Toyota Highlander vs Hyundai Santa Fe Sport: which is more reliable?
The Toyota Highlander and the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport are level on the federal record — 65/100 against 68/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Toyota Highlander
- 11 model years scored
- 2,349 owner complaints on record
- about 27 complaints per year on the road
- 39 recall campaigns, 24 safety-critical
- best year 2016 (86/100) · worst 2020 (37/100)
Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
- 6 model years scored
- 1,266 owner complaints on record
- about 22 complaints per year on the road
- 22 recall campaigns, 12 safety-critical
- best year 2016 (93/100) · worst 2018 (37/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Highlander against Santa Fe Sport
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
Toyota Highlander
- Power Train — 461 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 363 complaints
- Electrical System — 306 complaints
Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
- Engine — 720 complaints
- Service Brakes — 225 complaints
- Hydraulic — 154 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Highlander's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the Santa Fe Sport'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
Toyota Highlander — avoid: 2018, 2019, 2020.
Hyundai Santa Fe Sport — avoid: 2017, 2018.
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 Toyota Highlander prices at about $40,800 and a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport at about $22,100 — the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport is roughly $18,700 less, and they return 25.0 against 22.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Toyota Highlander or the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport scores 68/100 against the Toyota Highlander's 65/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Toyota Highlander and Hyundai Santa Fe Sport years should I avoid?
Toyota Highlander: 2018, 2019, 2020. Hyundai Santa Fe Sport: 2017, 2018. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Toyota Highlander and the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport?
The largest complaint group on the Toyota Highlander is Power Train (461 complaints); on the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport it is Engine (720).
Is the Toyota Highlander or the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport cheaper to own?
A recent used Toyota Highlander prices at about $40,800 and a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport at about $22,100, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.