A used Hyundai Santa Cruz is a good buy if you want a Tucson-sized crossover with a 4-foot open bed, and a poor one if you need real truck towing or Maverick-hybrid fuel economy. Buy the turbo if you plan to tow anything heavier than a small utility trailer, run the VIN through NHTSA before you test drive, and on any 2022 to 2023 truck with a hitch, ask specifically about the tow hitch wiring fire recall.
We pulled every Santa Cruz model year from NHTSA's recall API on the morning of October 15, 2026, and the list is short but uneven. The 2022 carries four campaigns, the 2023 two, the 2024 one, and the 2025 and 2026 three each. That is a reasonable record for a first-generation vehicle, though it also means the year you pick changes which dealer visits you need to confirm.
What the Santa Cruz actually is
The Santa Cruz is a unibody compact pickup built on Tucson hardware at Hyundai's plant in Montgomery, Alabama, and Hyundai itself calls it a "Sport Adventure Vehicle" rather than a truck. The Autopian reported in January 2026 that Automotive News sources expect production to end earlier than the originally planned second quarter of 2027, citing weak sales. Hyundai would not confirm that, and told the outlet the Santa Cruz "continues to be a valued ongoing member" of its lineup. Honestly, for a used shopper an early end is mostly a resale question. Parts are shared with the Tucson, so we would not panic about repairs, but we would expect values to soften once the news is official.
The same piece notes the bed is 4 feet long, against 4.5 feet for the Ford Maverick, and that the Maverick outsold the Hyundai roughly six to one in 2025. If you are cross-shopping, our used Ford Maverick buying guide covers the Ford side, and the used Hyundai Tucson guide is worth a skim because so much of the hardware overlaps.
Engines, towing and the 2025 refresh
There are two engines, and the choice decides what the truck can do. According to Car and Driver's write-up of the 2025 refresh, the base 2.5-liter four makes 191 horsepower and 181 lb-ft with an eight-speed automatic, and the turbocharged 2.5 makes 281 horsepower and 311 lb-ft with an eight-speed dual-clutch. The base engine is rated to tow 3,500 pounds and the turbo 5,000. All-wheel drive is optional.
The 2025 update was mostly skin and screens. Car and Driver lists a new front end matching the refreshed Tucson, a curved housing with dual 12.3-inch displays replacing the earlier 10.3-inch screens, and a tougher-looking XRT with its own front and rear styling and 18-inch wheels on all-terrain tires. Powertrains carried over. So a 2024 and a 2025 with the same engine drive about the same, and you are paying for the dashboard and the face. We would rather spend that gap on a clean, one-owner earlier truck.
Recalls to clear by VIN
Run the 17 digits on NHTSA's lookup first, then use our Hyundai recall check by VIN guide to read the results. You can also see the raw campaign list in the NHTSA recalls API for the 2022 Santa Cruz. Here is what came back for each year:
- 2022: 22V197000, a turbocharger oil supply pipe that can crack and leak oil near hot parts, with fire risk; 22V746000, a transmission oil pump fault where the fail-safe mode may not work and the truck can lose drive power.
- 2022-2023: 23V038000, roof moldings that can detach; 23V181000, water on the circuit board of the tow hitch wiring module that can short and start a fire. NHTSA's record tells owners to park outside until it is fixed.
- 2024: 24V412000, a power steering circuit board that can short and drop assist.
- 2025: 24V877000, console wiring routed so the shifter can leave Park without the brake pedal.
- 2025-2026: 25V809000, side curtain air bags that may not have been installed properly; 26V316000, front camera software that can trigger automatic emergency braking unexpectedly. The 2026 also has 26V047000 for an instrument display that can fail, fixed over the air or at a dealer.
The hitch campaign is the one we would push hardest on, because it applies to factory hitches and dealer-installed accessory wiring kits. A truck that left the lot without a hitch and got one later can still be in scope. Ask for the repair order, not a verbal "yeah, that was done."
Checking the VIN and the history
Match the VIN on the windshield, the door jamb and the title before anything else. Our Hyundai VIN decoder walkthrough shows how to confirm the engine and drive type from the VIN, which matters here since a turbo badge is easy to fake and the towing ratings differ by 1,500 pounds. Look at how the bed has been used, too. Gouged bed walls, a worn hitch receiver and a heavy-duty brake controller wired under the dash all tell you the last owner towed near the limit.
For history, CARFAX says its reports draw on title, accident, odometer and service records. As of mid October 2026, a CARFAX report through CarVins runs about $5.50 as a guest or $4.50 as a member, and a CARFAX plus AutoCheck bundle about $6.75, against roughly $39.99 to $44.99 retail. Confirm at checkout because prices move. We are a licensed reseller, not affiliated with CARFAX, AutoCheck, or Experian. One blunt warning: if a private seller sends you a PDF report and refuses to let you run the VIN yourself, treat the PDF as edited until you have pulled your own.
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