Compare the2025 Hyundai Santa Fe HybridVS 2024 Toyota Venza

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 Toyota Venza doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and Venza 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 Venza’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.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Santa Fe Hybrid’s standard Downhill Brake Control allow you to creep down safely. The Venza doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe Hybrid has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning with Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Only the Venza XLE/Nightshade/Limited offers Parking Support Brake.

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and the Venza 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, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid weighs 518 to 728 pounds more than the Toyota Venza. 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 Hybrid is safer than the Venza:

The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid 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 Venza last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2023.

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

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

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

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 Hybrid’s standard 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 12 more horsepower (231 vs. 219) than the Venza’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 3.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the Venza (17.7 vs. 14.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

For better stopping power the Santa Fe Hybrid’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Venza:

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

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited/Calligraphy’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Venza XLE/Nightshade/Limited’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Hybrid Limited/Calligraphy has standard 20-inch wheels. The Venza’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

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 Venza doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

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

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe Hybrid is 1.6 inches wider in the front and 1.1 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Venza.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (54% to 46%) than the Venza’s (56% to 44%). This gives the Santa Fe Hybrid more stable handling and braking.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid AWD handles at .82 G’s, while the Venza Limited pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

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

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 52.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Venza (151 vs. 98.3).

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 2.5 inches more front headroom, 3.5 inches more front legroom, 2.1 inches more front hip room, 2.1 inches more front shoulder room, 1.6 inches more rear headroom, 3.7 inches more rear legroom, 9.7 inches more rear hip room and 1.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the Venza.

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

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

The Santa Fe Hybrid has a 2000 lbs. towing capacity. The Venza has no towing capacity.

Standard Trailer Sway Assist on the Santa Fe Hybrid uses the Electronic Stability Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Venza doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

The Santa Fe Hybrid uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Venza 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.

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

When the Santa Fe Hybrid 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 Venza’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats are only available on the Venza XLE/Nightshade/Limited. The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited/Calligraphy also has standard heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Venza.

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited/Calligraphy has a 115-volt a/c outlet, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Venza doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

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 Venza doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Santa Fe Hybrid is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Venza doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

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

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Toyota Venza by almost four to one during 2024.