Genesis GV70 luxury SUV: Long-term review

I managed to defer its collection by a couple of weeks, but eventually there was no getting away from the fact. The Genesis GV70 was heading home. Over the last four months, it’s become a bit of a family favourite.

There have been no arduous torture tests or thousand kilometre road trips. Instead it’s been subjected to the sort of daily use that is more representative of how people will use an almost $80,000 luxury SUV.

Life hasn’t been completely plain sailing. The infotainment system has, like its GV80 predecessor in the Wheels garage, been noticeably fritzy. It can drop an existing wireless Android Auto connection with no provocation and then point blank refuse to recognise the handset, even when it’s plugged in with a known good USB cable.

9

The phone is clearly connected to the car for Bluetooth calls but the system then can’t fire up Android Auto for some reason.

Last month I was lamenting the lack of an exterior hatch release on the GV70. Thankfully, a reader was able to point me in the right direction here. The button on the rear wiper that I’d taken to be the pop-out rear window was the answer, he claimed. Technically, Herman was absolutely correct. The problem was, it did nothing.

No amount of prodding would open the tailgate. I eventually resorted to a bit of home mechanics, and it appears that at some point the tailgate had been slammed and given the switch assembly one heck of a shaking. A bit of jiggling back into place and presto, I belatedly have a functioning external tailgate release.

9

I’ve also had a number of tyre pressure warnings appear after the first chilly mornings of late summer. This is because, as you’ll no doubt know, tyres hold less pressure when cold than they do when warm. It’s not really an issue because a kilometre or so down the road, they’ll return to a pressure reading within their map.

Strangely, there’s no reset function, so were an unwitting owner to pull into a servo and pump their tyres up, as soon as they got up to speed, the system would then signal an overinflation.

Otherwise there’s been little to disrupt the GV70’s serene progress. Fuel economy has been surprisingly dismal, averaging 11.7L/100km over its tenure. Much of that is down to its largely suburban usage, against a manufacturer’s claim of 10.3L/100km combined. But then it is worth remembering that this is a two-tonne, 224kW petrol-engined SUV.

9

While delving into the owner’s manual to try to solve my tailgate issues last month, I came to realise that the mystery unmarked dimple next to the rotary controller is, in fact, a fingerprint scanner. This can be set up to remember the settings of two users, which is pretty neat.

Aside from some minor issues, running the GV70 has been enjoyable. It’s safe, comfortable, quick enough, beautifully appointed inside, spacious and is one of those cars that most people seem to think is way more expensive than it actually is.

It makes all kinds of sense if you’ve had a look at the usual options in this price bracket and don’t feel they offer stellar value for money. Nobody likes to feel as if they’re on the end of a bad deal. In that regard at least, this Genesis punches way above its weight.