Compare the2025 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2025 Toyota 4Runner

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Santa Fe 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 4Runner doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

Both the Santa Fe and 4Runner 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 4Runner’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.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe 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 4Runner Limited/Platinum/Trailhunter/TRD Pro offers Parking Support Brake.

For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Santa Fe uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The 4Runner uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.

Both the Santa Fe and the 4Runner 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 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 4Runner has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.

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 4Runner’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 4Runner. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the 4Runner ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the 4Runner’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 4Runner (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.

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Fe gets better mileage than the 4Runner:

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 4Runner doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better stopping power the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the 4Runner:

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 4Runner SR5’s standard 70 series tires. The Santa Fe Limited’s tires have a lower 45 series profile than the 4Runner TRD Sport/Limited/Platinum’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 4Runner SR5. The Santa Fe Calligraphy’s 21-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels on the 4Runner TRD Sport/Limited/Platinum.

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 4Runner doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For better maneuverability, the Santa Fe’s turning circle is 1.5 feet tighter than the 4Runner’s (37.9 feet vs. 39.4 feet).

The Santa Fe is 4.7 inches shorter than the 4Runner, making the Santa Fe easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Unibody construction lowers the Santa Fe’s center of gravity significantly without reducing ground clearance. This contributes to better on the road handling and better off-road performance and stability. In addition, unibody construction makes the chassis stiffer, improving handling and reducing squeaks and rattles. The 4Runner doesn’t use unibody construction, but a body-on-frame design.

The front grille of the Santa Fe uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The 4Runner doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Santa Fe has 1.4 inches more front headroom, 2.6 inches more front legroom, 1.3 inches more front hip room, 1.5 inches more front shoulder room, 2.8 inches more rear headroom, 7.5 inches more rear legroom and .3 inches more rear shoulder room than the 4Runner.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Santa Fe’s middle and third row seats recline. The 4Runner’s third row seats don’t recline.

The Santa Fe’s cargo area provides more volume than the 4Runner.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Santa Fe’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The 4Runner doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Santa Fe has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The 4Runner doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

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 4Runner doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Santa Fe’s standard Proximity Key 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. Smart Key standard on the 4Runner doesn’t offer a sensor on the cargo door.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Santa Fe has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the 4Runner only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Santa Fe to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The 4Runner doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The Hyundai Santa Fe stands out above the Toyota 4Runner by offering not one, but two Qi-compatible phone chargers. This convenience helps travelers with multiple devices to keep powered up on-the-go. Wireless charging eliminates lost or cluttered charging cables and and two of them provide more flexibililty. Both vehicles also offer Qi charging for the second row passengers.

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 4Runner doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Toyota 4Runner by 21% during 2024.