Seat comfort and leather quality let down an otherwise great vehicle
We purchased a 2024 Santa Cruz Limited as a replacement for our six year old Acura MDX, which we used to tow our camper trailer on frequent short- and long-distance getaway trips to state and national parks. As a tow vehicle the Santa Cruz is top-notch, with power to spare, excellent ride (way better than the Acura it replaced), decent gas mileage, and only a requirement for regular fuel rather than the premium needed by the MDX. As an around-town vehicle, we appreciate the nice ride, good handling, generally quiet cabin, and unbeatable utility.
One place that it falls flat (somewhat literally) is the front seats. They’re just not very comfortable, and the passenger seat is especially uncomfortable. The seat bottoms are hard and flat, and long stretches of driving lead to sore posteriors. The seats could really use a cushioning upgrade, and we’ll likely purchase seat pads to make up for what they lack.
Another low point is the quality of the leather used in the seats. Our Santa Cruz had significant wrinkling of the leather in several locations. It was bad enough that our dealership got approval to replace all of the seat covers with brand new under warranty. Unfortunately, the new covers are not really any better than the original ones, but we’ve decided to live with it rather than press for another replacement set. It’s disappointing, but we otherwise love the vehicle and expect to keep it for many years and many miles of camping adventures.