The Highlander Limited's optional pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Santa Fe doesn't offer pre-crash pretensioners.

The Highlander has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Santa Fe doesn't offer a whiplash protection system.

The Highlander Limited offers optional Pre-Collision System, which use forward mounted sensors to warn the driver of a possible collision ahead. If the driver doesn't react and the system determines a collision is imminent, it automatically applies the brakes at full-force in order to reduce the force of the crash or avoid it altogether. The Santa Fe doesn't offer collision warning or crash mitigation brakes.

The Highlander Limited's optional lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane. The Santa Fe doesn't offer a lane departure warning system.

Both the Highlander and the Santa Fe have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front-wheel drive, height-adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Toyota Highlander is safer than the Santa Fe:

For its top level performance in the IIHS moderate overlap frontal impact, side impact, rear impact, roof-crush crash tests, an “Acceptable” rating in the newer small overlap frontal crash test, and with its optional front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Highlander its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2015, a rating granted to only 64 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Santa Fe is not even a standard “Top Pick” for 2015.

Toyota pays for scheduled maintenance on the Highlander for 2 years and 25000 miles. Toyota will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Hyundai doesn't pay scheduled maintenance for the Santa Fe.

There are over 2 times as many Toyota dealers as there are Hyundai dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Highlander's warranty.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without their vehicle while it's being repaired. Consumer Reports predicts that the Highlander's reliability will be 71% better than the Santa Fe.

J.D. Power and Associates' 2015 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Hyundai vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota third in reliability, above the industry average. With 77 more problems per 100 vehicles, Hyundai is ranked 24th.

As tested in Motor Trend the Toyota Highlander V6 is faster than the Hyundai Santa Fe:

On the EPA test cycle the Highlander FWD V6 gets better city fuel mileage than the Santa Fe FWD (19 city/25 hwy vs. 18 city/25 hwy).

For better stopping power the Highlander's brake rotors are larger than those on the Santa Fe:

The Highlander stops much shorter than the Santa Fe:

For better traction, the Highlander has larger tires than the Santa Fe (245/60R18 vs. 235/60R18).

The Highlander's front to rear weight distribution is more even (53% to 47%) than the Santa Fe's (55% to 45%). This gives the Highlander more stable handling and braking.

The Highlander XLE AWD handles at .81 G's, while the Santa Fe Limited AWD pulls only .74 G's of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Highlander XLE AWD executes Motor Trend's “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Santa Fe Limited AWD (27.8 seconds @ .62 average G's vs. 28.4 seconds @ .59 average G's).

The Highlander has standard seating for 8 passengers; the Santa Fe can only carry 7.

The Highlander has 1.1 inches more front headroom, 2.9 inches more front legroom, .5 inches more front hip room, .5 inches more rear headroom, 1.7 inches more rear hip room, 1 inch more rear shoulder room, .2 inches more third row headroom, 1.5 inches more third row hip room and 1.1 inches more third row shoulder room than the Santa Fe.

The Highlander's cargo area provides more volume than the Santa Fe.

The Highlander's optional rear cargo window opens separately from the rest of the liftgate door to allow quicker loading of small packages. The Santa Fe's rear cargo window doesn't open.

The Highlander has a higher standard payload capacity than the Santa Fe (1455 vs. 1296 lbs.).

The Highlander Limited/Platinum's front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Santa Fe's rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

Consumer Reports rated the Highlander's headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the Santa Fe's headlights, which were rated “Good.”

While driving with high beams on, sensitive light sensors available for the Highlander Limited detect other vehicles which could be blinded and automatically switch to low beams. The Santa Fe doesn't offer automatic dimming high beams.

To keep a safe, consistent following distance, the Highlander Limited offers an optional Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, which alters the speed of the vehicle without driver intervention. This allows the driver to use cruise control more safely without constantly having to disengage it when approaching slower traffic. The Santa Fe doesn't offer an adaptive cruise control.

Insurance will cost less for the Highlander owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Highlander will cost $115 to $1155 less than the Santa Fe over a five-year period.

The Highlander will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. Kiplinger's estimates that the Highlander will retain a greater percentage of its original price after three and five years than the Santa Fe.

Intellichoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Toyota Highlander will be $793 to $6506 less than for the Hyundai Santa Fe.

The Toyota Highlander has won recognition from these important consumer publications:

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its August 2014 issue and they ranked the Toyota Highlander XLE AWD two places higher than the Hyundai Santa Fe Limited AWD.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Highlander second among midsize suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner's expectations. The Santa Fe isn't in the top three.

Strategic Vision rates overall owner satisfaction with vehicle quality. The Toyota Highlander is ranked third in the Mid-Size Crossover Utility category. The Hyundai Santa Fe is ranked below average.

The Toyota Highlander outsold the Hyundai Santa Fe by 34% during the 2015 model year.