Compare the2024 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2024 Infiniti QX60

Both the Santa Fe and QX60 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 QX60’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.

Both the Santa Fe and QX60 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 QX60’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the Santa Fe and the QX60 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

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 QX60’s 4-year/60,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe 4 years and 30,000 miles longer than Infiniti covers the QX60. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the QX60 ends after only 6 years or 70,000 miles.

There are over 4 times as many Hyundai dealers as there are Infiniti dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Santa Fe’s warranty.

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 Infiniti vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 25 more problems per 100 vehicles, Infiniti is ranked 14th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Infiniti With 21 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Hyundai higher than Infiniti.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Infiniti vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 2 places higher in reliability than Infiniti.

The Santa Fe’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 41 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 270) than the QX60’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Fe gets better mileage than the QX60:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe uses regular unleaded gasoline. The QX60 requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

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 QX60. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Hyundai Santa Fe higher (7 out of 10) than the Infiniti QX60 (5). This means the Santa Fe produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the QX60 every 15,000 miles.

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 much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The QX60 doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The Santa Fe stops shorter than the QX60:

The Santa Fe Limited’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the QX60 Luxe/Sensory/Autograph’s 50 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Calligraphy has standard 21-inch wheels. The QX60’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

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 QX60 doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For better maneuverability, the Santa Fe’s turning circle is .8 feet tighter than the QX60’s (37.9 feet vs. 38.7 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Santa Fe has a greater minimum ground clearance than the QX60 (7 vs. 6.7 inches), allowing the Santa Fe to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Santa Fe XRT’s minimum ground clearance is 1.6 inches higher than on the QX60 (8.3 vs. 6.7 inches).

The Santa Fe is 8 inches shorter than the QX60, making the Santa Fe easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The design of the Hyundai Santa Fe amounts to more than styling. The Santa Fe has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .294 Cd. That is lower than the QX60 (.32) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Santa Fe get better fuel mileage.

The front grille of the Santa Fe uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The QX60 doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Santa Fe has 11.4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the QX60 (152 vs. 140.6).

The Santa Fe has .3 inches more front headroom, 2.2 inches more front legroom, 3.1 inches more rear headroom, 4.6 inches more rear legroom, 2 inches more third row headroom and 2 inches more third row legroom than the QX60.

The Santa Fe’s cargo area provides more volume than the QX60.

The Santa Fe has a standard Sinking Seat third row seat, which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The QX60 doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

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 QX60 doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Infiniti QX60 by over four to one during 2023.