Compare the2023 Honda CR-VVS 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda CR-V have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Hyundai Santa Fe doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Honda CR-V has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Santa Fe doesn’t offer knee airbags.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the CR-V deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The CR-V’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Santa Fe’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Both the CR-V and the Santa Fe have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and rear parking sensors.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the CR-V its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Santa Fe has not been fully tested, yet.

There are over 29 percent more Honda dealers than there are Hyundai dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the CR-V’s warranty.

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 CR-V’s reliability 15 points higher than the Santa Fe.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Hyundai vehicles. With 2 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Honda higher than Hyundai.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Hyundai vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 8 places higher in reliability than Hyundai.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Honda CR-V is faster than the Hyundai Santa Fe 4 cyl.:

On the EPA test cycle the CR-V gets better mileage than the Santa Fe:

The CR-V 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 Santa Fe doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The CR-V has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Santa Fe doesn’t offer a CVT.

The CR-V is 3.6 inches shorter than the Santa Fe, making the CR-V easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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

The CR-V uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Santa Fe doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The CR-V has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Santa Fe with its rear seat up (39.3 vs. 36.4 cubic feet). The CR-V has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Santa Fe with its rear seat folded (76.5 vs. 72.1 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the CR-V easier. The CR-V’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 26 inches, while the Santa Fe’s liftover is 29 inches.

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the CR-V. The Santa Fe doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The CR-V’s standard 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 Santa Fe’s standard passenger windows don’t open or close automatically. The CR-V EX-L’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches.

On a hot day the CR-V’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance with the keyless remote or at the outside door handle. The driver of the Santa Fe can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The CR-V’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Santa Fe SE/XRT/SEL’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The CR-V’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Hyundai only offers heated mirrors on the Santa Fe SEL/XRT/Limited/Calligraphy.

The CR-V has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Santa Fe SEL/XRT/Limited/Calligraphy.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Honda CR-V and the Hyundai Santa Fe, based on reliability, safety and performance.

Motor Trend selected the CR-V as their 2018 Sport Utility of the Year. The Santa Fe has never been chosen.

The Honda CR-V outsold the Hyundai Santa Fe by almost two to one during 2022.