Yeah, I thought it looked decent, I don't think it drives particularly well, but the drivers won't notice.
Yeah, you don't buy a car like that because it drives well. You buy it because it fits your needs and hope that it merely drives "well enough".
The Flex seems to have a lower COG, and the wide/long wheelbase actually leads to it handling better than you'd expect. Surprisingly little body roll compared to what you'd get with other taller CUVs. I took it up to Big Bear shortly after getting it, and it was surprisingly competent on twisty mountain roads. By no means is it "sporty", but it was good enough that it didn't feel like crap. The biggest issue with the Flex is that it's a pig off the line. It falls victim to horsepower that looks good on a spec sheet (287) but relies on variable valve timing to get there so the only time you access that horsepower is at rev ranges that you rarely touch. Peak torque is only 254 ft-lb.
This Santa Fe may fix that second problem. HP out of the turbo I4 engine is similar to a Flex (277), but at 311 ft-lb of torque, should have more of that low-end grunt that you actually want in a vehicle of this class. Horsepower is mostly useless in this kind of vehicle if you need to be >5000 RPM to access it; low-end torque is what you really want. And forced induction really helps with low-end torque. However just based on pictures I can't really sense how tall of a vehicle this is and how the COG vs the wheelbase, nor its suspension characteristics. This, I can't tell whether the handling will be surprisingly competent, or whether it's going to just suck.
By smaller, do you mean "CUV" ish, or maybe an EV at that time, or plugin hybrid? I think the PHEV offerings now are pretty decent, though pricey. I think you get some tax credit on the RAV4.
It's kinda all on the table at that point.
Right now I've got a wife, 3 kids (the oldest being 6'1"), and a 98 lb dog. I need a big vehicle. The Flex is perfect because as a 7-passenger vehicle that's actually comfortable in the 2nd row for a 6'1" kid, it fits my needs. And with 3-row seating, I don't have to sit 3 kids across the back seat--one can go into the third row when we're all traveling together. It's comfortable to drive, and as mentioned above it handles better than most comparable taller CUV vehicles due to COG, so even when it's just me in the car, it works.
By "smaller" I basically mean that in 2 1/2 years, the oldest will graduate HS and be off to college. His brother is only 1 year behind him. So I'll rapidly go from needing 3-row seating and a 7 passenger vehicle to being able to get by with nearly anything.
But honestly, it'll depend on a lot. I bought the Flex in early 2017 with ~21K miles on it, and I think it's ~80K now. But a lot of that comes from running kids to/from school, and that we use the Flex for most of the longer road trip duty, especially since the pandemic. Since 2020 I've basically been WFH most days, so if my driving habits stay the same--minus hauling kids around so much--it might not necessarily make the math work out for an EV. Who knows? And I still have the Jeep for my "toy" vehicle. Heck, I might just keep the Flex for a couple years because there's little point to changing it if I'm not putting a lot of miles in.
I'm fairly boring when it comes to cars. I like sporty cars, but usually not enough to pay for them, and I'm large enough that sometimes it's not fun to try to fit in them. So the next vehicle will likely be based on whether something really catches my eye and makes it worth moving on from the Flex, or becomes a necessity purchase when the Flex gets old enough that it starts to become a headache to maintain.
