Compare the2025 Hyundai Santa Fe HybridVS 2025 Lexus RX

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and RX have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe Hybrid 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 RX’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.

In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The Lexus RX has not been tested.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Santa Fe Hybrid’s standard Downhill Brake Control allow you to creep down safely. The RX doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and the RX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, 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 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH moderate front offset crash tests on new cars. In this updated test, results indicate that the Santa Fe Hybrid is much safer than the RX:

The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid (built after November 2024) has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2025 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The RX is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2025.

The Santa Fe Hybrid comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The RX’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe Hybrid 4 years and 30,000 miles longer than Lexus covers the RX. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the RX ends after only 6 years or 70,000 miles.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the RX’s (7 vs. 6 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe Hybrid for 2 years and 26000 miles longer than Lexus pays for maintenance for the RX (3/36,000 vs. 1/10,000).

There are over 3 times as many Hyundai dealers as there are Lexus dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Santa Fe Hybrid’s warranty.

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 Lexus vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 12 more problems per 100 vehicles, Lexus is ranked 8th.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 38 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 233) than the RX 350h’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Fe Hybrid gets better mileage than the RX running its gasoline engine:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid uses regular unleaded gasoline. The RX 350 requires premium, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 3.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the RX 450+’s standard fuel tank (17.7 vs. 14.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid higher (6 out of 10) than the Lexus RX (5 to 6). This means the Santa Fe Hybrid produces up to 6.9 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the RX every 15,000 miles.

The Santa Fe Hybrid stops much shorter than the RX:

For better traction, the Santa Fe Hybrid Limited/Calligraphy’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the RX (255/45R20 vs. 235/60R19).

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited/Calligraphy’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the RX’s optional 50 series tires.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The RX base model’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks. The RX 350h suspension doesn’t offer rear gas-charged shocks.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’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 RX doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid AWD handles at .82 G’s, while the RX 500h F Sport Performance pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.1 seconds quicker than the RX 350h (27.5 seconds @ .63 average G’s vs. 28.6 seconds @ .57 average G’s).

The design of the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid amounts to more than styling. The Santa Fe Hybrid has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .294 Cd. That is significantly lower than the RX (.35) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the Santa Fe Hybrid get better fuel mileage.

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

The Santa Fe Hybrid has standard seating for 7 passengers; the RX can only carry 5.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 1.6 inches more front headroom, 3.3 inches more front legroom, 1.4 inches more front shoulder room, 2 inches more rear headroom, 4.1 inches more rear legroom and 1.6 inches more rear shoulder room than the RX.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s cargo area provides more volume than the RX.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the RX’s (2000 vs. 0 pounds).

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

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console for two separate devices. Wireless charging costs extra on the RX, and only charges one device.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid and the Lexus RX, based on reliability, safety and performance.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its October 2024 issue and they ranked the Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid AWD higher than the Lexus RX 450h+ Luxury.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Lexus RX by 204 units during 2024.