Compare the2024 Hyundai Santa CruzVS 2024 Toyota Tacoma

The Santa Cruz has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Tacoma’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Cruz has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Toyota charges extra for Blind Spot Monitor on the Tacoma.

For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Santa Cruz 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 Tacoma uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.

Both the Santa Cruz and the Tacoma have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Hyundai Santa Cruz 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 Tacoma has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.

The Santa Cruz comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Tacoma’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Cruz 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Toyota covers the Tacoma. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Tacoma ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Santa Cruz’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Tacoma’s (7 vs. 5 years).

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

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 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 above average in initial quality. With 6 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in reliability, above the industry average. With 10 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked fifth.

As tested in Motor Trend the Hyundai Santa Cruz turbo 4 cyl. is faster than the Toyota Tacoma turbo 4 cyl. (automatics tested):

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Cruz gets better mileage than the Tacoma:

The Santa Cruz has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Tacoma. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

The Santa Cruz offers an available 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 Tacoma doesn’t offer an SMG.

For better stopping power the Santa Cruz’s standard brake rotors are larger than those on the Tacoma:

The Santa Cruz stops shorter than the Tacoma:

The Santa Cruz’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 Tacoma’s standard 70 series tires. The Santa Cruz Night/Limited’s tires have a lower 50 series profile than the Tacoma Double Cab TRD Sport/Limited’s 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Cruz has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Tacoma. The Santa Cruz Night/Limited’s 20-inch wheels are larger than the 18-inch wheels on the Tacoma 5-ft. bed Double Cab Trailhunter/TRD Pro.

For superior ride and handling, the Hyundai Santa Cruz has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Tacoma has a solid rear axle, with a non-independent rear suspension.

The front and rear suspension of the Santa Cruz uses coil springs for better ride, handling and control than the Tacoma, which uses leaf springs in the rear. Coil springs compress more progressively and offer more suspension travel for a smoother ride with less bottoming out.

The Santa Cruz has a standard automatic rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The Tacoma doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

The Santa Cruz SEL 4x4 handles at .83 G’s, while the Tacoma 5-ft. bed TRD Off-Road Double Cab pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Santa Cruz’s turning circle is 2.6 feet tighter than the Tacoma XtraCab’s (39.6 feet vs. 42.2 feet). The Santa Cruz’s turning circle is 8.6 feet tighter than the Tacoma 6-ft. bed Double Cab TRD Sport/Off-Road’s (39.6 feet vs. 48.2 feet).

The Hyundai Santa Cruz may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 400 to 500 pounds less than the Toyota Tacoma.

The Santa Cruz is 1 foot, 5.3 inches shorter than the Tacoma 5-ft. bed Double Cab, making the Santa Cruz easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Santa Cruz is 7.2 inches shorter in height than the Tacoma, making the Santa Cruz much easier to wash and garage and drive (lower center of gravity).

Unibody construction lowers the Santa Cruz’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 Tacoma doesn’t use unibody construction, but a body-on-frame design.

The Santa Cruz has 4.8 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Tacoma (101.8 vs. 97).

The front step up height for the Santa Cruz is 4.7 inches lower than the Tacoma Double Cab (19” vs. 23.7”). The Santa Cruz’s rear step up height is 5.5 inches lower than the Tacoma Double Cab’s (19” vs. 24.5”).

A low lift-over bed design makes loading and unloading the Santa Cruz easier. The Santa Cruz’s bed lift-over height is 31.6 inches, while the Tacoma’s liftover is 34 inches.

The Hyundai Santa Cruz has a standard rear cargo step, which allows for much easier access to the cargo area. The Toyota Tacoma doesn’t offer a rear cargo step.

The Santa Cruz has a much higher standard payload capacity than the Tacoma:

The Santa Cruz has higher optional payload capacities than the Tacoma:

The Santa Cruz Limited’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield. The Tacoma’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Both the Santa Cruz and the Tacoma offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Santa Cruz Limited has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Tacoma doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Hyundai Santa Cruz, based on reliability, safety and performance.