The Hyundai Santa Fe aims to please with its stylish design, comfortable interior, and value-oriented MSRP of $18,972. But perhaps you’re not quite ready to buy one—that’s okay!

While deciding whether it is

better to lease or buy a car

, remember that there are certainly advantages to leasing over buying. Leases come with little commitment, and you can enjoy a car during its peak driving years. Plus, the leasing process is simpler than you might believe.

Jerry

, the expert on

car insurance

and car ownership, has compiled a complete guide to leasing a Hyundai Santa Fe Limited, including what you should look for in a lease deal, how your credit score will affect your payments, and how to save on

Hyundai Santa Fe Limited car insurance costs

without compromising coverage.

Find out if you can reduce your monthly car payments in minutes

* checking your rate won’t affect your credit score

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* checking your rate won’t affect your credit score

How to lease a Hyundai Santa Fe Limited

Leasing a Santa Fe Limited all starts with a lease agreement, which becomes legally binding once you sign it. But first, follow these steps to identify your needs and what kind of lease deal might work best for you:

Check your credit score. Here’s a quick guide to credit scores: a number below 520 probably doesn’t qualify for leasing, while 520-630 is considered poor credit. If your score tops 650, however, your good credit score has some leverage to negotiate a good lease deal.

Budget for your lease payments. The ideal lease payment amount represents 10% to 15% of your monthly income, but lower is always better. For example, if you earn $2,700 per month, your lease payments should range from $270 to $405 each.

Save up for your down payment. By making a large down payment at the beginning of your lease, you can reduce your monthly payments going forward. If you’ve come into a lump sum of money or have some savings, it can be useful here, as smaller payments might work better with your monthly cash flow.

Calculate your annual mileage. Annual lease mileage limits run from 10,000 to 25,000 miles. If you commute regularly or enjoy long road trips, you should calculate how many miles you’ll need by multiplying the frequency of your journey by its distance in miles.

It pays to walk into the dealership with a plan that suits your needs. Comparing lease offers can quickly get complicated, especially when the sales staff starts pitching higher trims and mile limits. If you know what you want, you’re more likely to walk out with a Santa Fe Limited you can comfortably afford—plus the best deal you can negotiate.

The final step: shop for insurance

Once you have your signed lease in hand, it’s time to secure an insurance policy. Don’t give up on finding affordable car insurance.

Jerry

makes it easy by scanning quotes from over 50 top insurance companies like Progressive, Travelers, Allstate, and Nationwide and delivering the best deals straight to you in minutes!

How much does a Hyundai Santa Fe Limited lease cost?

On average, it costs $544 to $587 per month to lease a Hyundai Santa Fe Limited. However, the exact cost of your lease payments will depend on your credit score, lease term, and down payment, plus the trim level and options you choose at the dealership.

Leasing offers can also be subject to local and seasonal sales. So your location and the time of year can matter, too.

Besides the make and model of your car, the trim level will be one of the factors that have the biggest impact on your cost. The Limited edition is the penultimate trim level on the Santa Fe—it comes with leather seats, a power liftgate, and a larger navigation touchscreen.

In 2022, Hyundai added the rugged XRT trim in addition to the SE, SEL, and Calligraphy trim levels. There are also a plethora of options related to hybrid engines and front-wheel or all-wheel drive.

Let’s take a look at how much the trim levels on a 2022 Santa Fe can change your monthly payments and the amount due at signing. In this example, we’ll assume you have a great credit score of 700, a $1,500 down payment, and a 12,000 annual mileage limit over a lease term of 36 months.

As you move up the trim levels for a Santa Fe, your costs will be:

Trim level	Monthly payment	Amount due at signing
SE	$383	$1,883
SEL	$404	$1,904
XRT	$468	$1,968
Limited	$560	$2,060
Calligraphy	$588	$2,088

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* checking your rate won’t affect your credit score

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Now let's look at how your credit score affects the same costs. This time, we’ll choose the Limited trim for a 2022 Santa Fe, but keep all the other factors the same (a $1,500 down payment, 12,000 annual mileage limit, and 36-month lease term). Depending on your credit score, your costs could be:

Credit score	Monthly payment	Amount due at signing
520 to 669	N/A	N/A
670 to 689	$587	$2,087
690 to 719	$573	$2,073
720 or more	$544	$2,044

Find out if you can reduce your monthly car payments in minutes

* checking your rate won’t affect your credit score

Check your rate

* checking your rate won’t affect your credit score

Hyundai also offers discounts to a few select groups: $500 for

first responders

, $400 for

recent college graduates

, and $500 for

members of the military

. Plus, lessees requiring adaptive equipment can receive up to $1,000 under the

mobility program

MORE: How to calculate a car lease payment

Services included in a Hyundai Santa Fe Limited lease

Leasing a Santa Fe Limited directly from Hyundai has a few perks, namely:

Flexible test drive: Test drive any model in stock at your local Hyundai dealership or schedule a time for the dealer to bring the car to your home or workplace.

Three-day, worry-free exchange: If you don’t like a vehicle, return it within three days to exchange it for another brand-new Hyundai.

Shopper Assurance program: See prices at participating dealerships listed online, streamline purchases with an online credit check, and schedule flexible test drives at your convenience.

24-Hour roadside assistance: Regardless of mileage, you can call Hyundai’s roadside assistance number at 1-800-243-7766 for towing, battery boosting, fuel delivery, and other services.

Naturally, new Hyundai vehicles are also covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, which covers repair and replacement costs for defective parts—time and mileage limits vary depending on which assembly the parts belong to.

Even if you’re leasing, regular car maintenance is your responsibility. You should expect to complete minor services every 12 months (such as oil changes and tire rotations), intermediate services every 24 months (such as inspecting brake components), and major services every 24 months (such as replacing brake fluid and air filters).

MORE:

Basic car maintenance schedule

What to do when your Hyundai Santa Fe Limited lease is up

Once you reach the end of your lease, you have three choices:

Return the vehicle and lease a new Santa Fe (or any other model)

Return the vehicle without leasing another

Request a payoff quote to purchase the car you’ve been leasing—you can explore financing options and perhaps even discounts with the dealership

How to return a leased Hyundai Santa Fe Limited

Returning a vehicle, whether you choose to opt for another lease or not, requires you to complete a

return checklist

. Follow these steps to make sure everything goes smoothly:

Examine the vehicle for wear and tear. The

Hyundai Lease-End Guide

details how much damage is acceptable upon return. Generally, you can expect any scratches, cracks, and dents bigger than a credit card to net you some extra charges. If you included Excess Wear & Use Protection in your lease deal, your fees might be covered.

Choose whether to take on the vehicle repairs yourself or return it to the dealership as-is. If you have the time, you may be able to find a lower rate for repairs than what the dealership will charge you.

Call AutoVIN at 855-40-MY-TFS to schedule an inspection 15 to 60 days before your lease expires. Once the inspection is complete, you can request a copy of the report from the dealership or AutoVIN itself. You might find items you forgot (like mud mats or cargo nets) on the list of charges, which gives you a chance to find them before returning the car to the dealership.

Call the dealership and schedule a return appointment where you’ll park the vehicle and leave the keys. You might have to complete an odometer disclosure statement and pay a $400 disposition fee if you don’t plan on leasing another Hyundai.

How to purchase a leased Hyundai Santa Fe Limited

At the end of a 36-month lease, your car could retain close to 80% of its original value. If you’re too comfortable with your Santa Fe Limited to let it go (or you simply don’t want to look for another Hyundai), purchasing the car could be a smart choice.

Call Hyundai Financial Services at 800-633-5151 to request a payoff quote. To make your purchase, you can usually visit the dealership where you leased the vehicle to pay off the car, finance a loan as necessary, and complete the transfer of ownership paperwork. You’ll also have to pay a $300 lease-end purchase option fee.

MORE: How to calculate total interest paid on a car loan

How to find the best car insurance for a Hyundai Santa Fe Limited lease

If you’ve followed

Jerry’s

guide to leasing a Hyundai Santa Fe Limited so far, we have one more tip for you: Use Jerry to save money on car insurance! As a

trustworthy super app

, Jerry does all the hard work of comparing quotes from over 50 top name-brand insurance companies. Jerry will even help you cancel your old policy once you make your pick.

And to ensure you always have the lowest rate, Jerry will send you new quotes every time your policy comes up for renewal, so you’re always getting the coverage you want at the best price. This level of service is why Jerry earned a 4.6/5 rating on the App Store, making it the top insurance app in the country.

“Using
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