Compare the2024 Hyundai Santa Fe HybridVS 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid 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 Jeep Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and Grand Cherokee have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe Hybrid 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 Grand Cherokee’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 Hybrid and Grand Cherokee have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Santa Fe Hybrid has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Grand Cherokee’s Rear Cross Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and the Grand Cherokee have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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 Hybrid comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Grand Cherokee’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe Hybrid 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Jeep covers the Grand Cherokee. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Grand Cherokee ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

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

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe Hybrid for 1 year longer than Jeep pays for maintenance for the Grand Cherokee (3 years vs. 2 years).

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai above average in initial quality. With 3 more problems per 100 vehicles, Jeep is rated lower.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in reliability, above the industry average. With 53 more problems per 100 vehicles, Jeep is ranked 19th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 15 places higher in reliability than Jeep.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 14 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 257) than the Grand Cherokee’s standard 3.6 DOHC V6.

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Fe Hybrid gets better mileage than the Grand Cherokee running its gasoline engine:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Grand Cherokee 4xe requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

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

The Santa Fe SEL Hybrid’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 Grand Cherokee Laredo’s standard 70 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe SEL Hybrid has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Grand Cherokee Laredo.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’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 Grand Cherokee doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

The Santa Fe Hybrid is 3.3 inches shorter than the Grand Cherokee, making the Santa Fe Hybrid easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The design of the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid amounts to more than styling. The Santa Fe Hybrid has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .294 Cd. That is significantly lower than the Grand Cherokee (.357) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Santa Fe Hybrid get better fuel mileage.

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

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 44 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Grand Cherokee (151 vs. 107).

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 1.2 inches more front headroom, 3 inches more front legroom, .3 inches more front shoulder room, 1.2 inches more rear headroom, 3.3 inches more rear legroom and .1 inches more rear shoulder room than the Grand Cherokee.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s cargo area provides more volume than the Grand Cherokee.

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

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

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Wireless charging costs extra on the Grand Cherokee and isn’t available on the Grand Cherokee Laredo A.

The Santa Fe Hybrid 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 Grand Cherokee Summit’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park and it doesn’t offer remote control parking.