Compare the2024 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2024 Mazda CX-90

Both the Santa Fe and CX-90 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe 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 CX-90’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.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning with Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Only the CX-90 Premium Plus/Turbo S Premium offers Rear Cross Traffic Braking.

Both the Santa Fe and the CX-90 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front 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 Santa Fe comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The CX-90’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Mazda covers the CX-90. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the CX-90 ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the CX-90’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Mazda doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the CX-90.

There are over 55 percent more Hyundai dealers than there are Mazda dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Santa Fe’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 Mazda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 70 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mazda is ranked 29th, below the industry average.

As tested in Car and Driver the Hyundai Santa Fe is faster than the CX-90 Turbo S:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe uses regular unleaded gasoline. The CX-90 PHEV requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Hyundai Santa Fe higher (7 out of 10) than the Mazda CX-90 (6). This means the Santa Fe produces up to 1.1 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the CX-90 every 15,000 miles.

The Santa Fe offers a standard 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 CX-90 doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The Santa Fe stops much shorter than the CX-90:

The Santa Fe’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 CX-90 doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the CX-90 Premium Plus pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

For greater off-road capability the Santa Fe XRT has a greater minimum ground clearance than the CX-90 PHEV Premium/Turbo S (8.3 vs. 8.1 inches), allowing the Santa Fe to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Hyundai Santa Fe may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 350 to 750 pounds less than the Mazda CX-90.

The Santa Fe is 10.6 inches shorter than the CX-90, making the Santa Fe easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The front grille of the Santa Fe uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The CX-90 doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Santa Fe has 10.4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the CX-90 (152 vs. 141.6).

The Santa Fe has 1.4 inches more front headroom, 2.6 inches more front legroom, .3 inches more front shoulder room, 1.3 inches more rear headroom, 2.9 inches more rear legroom, .8 inches more third row headroom and .2 inches more third row shoulder room than the CX-90.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Santa Fe’s middle and third row seats recline. The CX-90’s third row seats don’t recline.

The Santa Fe’s cargo area provides more volume than the CX-90.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Santa Fe’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The CX-90 doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The CX-90 doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The power windows standard on both the Santa Fe and the CX-90 have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Santa Fe is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The CX-90 prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Santa Fe’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The CX-90’s power window (except driver window) switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The CX-90 doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Santa Fe is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The CX-90 doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Mazda CX-90 by over four to one during 2023.