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Hyundai Santa Fe vs Lexus NX

What's the difference?

VS
Hyundai Santa Fe
Hyundai Santa Fe

$44,790 - $77,888

2023 price

Lexus NX
Lexus NX

$59,888 - $95,999

2023 price

Summary

2023 Hyundai Santa Fe
2023 Lexus NX
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Turbo 4, 1.6L

Inline 4, 2.5L
Fuel Type
Unleaded Petrol/Electric

Premium Unleaded Petrol
Fuel Efficiency
6.0L/100km (combined)

6.9L/100km (combined)
Seating
7

5
Dislikes
  • Hybrid is $6500 more than the petrol Santa Fe
  • Lower braked towing capacity than petrol or diesel Santa Fe
  • Not a plug-in hybrid

  • Driver-assist tech could use some Aussie road tuning
  • Hard to tell apart from previous design
  • NX 250 engine needs the open road to truly shine
2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Summary

The Hyundai Santa Fe is a seven-seater SUV that slips in-between the enormous Palisade and mid-sized Tucson in Hyundai’s line-up.

And while it seemed to be the SUV that had everything, from unconventional good looks to cool tech, there’s never been a hybrid version despite rivals such as the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Kia Sorento hybrid being on the market... until now.

Yep, 'better late than never' isn’t just the motto of my punctuality-challenged family, it’s also the case with the Santa Fe Hybrid.

In many ways, the Santa Fe Hybrid makes up for its lateness with a drive experience better than the regular Santa Fe - and you’ll save fuel, too.

I’ll tell you how much fuel you’ll save below, along with how much more you’ll pay to own a Santa Fe Hybrid over a regular Santa Fe. I’ll also cover off its safety tech, standard features and practicality. 

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2023 Lexus NX Summary

As far as clichés go, attempting to make “a silk purse from a sow’s ear” couldn’t be more apt than when contemplating the original NX of 2014.

What was essentially the Lexus-fication of the vocal, fidgety and thirsty old Toyota RAV4 may have worked a treat sales-wise, but proved trickier when assessed against the lens of a BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60 rival.

The earliest NX just wasn’t refined enough.

This was especially true following the reborn RAV4 arrival in 2019, proving to be embarrassingly more competent – even compared to most luxury midsized SUV alternatives.

Now, finally, the NX redesign has followed suit, moving on to a variation of the Toyota’s stronger, quieter and more advanced TNGA architecture (dubbed GA-K) as a starting base.

Speaking of which, let’s dive straight into the least-expensive version, the NX 250 Luxury 2WD auto, to find out if the most popular Lexus model in Australia has finally found its mojo.

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Deep dive comparison

2023 Hyundai Santa Fe 2023 Lexus NX

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