Compare the2023 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2023 Toyota Venza

Both the Santa Fe and Venza 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 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.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Santa Fe AWD’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Venza doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.

Both the Santa Fe and the Venza 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and 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 Hyundai Santa Fe is safer than the Toyota Venza:

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

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Hyundai Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 112 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Venza is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2022.

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

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

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

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in reliability, above the industry average. With 10 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked fifth.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 62 more horsepower (281 vs. 219) than the Venza’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Motor Trend the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Toyota Venza:

Both the Santa Fe and Venza have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. The Santa Fe has a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily.

The Santa Fe has 4.3 gallons more fuel capacity than the Venza (18.8 vs. 14.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

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

The Santa Fe stops much shorter than the Venza:

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

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 Venza XLE/Nightshade/Limited’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Calligraphy has standard 20-inch wheels. The Venza’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Santa Fe’s wheelbase is 3 inches longer than on the Venza (108.9 inches vs. 105.9 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe is 1.7 inches wider in the front and 1.2 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Venza.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD handles at .83 G’s, while the Venza Limited pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1 seconds quicker than the Venza Limited (26.7 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.7 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

The Santa Fe has 13.2 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Venza (111.5 vs. 98.3).

The Santa Fe has 2.6 inches more front headroom, 3.2 inches more front legroom, 3.1 inches more front hip room, 1.7 inches more front shoulder room, 3.9 inches more rear legroom, 11.1 inches more rear hip room and 1.4 inches more rear shoulder room than the Venza.

The Santa Fe has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Venza with its rear seat up (36.4 vs. 28.8 cubic feet). The Santa Fe has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Venza with its rear seat folded (72.1 vs. 55.1 cubic feet).

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

The Santa Fe has a 2000 lbs. towing capacity. The Venza has no towing capacity.

Standard Trailer Sway Assist on the Santa Fe uses the Electronic Stability 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 Santa Fe has a much higher standard payload capacity than the Venza (1411 vs. 900 lbs.).

The Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe SEL/XRT/Limited/Calligraphy 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 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’s headlights were rated “Good” to “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the Venza’s headlights are rated “Acceptable” to “Marginal.”

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

When the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy 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.

Both the Santa Fe and the Venza 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 Venza.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy 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 Venza doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

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 Venza doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

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

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Toyota Venza, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Toyota Venza by almost four to one during 2022.