Compare the2023 Volvo XC40VS 2022 Toyota Venza

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Volvo XC40 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Toyota Venza doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The XC40’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Venza doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the XC40 and Venza have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC40 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 Venza’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.

The XC40 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The Venza doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the XC40’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Venza doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

Both the XC40 and the Venza have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Volvo XC40 is safer than the Toyota Venza:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

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 XC40 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 87 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Venza is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2022.

The XC40 comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Venza’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The XC40’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Venza’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Volvo pays for scheduled maintenance on the XC40 for 1 year and 11000 miles longer than Toyota pays for maintenance for the Venza (3/36,000 vs. 2/25000).

The XC40 B5’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 28 more horsepower (247 vs. 219) than the Venza’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

The XC40 has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Venza doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

For better stopping power the XC40’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Venza:

The XC40 stops much shorter than the Venza:

For better traction, the XC40 has larger standard tires than the Venza (235/55R18 vs. 225/60R18). The XC40’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Venza (245/45R20 vs. 225/60R18).

The XC40’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Venza LE’s standard 60 series tires. The XC40’s optional tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Venza XLE/Limited’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the XC40 offers optional 20-inch wheels. The Venza’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

The XC40 has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Venza doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The XC40 B5 Plus AWD handles at .85 G’s, while the Venza Limited pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

For greater off-road capability the XC40 has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Venza (8.1 vs. 7.68 inches), allowing the XC40 to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The XC40 is 11.8 inches shorter than the Venza, making the XC40 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The XC40 has .4 inches more front headroom, .3 inches more front hip room, .1 inches more rear headroom and 9.4 inches more rear hip room than the Venza.

The XC40 has a larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Venza with its rear seat folded (57.5 vs. 55.1 cubic feet).

A control in the cargo area automatically lowers the XC40’s optional rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Venza doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The XC40 has a 3500 lbs. towing capacity. The Venza has no towing capacity.

Optional Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) on the XC40 uses the Dynamic Stability and Traction Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Venza doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

The XC40 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Venza 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 XC40 has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Venza doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The XC40’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Venza’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports rated the XC40’s headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the Venza’s headlights, which were rated “Good.”

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 XC40’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Venza’s headlights are rated “Acceptable” to “Marginal.”

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the XC40 offers optional cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Venza doesn’t offer cornering lights. The XC40 also has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle.

When the XC40 is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Venza’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

The XC40’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Venza offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The XC40 has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats are only available on the Venza XLE/Limited. The XC40 also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Venza.

The XC40’s optional Park Assist Pilot can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Venza doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The XC40 is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Venza doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the XC40 second among small premium suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Venza was rated third in its category.

The Volvo XC40 outsold the Toyota Venza by 24% during the 2021 model year.