Compare the2023 Hyundai Santa Fe HybridVS 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and Sportage Hybrid have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe Hybrid 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 Sportage Hybrid’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.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Santa Fe Hybrid. But it costs extra on the Sportage Hybrid.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has a standard blind spot warning system that 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. Only the Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige offers a blind spot warning system.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe Hybrid has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Only the Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige offers Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning.

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and the Sportage Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Santa Fe Hybrid its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 126 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Sportage Hybrid is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2022.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s corrosion warranty is 2 years and unlimited miles longer than the Sportage Hybrid’s (7/unlimited vs. 5/100,000).

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

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 Hybrid’s reliability 29 points higher than the Sportage Hybrid.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sportage Hybrid (17.7 vs. 13.7 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Santa Fe Hybrid stops shorter than the Sportage Hybrid:

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige’s 60 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Hybrid Limited has standard 19-inch wheels. The Sportage Hybrid’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe Hybrid is 1.2 inches wider in the front and 1.3 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Sportage Hybrid.

For better maneuverability, the Santa Fe Hybrid’s turning circle is 1.2 feet tighter than the Sportage Hybrid’s (37.4 feet vs. 38.6 feet).

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 1.6 inches more front headroom, 2.7 inches more front legroom, 2.7 inches more front hip room, 1.6 inches more front shoulder room, 2.9 inches more rear hip room and 2.7 inches more rear shoulder room than the Sportage Hybrid.

The Santa Fe Hybrid uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sportage Hybrid 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 Hybrid’s front power windows 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 Sportage Hybrid’s standard power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully. Only its driver’s window opens automatically. The Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige’s rear windows don’t close automatically.

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield. The Sportage Hybrid’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports rated the Santa Fe Hybrid’s headlight performance “Good,” a higher rating than the Sportage Hybrid’s headlights, which were rated “Fair.”

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Santa Fe Hybrid’s headlights were rated “Good” to “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the Sportage Hybrid’s headlights are rated “Acceptable” to “Poor.”

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

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Kia charges extra for heated mirrors on the Sportage Hybrid.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats cost extra on the Sportage Hybrid. The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Sportage Hybrid.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige offers wireless charging.

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Sportage Hybrid doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Santa Fe Hybrid will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Santa Fe Hybrid will retain 50.72% to 50.86% of its original price after five years, while the Sportage Hybrid only retains 45.41% to 46.07%.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid will be $1045 to $2618 less than for the Kia Sportage Hybrid.

Both are recommended, but Consumer Reports® chose the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid as its “Top Pick,” the highest scoring vehicle in its category, based on reliability, safety and performance.