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 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 3 points, IIHS rates the Pre-Collision System optional in the Highlander as “Advanced.” The Santa Fe scores zero, and is rated by the IIHS as having no effective frontal crash prevention.

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 lane departure warning systems, 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 all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and with its optional front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Highlander its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2016, a rating granted to only 73 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Santa Fe is not even a standard “Top Pick” for 2016.

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 65% 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 gets better fuel mileage than the Santa Fe:

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 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 .8 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, 1.3 inches 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 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.”

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.