Compare the2025 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2025 Toyota Highlander

Both the Santa Fe and Highlander have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Highlander’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Hyundai Santa Fe achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The Toyota Highlander has not been tested.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning with Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Only the Highlander Limited/Platinum offers Parking Support Brake.

Both the Santa Fe and the Highlander have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH moderate front offset crash tests on new cars. In this updated test, results indicate that the Santa Fe is much safer than the Highlander:

The Hyundai Santa Fe (built after November 2024) has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2025 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Highlander is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2025.

The Santa Fe comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Highlander’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Toyota covers the Highlander. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Highlander ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Highlander’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe for 1 year and 11000 miles longer than Toyota pays for maintenance for the Highlander (3/36,000 vs. 2/25000).

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 30 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 17th.

The Santa Fe’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 12 more horsepower (277 vs. 265) and 1 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 310) than the Highlander’s 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Hyundai Santa Fe is faster than the Toyota Highlander:

The Santa Fe offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Highlander doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better stopping power the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Highlander:

The Santa Fe stops shorter than the Highlander:

For better traction, the Santa Fe Limited’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Highlander (255/45R20 vs. 235/65R18).

The Santa Fe SE/SEL’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Highlander LE/XLE’s standard 65 series tires. The Santa Fe Limited’s tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Highlander XSE/Limited/Platinum’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Calligraphy has standard 21-inch wheels. The Highlander’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

The Santa Fe’s drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The Highlander doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For greater off-road capability the Santa Fe XRT has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Highlander (8.3 vs. 8 inches), allowing the Santa Fe to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Santa Fe is 4.7 inches shorter than the Highlander, making the Santa Fe easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The front grille of the Santa Fe uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Highlander doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Santa Fe has 10.2 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Highlander (152 vs. 141.8).

The Santa Fe has 2.4 inches more front legroom, .5 inches more front shoulder room, 1.2 inches more rear headroom, 3.6 inches more rear legroom, 1.6 inches more third row headroom and 2 inches more third row legroom than the Highlander.

The Santa Fe has a standard Sinking Seat third row seat, which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The Highlander doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Santa Fe’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Highlander doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Santa Fe uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Highlander uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Highlander doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Hyundai Santa Fe stands out above the Toyota Highlander by offering not one, but two Qi-compatible phone chargers. This convenience helps travelers with multiple devices to keep powered up on-the-go. Wireless charging eliminates lost or cluttered charging cables and two of them provide more flexibility. Both vehicles also offer Qi charging for the second row passengers.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Highlander doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Toyota Highlander, based on reliability, safety and performance.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Santa Fe first among midsize suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Highlander isn’t in the top three in its category.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Toyota Highlander by 25% during 2024.