Subaru Outback vs Hyundai Santa Fe: which is more reliable?
The Subaru Outback and the Hyundai Santa Fe are level on the federal record — 68/100 against 67/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Subaru Outback
- 13 model years scored
- 6,232 owner complaints on record
- about 72 complaints per year on the road
- 57 recall campaigns, 34 safety-critical
- best year 2024 (93/100) · worst 2020 (35/100)
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)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Outback against Santa Fe
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
Subaru Outback
- Electrical System — 1,898 complaints
- Visibility/Wiper — 1,659 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 1,128 complaints
Hyundai Santa Fe
- Engine — 1,901 complaints
- Power Train — 493 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 407 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Outback's complaints concentrate in Electrical System, the Santa Fe's in Engine. 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
Subaru Outback — avoid: 2019, 2020.
Hyundai Santa Fe — avoid: 2017, 2025.
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 Subaru Outback prices at about $44,100 and a Hyundai Santa Fe at about $40,800 — the Hyundai Santa Fe is roughly $3,300 less, and they return 28.0 against 23.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Subaru Outback or the Hyundai Santa Fe more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Subaru Outback scores 68/100 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 Subaru Outback and Hyundai Santa Fe years should I avoid?
Subaru Outback: 2019, 2020. Hyundai Santa Fe: 2017, 2025. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Subaru Outback and the Hyundai Santa Fe?
The largest complaint group on the Subaru Outback is Electrical System (1,898 complaints); on the Hyundai Santa Fe it is Engine (1,901).
Is the Subaru Outback or the Hyundai Santa Fe cheaper to own?
A recent used Subaru Outback prices at about $44,100 and a Hyundai Santa Fe at about $40,800, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.