2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz Review: Business Up Front, Party In The Back

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz blurs the line between SUV and pickup, leaning into its identity as a compact crossover with a truck bed—a combination that delivers “business up front, party in the back” energy.

Built on the same platform as the Hyundai Tucson, the Santa Cruz isn’t trying to be a traditional truck, nor a conventional SUV, and that’s exactly what makes it interesting. In this review, we take a real-world look at how its four-foot bed with underfloor storage, available all-wheel drive, 5,000-pound towing capacity, modern tech features, and everyday maneuverability come together for drivers who need practicality without the footprint of a full-size pickup.

It’s a vehicle designed for weekend projects and weekday errands—but its unique formula isn't for everyone.

The AutoGuide Creators Series tells stories and amplifies creators from the car world, including family life, car buying advice, commuting tips, and car culture.

Transcript:

Every once in a while as a car reviewer, you get the opportunity to drive something that’s completely not for you. It’s probably the equivalent of somebody like the Car Confections guys in their 20s getting saddled with a Toyota Sienna—they probably want to die and are mortified driving a minivan around town.

Well, enter the chat. This is definitely not for me, but it’s not a bad vehicle.

In this quick tour, I’m going to take you around the inside and outside of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz. So, let’s do it.

First of all, we just have to acknowledge the elephant in the room: it’s like a car-truck. A “cruck.” It’s giving El Camino. I don’t know how old you guys are—I never rode in one, I think they’re from the ’70s—but I don’t feel like that’s the vibe for me.

This does come with a tonneau cover. I can never say that correctly, I’m sure I’ll get roasted for it.

Hey, I’m Jana. Welcome back to my channel. I’m a real mom who gives car tours, and I’m glad you’re here.

Under the hood, you have a 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder paired with an 8-speed wet dual-clutch transmission, and just in case you care, it has paddle shifters. This one is all-wheel drive and it’s the Limited, which means it’s a little bit nicer than some of the other trim levels.

You get 22 MPG combined—that’s 27 on the highway and 19 around town—so it’s not exactly a gas guzzler.

This is based on the Hyundai Tucson, so inside it’s pretty much giving Tucson from here forward. And then… I really don’t know what that is based on—that’s a 4-foot truck bed.

You do have corner steps. You can see your corner steps, you can see your tonneau cover, and you can open and slide it back with this handle. You have a composite truck bed, which is basically bulletproof, and I do like that. There are multiple places to tie things down and integrated bed lights.

I am wearing a white dress and I don’t really want to kneel in this bed, but I’m pretty sure you have some storage here, so let’s go for it. Yep—there you go. Extra storage and a household plug.

So, it has no fashion, but it does have function.

One of the things I do like about this cover: if you don’t want to get your clothes dirty, you can use the handle and the built-in hardware to get it done without climbing all the way in.

Before we get too far, the price as shown on this one is $45,000.

And this is where it gets better. It’s no secret I don’t love the exterior design, but check out the back seat.

It’s not horrible. Remember, it’s based on a Tucson, which is a compact SUV, so you can fit three people in this back seat. The person in the middle is going to be a little squished, but it is what it is.

This seat is set for my husband, who’s over six feet tall—I’m still okay back here. You can see these indentations in the seatback; they give you maybe another inch of legroom. It’s tight, but not unusable. Not every front passenger is going to be that tall either. The front seat on the passenger side here is set for me, and I’m 5'7".

Down here, you have two USB-C ports for charging. Your rear vents are on the back of the console.

I love Hyundai interiors. Even though this exterior design isn’t for me, I have to admit I like where Hyundai is going inside. I like the shape of the steering wheel, the integrated infotainment in the dash, and all the little cubbies they’ve given me for storage. I’ll show you more when we hop into the front seat.

You should know the rear armrest folds down with cup holders. You’ve got more cup/bottle holders in the doors, and the door trims are mixed material—harder fabric with a soft-touch section.

Let’s get into the front, because this is the part I do like.

You have power-adjustable seats for the driver, and the passenger seat is also power-adjustable, which is a nice upgrade on this trim.

I’m going to turn it on so you can see the infotainment. I like how this is integrated—it’s two separate screens, but they flow together nicely. In case you didn’t know, that little pattern across the dash is Morse code for “H” for Hyundai.

You’ll notice the steering wheel has an interesting shape—it’s not fully round. There are your paddle shifters, as mentioned. You can control your climate from this panel, and you have heated and ventilated seats, which I’m always a big fan of.

You have extra places to charge devices here, plus a wireless charging pad that works really well. It’s super grippy, so it holds your phone in place.

You get downhill brake control, a button to turn on your cameras, and a really nice 360° view around the Santa Cruz. There’s Auto Hold, which I call the fast-food button, and check this out—this is your rear differential lock, which kind of blows my mind on this “truck.”

Drive mode selector: you have Normal, Sport, Smart, and Snow.

Hyundai gives you a lot of little places to put items—storage here, more here, and even more under the center armrest.

In addition to the little sliding rear window, you also have a sunroof/moonroof—whatever you want to call it.

This button takes you to Blue Link, so not exactly an emergency, but if there’s something going on with the car or you need assistance, you’d press that and connect to Hyundai Blue Link. The SOS button is for emergencies.

You do not have a camera-based rearview mirror, and I’m assuming they figure you don’t really need one because it’s not like you’re going to stack stuff to the roof in the bed. But I will say, if you have a tall passenger here with a big head, you might lose some rear visibility. I love a camera mirror, but you don’t get one in this truck.

So, I hope you liked this quick little video on the Hyundai Santa Cruz. If you like this style of chaos, you can find me all over social media—I’m on TikTok and Instagram, and at realmomcartours.com.

That’s all I’ve got for this baby. She’s not for me, but she is for someone. Let me know in the comments if you love your Santa Cruz, or if you’re in the market for one. If not this, what are you considering instead—the Honda Ridgeline or something else? I’d love to know.

Thanks for watching.

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