Customer Reviews

Santa Fe Express

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this train for my grandaughter 8 years ago for her second Christmas. Yea she rode around the little track on it but it wasn't the most thrilling adventure of her 19 month old life. I held onto it and lo and behold two years ago another grandchild! He started riding this train at 1 year on the track and quickly ditched the track for more adventuresome land (he is 2 1/2 now) and he barely gets off of it. He has figured out how to manuever it around the house, under the kitchen table and around many obstacles. It is the most used toy in our house. Peg Perego is the best I had to replace the battery and the starting switch. I called and within the week had my new items delivered to the door. Excellent quality item, excellent customer service.

We just bought this train for our 2yr old's B-Day and we can't get him off of it! My older son, who is 8, even likes to ride it, although we don't really let him since there is an age limit of 4 and are worried his weight of 60lbs might break it. He has gotten on and taken a ride with no problems, though. We bought the "extra track" so it makes a figure 8. It is so easy to put together and store. The train goes a safe speed and is very easy for our 2yr old to get on and off. He learned how to push the button to make it go right away. It will be nice to have inside during the winter as well. It seems to hold a charge for a long time. This is, by far, one of the BEST purchases we have made!!

My wife bought this piece of junk for our children last xmas. Good concept, but never could get the thing to go around the track provided with any consistency. Finally had to get rid of the track and let the kids ride it on the concrete. That's the only way you can get enough traction for the thing to move correctly. I tried large sized rubber bands on the wheels (which would not stay on), ruffing up the track, changing track direction and even emailed the manufacturer. They were no help at all!!!! Just now sitting down on Thanksgiving and noticed one of these contraptions in the sale add and figured I would save someone else some headaches and wasted space!!

My almost 3 year old son wanted this train for this Xmas so I purchased it after reading the reviews here. I also purchased Thomas Track Rider when ToysRus had it on sale for $124.99, just in case this one didn't work out. Well, while I was putting together the Santa Fe I noticed how flimy the material was. Thomas felt sturdier and bigger which is important consideration for making a purchase for our almost three year old. Both are made by Peg Perego and fit on the same track. Santa Fe also didn't maneuver as well as Thomas The Tank. It jerked and didn't consistently move smoothly. I was able to ride on Thomas without any problem and it was a smooth ride. When you compared the two it felt that the Thomas was a better value (including resale or gift value later on) so we decided to return this one. We purchased Santa Fe from Costco because their return policy is a full-refund including shipping and handling (you can return at any store). If you are purchasing this train I'd highly recommend that you get it from Costco online.

My 1 1/2 year old son rcv'd this as a gift from his papa for Xmas this year and he can not get enough of it. He loves to put items in the second car ie; elmo, stuffed animals, cars etc and take them for a ride. He laughs and rides for hours at a time. The train is very durable, safe and the battery lasts for days. If you are looking for an exciting adventure for your little one with hours of imaginary fun this is the toy for them.

I got this train for my son, who's 33 months, and he loves it. It's one of the few things he will do to entertain himself so we can get some things done, so well worth the $140! It has some design issues, though, which is why I give it 4 stars.

My son is about 34 inches tall and 28 pounds and the train seems to be the perfect size for him. His friends who are 4" or so taller can ride but seem kind of cramped. I think a kid several inches shorter would enjoy it, too. I thought it was easy to assemble (and came mostly pre-assembled). I don't think it's the greatest quality - the plastic on the front (the "cab" and the round tube part in front, is that the "boiler"?) is thin and not very durable. I'm not sure this would last long with a large or particularly destructive kid.

The train is loud - it has train noises that are activated by a button (choo-choo and chuga chuga) that are pretty loud, and play for a long time when you push the button. The engine itself is also loud - it sounds kind of like a hair dryer but not that loud. With the engine on, you can barely hear the train sounds, so they're not as fun as they'd be otherwise. You can talk with other people in the same room with the train on (though you have to raise your voice a bit), but it's difficult to talk on the phone in the same room.

The train does tip over and onto the child if set up on carpet. Our son wouldn't ride it after it tipped a couple of times, so we moved it onto the hardwood floor and he and it were fine. He's not an unusually timid kid (though certainly not a daredevil), so I think a lot of kids would be freaked out by this. I'd be reluctant to buy it if I didn't have wood floors. A couple of his more timid friends were even scared when the train derailed (a much less catasrophic failure where the train lurches off the tracks but does not overturn), which happens sometimes even on the hardwood floor. I think tipover can be avoided by teaching the child to lean in on the turns, but our son is too young to understand (or remember) that.

The train does get stuck sometimes, especially if set up on carpet or if the tracks are set up in a shape other than the shape they're designed for. The problem is that only 1 of the wheels gets engine power, so if that wheel doesn't have good contact with the track, it just spins. We had to push our son quite a few times but have now taught him to rock forward and backward to get himself unstuck. At least getting stuck didn't upset him, it just required us to go push him.

I definitely recommend buying the extension track set - even with the extension, the track isn't all that long. Watching your kid on it is kind of like watching a hamster in its little wheel. Without the extension, I think I'd go crazy watching it. That said, and to be a little contradictory, the track takes up a lot of room, if you don't have a big house (or don't like having large parts of your house dominated by train tracks), you might measure before getting it because you need one large room or 2 connected rooms with a wide door to set up the track in the figure 8.

The track is a toe-stub trap. It's just low enough that you don't notice it but high enough to catch your foot, and it's got lots of corners. If your house isn't big enough to have the track completely out of traffic, you'll definitely end up swearing at the track on more than one occasion.

We purchased this train for our Christmas yard decor. We add lights to the cars and tracks to set if off. Everyone loves the train, it's to scale for an outside yard train, and when we are done having fun with it, it can be donated, so a child can actually have some fun with it too.

BOUGHT THIS FOR MY NEPHEW FOR CHRISTMAS WHEN OPENED AND ATTEMPTED TO PUT TOGHTHER PRODUCT WAS ALLREADY BROKEN AMAZON SENT NEW ONE OUT BEFORE I EVEN SENT OLD ONE BACK AND NOW HE LOVES IT RIDES IT SO MUCH I HAD TO GET ANOTHER BATTERY

Well, Hmmmmm, the train took hrdly no time to put together, it's mostly put together when it arrives in the box. (the decals have to be put on by hand too) I did it on christmas eve. The battery takes about 10 hours to charge before you use it or it can be damaged( so the instructions say). It was already charged when I took it out of the box. The charge will last a long time. My son was a little reluctant getting on it but after a while he got on by himself. He's only 21 months old. The train has a go button and a whistle button. The go button has to be held down while driving. The whistle is VERY loud but it can be disconnected. The train slides off the track very easily if he leans too far over. We tried using it without the track and it goes pretty good. But he can't steer it because he's so young. Probably be good for a kid about 3 years old or older. But over all I'm happy with the purchase. It's holding up rather nicely. Just make sure your child holds on firmly when pressing the button. It takes off with a slight jump. It's powerful for a little train! Hold on with both hands! And parents should stay near by in case it slips off the track. Please don't try to ride it yourself. heh heh heh

The front wheel doesn't spin smoothly. I've oiled everything that can be oiled and now it works somewhat decently but the tracks are all oily looking now. It doesn't ride smoothly. It's jerky and get's stuck on curved sections of track. Don't waste your money. It also looks very cheap. The pictures are way cooler looking.