Compare the2024 Toyota Land CruiserVS 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Land Cruiser 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 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

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

The Toyota Land Cruiser 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 Hybrid doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Land Cruiser has standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Santa Fe Hybrid doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

Both the Land Cruiser and the Santa Fe Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, 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 Toyota Land Cruiser weighs 811 to 960 pounds more than the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

There are over 47 percent more Toyota dealers than there are Hyundai dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Land Cruiser’s warranty.

The battery on the Land Cruiser is in the trunk, which protects it from hot underhood temperatures that can degrade battery life. By keeping the Land Cruiser’s battery 20 to 30 degrees cooler, its life is increased by years. The Santa Fe Hybrid’s battery is in the hot engine compartment.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Hyundai vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota second in overall reliability. Hyundai is ranked 11th.

The Land Cruiser’s 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 100 more horsepower (326 vs. 226) and 207 lbs.-ft. more torque (465 vs. 258) than the Santa Fe Hybrid’s 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Motor Trend the Toyota Land Cruiser is faster than the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid:

An eight-speed automatic is standard on the Toyota Land Cruiser, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a six-speed automatic is available for the Santa Fe Hybrid.

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

The Land Cruiser’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Santa Fe Hybrid are solid, not vented.

The Land Cruiser stops shorter than the Santa Fe Hybrid:

For better traction, the Land Cruiser has larger standard tires than the Santa Fe Hybrid (245/70R18 vs. 235/65R17). The Land Cruiser’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Santa Fe Hybrid (265/60R20 vs. 235/65R17).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Land Cruiser has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Santa Fe Hybrid Blue. The Land Cruiser’s optional 20-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels on the Santa Fe Hybrid Limited.

The Toyota Land Cruiser’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Land Cruiser has a standard full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Santa Fe Hybrid; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

The Land Cruiser (except 1958) has an active front sway bar, which helps keep it flat and controlled during cornering, but disconnects at lower speeds to smooth the ride and offer greater off-road suspension articulation. This helps keep the tires glued to the road on-road and off. The Santa Fe Hybrid doesn’t offer an active sway bar system.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Land Cruiser’s wheelbase is 3.3 inches longer than on the Santa Fe Hybrid (112.2 inches vs. 108.9 inches).

For greater off-road capability the Land Cruiser has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Santa Fe Hybrid (8.7 vs. 8.2 inches), allowing the Land Cruiser to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Land Cruiser has .7 inches more rear hip room and .9 inches more rear shoulder room than the Santa Fe Hybrid.

The Land Cruiser has a much larger cargo volume than the Santa Fe Hybrid with its rear seat up (37.5 vs. 36.4 cubic feet).

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

The Land Cruiser’s rear cargo window opens separately from the rest of the liftgate door to allow quicker loading of small packages. The Santa Fe Hybrid’s rear cargo window doesn’t open.

The Land Cruiser’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Santa Fe Hybrid’s (6000 vs. 2000 pounds).

The engine in the Land Cruiser is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Santa Fe Hybrid. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

The Land Cruiser’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The Santa Fe Hybrid does not have an oil pressure gauge.

The Land Cruiser (except 1958) offers an available heads-up display that projects speed, tachometer, navigation instruction and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Santa Fe Hybrid doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Land Cruiser’s front and rear power windows all 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 Hybrid’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

If the windows are left open on the Land Cruiser the driver can close them all at the outside door handle. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows at the outside door handle or from a distance using the keyless remote. (This window function must be activated by your Toyota service department.) The driver of the Santa Fe Hybrid can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Land Cruiser’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 Santa Fe Hybrid Blue/SEL’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Land Cruiser has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel is only available on the Santa Fe Hybrid Limited.