The Car Connection Expert Review
Likes
- Spacious cabin
- Lovely finishes inside
- Great ride quality
- Many features
- Value
Dislikes
- So-so fuel economy
- Some strange design elements
- Not a lot of configurability
- Not sporty or fast
Buying tip
features & specs
The 2025 Hyundai Palisade is a top choice among family-hauling SUVs thanks to its spacious, well-outfitted cabin.
What kind of vehicle is the 2025 Hyundai Palisade? What does it compare to?
The 2025 Palisade is a three-row crossover SUV. Compare it to the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, and Kia Telluride.
Is the 2025 Hyundai Palisade a good car/SUV?
The 2025 Palisade’s basic design has been around for a while, but it’s aging with exceptional grace. These are impressive SUVs with terrific interior space, a great ride quality, and many features for the money. The 2025 Palisade range scores 7.0 out of 10. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
What's new for the 2025 Hyundai Palisade?
Not much. A surround-view camera system, front parking sensors, and auto-dimming exterior mirrors have been added to the XRT trim level.
Arguably overstyled, the 2025 Palisade is a big three-row SUV with plenty of visual punch. Its curvy and busy exterior gives way to a soothing cabin, particularly in lighter hues. Hyundai sweats the small stuff when it comes to details and conveniences, so you’ll find plenty of nice touches even on the least-expensive version. The top-end Calligraphy trim is decked out like a luxury SUV for tens of thousands less than what German automakers offer.
The 291-hp V6 and a well-behaved 8-speed automatic transmission make good partners in the Palisade. This SUV has plenty of power and can tow up to 5,000 pounds if needed. Its best asset is its somewhat firm but still plenty absorbent ride quality and its refined nature at any speed.
The Palisade’s fuel economy is just OK at 21 to 22 mpg combined, though.
The XRT version adds little in the way of real off-road capability. It’s a bit more attractive than other Palisade trims, though, so it’s worth a look.
Arguably the Palisade’s best attribute is its cabin, which is comfortable and spacious. Adults can fit comfortably in all three rows, and there’s decent cargo space even behind an upright third row. The trim inside impresses for the money, particularly as you work your way up toward the downright ritzy Calligraphy.
A big 12.3-inch touchscreen comes standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, though most models have a digital instrument cluster that seems a bit basic against top competitors.
Hyundai fits the 2025 Palisade with a good amount of crash-avoidance features. High-end models have great driver-assistance tech, including a step-up adaptive cruise control system that has a particularly natural feel absent in some rivals. Great crash-test results are an asset, too.
How much does the 2025 Hyundai Palisade cost?
The 2025 Palisade range stretches from about $38,000 to around $53,000, with many configurations in between. All have a 12.3-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
We’d spend at least $42,000 or so for the SEL with its synthetic leather seats that are heated and power-adjustable up front. If you’re after a luxurious Palisade, though, the Calligraphy appeals with its nappa leather hides, premium audio, and massaging driver’s seat for around $51,500. That’s not chump change, but it buys an SUV outfitted like a genuine luxury model—with a better warranty, too.
Where is the 2025 Hyundai Palisade made?
In South Korea.
2025 Hyundai Palisade Styling
The 2025 Hyundai Palisade wears dramatic styling inside and out.
Is the Hyundai Palisade a good-looking SUV?
It’s interesting, if not exactly gorgeous. The 2025 Palisade gets a 7 out of 10 here thanks to its daring exterior and equally inventive cabin, even if many of its details take some acclimation.
The Palisade has a “Tron”-esque front end with silver headlights in most trims that seem to blend into its busy grille. Some versions have more black-out trim outside, but we’re mixed on whether they’re actually better looking. Permanent scowl aside, the Palisade has pleasant enough styling otherwise and a curvy tail end with big lights and overwrought details.
It’s pretty classy inside, too, though Hyundai is stingy about upholstery and trim colors compared to the similar Kia Telluride. The frowning steering wheel fronts a twin-screen instrument cluster. Buttons are grouped together on the center console, which can take a bit of time to sort out. There’s plenty of flair here, though, especially in the big swathes of textured plastic trim that run from the dash to the door panels.
2025 Hyundai Palisade Performance
The 2025 Hyundai Palisade has a terrific ride.
The Palisade has good acceleration and a spectacular ride quality. It’s that latter point that helps it earn a 6 out of 10 on our scale.
Is the Hyundai Palisade 4WD?
Front-wheel drive comes standard, an all-wheel drive is about $2,000 more across the board. There’s a center differential lock button on the console that can deliver more power to the rear wheels for, say, deeper snow, but these SUVs are definitely not meant for serious off-road use.
How fast is the Hyundai Palisade?
It’s more than adequate, if not exactly rapid. The 2025 Palisade uses a big 3.8-liter V6 rated at 291 hp, which delivers good power for highway passing and an overall refined feel. Some rivals with turbo power are zippier at speed, but the Palisade’s engine ladles on the power smoothly, and it works well with the standard 8-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters that are useful for hills. The Palisade can lug up to 5,000 pounds of trailer, though we imagine it would labor a bit with that much bolted to the rear.
The Palisade has a great ride that takes big bumps in quite well, even with the 20-inch alloy wheels wearing somewhat low-profile tires that you’ll find across the lineup. The steering is quick and accurate, though by no means is this an especially entertaining SUV on a winding road. But it doesn’t need to be. For what the Palisade was designed to do—haul your family around in comfort—it positively excels.
2025 Hyundai Palisade Comfort & Quality
The 2025 Hyundai Palisade comes with great safety tech.
Sure, it may now be among the oldest basic designs in the three-row crossover SUV world, but the Hyundai Palisade could teach a thing to its top competitors. The Palisade earns points here for roomy first- and second-row seats, the ability to carry five in comfort, and its huge cargo area. It’s a 9 on our scale. Top-end versions would net a 10th point for materials quality if rated separately.
The Palisade has a comfy cabin with supportive front seats with a good amount of adjustment, though the base version lacks a power driver’s seat. Second-row passengers will find ample room in captain’s chairs or a three-seat bench. Either setup moves fore and aft and can open up 40 inches of legroom. The third row is fairly easy to get into for an SUV of this size, and it’s spacious enough to accommodate adults for shorter drives.
You’ll find 18.0 cubic feet of space behind the third row, which grows to a very useful 45.8 cubic feet when it’s stowed away. Maximum cargo capacity is a generous 86.4 cubic feet.
Base Palisades don’t feel all that special inside, but the lineup gets dressier bits as you work your way up to the downright fancy Calligraphy. Sure, Hyundai could have used real wood and extra-soft leather, but for what it’s meant to do the Palisade Calligraphy is still an overachiever.
If only Hyundai offered more interior colors, though.
2025 Hyundai Palisade Safety
The 2025 Hyundai Palisade comes with great safety tech.
How safe is the Hyundai Palisade?
It’s a 9 out of 10 here, which is just one point away from TCC perfection. The Palisade gets points above average for its IIHS Top Safety Pick award, its five-star NTHSA rating, good standard features, and impressive outward vision for a big SUV thanks to narrow roof pillars. The safety scores are based on 2024 results, but they're not expected to change for 2025 given the vehicle hasn't changed.
Every Palisade leaves the factory with automatic emergency braking, rear parking sensors, active lane control, blind-spot monitors, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high beams, while front parking sensors, a surround-view camera system, and a blind-spot camera view are available.
There’s no hands-off driving system in the Palisade, but the adaptive cruise control system offers particularly good lane centering and it can slow down for exits if you’ve plugged your destination into the factory navigation system.
2025 Hyundai Palisade Features
The 2025 Hyundai Palisade is a strong value in any trim level.
From the base model to the fully loaded Calligraphy, the 2025 Hyundai Palisade can be a strong value. It’s a 9 here thanks to its big screens and tech, its good standard fare, its impressive warranty, and its overall price-to-features ratio.
The Palisade comes with a 5-year/60,000-mile warranty, including the first three years of basic scheduled maintenance.
Hyundai offers the Palisade in SE, SEL, XRT, SEL Premium, Limited, Calligraphy, and Calligraphy Midnight trim levels. The base Palisade SE model should ring in around $38,000 once the automaker fully announces the 2025 model. Figure another $2,000 for all-wheel drive. The Palisade SE has a 12.3-inch touchscreen, standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, cloth seats, a 6-way power-adjustable driver's seat, and 18-inch alloy wheels.
Which Hyundai Palisade should I buy?
The step-up Palisade SEL adds easy-clean synthetic leather upholstery, 8-way power-adjustable front seats that are heated, a hands-free power tailgate, a wireless charging pad, and a few other niceties for about $3,000. That’s where we’d stop, though the $5,000 the automaker charges for the SEL Premium with its sunroof, cooled seats in rows one and two, Harman/Kardon audio system, and surround-view camera system is actually quite a deal.
In fact, we’d spend for the SEL Premium before stepping up to the Limited that has leather seats, a power-folding third row, a head-up display, and a fixed sunroof over the rear seating area. It’s around $50,000, and it doesn’t seem worth the spend to us.
How much is a fully loaded Hyundai Palisade?
The top Palisade Calligraphy is about $51,500, which buys softer leather, a suede-like headliner, a massaging driver’s seat, and many minor styling details. If you’re going to spend this much on a Palisade, it’s worth the cost over the Limited.
2025 Hyundai Palisade Fuel Economy
The 2025 Hyundai Palisade’s fuel economy trails rivals with hybrid tech.
It’s not especially good. The 2025 Palisade rates a 2 on our scale. For now, we’ll carry over the 2024 model’s estimates, which shouldn’t change much if at all. That model was estimated at 19 mpg city, 27 highway, 22 combined with front-wheel drive, or 19/25/21 mpg with all-wheel drive.
Rivals with hybrid powertrains are much thriftier.
