Compare the2025 Hyundai Santa Fe HybridVS 2025 Lexus TX

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and TX 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 TX’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 TX has not been tested.

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and the TX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, 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.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is safer than the TX:

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 TX 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 TX’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 TX. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the TX ends after only 6 years or 70,000 miles.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the TX’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 TX (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.

As tested in Motor Trend the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is faster than the TX 350 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder:

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

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid uses regular unleaded gasoline. The TX 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 TX 550h+’s standard fuel tank (17.7 vs. 14.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Santa Fe Hybrid stops shorter than the TX:

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 TX doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid AWD handles at .81 G’s, while the TX 350 Luxury AWD pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Santa Fe Hybrid is 1 foot shorter than the TX, making the Santa Fe Hybrid easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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 TX (.34 to .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 TX doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 2.8 inches more front legroom, .5 inches more rear headroom, 2 inches more rear legroom and .5 inches more third row headroom than the TX.

The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid stands out above the Lexus TX by offering not one, but two Qi-compatible phone chargers. This convenience helps travelers with multiple devices to keep powered up on-the-go. Wireless charging eliminates lost or cluttered charging cables and two of them provide more flexibility. Both vehicles also offer Qi charging for the second row passengers.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid and the Lexus TX, 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 TX 550h+ Luxury.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Santa Fe Hybrid first among midsize suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The TX isn’t in the top three.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Lexus TX by almost four to one during 2024.