Hyundai Santa Cruz SEL Premium vs. Limited: Taste of the Better Life?

Choosing a trim level can be the trickiest part of buying a new vehicle. Often the choice is dictated by budget, but that wasn't the case with our long-term 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz compact pickup. We simply wanted to evaluate a trim level popular with many buyers. However, there are times when we wish our SEL Premium was equipped with some of the features and options that only come on the top-of-the-line 2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz Limited.

When a $41,905 Santa Cruz Limited showed up at the MotorTrend Detroit office for a few days, it was the perfect opportunity to do a little comparison and experience what we'd been missing.

We knew the ride and handling would be similar. Both have the 281-hp, 311-lb-ft 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-four engine and eight-speed automatic transmission—but the Limited adds paddle shifters. It is a feature we can live without: It's manual or nothing for us in this kind of vehicle.

A key difference: Our Santa Cruz SEL with the Premium package ($38,935 for 2023) rides on 18-inch wheels whereas the Limited has larger 20-inch wheels. They have similar attractive designs, but larger wheels look more premium at the expense of some ride quality. In this case, there was not appreciably more tire or road noise with the larger-surface tires. On smooth pavement the difference was barely discernible. It was on rough pavement that the shorter sidewalls could be felt and heard, but short of driving the two Santa Cruz variants back to back at the dealer, most customers wouldn't notice much difference.

The main advantage of the Santa Cruz Limited is that it comes with adaptive cruise control with stop/start, as well as Highway Driving Assist. Our SEL Premium makes do with regular cruise and lane assist. That means the higher trim keeps you centered in the lane and a safe distance from the vehicle in front. On long road trips, we missed the adaptive cruise that comes standard on the loaded Santa Cruz terribly.

The two trucks look largely the same. Our long-termer is a fetching Sage Gray; the loaner came in Hampton Gray. Both have body-colored exterior door handles, and both attract attention on the road.

There are more differences inside. It starts with the seats. Our Santa Cruz has cloth seats, heated in front, while the Limited ups its game with leather and chrome trim; they're cooled and heated, too. Both have a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob.

The row of buttons on the Santa Cruz Limited's center console makes us happy because it includes the commands to cool as well as heat the front seats. And, hugely importantly in northern climes, it activates the heated steering wheel. The Limited's rain-sensing wipers are a nice addition but one we can easily live without—but that heated steering wheel is a must-have on a cold day.

The other notable change is the upgrade to a larger screen. The Limited has a 10.3-inch infotainment screen, and it's all touch control, with not even a toggle switch to adjust volume or tune the radio. Our Santa Cruz SEL Premium has an 8.0-inch screen, and we greatly appreciate the hard buttons and switches it offers.

Rear-seat passengers are better off in a Limited, which treats them to air vents and USB charge ports.

Our conclusion: Our Santa Cruz SEL Premium is well equipped at $38,000, and although many of the upgrades are nice, we prefer the smaller wheels and smaller infotainment screen with physical switches for volume and tuning. Only the addition of adaptive cruise control and a heated steering wheel would drive us to the higher trim. This begs the question: Are these features valuable enough to warrant paying an additional $2,970? For us, given the car's Detroit homebase and the amount of time we spend behind the wheel, it is.