While in San Francisco, I rented a Hyundai Tucson. It's a crossover SUV based on the Hyundai Elantra, and mine was a base model equipped with the 2.0L four-cylinder and a four-speed automatic transmission.
This car reminded me an awful lot of the Chevrolet Equinox I rented a while back...except that it's (very slightly) better built, a little bit better looking, and doesn't wallow as badly around corners. Despite the fact that the Tucson only has a four-cylinder engine, it feels about as peppy as the Equinox, and the transmission was equally vague—although Hyundai opted for the manumatic that ultimately does very little to satisfy my need to manually row through gears.
I can't really compare the Tucson's price with anything similar, because ... there really isn't much. The Equinox comes with a bigger engine and Toyota's offering, the RAV4, is a good deal larger. Both compete much more closely with the Tucson's big brother, the Santa Fe. But the price was right for me, as it only cost me $7 more than an Aveo.
The verdict? I'm surprised how little this car infuriated me. In contrast to practically every domestic rental I've ever had, the Tucson was reasonably well-rounded and didn't really offend me in any particular way. Don't get me wrong, the Tucson isn't a great car—it's merely an OK car—but that's not bad for the typical rental fodder.
Competitors? Perhaps the Volkswagen Tiguan?
True. So in that case, the Tucson starts at $5,000 less than its competitor, the Volkswagen Tiguan. That's really all I know about the Tiguan.
--D