What Should You Pay for a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe?

The Santa Fe is one of Hyundai’s top sellers, second only to the Hyundai Tucson. How much should you pay for a Santa Fe? The answer might surprise you.

OK, that last sentence may sound like click bait, but it’s not. You’re already here. I can’t earn more clicks on this particular page.

What I mean by surprise is the fact in spite of being popular Hyundai dealers are still willing to negotiate on price for the Santa Fe. (For all models really.) The 2020 model, for example, had a starting price of $26,275 but was usually sold on average for at least a few hundred dollars below.

So, how much should you pay for a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe? According to the Korean automaker, the significantly enhanced 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV will start at $26,850. That’s just shy of a $600 increase or about 2.2%. The SEL trim starts at $28,650, the SEL+ Convenience at $30,450, SEL+ Convenience + Prem at $34,400, and the Limited at $38,600. All-wheel-drive adds about $1,700 to the bottom line.

Hyundai makes the argument the price hike is worth it. In addition to design enhancements, it points out the 2021 Santa Fe now offers a new standard Smartstream 2.5-liter direct-injected and multi-point injected four-cylinder engine (with idle, stop and go) with eight-speed automatic transmission that replaces the former 2.4-liter direct-injected engine.

The latter was considered somewhat underpowered. It produces 191 horsepower compared with 185 horsepower from the old engine. Doesn’t seem like much of a boost. We will have to spend some time behind the wheel to see if there’s much of a difference.

The 2021 Santa Fe also offers new and/or improved safety features including:

• Additional Cyclist and Junction-Turning Detection
• Parking Collision Avoidance Assist – Reverse Function
• Highway Drive Assist (new, next-generation convenience functions)
• Lane Following Assist
• Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control with Road Curve Control

New and/or improved technology features include:

• Larger eight-inch audio display (formerly seven-inch), new, larger 10.25-inch widescreen navigation display (formerly eight-inch)
• Segment-leading 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster display
• Digital Key functions, a segment-exclusive feature
• Remote Start cabin temperature, heated and ventilated seat settings control
• Harman-Kardon premium audio system
• Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA), a segment-exclusive feature
• Dynamic Voice Recognition system (voice commands for temperature, radio, trunk)
• Wireless charging pad for devices
• Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay (SE, SEL and SEL Convenience trim)

Not all of the features listed above are available on the base model, of course.

Keith Griffin covers Hyundai and Kia at Torque News. He has been writing continuously about cars since 2002. Keith used to be a researcher/writer for US News & World Report, as well as numerous car sites, including Carfax and Car Gurus, and a contributor to The Boston Globe. Most recently, Keith was the managing editor for American Business Media. Follow Keith at @indepthauto on Twitter, on @LinkedIn and on his Indepth Auto Facebook page.