Compare the2022 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2022 Buick Encore GX

Both the Santa Fe and Encore GX 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 Encore GX’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.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Encore GX doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Santa Fe has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. A system to reveal vehicles in the Encore GX’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe has a standard cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Cross-path warning costs extra on the Encore GX.

The Santa Fe’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Encore GX doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

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

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 Encore GX’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 Buick covers the Encore GX. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Encore GX ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 1 year and unlimited miles longer than the Encore GX’s (7/unlimited vs. 6/100,000).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Buick doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Encore GX.

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Santa Fe has a standard 150-amp alternator. The Encore GX’s 130-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Santa Fe’s reliability 20 points higher than the Encore GX.

The Santa Fe’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 54 more horsepower (191 vs. 137) and 19 lbs.-ft. more torque (181 vs. 162) than the Encore GX’s standard 1.2 turbo 3-cylinder. The Santa Fe’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 36 more horsepower (191 vs. 155) and 7 lbs.-ft. more torque (181 vs. 174) than the Encore GX’s optional 1.3 turbo 3-cylinder. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 126 more horsepower (281 vs. 155) and 137 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 174) than the Encore GX’s optional 1.3 turbo 3-cylinder.

The Santa Fe has 5.6 gallons more fuel capacity than the Encore GX (18.8 vs. 13.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

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

For better stopping power the Santa Fe’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Encore GX:

The Santa Fe stops shorter than the Encore GX:

For better traction, the Santa Fe has larger standard tires than the Encore GX (235/60R18 vs. 225/55R18). The Santa Fe Calligraphy’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Encore GX (255/45R20 vs. 225/55R18).

The Santa Fe Calligraphy’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Encore GX’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Calligraphy has standard 20-inch wheels. The Encore GX’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

For superior ride and handling, the Hyundai Santa Fe has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Buick Encore GX has a rear torsion beam axle, with a semi-independent rear suspension.

The Santa Fe has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Santa Fe flat and controlled during cornering. The Encore GX’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Santa Fe’s wheelbase is 6.7 inches longer than on the Encore GX (108.9 inches vs. 102.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe is 3.6 inches wider in the front and 3.1 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Encore GX.

The Santa Fe has 17.2 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Encore GX (111.5 vs. 94.3).

The Santa Fe has 1.5 inches more front headroom, 3.2 inches more front legroom, 5.6 inches more front hip room, 3.7 inches more front shoulder room, .9 inches more rear headroom, 5.7 inches more rear legroom, 8.8 inches more rear hip room and 4.7 inches more rear shoulder room than the Encore GX.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Santa Fe’s rear seats recline. The Encore GX’s rear seats don’t recline.

The Santa Fe has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Encore GX with its rear seat up (36.4 vs. 23.5 cubic feet). The Santa Fe has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Encore GX with its rear seat folded (72.1 vs. 50.2 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Santa Fe easier. The Santa Fe’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 29 inches, while the Encore GX’s liftover is 30.5 inches.

The Santa Fe’s cargo area is larger than the Encore GX’s in almost every dimension:

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Santa Fe’s (except SE) optional rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Encore GX doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Santa Fe’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Encore GX’s (2000 vs. 1000 pounds). Maximum trailer towing in the Buick Encore GX is only 1000 pounds. The Santa Fe offers up to a 3500 lbs. towing capacity.

The Santa Fe uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Encore GX 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 Calligraphy’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches. The Encore GX’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully.

The Santa Fe has a standard locking fuel door with a remote release located convenient to the driver. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank. The Encore GX doesn’t offer a locking fuel door.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Santa Fe to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Encore GX doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

Both the Santa Fe and the Encore GX offer available heated front seats. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Encore GX.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Encore GX doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

Both the Santa Fe and the Encore GX offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Santa Fe has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Encore GX doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

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 Encore GX Essence’s automatic parking system does not offer parking by remote control.