Compare the2023 Hyundai Santa Fe HybridVS 2023 Lexus NX

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and NX 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 NX’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 NX.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe Hybrid has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning with Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Parking Support Brake costs extra on the NX.

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and the NX 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, crash mitigating brakes, 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 Santa Fe Hybrid comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The NX’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe Hybrid 4 years and 30,000 miles longer than Lexus covers the NX. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the NX ends after only 6 years or 70,000 miles.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the NX’s (7 vs. 6 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe Hybrid for 2 years and 26000 miles longer than Lexus pays for maintenance for the NX (3/36,000 vs. 1/10,000).

There are over 3 times as many Hyundai dealers as there are Lexus dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Santa Fe Hybrid’s warranty.

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 Lexus vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in reliability, above the industry average. With 11 more problems per 100 vehicles, Lexus is ranked 6th.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 23 more horsepower (226 vs. 203) and 74 lbs.-ft. more torque (258 vs. 184) than the NX 250’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Fe Hybrid gets better mileage than the NX running its gasoline engine:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid uses regular unleaded gasoline. The NX 350 requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 3.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the NX (17.7 vs. 14.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid higher (7 out of 10) than the Lexus NX (6 to 7). This means the Santa Fe Hybrid produces up to 1.1 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the NX every 15,000 miles.

The Santa Fe Hybrid stops shorter than the NX:

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

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe Hybrid is 1.7 inches wider in the front and 1.3 inches wider in the rear than the track on the NX.

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the NX 450h AWD (28 seconds @ .6 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .57 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Santa Fe Hybrid’s turning circle is .6 feet tighter than the NX’s (37.4 feet vs. 38 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Santa Fe Hybrid has a greater minimum ground clearance than the NX (8.2 vs. 7.7 inches), allowing the Santa Fe Hybrid to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The design of the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid amounts to more than styling. The Santa Fe Hybrid has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .33 Cd. That is lower than the NX (.35) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Santa Fe Hybrid get better fuel mileage.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 2.9 inches more front headroom, 3.1 inches more front legroom, 1.2 inches more front hip room, 2.8 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear headroom, 4.7 inches more rear legroom, 3.8 inches more rear hip room and 4.3 inches more rear shoulder room than the NX.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the NX with its rear seat up (36.4 vs. 22.7 cubic feet). The Santa Fe Hybrid has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the NX with its rear seat folded (72.1 vs. 46.9 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Santa Fe Hybrid easier. The Santa Fe Hybrid’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 29 inches, while the NX’s liftover is 30.8 inches.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s cargo area is larger than the NX’s in almost every dimension:

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the NX’s (2000 vs. 0 pounds).

The power windows standard on both the Santa Fe Hybrid and the NX have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Santa Fe Hybrid is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The NX prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

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

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

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. Wireless charging costs extra on the NX.

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 NX doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling the transmission and speed with the brake pedal. With its available fully controlled system, the driver just activates it and it parks autonomously, 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 NX 350h/450h+’s automatic parking system does not offer parking by remote control.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid will be $3584 to $10469 less than for the Lexus NX.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Lexus NX by over two to one during 2022.