HYUNDAI SANTA FE XL vs NISSAN ALTIMA

The HYUNDAI SANTA FE XL (2019–2019, 1 model years) carries 29 NHTSA consumer complaints and 1 safety recall, while the NISSAN ALTIMA (1993–2025, 33 model years) carries 20,032 complaints and 112 recalls. Severity indicators for the pair split as follows: 2 vs 1,237 crashes, 0 vs 315 fires, and 0 vs 21 reported fatalities.

Raw complaint counts favor whichever nameplate has fewer vehicles on the road, so the cleaner lens is components: which specific part families concentrate each model's filings? For the HYUNDAI SANTA FE XL, the leading complaint category is engine (7 filings), followed by unknown or other and service brakes, hydraulic. For the NISSAN ALTIMA, it is power train (1892), ahead of air bags and electrical system. When the two vehicles cluster around the same component, the problem is likely a shared supplier or a shared federal standard under stress; when they diverge, each nameplate has its own defect signature independent of the other.

NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program gives the HYUNDAI SANTA FE XL an average 5/5 crash-test rating versus 4.3/5 for the NISSAN ALTIMA, aggregated across all model years with published scores. Use the side-by-side table below as your scorecard, but do not treat it as a verdict. Recall counts tell you how many defects the manufacturer has already been compelled to remedy; complaint counts tell you what owners are still flagging today; and safety ratings tell you how the vehicle performs in standardized barrier tests — three different lenses on the same underlying question. The "also compare" links at the bottom of this page let you triangulate against neighboring nameplates in each model's competitive set.