I think I like the Hyundai Santa Cruz

While I have no intentions on getting rid of my Landy, except for my little engine mishap, it's been a fairly reliable vehicle since. I also enjoy driving it. I don't enjoy feeding it, but that is a differing story. The issue comes with Traffic in my parts. Every year it gets worse and every year  I get a few more close calls. This years worst one was somebody pulling out right in front of me while I was doing 55mph while towing my boat. Their little ford almost got a green oval embossed into their trunk on that one.

So, with more idiots coming to the shore every year, doing idiotic things on the road, I wonder what I should replace my Disco with if something should happen to it. I do need an SUV type vehicle for my boats, kayaks, and the like. Unfortunately, I do not care for the Maverick's looks, I think it tries too hard to look like something it is not. The Santa Cruz, on the other hand, looks more car like than truck. It's not trying to be anything but an SUV with a small bed. I also like how it looks.  I just wish they had take some design cues from the Chevy Avalanche and Subaru Outback and made a pass thru from the bed into the backseat.

That's all, it's a neat little truck like car that ticks all the right boxes for my needs and kind of tickles my fancy. I also like the Sage Green colour it is available in.

If it came in hybrid it would likely be #1 on my list. The Ford Maverick was an unlikely hit when we started peeking around. 

I've started seeing more around lately, probably mainly because you can actually go to a dealer and buy one unlike a maverick (which probably tells you something about their relative success). When I was shopping for Mavericks I drove one. I did generally like it but iirc they were pretty much across the board at least $5k more than a comparably equipped maverick, plus worse fuel economy and no hybrid option. For not really any extra functionality, just different styling.

yes, I hate the fact that there is no Hybrid version. It would make Hyundai's little trucklet perfect for most people's use.

Let me save you a few seconds of Googling.

I agree. I like it as well. Hybrid would be nice, but I think I still prefer it over the Maverick.  I don't drive a ton these days, so the mileage is a minimal concern. 

I would put it #2 ony list currently. #1 being the CyberTruck (which I've "reserved" for 3 years).

Base Hyundai engine has maverick hybrid (lack of) performance but without the redeeming quality of good fuel economy. The cheapest trim with the Ecoboost comparable engine is $36k. That does at least include AWD but is still like $10k more than the cheapest AWD maverick and iirc $5k more than one comparably equipped.

Most of the comparisons that I've seen between the Santa Cruz and Maverick say that the Hyundai seems like a CUV with a bed, while the Maverick feels a bit more like a small truck. The increased functionality of the Maverick's bed really drives that home for me. They spent a lot of time thinking things through to make it usable in ways that the Hyundai's really isn't.

Santa Cruz is rated to tow more than the Maverick (5,000 vs 4,000) but I've driven the 2.5T/DCT combo in a Santa Fe and did not like how the DCT behaved. Haven't spent time in a Santa Cruz with it yet but want to - and would try towing - to see if it's really OK for true utility use.

I did get a week in an EcoBoost Maverick (2.0T/8-speed automatic) that I liked a lot.

I cross shopped a fair bit 

• Hyundai has a smooth black dash surface that will show every scratch and fingerprint. Feels upmarket, but like an expensive modern piano... I would wind up obsessive about cleaning fingerprints.
• Hyundai has paddle shifters!
• Bed more accessible and useable on maverick, but Hyundai has a in bed "trunk" that may be useful. 
• Hyundai comes with a true roll-up bed cover that works like a roll up garage door.
• To get max tow in Santa Cruz, higher trim only. Much more $$
• A dual clutch Hyundai for towing? I feel iffy about longer term reliability
• Maverick has a lot of little useful features, more handy for a lot of things.

At the end of the day, the maverick is cheaper, and I have better feelings regarding long term reliability, so I have a maverick on order.

Oh yeah.

• You could probably go to a dealer and drive a Santa Cruz home, good luck getting a maverick. My23 orders were open less than a week before being sold out. I ordered in fall and have no word when I'll see my trucklet.

I saw one parked as I was driving by, and I thought, what idiot sprayed his new Hyundai wit high build primer and did box liner on the wheel openings?

Turns out I just think modern colours are stupid.  

Not really an El Camino fan, myself.

Yeah the maverick definitely wins in color options. One thing I did massively prefer about the santa cruz was the actual shift lever, versus ford's stupid rotary dial shifter.

I drove a Santa Cruz and really didn't like it, it has no ground clearance, drives like a minivan (not in a good way) and with the base engine it's annoyingly slow and costs over $40k with the better engine, and it has very poor visibility to the sides so the blind spot monitor lights are actually very necessary.  Also, the sliding bed cover was already broken on the one I saw at the 2021 LA Auto Show. 

The Maverick really isn't an option IMO, Ford has completely failed to be able to produce and deliver them or control the dealer markups, and if I want a new vehicle I would want it within a few months and to know how much it would cost, not wait 18+ months and have to wait to "see what the market is doing" to even know how much it will cost whenever they finally get around to building it lol.  Also, I haven't driven a Maverick but I did drive a Bronco sport that is supposed to be pretty similar and I could not get used to the feel of the brakes enough to drive smoothly,