Compare the2024 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2024 Toyota Rav4

Both the Santa Fe and Rav4 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 Rav4’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.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Santa Fe are reminded to check the back seat. The Rav4 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

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 Rav4’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Toyota charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Rav4.

Both the Santa Fe and the Rav4 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front 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, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Hyundai Santa Fe weighs 703 to 1116 pounds more than the Toyota Rav4. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Hyundai Santa Fe is safer than the Rav4:

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 Rav4 last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2023.

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 Rav4’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 Toyota covers the Rav4. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Rav4 ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Rav4’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe for 1 year and 11000 miles longer than Toyota pays for maintenance for the Rav4 (3/36,000 vs. 2/25000).

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Santa Fe has a 150-amp alternator. The Rav4’s standard 100-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 Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 30 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 17th.

The Santa Fe’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 74 more horsepower (277 vs. 203) and 127 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 184) than the Rav4’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Hyundai Santa Fe is faster than the Toyota Rav4:

The Santa Fe has 3.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the Rav4 (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 higher (7 out of 10) than the Toyota Rav4 (6). This means the Santa Fe produces up to 1.1 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Rav4 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 Rav4 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 Rav4:

The Santa Fe stops shorter than the Rav4:

For better traction, the Santa Fe has larger standard tires than the Rav4 (235/60R18 vs. 225/65R17). The Santa Fe Limited’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Rav4 (255/45R20 vs. 235/55R19).

The Santa Fe SE/SEL’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Rav4 LE/XLE’s standard 65 series tires. The Santa Fe Limited’s tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Rav4 XLE Premium/Adventure/Limited’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Rav4 LE/XLE. The Santa Fe Calligraphy’s 21-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels on the Rav4 XLE Premium/Adventure/Limited.

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 Rav4 doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Santa Fe’s wheelbase is 4.9 inches longer than on the Rav4 (110.8 inches vs. 105.9 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe is 1.9 inches wider in the front and 1.6 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Rav4.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Rav4 TRD Off-Road pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

As tested by Car and Driver while cruising at 70 MPH, the interior of the Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD is quieter than the Rav4 TRD Off-Road (68 vs. 70 dB).

The Santa Fe has standard seating for 7 passengers; the Rav4 can only carry 5.

The Santa Fe has 53.1 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Rav4 (152 vs. 98.9).

The Santa Fe has 1.6 inches more front headroom, 3.3 inches more front legroom, 2.2 inches more front hip room, 1.7 inches more front shoulder room, 1.1 inches more rear headroom, 4.5 inches more rear legroom, 7.2 inches more rear hip room and 1.7 inches more rear shoulder room than the Rav4.

The Santa Fe’s cargo area provides more volume than the Rav4.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Santa Fe’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Rav4 doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Santa Fe’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Rav4’s (3500 vs. 1500 pounds). Maximum trailer towing in the Toyota Rav4 4WD is only 3500 pounds. The Santa Fe offers up to a 4500 lbs. towing capacity.

The Santa Fe uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Rav4 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 Limited/Calligraphy’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Rav4 doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, 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 Rav4 doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Santa Fe has a standard Proximity Key that allows you to unlock the doors from either front door handle, open the cargo door, and start the engine, all without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Only the Rav4 XLE/Adventure/Limited/TRD Off-Road offers a Smart Key System.

The Santa Fe’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Rav4’s power window (except driver window), power lock and power mirror switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The Santa Fe’s standard variable intermittent wipers have an adjustable delay to allow the driver to choose a setting that best clears the windshield during light rain or mist. The Rav4 LE’s standard fixed intermittent wipers only have one fixed delay setting, so the driver will have to manually switch them between slow and intermittent.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Santa Fe to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Rav4 doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The Santa Fe’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Toyota charges extra for heated mirrors on the Rav4.

When the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Rav4’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

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 Rav4 doesn’t offer an automated parking system.