Hyundai Santa Fe vs Subaru Ascent: which is more reliable?
The Hyundai Santa Fe and the Subaru Ascent are level on the federal record — 67/100 against 70/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Hyundai Santa Fe
- 11 model years scored
- 3,748 owner complaints on record
- about 62 complaints per year on the road
- 39 recall campaigns, 18 safety-critical
- best year 2012 (90/100) · worst 2025 (35/100)
Subaru Ascent
- 7 model years scored
- 1,029 owner complaints on record
- about 29 complaints per year on the road
- 24 recall campaigns, 8 safety-critical
- best year 2025 (87/100) · worst 2019 (32/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Santa Fe against Ascent
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Hyundai Santa Fe
- Engine — 1,901 complaints
- Power Train — 493 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 407 complaints
Subaru Ascent
- Electrical System — 289 complaints
- Power Train — 179 complaints
- Visibility/Wiper — 152 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Santa Fe's complaints concentrate in Engine, the Ascent's in Electrical System. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Hyundai Santa Fe — avoid: 2017, 2025.
Subaru Ascent — avoid: 2019, 2020.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Hyundai Santa Fe prices at about $40,800 and a Subaru Ascent at about $44,100 — the Hyundai Santa Fe is roughly $3,300 less, and they return 23.0 against 22.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Hyundai Santa Fe or the Subaru Ascent more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Subaru Ascent scores 70/100 against the Hyundai Santa Fe's 67/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Hyundai Santa Fe and Subaru Ascent years should I avoid?
Hyundai Santa Fe: 2017, 2025. Subaru Ascent: 2019, 2020. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Subaru Ascent?
The largest complaint group on the Hyundai Santa Fe is Engine (1,901 complaints); on the Subaru Ascent it is Electrical System (289).
Is the Hyundai Santa Fe or the Subaru Ascent cheaper to own?
A recent used Hyundai Santa Fe prices at about $40,800 and a Subaru Ascent at about $44,100, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.