I have owned the car for 3 months and 4,000 miles - having previously owned a MK5 VW Golf GTI. The Hyundai is certainly very different but having developed a slipped disc in my lower back during my ownership of the Golf, long journeys were too much agony to justify the A and B road fun.

Good bits:-
1) This is a very comfortable car. It's also incredibly quiet and even at motorway speeds there is hardly any wind/engine noise.
2) If you go for a 2.0 diesel with 4x4 and specify automatic you get the 180hp engine rather than the 130hp standard engine. It can outpace many a car which always yields confused looks. However, I don't think that the brakes are any beefier than standard which would put me off driving like a madman.
3) Handling wise it doesn't roll much and has plenty of grip (the 4x4 is intelligent and kicks in where you would normally wheelspin such as hoofing it onto roundabouts and out of junctions). The 4x4 has worked well so far, and the car has tackled some impressive inclines - the type where all you can see is bonnet and sky.
4) Insurance wise, for whatever reason the ix35 was significantly less than all other cars we looked at. Hundreds less - I don't know if other ix35 drivers are a particularly cautious bunch.

OK bits:-
1) Mpg wise it's met my expectations - helped massively by a tall 6th gear (70mph is under 2k revs), and it always goes into neutral itself when slowing down or stationary. Our average over 4,000 miles is 36mpg, seeing 27 around town and 42-44 on a run. Not bad really but I would have liked more from a brand new car.
2) The steering is too light, you get used to it after a couple of days though and if you activate eco mode it firms up the steering (but doesn't seem to change my mpg).
3) Hill descent control seems to make the brakes lock aggressively on anything other than a smooth surface - it does its job but I don't like it.

Bad bits:-
1) The abs kicks in too soon if you ever brake heavily below 20-25mph.
2) Servicing costs of £200 for a first service is too dear. A 3 year service pack costs c£560 which is a small saving, or go to Arnold Clark Hyundai main dealers - 3 years servicing for about £300, shame my nearest Arnold Clark Hyundai is 50 miles away but it's still worth the visit to save £100 per service.
3) The parking camera is too low (in the numberplate recess), and in winter lasts about 2 days before getting so dirty that it's useless.
4) The sat nav map is quite out-dated, I believe 3 years old. On a brand new car, one would expect a brand new map - nb I believe a new map has just been released so this might not affect buyers in 2013