[Aphidman]

Hello everyone. My wife and I ordered a red Tucson Ultimate plug-in hybrid with a black interior on November 19th. The saleswoman said not to expect it until May at the earliest; she was quite up-front about the delivery delays from the beginning of the sales process, which I appreciated.

We narrowed our search down to the Tucson, the Mazda CX-5, and the Subaru Outback. All were very nice. Mazda's infotainment system seemed very 2014 to me (although its head-up display was nice); Subaru's adaptive cruise control is optically based rather than radar based, so that's why I ultimately decided against them. Plus I like to drive something a little different, and a plug-in hybrid fits that description in these parts.

My first Hyundai experience was a rented Santa Fe in Ireland — right-hand drive, and diesel! I liked it so much that when it came time to get my next vehicles in Canada, I got used Santa Fes for my next two rides. Currently I drive a Chevrolet Cruze diesel, which I bought new and have had for 7 years. It is still running fine but I'd like something with more technology. I had adaptive cruise control in another rental vehicle once and it's hard to go back to Fred Flintstone-type cruise control after that.

The Cruze gets 5.5 L/100 km (43 MPG US) on the highway and 13 L/100 km (18 MPG US) in the city, so I am expected slightly worse fuel economy on long drives and much better in the city. Based on my test drive of the Tucson, I'm also expecting much better acceleration from a standing start than what I currently get.

I've been learning a lot about what to expect from my upcoming Tucson through this site; thank you all for your contributions.

 

[jwslam]

Also Calgary here. Hiiii.

Which dealer did you go to?
Didn't know any had test-drive models in stock...

 

[Aphidman]

Also Calgary here. Hiiii.

Which dealer did you go to?

South Trail. At the time I was doing the test-drive process, they actually had a hybrid (not plug-in) in stock, that I could drive.

 

[KonaJoe]

You made the right choice not getting the Forester. It is an extremely quirky car made for people that don't drive often, or well. Three separate times during a 2 month rental the vehicle slammed on it's brakes due to falsely identifying obstacles. One time I was nearly rear ended by a truck towing a trailer because of it. All of it's other "safety" features were extremely quirky, and had to be shut off every time I got into drive as there is no way to make them opt-in vs opt-out without going to a dealership. I told the rental place to ditch it as it is a liability as a rental, something I have had many many years of experience with.

Also welcome my YYC neighbour!

 

[Tekz]

Hello everyone. My wife and I ordered a red Tucson Ultimate plug-in hybrid with a black interior on November 19th. The saleswoman said not to expect it until May at the earliest; she was quite up-front about the delivery delays from the beginning of the sales process, which I appreciated.

We narrowed our search down to the Tucson, the Mazda CX-5, and the Subaru Outback. All were very nice. Mazda's infotainment system seemed very 2014 to me (although its head-up display was nice); Subaru's adaptive cruise control is optically based rather than radar based, so that's why I ultimately decided against them. Plus I like to drive something a little different, and a plug-in hybrid fits that description in these parts.

My first Hyundai experience was a rented Santa Fe in Ireland — right-hand drive, and diesel! I liked it so much that when it came time to get my next vehicles in Canada, I got used Santa Fes for my next two rides. Currently I drive a Chevrolet Cruze diesel, which I bought new and have had for 7 years. It is still running fine but I'd like something with more technology. I had adaptive cruise control in another rental vehicle once and it's hard to go back to Fred Flintstone-type cruise control after that.

The Cruze gets 5.5 L/100 km (43 MPG US) on the highway and 13 L/100 km (18 MPG US) in the city, so I am expected slightly worse fuel economy on long drives and much better in the city. Based on my test drive of the Tucson, I'm also expecting much better acceleration from a standing start than what I currently get.

I've been learning a lot about what to expect from my upcoming Tucson through this site; thank you all for your contributions.

Just curious but did you get any deal/discount? Not that it’s expected this time due to chip shortages and supply issues…

 

[Aphidman]

Just curious but did you get any deal/discount? Not that it’s expected this time due to chip shortages and supply issues…

No, and given the peculiar times we are in and the demand for that model, I didn't expect one. Under the circumstances, I'm satisfied.

I'm looking forward to the eventual arrival of the Tucson and driving it through the Rocky Mountains to visit family.

 

[Aphidman]

You made the right choice not getting the Forester. It is an extremely quirky car made for people that don't drive often, or well. Three separate times during a 2 month rental the vehicle slammed on it's brakes due to falsely identifying obstacles. One time I was nearly rear ended by a truck towing a trailer because of it. All of it's other "safety" features were extremely quirky, and had to be shut off every time I got into drive as there is no way to make them opt-in vs opt-out without going to a dealership. I told the rental place to ditch it as it is a liability as a rental, something I have had many many years of experience with.

Also welcome my YYC neighbour!

Actually it was an Outback that I tried out, and I thought it was pretty nice (the driver's seat particularly). But to get the acceleration I wanted, I needed the turbo engine and the fuel consumption was significantly higher than the Tucson hybrid. Also its adaptive cruise control is optically based, not radar based, and I wondered how it would perform at night and in mist. (Perhaps it works fine; I'd be interested in finding out.)

Didn't experience the problems you had during a brief test drive, but you had it for two months so you would know better than me. My oldest daughter is also car shopping and she has settled on the Subaru Crosstrek, which seems like a very nice ride.

 

[Aphidman]

Actually it was an Outback that I tried out, and I thought it was pretty nice (the driver's seat particularly). But to get the acceleration I wanted, I needed the turbo engine and the fuel consumption was significantly higher than the Tucson hybrid. Also its adaptive cruise control is optically based, not radar based, and I wondered how it would perform at night and in mist. (Perhaps it works fine; I'd be interested in finding out.)

…

By the way, I do know better than to use cruise control while driving in mist! But the same point applies to the emergency braking features. I also hope those features provide some protection against animal strikes. Once you've hit a deer, night driving is never really the same.

 

[bobofango]

The naturally aspirated Tucsons get pretty bad mileage for the first 4000km. It wasn't until I took my Tucson on a road trip to Canmore (third month of owning), was when I started noticing improved mileage.

For the first 3 months, I was filling up weekly with regular work and errand commutes. Now I can get to half a tank in one week.

 

[KonaJoe]

The naturally aspirated Tucsons get pretty bad mileage for the first 4000km. It wasn't until I took my Tucson on a road trip to Canmore (third month of owning), was when I started noticing improved mileage.

For the first 3 months, I was filling up weekly with regular work and errand commutes. Now I can get to half a tank in one week.

What are you averaging now? With winter tires, winter fuel, and colder weather my average since ownership in late October is 8.7 L/100Km. I am at 4800km as well.