2020 Toyota Sienna vs 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe

Since the second half of the 20th century, each decade has had a hot-topic family car, and, as we’ve noted in a number of reviews this year, the crossover is our current darling vehicle. Before the crossover, there were big, truck-based SUVs. Before that, there were station wagons.

And for the past 35 years, there's always been the minivan.

The Dodge Caravan has been widely considered the Patient Zero of the minivan segment. From there, seemingly everyone joined the party, including Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Chevy, GMC, Volkswagen, Oldsmobile, and more. Heck, even Mercury had a “Nautica Edition” version of the Villager.

The minivan was king once, the crossover is king now, and some other type of vehicle will likely dominate in the near future. But in all this, the 7- and 8-passenger minivans will always represent the ultimate in versatility. The crossover is an image-forward fad with a dash of usability, but the minivan continues to prove itself as the pinnacle of practicality.

The 2020 Toyota Sienna is neither the newest nor flashiest minivan out there, but when you absolutely need space for people and gear, there’s nothing better. Additionally, as of 2020 the Sienna is the only minivan to offer all-wheel drive (AWD), which is something specifically desired by many car buyers.

Last year, Hyundai changed its approach to the Santa Fe. The smaller five-passenger Santa Fe Sport got drop-kicked from the automaker’s lineup, replaced by this completely redesigned version of the SUV. The larger seven-passenger Santa Fe got a new name for one model year (Santa Fe XL), and then the all-new 2020 Hyundai Palisade replaced that vehicle.

With the Palisade’s arrival, there is just one Santa Fe for 2020, a five-passenger crossover that resides in a sweet spot between traditional compact and midsize models. It gets several updates, too, including an standard rear-seat reminder system, an available camera-based Blind-Spot View Monitor system, and new design accents to better distinguish the top trim level.