Compare the2022 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Both the Santa Fe and Grand Cherokee 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 Grand Cherokee’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 the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Santa Fe are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

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 Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Santa Fe’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Grand Cherokee.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Grand Cherokee only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

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 Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Santa Fe and the Grand Cherokee have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available all wheel drive.

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

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

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the engines in the Santa Fe have an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of the 5.7 V8 in the Grand Cherokee.

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 22 points higher than the Grand Cherokee.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2020 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai 10th in initial quality, above the industry average. With 2 more problems per 100 vehicles, Jeep is ranked 11th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai 7th in reliability, above the industry average. With 40 more problems per 100 vehicles, Jeep is ranked 24th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 13 places higher in reliability than Jeep.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 51 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 260) than the Grand Cherokee’s standard 3.6 DOHC V6.

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Fe gets better mileage than the Grand Cherokee:

Regardless of its engine, the Santa Fe’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. Jeep only offers an automatic engine start/stop system on the Grand Cherokee V6.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Grand Cherokee with the 5.7 V8 engine requires mid-grade for maximum efficiency, which can cost 5 to 40 cents more per gallon.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Hyundai Santa Fe higher (5 to 7 out of 10) than the Jeep Grand Cherokee (3 to 7). This means the Santa Fe produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Grand Cherokee every 15,000 miles.

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 much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

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 Grand Cherokee’s optional 50 series tires.

The Hyundai Santa Fe may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 850 to 1200 pounds less than the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The design of the Hyundai Santa Fe amounts to more than styling. The Santa Fe has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .34 Cd. That is significantly lower than the Grand Cherokee (.371). A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Santa Fe get better fuel mileage.

The Santa Fe has 6.1 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Grand Cherokee (111.5 vs. 105.4).

The Santa Fe has 1.3 inches more front headroom, 3.8 inches more front legroom, .5 inches more front hip room, .4 inches more front shoulder room, 3.1 inches more rear legroom, .1 inches more rear hip room and .3 inches more rear shoulder room than the Grand Cherokee.

The front step up height for the Santa Fe is 3 inches lower than the Grand Cherokee (17.5” vs. 20.5”). The Santa Fe’s rear step up height is 2.5 inches lower than the Grand Cherokee’s (18.3” vs. 20.8”).

The Santa Fe has a larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Grand Cherokee with its rear seat folded (72.1 vs. 68.3 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 Grand Cherokee’s liftover is 32.4 inches.

The Santa Fe’s cargo area is larger than the Grand Cherokee’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 Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Santa Fe’s liftgate can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, warning and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Santa Fe’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Grand Cherokee’s parking brake has to released manually.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Grand Cherokee’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Hyundai Santa Fe (except SE) offers an optional wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

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 Grand Cherokee’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park and it doesn’t offer remote control parking.