The two vehicles come in close on pricing with the Santa Fe coming in about $500 less expensive at $30,850 and the Highlander starting out at $31,230. This translates to about $7 a month difference.
Cargo Space
Winner: Highlander
The Highlander wins this category by a small margin. The Highlander has 83.7ft3 while the Santa Fe has 80ft3.
Interior Features
Winner: Santa Fe
The Santa Fe has a 7” touchscreen infotainment system that comes standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while the Highlander only comes with a 6.1” touchscreen system.
Acceleration & Engine
Winner: Santa Fe
The Santa Fe beats the Highlander is this category by miles. The base model Santa Fe has 252hp while the Highlander only has 184hp.
Fuel Economy
Winner: Highlander
The Highlander and Santa Fe have a close tie yet again. The Santa Fe has a combined MPG of 21 and the Highlander has a combined MPG of 22. Given the large difference in power, most people will choose the Santa Fe for this small difference.
Towing/Hauling
Winner: Santa Fe
The Santa Fe wins this round with a knock out punch. The max trailer weight for the Highlander base trim is 1500lbs with a max tongue weight coming in at 150lbs. The Santa Fe base trim max trailer weight is a much better 5000lbs with a max tongue weight of 500lbs! You can tow quite a bit with the Santa Fe while the Highlander would limit you to only a small utility trailer.
Safety
Winner: Tie
Both the Santa Fe and Highlander are very safe vehicles and in fact both have 5 star crash test ratings.
