Compare the2026 Hyundai PalisadeVS 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander

For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Palisade are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Toyota Grand Highlander doesn’t offer height-adjustable middle seat belts.

Both the Palisade and Grand Highlander have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Palisade 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 Grand Highlander’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.

The Palisade has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Palisade 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 Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum/Nightshade offers Parking Support Brake.

Both the Palisade and the Grand Highlander 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.

The Palisade comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Grand Highlander’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Palisade 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Toyota covers the Grand Highlander. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Grand Highlander ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Palisade’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Grand Highlander’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Palisade for 1 year and 11000 miles longer than Toyota pays for maintenance for the Grand Highlander (3/36,000 vs. 2/25000).

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 27 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 17th, below the industry average.

The Palisade has more powerful engines than the Grand Highlander:

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Palisade’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Palisade uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Grand Highlander Hybrid Max requires premium, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

The Palisade Hybrid’s standard fuel tank has a gallon more fuel capacity than the Grand Highlander Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (18.2 vs. 17.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Palisade V6’s standard fuel tank has 1.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the Grand Highlander’s standard fuel tank (19 vs. 17.8 gallons).

For better stopping power the Palisade’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Grand Highlander:

For better traction, the Palisade Calligraphy’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Grand Highlander (265/45R21 vs. 255/65R18).

The Palisade Calligraphy’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Palisade Calligraphy has standard 21-inch wheels. The Grand Highlander’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

The Palisade has a standard automatic rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

The Palisade’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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Palisade is 2.2 inches wider in the front and 2.5 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Grand Highlander.

For greater off-road capability the Palisade XRT PRO has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Grand Highlander (8.4 vs. 8 inches), allowing the Palisade to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

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

The Palisade has 8.6 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Grand Highlander (161.9 vs. 153.3).

The Palisade has 2.5 inches more front legroom, 2.3 inches more front hip room, 1.2 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear headroom, 3.5 inches more rear legroom, 2.2 inches more rear shoulder room and .6 inches more third row headroom than the Grand Highlander.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Palisade’s second row seats and pressing a button automatically lowers or raises the Palisade Limited/Calligraphy’s third row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Palisade uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Grand Highlander uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Palisade SEL Premium/Limited/Calligraphy/Hybrid’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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Palisade SEL/XRT/Limited/Calligraphy/Hybrid’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Grand Highlander offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Palisade SEL/XRT/Limited/Calligraphy/Hybrid has standard heated front seats and second and third row heated seats also avaiable, which keep the driver and passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Toyota doesn’t offer heated seats in the third row of the Grand Highlander.

The Palisade Calligraphy has standard massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Grand Highlander.

The Palisade Calligraphy’s Remote 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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Hyundai Palisade outsold the Toyota Grand Highlander by 58% during 2024.