, you know, just don't go for the one they have on the line.
If you're buying the base engine, you need to get a bumper sticker
that says, I'm pedaling as fast as I can because people are going to be
coming up behind you like, why aren't you moving?
But so like comes down to it.
If you want to pick up truck, not a huge one.
Yeah. What do you buy?
Me, I buy a Ridgeline, but the Ridgeline's a little bigger kind of Maverick.
These are all weird because they're not like almost apples to apples.
They're they're bought their car.
But we're talking, you know, you know, less than a half ton pickup truck.
Yeah, I buy a Ridgeline.
OK, yourself.
I was going to preface this as all kinds of stuff.
But if I just want a small truck, a Maverick, it does a lot of the truck
things that I need.
I think it's a better driving experience in general.
And when I do need a bigger truck, personally, I can usually get one here
or I'm ever rented a truck just to go do truck things that I need to
because I don't need to have one all the time.
But if I did have to do a lot of that stuff, I would just bite the bullet
and buy a full size truck and deal with the negatives that come along with that.
With hard to park, poor fuel economy, you know, because you do need it when you need it,
as you know, Ryan has said a couple of times.
So but as far as a little one goes, Maverick, probably the all will drive hybrid.
Yeah, I was going to say, yeah, that's the only way to buy that.
I'll see your Maverick and raise you a hybrid.
That's that's definitely the one that I would go for, mainly because it has
such good fuel economy, a great cruising range and enough utility where
the projects that I'm going to be working on my house aren't going to require something
something big or heavy.
But I also will preface this by saying that last Ford F
F 150 hybrid truck that we had, phenomenal.
I mean, I was also a great ride, just like the Ram 1500.
If you want something comfortable to drive in like a truck,
you really have to go up to one of the bigger models.
But but I'm like, I'm a huge advocate of smaller trucks.
And so I guess I was kind of a little sad to hear that one of the small
truck options in the United States is going away.
So that's that's kind of too.
And I don't think Chevy's bringing back the El Camino any time soon.
My dad had a ranchero Ford ranchero.
And I think back on like that was like a pretty much a body on frame.
Yeah.
Car with a bed, only one, you know, a single cab.
It wasn't a, you know, had a hearse, tea, like tea handle.
Yeah. Yeah.
A Ford, I remember going 351.
Yeah, I remember going to the dump at pace because this thing was
scooting right along and it was like the dump car.
But it was like I had a steel tailgate and it was like it was all metal.
Everything was robust. You could use it.
Yeah. I mean, it was a truck, but just cut that like flat, you know, car.
And it was it was awesome.
But think about the thing about those meetings in Detroit, you know,
those many decades ago where the executive was like, OK, OK, I got an idea.
I got an idea. Wait, wait, wait, wait.
So we're going to take a car and we're going to like get rid of the back seat
and forget the truck.
We're going to take a car and we're going to merge it with a truck.
What do you think?
And everyone laughed and laughed.
I think there was a lot of and then and then they all sold them.
I think there was a lot of cigarette smoke in the air and probably like
like those cut glasses on the table at the time that those decisions were made.
Waterford crystal. Yes, exactly.
This is the heyday of Detroit.
And Chrysler put out their own kind of front wheel drive version called the
Rampage. I don't know if you remember that.
I remember that.
But I'm hearing about a car based along with all the other it was like it was
like based on the Omni and the GLH and all that on the GLH.
But but yeah, so a front wheel drive, small truck, Volkswagen had a rabbit
truck and what's kind of weird about that, the dynamics of.
So it's it's front wheel drive, front engine, obviously.
And then you put weight in the bed.
Yeah. So so so you're actually taking traction away from from the front end
of the car.
So now it's a hot water vehicle.
Right. So so so the the the wheels that are doing the steering and powering
it to have, you know, it's being out outweighed by what you put in the bed.
Now they're not so maybe, you know, I mean, I don't know if they're collectible.
I'm not as good as physics, but I don't think that's a good setup.
But now people like to buy and if you can find a clean one,
they're especially a ranchero or alchemy, you know, those absolutely.
Yeah, those rabbit, the rabbit trucks.
I mean, what they call them something else, I thought.
But I think it was a rabbit truck.
I don't know. But there was another name that I think people call them.
Yeah. Yeah. Talk about slow.
Oh, God, that actually would be slower than than our our Santa Cruz.
I think it would be so I don't think any of us would have bought the Santa Cruz.
I don't think other than just lamenting the loss of a small truck,
we're not really sad about it either. I'm a little sad about it.
But I mean, it doesn't doesn't make it a terrible vehicle.
And certainly if it's turbocharged, better.
Oh, yeah, like, yeah, I'm a thing.
This isn't for somebody. Yeah, you could get a real
just a smoking deal on one right now on the on the dealer lots, because they're
I mean, I don't think it hurts. I bet you could beat them up.
They probably want to move these things.
They probably have some incentives from Hyundai to get them off the lots as well.
I would think maybe something to consider.
Yeah, more on that later.
All right, so.
So we tested it and we've put the ratings on it and sent us through the test program.
I don't know if the ratings are actually live on the website yet,
but if they're not today, they will be pretty soon.
So you can kind of cross shop that and compare it with any of the other small
trucks or SUVs that buyers might want to buy.
And of course, that stuff is there forever because these cars do exist.
They will be out there as used cars.
Yeah, exactly.
And we'll be able to track the reliability and all those kinds of things.
But second owner, third owner can still use all of our hard work
that we put in for this car that was canceled and kind of from a tester's
point of view, I was out there sweating, doing fuel economy testing.
It's like, I don't even make these things anymore.
But why am I doing it?
It's so useful, right?
Yeah, this data for historical purposes.
And there's still probably thousands and thousands of these out there
that people can buy and get a deal like a good deal on it.
Yeah, I mean, it certainly doesn't hurt to ask.
I think we can we can determine that.
That is, this is not a horrible vehicle.
Is that the worst thing we've ever driven?
It does have some utility.
But when it comes to how does it, you know, rank among other small trucks,
the the the interpretive thing that I've always told people and what I've said
many times is there are better options out there.
And that's the case here, you know.
So without, you know, letting the the clue out of the bag here.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I think there's actually a pretty good transition to our question from the audience.
We'd love to hear from the audience and they can send written questions
or video questions to talkingcarsaticloud.com.
And if Dave Abrams picture a question and we or whoever talks about
on the podcast, you will get a shirt, a Consumer Reports Auto Test Center shirt
or a hat or whatever Dave has available, he will send out.
But Ernie in St.
James, North Carolina out on the coast actually did like the Santa Cruz and
purchased one, but his question is regarding the Santa Cruz.
Now that the Hyundai Santa Cruz has been available for years, have they made
significant improvements that might raise the overall score CR gives it?
I noticed your score dings them on the small bed.
You shouldn't do that because people that buy this car are fully aware
of the small bed and like me, purchase the truck because we don't need
an average sized bed that could be the same as digging a large truck
because the bed is too big.
It all depends on the use for the truck.
I can't imagine someone buying this truck and then discovering
that the bed is too small and then complaining.
P.S., I've used your car ratings reports as a main factor in deciding
what car to buy over the past 40 years.
Purchases have included 1976 Toyota Celica, 1979 Buick-Arigo Limited,
1985 Chrysler Minivan, 1995 Nissan Maxima, 2002 Toyota RAV4, 2008 Toyota RAV4,
2006 Toyota Camry Hybrid, 2021 Mazda CX-5 Turbo and now the 2025
Hyundai Santa Cruz Limited.
So, Ernie, thank you for the question.
Awesome question.
We're always kind of happy to help maybe shed some light on these kinds of questions.
A loyal reader and watcher.
Absolutely.
And car buying expert rivaling Mike Quincy, I think the number of cars purchased.
So, Mike, I'm going to ask you, Ernie brought up this bed size thing
saying that we're digging it.
But really, how does bed size equate to our rating system when it comes to a truck?
Well, bed size does have a factor.
A larger bed will score better.
But we don't penalize a vehicle for having a smaller bed.
We just report kind of what it is.
We want to help you manage expectations.
I mean, one of the interesting things he said in his question was that people buy
this know that it's a small bed.
Well, I don't think it could some reports we assume anything.
You know, we don't assume that people know, you know, what they're getting
because they might not even have gone on a test drive yet.
So, I would say that's a safe assumption.
Well, right.
But it's kind of like, well, we we we talk about I know I'm I'm I'm going off
in a different lane here, but like the Jeep Wrangler is as a vehicle that's
ton that has a ton of character and a lot of people like it.
But we would be remiss by saying the ride is pretty bad.
It's stiff. It's noisy.
And there are compromises that this is going to be your day to day vehicle.
Now, you could say, well, everyone knows that the Wrangler is not everyone.
Not everyone does know that.
Yeah. So I'm reporting what we find.
I would I would say to Ernie, you're probably among the more educated
consumers out there, obviously, when you're talking about all the vehicles
we helped you buy, but but not everyone knows everything that in cargo
capacity of all vehicles is something that we test, right?
Right. We we we measure the beds.
We went every SUV.
We do this expandable pipe frame box where we measured the volume.
And and and John Williams is is doing all kinds of new work on on cargo
and all that stuff, which is all our ratings on consumerports.org.
So so but we do we do measure it.
So we don't we don't put it down for having a small bed.
But we will report to, you know, readers, subscribers and members of what not,
that it is a lot small to manage your expectations.
If you think, well, I'm buying a pickup truck, this is a pretty small pickup truck.
So how small is this actual bed?
How does it stack up compared to all the other smaller trucks?
So you got some numbers here for me.
So the Santa Cruz has fifteen point nine cubic feet of room in it.
The next competitor, the close competitor, the Maverick has 26 point one.
That's a big job.
A little difference, right?
And then you go to the Ridgeline is 27 point nine.
That's a decent size bed.
The Maverick, which is the closest competitor, is still much bigger.
26 point one compared to the fifteen point nine.
So that's where that those points come from.
Yeah. And we're not penalizing it from having a small bed.
It's scoring some points.
It's not scoring all of the points.
And if they made, let's say, a long bed version of the Santa Cruz,
that one would score more because you can put more stuff in the bed.
Sure. I think one of the things that we're always trying to emphasize
here at Consumer Reports is that every vehicle has compromises.
I mean, everyone, you have to give up something to get something and whatnot.
And Santa Cruz is, you know, nice and maneuverability and easy,
easy to park is one of the things that's really nice about it.
But you're giving up big, you know, big bed size.
And I think something too we should talk about is Santa Cruz has a tonneau cover,
like a hard tonneau cover, which is great because you can put stuff in it.
It keeps out of the weather. It keeps it secure.
You know, if you stop at a restaurant, you got some stuff in the back,
that sort of thing.
But just sort of its functionality, it takes up probably six to eight inches
of the front of the bed, like when it's fully retracted.
So you have all this room underneath it.
It's kind of like a shelf that just sort of gets in the way.
Whereas some of these other vehicles have more of a,
I'll call it more of a traditional tonneau cover as an accessory,
like a soft one or a hard tonneau cover that lifts up with a set of hinges
and struts and things like that.
It also has a unique system in it for kind of tying down cargo.
And it came with like some crossbars.
We took those out for when we do cargo testing.
We don't want them knocking around in the back while Ryan's out there
doing track handling and things.
But there's a rail back there that has these threaded inserts.
You can make all these adjustments and have you heard driving around?
There's actually a clunking in the back of it.
I was just going to say, I've definitely heard that as well.
So those are the little threaded inserts in the rail.
There's some extra knobs and we've been able to restrict their movement.
Because if not, they slide the whole way, but they still move a couple of inches.
And that's that metal clanking you hear as you're driving around.
So, I mean, you know, there's you got to put the rails back in or the cross,
you know, rails back in or come up with another solution,
maybe another threaded knob that can hold that that insert in place.
But it's something that I found annoying driving and testing it.
Just you hear this thing clanking away in the back.
I thought there was something wrong with our truck.
To be honest, I was like, oh, wow, something's broken back there.
Yeah. But I mean, the terms of just the infrastructure
that give you back there does seem very useful
in terms of making the most out of space and tying things down.
And so things can be secure, which is stuff like that.
I do appreciate having like all the little tie down
there in different places to tie stuff down to.
I mean, we don't want to discourage manufacturers
from putting in these, you know, thoughtful features.
Yeah. I mean, somebody somebody looked at this at the design of this and said,
well, what if we did this and that we make it better with that?
And you know, we applaud that because a lot of old trucks had nothing.
Oh, they might be just like a welded loop, like one at every corner.
And they weren't the most useful things.
This is adjustable because, you know, the stuff that you might carry
is going to be different than what you carry, Ryan.
So I think it's great.
I just think they missed a little bit here in the in the not using a department.
Like it's great when you use it.
But what about when you're not using it and help other manufacturers
don't look at this and say, well, we shouldn't we shouldn't bother designing
small trucks because I want I want some small trucks to keep coming.
I mean, the slate's coming out.
You've got to do better.
Yes, which is the smallest of the small trucks.
I think, of course, is electric and we'll see how how that goes.
We haven't got our hands on one yet, but we will eventually we are planning up.
So we'll be buying one.
And then hopefully we can just get a clean slate for absolutely talk.
So I want to thank you for your first question.
Glaring at me right now.
I can feel it on the back of my head.
The laser beam.
But I have actually have a question, a follow up question of Ernie's question.
Of all of these cars that Ernie has purchased with the help of Consumer Reports,
what are our favorites?
What are you guys?
I was hoping you were going to bring that up.
He's only asking this because there's one in there that he loves.
Well, there's probably I know there's one in there that I love.
So I'm hoping there's one in there that you love.
Yeah, it's none of the old ones, though.
It's probably that Monster 65 turbo.
That was a good car.
You're not wrong. It was a good car. Yeah.
All right. So Mike, what yours?
Oh, it's it's it's the 76 Celica.
Absolutely.
My mom had a 78.
It was still a real drive.
It had a five speed manual back in the 70s.
There were a lot of four speeds.
So a five speed seem seem pretty exotic.
This was also the first Japanese car in my family's household.
And and we were all amazed that nothing broke on it.
I mean, it just ran and ran.
Probably starting today started up every morning.
And we thought, wow, because we, you know,
bought cars from Detroit the whole time.
And actually, my dad did have one BMW in 2002.
She would have loved, by the way,
it was like a 73 or something like that.
But that's probably return to the earth.
Yeah, really?
But I have I have great fondness
for for all the rear wheel drive Celicas of that era.
And and I would I would love to to find one in my later years.
And what which one which one grabbed you?
Well, clearly the 1979 Buick Regal.
I could just see him driving it right now.
The G bodies are fantastic.
Workhorses, tanks and stylish as well, I think.
And another car that probably has rotted back into the earth.
Unfortunately, could you got it with a tea tub?
In 79, I don't think so.
OK, I had to go a little later for that.
I'm not a G body expert, though.
They'll leave that one to my brother.
Now, the G body, that was also if I get this right,
like the Olds and Beals Cutlass, Cutlass, Monte Carlo,
and the Cutlass at one time was the biggest selling car.
So a non G body before it was a G body.
So 1977, the Cutlass was the best selling car in America.
I actually owned a 77 Cutlass, which is why I know that useless fact.
And for another useless fact, the 79 Buick Regal
is a G body, which the El Camino was a G body as well.
And we're back to El Camino's.
I was so happy when Ryan brought up the El Camino earlier.
I'm like, I know where I can. I can take this car out.
Same thing. Yeah, they're pretty much the same.
So anybody have anything else?
Is that going to do it for us?
No, just bring on more rear wheel drive Toyotas.
Unfortunately, the Santa Cruz is not going out on a bang.
But what are you going to do?
Yeah, I mean, you know, and again, people might get some deals on them.
And we're still going to live with ours for a while
because it just exited the testing program now, which is kind of in the fleet.
So we're going to put our families in them and use them and things like that.
And if history is any indication, everyone that works here at Consumer Reports,
Test Track, we use trucks all the time. Sure.
You know, when we finally decide to sell our test vehicles,
I'm always looking at the miles that they accumulate.
And the trucks always have a lot of these nowadays.
I mean, they're getting pulled because we're going over too many miles.
You need to get some money back on these things.
So like we let the mileage go too high.
It's no good. The trucks are always first culprit, always, you know.
Well, in the springtime, you know, you can't get one
because everyone's buying mulch and doing those sorts of things.
So you know, they're certainly useful.
There's no argument to that, whether it's a small truck or a big truck.
And it's probably the most frequently asked question
that I've received over 25 years here at the track is,
what do you do with your test cars when you're when you're done testing them?
We just park them in a field out back.
Well, you know, we're out in the country, but not that far in the country.
And the answer is we we put them out for sale
for the people that were some reports or we trade them in on new test cars.
But yeah, we do try to get some of our investment.
Yeah, we want to get the money back so we can keep buying cars.
And along with that, if you're watching on YouTube,
you might see there's a fundraiser icon.
And what that is is a place if you're watching and you want to help
consume reports to do what we do, we are a nonprofit.
We don't take money from sponsors and things like that.
So and cars are expensive.
So we we do our best and we try to get money back on it.
But if a viewer wants to help us out, they can use that fundraiser button
and help contribute to the cause.
And as always, I just want to thank everybody for watching.
Check the show notes for links and articles and all that kind of stuff.
Back to the website. It's always very useful.
I want to thank Dave Abrams for producing the episode.
We're putting up with us.
And it was shot in by Andrew Belise and Anatoly Shumsky.
And also, I want to mention Dave just was on vacation forever.
Dave runs the the comments for the YouTube on talking cars, at least all the car stuff.
And they're all have to be on approval, right?
Because Dave keeps out all the terrible comments, not all of them.
He let some of them through.
But I want to ask the viewer, you know, how much truck is enough?
How much truck is enough for people?
And in that way, it'll give Dave extra work to do because you'll have to read
all these comments and approve them on YouTube.
So let's fill that comment section and give Dave something to do.
He's over there laughing hysterically.
The future of podcast hosting right there.
I just want to keep Dave busy because he keeps me busy.
So it might be the last episode, but it could be.
Yeah, I always think that he's never going to ask me to do this again.
So I think that's it.
I want to thank everybody for hanging out with us and we will see you again next week.
About this episode
Hyundai’s 2026 Santa Cruz gets a fresh test review after the team buys a new SEL Activity AWD—then Hyundai cancels the model just 10 days later. The big story is the powertrain swap: a 2.5L turbo/DSG (281 hp) is replaced by a 2.5L non-turbo (191 hp) with a more traditional automatic. The hosts debate whether small trucks are “enough truck” for most people, but criticize the new setup as underpowered and noisy, with only modest towing gains. Sales numbers and inventory pressures are cited as the reason for cancellation.
In this episode, we take an in-depth look at the2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz, which, ironically, was officially discontinued days after we bought one for testing. We talk about the history and future of small trucks, discuss why Hyundai decided to end production of the Santa Cruz, and answer a question from a Santa Cruz owner about why the Santa Cruz returned low scores in our cargo capacity assessment.
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Introduction & Why We Bought Another Santa Cruz
1:03 - Why Hyundai discontinued the Santa Cruz
3:03 - Is a small truck enough for most people?
7:05 - What we dislike about the 2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz
13:35 - Best Small Truck Alternatives
19:50 - Audience Question: How Does CR Score the Bed Size of a truck?
27:15 - Audience Question Follow up: Favorite cars purchased by Ernie from North Carolina
