This Popular SUV Is One Of The Best Cars For A Retiree

A good retirement vehicle offers low ownership costs, high safety scores, comfort, intuitive controls, and physical accessibility. Many of the top-selling retiree-friendly cars hit a combination of these metrics, and so does the Hyundai Santa Fe — Hyundai's third most popular model in 2025, behind only the Tucson and Elantra. The 2025 Santa Fe checks all the boxes: It has a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a full suite of standard driver-assistance features, and an SUV-style cabin and wide doors that make it easy to get in and out. The hybrid variant's 36-mile-per-gallon combined fuel economy keeps gas costs down, and Hyundai backs the Santa Fe with a 10-year or 100,000-mile powertrain warranty for original owners and three years of free maintenance.

The MSRP for the gas-powered version starts at $34,300, and the hybrid is $37,800. These prices may be higher than many mainstream sedans, but it's quite reasonable for a three-row midsize SUV — especially for those looking for a vehicle that can handle family, cargo, and comfort at the same time. The prices are in the lower range for its category, roughly the same as the Nissan Pathfinder and Mazda CX-90, but noticeably cheaper than the Honda Pilot and Chevrolet Traverse.

Kelley Blue Book reports that the combustion-engine Santa Fe and the hybrid version both rank in the top 11% to 25% of mid-size SUVs and crossovers in terms of ownership costs, which suggests that driving a Santa Fe could prove more affordable than many of the other options in its class.

Generally, the Santa Fe is a safe pick among the retiree-friendly Hyundai cars. If you're not ready to shell out over $30,000 for a new fifth-generation Santa Fe, the used market could offer some solid, safe, and affordable alternatives. In fact, the 2019 Santa Fe, which is only one generation behind the 2025 model year, consistently appears among the broader list of the best used cars for a retiree for its low price and reliability. That fourth generation covers model years 2019 through 2023, all of which have also ranked well in IIHS safety tests, so you won't be losing much in terms of base safety.

However, choosing a fourth-generation Santa Fe means giving up the third row, since that fourth-generation U.S. model is a two-row SUV. But the previous generation more than makes up for it by being affordable to buy and own. For example, high-mileage base trim 2019 examples generally hover under $15,000, with the prices rising steadily with each model year to just over $20,000 for 2023 base models. Furthermore, CarEdge estimates roughly $2,773 in maintenance and repair costs over five years for a Santa Fe — $1,057 less than the SUV average. So, if you don't need that third row, and you don't mind a pre-owned car, a used fourth-generation Santa Fe could mean you get to keep over $15,000 in your retirement portfolio and still spend less on maintaining it than you would with many other SUVs.