Compare the2024 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2024 Nissan Pathfinder

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

Both the Santa Fe and the Pathfinder 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, driver alert monitors, 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 Pathfinder’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 Nissan covers the Pathfinder. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Pathfinder ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

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

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. Nissan doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Pathfinder.

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 Nissan vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 4 more problems per 100 vehicles, Nissan is ranked 6th.

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 Nissan With 1 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Hyundai higher than Nissan.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 6 places higher in reliability than Nissan.

The Santa Fe’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 52 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 259) than the Pathfinder’s standard 3.5 DOHC V6. The Santa Fe’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 41 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 270) than the Pathfinder Rock Creek’s standard 3.5 DOHC V6.

As tested in Car and Driver the Hyundai Santa Fe is faster than the Nissan Pathfinder (base engine):

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

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Pathfinder Rock Creek 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 Pathfinder. 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 Nissan Pathfinder (5). This means the Santa Fe produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Pathfinder 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 Pathfinder doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The Santa Fe stops much shorter than the Pathfinder:

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 Pathfinder’s optional 50 series tires.

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

The Santa Fe has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Pathfinder’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

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 Pathfinder doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Pathfinder SL pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

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

For greater off-road capability the Santa Fe XRT has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Pathfinder Rock Creek (8.3 vs. 7.7 inches), allowing the Santa Fe to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Santa Fe is 7.5 inches shorter than the Pathfinder, 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 significantly lower than the Pathfinder (.34 to .355) 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 Pathfinder doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Santa Fe has 4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Pathfinder (152 vs. 148).

The Santa Fe has 1 inch more rear headroom, 6.8 inches more rear legroom and 2 inches more third row legroom than the Pathfinder.

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

The Santa Fe uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Pathfinder 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’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Nissan only offers heated mirrors on the Pathfinder SV/Rock Creek/SL/Platinum.

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 Pathfinder doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Nissan Pathfinder by 83% during 2023.