I'd rather get the Santa Fe kapag city driving naman. The Everest only comes into mind if serious offroading is in order as it is its forte, but which only applies with the 4x4 variant. And the 4x2 is definitely incapable of serious offroading anyway. The Santa Fe uses the Sonata's platform which means excellent ride comfort and handling. And of course, there's that engine... Its time to remove that stigma towards Korean cars. Test drive one, or better yet, if you have a friend who happens to own one, borrow it for a long distance drive. You'll see the big difference.

When compared to Montero Sport, I'd take the Everest still. I don't care much about ride comfort, but looks, durability and performance is a big factor. The Everest has better looks. Ladder frame SUVs really have to have their spare tires mounted at the back. It frees ground clearance and looks more butch. SUVs without the spare tire at the back make it seem that they are trying to look urbanized a la unibody SUVs, which is not what ladder frame SUVs are all about. Ever notice why Suzuki never put the spare tire of their ladder frame SUVs beneath? Back to the Everest. It has more power (7hp/16Nm more) than the Monty and more toys as well.