Hyundai Offers $4,000 Off Veracruz, Entourage

If your family has more than two kids, chances are you’re shopping for three-row vehicles like the Hyundai Veracruz crossover and Entourage minivan. Well, Hyundai has released its new incentives for the month — good through Dec. 1 — and they include $4,000 off both the 2008 Veracruz and the 2008 Entourage. 

Both vehicles are Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Picks and feature a lot of standard equipment. The 2008 Veracruz starts at $27,045, and the 2008 Entourage starts at $23,995. For a full list of cash-back offers, read below.

Hyundai Offers Cash Back, Financial Advice

It’s a tough economy. Things are scary out there, and it makes us not want to go outside too often. Don’t want to get caught in a “run” on the “bank,” whatever those things are.

Fortunately, Hyundai’s here to help, and not just by telling us where to spend our money. Of course it wants you to buy a 2008 Sonata, and is offering $3,000 cash back as encouragement to do so, but it’s also offering snippets of financial advice in its ads — the best ways to save that leftover incentive cash. Now that’s marketing. Beware, though: The ’08 Sonata differs from the updated 2009 version, which debuted at the Chicago Auto Show this year and features some significant upgrades. Make sure to check out a comparison of the two models here, and read our coverage of the 2009 here. The 2009 is currently being offered with $1,000 cash back.

If the Sonata doesn’t tickle Hyundai buyers’ interest, the manufacturer is also giving $2,000 back on the Santa Fe and Azera, and between $1,000 and $1,500 on the rest of its inventory including $1,000 off the 2008 Veracruz crossover. All deals expire April 30.

All Manufacturer Incentives (Cars.com)
More Hyundai Sonata News (KickingTires)

Friday Fleet Notes: 3.28.08

This week our staff takes a look at the Audi R8, Scion xB, Pontiac G8 and Hyundai Veracruz. Check out what our reviewers and editors had to say, then get the full picture with our expert reviews.

2008 Audi R8

• This is the best cure for a bad day since ice cream. You’d have to be pretty far gone (or hate cars) to drive this and not feel better when you were done. The only complaint I had was that the clutch travel was quite long and my foot slipped around on the pedal face a couple of times. My shoes did have some snow on them, but it was a bit disconcerting. The brakes were the best I’ve driven: Right there, easy to modulate and confidence-inspiring. Overall, the R8 makes you smile. Just the right amount of engine noise comes into the cabin, the steering weight is just right (heavy, but not obtrusively so) and it looks really good. - William Jackson, Buying Guides editor, Weekend Athlete

Video: Hyundai Veracruz Navigation Up Close

Cars.com senior editor Joe Wiesenfelder takes an in-depth look at the 2008 Hyundai Veracruz’s navigation system in this new video. This is the first model year Hyundai has offered a navigation system, and as usual with Hyundai, it’s pretty affordable. But is it any good? Check out the video to find out. You can also see our videos on the 2007 Hyundai Veracruz's interior, seating and cargo.

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Kia Bringing New Borrego SUV to Detroit Auto Show

This is it, folks. From now until the New York auto show ends next April, we’re in auto show season. The next six months will bring an onslaught of new production and concept cars, and news about said production and concept cars. Today we learn that Kia will name its new midsize SUV the Borrego. No, we don’t know what that means either.

Like the Hyundai Veracruz, the Borrego will be built in Korea, but we won’t be sure how similar the two are especially since the Borrego will be a body-on-frame, traditional SUV like a Ford Explorer. We'll learn more as the Detroit auto show approaches in early January. We do know the Borrego will be offered with Kia’s first V-8 engine.   

Update: Borrego is Portuguese for Lamb. There is also a town called Borrego Springs in California.

Duh: Hyundai Sales Event Adds $500 Cash Back

Hyundai makes some of the most sedate, middle-of-the-road cars on the market. They’re not bad cars, they’re just not what one would call edgy. That’s why their comical “Big Duh” sales event is so strange. The company says its cars are so practical and value-packed you’d have to be dumb not to take an extra $500 and buy one, hence the “Duh.” There's even an interactive website where you can record a song composed of people singing "Duh."

The sale runs through Sept. 4, and the $500 cash back is off current offers. That includes the brand new Veracruz crossover.

For a full list, click below. For a full list of incentives of all brands, go to Cars.com’s incentives page.

Cars.com Three-Row Crossover Faceoff

It’s one of the fastest-growing segments in the market: Three-row crossovers have come along to take the place of traditional truck-based SUVs in the heart of suburbia. Cars.com put three of the newcomers head-to-head-to-head to determine which tops this new field. The GMC Acadia, Hyundai Veracruz and Mazda CX-9 all proved to be excellent people-movers, but only one could win the Faceoff. See which one we picked, and let us know what Faceoffs you’d like to see in the future.

Cars.comparison: Three-Row Crossovers

Suburban Dad: 2007 Hyundai Veracruz

When you read the reviews by our friends over at Mother Proof, you often hear their little ones talk about the desire to sit in the “way back.” My kids, too, used to love that concept, but the older they got the less alluring it became, and now they fight constantly over avoiding getting stuck in the third row.

Hyundai has taken some unique approaches to helping little ones get into the “way back,” and that may be the feature I found most appealing. Moving the second-row seat can be a one-handed affair, raising a lever on the outside edge of the second-row seat. While it can be done with one hand, it probably needs to be a strong hand. What’s really cool is the little handle that’s tucked away on the inside wall of the car that kids can grab to pull themselves up and into the third row. Finally, once there, Hyundai has provided pull straps on the back of the second-row seats so the kids can pull those seats back and let the rest of the carpoolers in. It was pretty nifty.

Cars.com Reviews 2007 Hyundai Veracruz

Mike Hanley just turned in his full report on Hyundai’s first full-size crossover, the Veracruz. He tested a number of trim levels and stacks it up against major players in the segment, like the Saturn Outlook and Mazda CX-9. We’re all a bit amazed at how quickly the segment is growing and how many substantial vehicles there are to choose from.

2007 Hyundai Veracruz Review

Hyundai Prices New Veracruz Crossover

One of the most-searched-for vehicles on KickingTires is the Hyundai Veracruz. Surprised? It seems people are really interested in Hyundai’s all-new seven-seat crossover, and now they have a price to mull over, and it’s cheap. Well, relatively speaking. The 2007 Veracruz will start at $26,305, not including a $690 destination charge, when it goes on sale later this spring. 

That’s less than the Saturn Outlook, Mazda CX-9 and V-6 Toyota Highlander, but for some reason Hyundai compares it to the much more expensive Lexus RX 350. We like apples and apples around here, and if you beat the real competition on price, why not say so? Full price breakdown on all trims below.