If you’re looking for a new car bargain on a luxury SUV, this driver thinks you’d do well to consider the 2020 Hyundai Palisade. While technically a crossover, the Palisade is a three-row, midsize family crossover, with three different trim levels: the SE ($31,550), the SEL ($33,500), and the Limited ($44,700).

Hyundai Palisade Review

One of the reasons we love Doug DeMuro’s videos is because he doesn’t hold back. That means you can trust he’ll give his honest opinion on the best features and the not-so-good quirks when he reviews a car. The Palisade he tested here priced out around $48,000. That’s a lot of money for a Hyundai but not so much for a luxury SUV.  In a quick overview, Doug discusses how the Hyundai Palisade is meant to compete with comparable SUVs such as the Ford Explorer, Honda Pilot, and Toyota Highlander.

Notable Features

This car features the standard options you would expect in a top-of-the-line offering like heated steering, cooled seats, adaptive cruise control, and a heads-up display. But it also has some unexpected and very neat safety features for a Hyundai, namely:

• Driver microphone/speaker: No need to turn head to talk – driver’s voice is transmitted by microphone to the third-row seat speakers.
• Blind spot monitoring: The car automatically steers away from a lane change to avoid a blind-side collision
• Turn signal cameras: Gives you a high-resolution blind side view on the dashboard when a turn signal is activated.

Luxury from Hyundai?

Even the interior styling has the distinct feel of a more expensive luxury SUV, especially when you consider it hails from a non-luxury brand. Instead of your standard plastic-like surfaces, the Palisade features a silvery, glistening dashboard trim and top-quality leather seats with quilted, stitched leather top portions for a distinctive look for front and back seats. The gear lever shift is replaced with four buttons for Park, Neutral, Reverse, and Drive. This modification in itself clears up a ton of center storage space between the front seats. The center stack also features a rotary drive-mode adjuster to switch between smart, comfort, sport, economy, or snow drive modes.

Great Infotainment

The infotainment system is another point of exceptional performance, design, and functionality. In addition to the standard ‘big three’ functions of music, map, and weather, you can add a custom configuration of downloadable apps, the user manual, and any other programs you desire for navigational assistance. Another nice touch is the welcome sound that plays every time you turn the vehicle on or off, along with a vibrant color change of the entire display panel when you move between driving modes.

Power for All Your Devices

In addition to front power and USB outlets, the back seat row has a number of power outlets at the back of the front center console including a household-style power outlet and a 12-volt, cigarette-style power outlet. USB ports are situated at a nice height on the back and center of the two front seats for second-row passenger use. The third row back seats also have USB ports on both side panels and buttons to power adjust the back seats for more legroom and comfort.

Palisade Styling

The front headlight assembly gives the 2020 Hyundai Palisade a unique and stylized look with separate upper and lower sections for LED headlights, fog lights, running lights, and turn signals. You also have stylized turn signal lights at the back of the rearview mirrors. A similar set-up occurs on the rear lighting panel, except a nice silvery panel is attached for added style. Behind the back seats, you have access to additional storage space for hauling and concealing items when you’re away from the vehicle.

Even though the 2020 Hyundai Palisade is not a true luxury SUV, it does look, feel, and drive like an SUV you would expect from a luxury class offering. As Hyundai is known for its excellent warranties, so that makes this luxury SUV a real bargain.