Compare the2024 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2024 Buick Encore GX

Both the Santa Fe and Encore GX 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 Encore GX’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.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Encore GX doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Santa Fe has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Encore GX’s blind spot costs extra.

Both the Santa Fe and Encore GX have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Santa Fe has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Encore GX’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.

The Santa Fe’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Encore GX doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Santa Fe and the Encore GX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, 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, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Hyundai Santa Fe weighs 1088 to 1463 pounds more than the Buick Encore GX. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

The Hyundai Santa Fe achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Encore GX is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

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

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 1 year and unlimited miles longer than the Encore GX’s (7/unlimited vs. 6/100,000).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Buick doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Encore GX.

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Santa Fe has a standard 150-amp alternator. The Encore GX’s 130-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Buick vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 2 more problems per 100 vehicles, Buick is ranked fifth.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Buick vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 1 place higher in reliability than Buick.

The Santa Fe’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 140 more horsepower (277 vs. 137) and 149 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 162) than the Encore GX’s standard 1.2 turbo 3-cylinder. The Santa Fe’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 122 more horsepower (277 vs. 155) and 137 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 174) than the Encore GX’s optional 1.3 turbo 3-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Hyundai Santa Fe is faster than the Buick Encore GX 1.3 turbo 3-cylinder:

The Santa Fe has 4.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the Encore GX (17.7 vs. 13.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Santa Fe has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Encore GX. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

The Santa Fe offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is more internally efficient than a CVT but just as easy to drive. The Encore GX doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

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

The Santa Fe stops shorter than the Encore GX:

For better traction, the Santa Fe has larger standard tires than the Encore GX (235/60R18 vs. 225/55R18). The Santa Fe Limited’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Encore GX (255/45R20 vs. 245/45R19).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Calligraphy has standard 21-inch wheels. The Encore GX’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

For superior ride and handling, the Hyundai Santa Fe has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Buick Encore GX has a rear torsion beam axle, with a semi-independent rear suspension.

The Santa Fe has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Santa Fe flat and controlled during cornering. The Encore GX’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The Santa Fe’s drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The Encore GX doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Santa Fe’s wheelbase is 8.6 inches longer than on the Encore GX (110.8 inches vs. 102.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe is 3.5 inches wider in the front and 3.1 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Encore GX.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Encore GX Avenir AWD pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

For greater off-road capability the Santa Fe XRT has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Encore GX (8.3 vs. 7.5 inches), allowing the Santa Fe to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Santa Fe has standard seating for 7 passengers; the Encore GX can only carry 5.

The Santa Fe has 57.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Encore GX (152 vs. 94.3).

The Santa Fe has 1.4 inches more front headroom, 3.4 inches more front legroom, 4.6 inches more front hip room, 4.1 inches more front shoulder room, 2.5 inches more rear headroom, 6.3 inches more rear legroom, 4.2 inches more rear hip room and 4.5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Encore GX.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Santa Fe’s middle and third row seats recline. The Encore GX’s rear seats don’t recline.

The Santa Fe’s cargo area provides more volume than the Encore GX.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Santa Fe’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Encore GX doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Santa Fe’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Encore GX’s (3500 vs. 1000 pounds). Maximum trailer towing in the Buick Encore GX is only 1000 pounds. The Santa Fe offers up to a 4500 lbs. 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 Encore GX doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

The Santa Fe uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Encore GX 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 Calligraphy’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches. The Encore GX’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully.

On a hot day the Santa Fe’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Encore GX can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

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

Both the Santa Fe and the Encore GX offer available heated front seats. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy also has standard heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Encore GX.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Encore GX doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

Both the Santa Fe and the Encore GX offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Santa Fe has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Encore GX doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

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 Encore GX Essence’s automatic parking system does not offer parking by remote control.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Buick Encore GX by over two to one during 2023.