2022 Hyundai Palisade Tour & Review
One of the questions I get asked the most is Telluride or Palisade? And honestly they’re very similar since Kia and Hyundai are owned by the same company, but for the record my vote is Palisade. This car looks great and has amazing features. I think it is competing with the luxury car market without the price tag. Let’s jump in.
Exterior
When Palisade came out in 2019, she was ahead of her time. The frontend grill looks awesome with the giant chrome Hyundai logo and the wraparound headlights are mesmerizing. It has full LED tail lights that aren’t quite as exciting as the front, but I’m telling you, nothing is stale about this car.
Interior
Front Row
I love the exterior. The only thing I love more is the interior. Opening up the driver’s side door even just looking at the door panel, it’s beautiful. It has quilted, perforated leather, chrome buttons, and a beautiful speaker. The door cup holder sucks, but you’re going to freak out when you see the rest of the cup holders throughout this car.
The digital dash is completely customizable and there is even a screen that pops up when you turn your blinker on that shows your blind spot. There is also a heads-up display on the windshield that lets you take advantage of all the tech in the car without taking your eyes off the road. In addition to other tech like auto hold, auto cruise control that mimics the car in front of you and a huge Touch screen, this Palisade also has some of my favorite family-friendly features:
Sounds of nature AKA a built-in sound machine. Snow village, a crackling fireplace or ocean waves. Great for sleeping kids. Just don’t use the water sounds when you’re potty training.
Passenger talk. It’s like a walkie talkie that plays the driver’s voice on the rear speakers so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road to turn around and talk to your kids
Seat Belt sensors. There is a lighted icon next to the touch screen that tells the driver who is buckled and who isn’t.
USBs in the backseat so the kids’ kindle never dies on a road trip.
Quiet mode. I can turn the speakers off in the backseat and keep them on in the front seat so I can listen to my podcasts without waking the kids up.
And like I mentioned earlier this car in the Calligraphy trim has so many luxury features that you’d normally only see in the luxury car brands, like heated and ventilated seats (that are also beautiful with quilted leather), heated steering wheel, a suede headliner, wireless phone charger, and sunroofs for the front and backseats.
Moving onto storage. This car has tons. In between the two front seats there is a cubby with two super versatile cup holders, that I can tell you from experience actually can fit 4 cups. Under the cup holders is a giant space to fit your purse or diaper bag. Lastly, the center console is great size with a 12 volt and USB inside it.
Second Row
The Calligraphy trim level comes with captain’s chairs and all the luxury of the front row: heated and ventilated seats, an outlet. 12 volt, USBs, climate control, ceiling vents, and built-in sunshades. And the Palisade has not one, not two, but three cupholders in each backdoor that all fit a Starbucks grande cup. Convenience at its finest.
With the driver’s seat set for me (I’m about 6 feet tall) I still have plenty of leg clearance sitting in the second row. I also installed a rear-facing infant car seat and it fits, but there isn’t a ton of extra room.
Third Row
To access the third row there are buttons under the backseat or by the headrest that tilts the seat forward so kids can get in and out on their own. But major bummer—there’s no car seat tilt. But the second row does slide so far forward with a forward facing seat that a kid could likely squeeze back there without having to tilt the seat forward. With a rear-facing car seat installed in the second row and the second row pushed all the way back I still have OK knee clearance in the third row. I also installed a Clek Foonf forward facing in the third row perfectly fine. There are also ceiling vents back here, two more cup holders on either side and USBS. Now Hyundai classifies this as a 7-passenger car, but I don’t think 3 of anything could fit back here in the third row. The center seat is like 8 inches wide. With captain’s chairs it’s more like a 6-passenger car. You’re more likely to fit 7 people if you get the second-row bench.
Car Seat Set Up
There are lower anchors in both captain seats in the second row and one lower anchor in the third row behind the driver. Both captain seats also have tether anchors and two of the third row seats also have tether anchors. But the problem is, the third row tether anchors, but are next to each other and since the middle seat is so narrow, I really don’t think it’s possible to use them both at the same time.
Trunk
Let’s talk about the trunk. Opening the auto liftgate we have pretty good trunk space even with the third row up. I fit an Uppababy Vista, but it’s tight. There’s some extra plastic-lined cubby space in the floor that would be great for wet and dirty sports gear or beach toys.
From the trunk there are buttons that automatically lower the second and the third row and can put the third row back up.
Trim
The Calligraphy is the highest trim level the Palisade offers. I prefer the SEL because then I can get a bench seat. Once you go up to the Limited you can’t get the bench seat. And with the SEL I’m saving a few thousand dollars compared to the Calligraphy trim. But because of the chip shortage and the popularity of Palisades, you’re likely not going to get one for less than $5-10K over MSRP. I also have a review of the Palisade with a lower trim level that you can check out here.
I am a big fan of the Hyundai Palisade. I’m trying not to fangirl too hard, but I love this car. While it does have some downsides that limit it to being ideal for a family with older kids or only two car seats, there are so many amazing features of this car that I think measure up to the luxury car brands like BMW, Audi and Volvo.
