2025 Hyundai Palisade Reviews, Pricing & Specs

While many car companies resort to outlandish body cladding and other rugged off-roader styling cues to give their otherwise bland SUVs character, the 2025 Hyundai Palisade leverages bold, unmistakable design as a differentiator.

Granted, the Palisade’s detailing sparks love-it-or-hate-it reactions, but we dig it, especially since the 2023 refresh that eliminated the SUV’s chubby-cheeked face in favor of a more angular and technical look. The rest of the SUV displays balanced forms, tasteful body sculpting, and an upscale look that makes it seem like a bargain at sticker price.

That design value story continues inside, where even the base Palisade SE trim level offers a clean, modern, and uplevel look and feel. The most expensive versions of the Palisade have premium leather, artificial suede, seat piping, metal speaker grilles, and other luxury cues that make it a mainstream SUV in name only. However, some metallic-surface control markings are hard to read during the day.

Beyond that, the Palisade is loaded with thoughtful details. Highlights include USB charging ports embedded into the front seatbacks for rear passengers, second-row smartphone storage pockets, and drink holders easily accessible by children of all ages. In addition, Leading Vehicle Departure Alert is standard for those times when you’re looking at your phone in traffic.

Hyundai sells the 2025 Palisade in seven trim levels: SE, SEL, XRT, SEL Premium, Limited, Calligraphy, and Calligraphy Night Edition. Prices range from $37,200 to $54,500, not including the $1,475 destination charge. Our test vehicle had Calligraphy trim, all-wheel drive (AWD), Robust Emerald paint, and carpeted floor mats, bringing the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) to $55,205, including destination.

Every 2025 Hyundai Palisade offers a 3.8-liter V6 engine making 291 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. An eight-speed automatic transfers power to the SUV’s front wheels, unless you’ve added the optional AWD system. Hyundai says the maximum towing capacity is 5,000 pounds, and, according to the EPA, the Palisade averages 22 mpg in combined driving (21 mpg with AWD).

Considering the Palisade’s age, it’s held up remarkably well regarding how it drives. Aside from shuddering over speed bumps that reflects how long it’s been since the underlying vehicle architecture was engineered, it rides and handles like a newer design.

Take note that the Palisade has a firm, sometimes busy ride at lower speeds on city streets and a softer, floatier ride at higher speeds on highways. Nevertheless, our test vehicle blazed over local speed humps at 35 mph as though they didn’t exist. You can’t expect that behavior everywhere due to variance in hump shape and severity, but in our local test, the Palisade performed like Baja-tuned pickup truck.

We tackled our Southern California testing loop with the Palisade in its Smart driving mode, which is supposed to adjust calibration automatically depending on the situation. We also turned off the automatic hold brake function, since it’s aggressive and requires too hard a push on the accelerator pedal to coax it into submission.

The Palisade’s powertrain is particularly satisfying. It has plenty of power, sounds great when revving, and is smooth and refined in operation. The automatic transmission delivers silky shifts, too. In a segment where many rivals are swapping V6 engines out in favor of grumbly turbocharged four-cylinder engines to eke out a few extra miles per gallon, this one is a delight.

However, it’s not very fuel-efficient. We recorded 16.9 mpg during the city-driving portion of our loop, and 19.8 mpg by the end of the evaluation. That’s 1.2 mpg short of the EPA estimate, but we think the extra money paid at the pump is worth it to enjoy the Palisade’s refined V6.

Testing day was cool with mist, so our local mountain roads were damp. In those conditions, we couldn’t explore the SUV’s handling limits, but nevertheless determined the steering and suspension offered a reasonable feel for the road. Also, the brakes are well calibrated and easy to modulate, so they never draw negative attention in response to their behavior.

Overall, if you like how Hyundai has tuned the Palisade’s suspension, chances are you’ll like driving it.

Hyundai equips the Palisade with three rows of seats usable by adults. Our test vehicle featured a seven-passenger arrangement with second-row captain’s chairs, but eight-passenger seating is standard with the base SE trim and available on the Palisade SEL Premium.

Our Palisade Calligraphy test vehicle came with Nappa premium leather, eight-way power-adjustable front seats, and a massaging driver’s seat with a thigh cushion extension. Both front seats included heating and ventilation, and the steering wheel was also heated. During our time behind the wheel, the Palisade proved comfortable at all times.

The second-row captain’s chairs were nearly as satisfying as those in front. Equipped with heating and ventilation, they were ready for any kind of weather, and the side window shades covered the entire glass, helpful for keeping the sun out of a young child’s eyes. The seats provide good thigh support and legroom, and the triple-zone climate control and overhead air vents add to the comfort levels.

The Calligraphy’s third-row seat was also heated, a real rarity. In addition, if the people sitting in the second row slide forward a bit, adults can accept this seating assignment with little complaining, though headroom is a little snug. Third-row passengers also enjoy USB-C charging ports, drink holders, and air vents.

Storage space is both generous and thoughtful. For example, the center console has adjustable front cupholders that you can resize or collapse for extra storage space, and this area includes a cover to hide items or unsightliness. Each door panel armrest has a long, narrow tray perfect for holding a smartphone, and for second-row passengers, devices also tuck neatly into the dedicated sleeves on the front seatbacks.

Hyundai equips most versions of the Palisade with a Smart Liftgate. It’s a hands-free power liftgate that automatically opens when it detects the presence of the key fob for several seconds. The positive to this is you don’t need to balance on one foot while waving the other one under the bumper, which could be dangerous in icy conditions. The negative is that the liftgate might open when you’d prefer it not to.

Cargo space behind the third-row seat measures 18 cubic feet, including a huge compartment under the load floor perfect for storing sports equipment, beach blankets, and the like. Fold the third row down, and the Palisade will hold 48.8 cubic feet of cargo. Maximum cargo capacity behind the front seats amounts to 86.4 cubic feet.

The technology in the Palisade is starting to look dated, but only if you’re familiar with the widescreen approach the company takes in its most recently introduced and redesigned models. Those cars, trucks, and SUVs have a single rectangular display housing the digital instrumentation and the infotainment system. In the Palisade, they’re separate, and the gauge screen is recessed instead of flush with the infotainment screen.

With that said, the tech is fully functional and has all of the features you expect to find in a modern family-size SUV—and then some.

Our test vehicle had a 12.3-inch digital driver display and a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system. We had to plug a cable into a USB port to operate the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity, so if you want wireless versions of those platforms, look elsewhere. But that’s the only significant complaint about an otherwise impressive system.

Other features included two-device Bluetooth support, wireless smartphone charging, SiriusXM satellite radio, and Bluelink+ connected services. The Palisade Calligraphy also has a navigation system, a voice recognition system, and access to a Wi-Fi hotspot.

During testing, the voice recognition system passed the evaluation with flying colors, even though it could not help find reggae music on SiriusXM. For example, a request for directions to a hospital resulted in only hospitals and not other types of medical facilities, plotted on the navigation map to help us make the best selection. It is an impressive system.

Likewise, the 12-speaker Harman Kardon audio system produced commendable sound, and the Palisade has a Rear Seat Quiet Mode that turns off the rear speakers so passengers can sleep. Hyundai Pay, an integrated payment system, is standard, and the Palisade is available with a digital rearview mirror that uses a camera to provide a clear, 180-degree view to the rear of the SUV.

Our test vehicle also had a head-up display. In addition to numerous types of data, it showed blind spot warnings, and those are also available to the driver on the digital gauge panel. The Palisade’s surround-view camera system also came in handy for parking in cramped situations.

The parade of tech does not stop at the infotainment system. Hyundai also equips the 2025 Palisade with a typical list of standard safety features and makes available several unusual technologies uncommon for the midsize SUV segment.

Packaged under the Hyundai SmartSense umbrella, the standard driver-assistance features and collision avoidance technologies include forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, intersection turning assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and Highway Driving Assist (HDA). The HDA system pairs adaptive cruise control with a lane-centering assist system to create a hands-on highway driving aid.

Upgrade to the Palisade SEL, and the SUV adds an ultrasonic rear occupant alert system that can issue a warning to the owner via a smartphone app. The Palisade XRT includes front parking sensors to go with the standard rear parking sensors, and it adds a surround-view camera. The Palisade SEL Premium provides a camera-based blind-spot warning system called Blind Spot View Monitor, an evasive steering assist system, and several lane-change assist functions.

The Palisade Limited doesn’t improve on the SEL Premium, but the Calligraphy model features automatic braking when parking and Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA). Using RSPA, you can stand outside of the Palisade, and it will drive itself forward and back into or out of a parking space or garage stall.

We did not like using the Palisade’s lane-keeping assist system in typical driving situations. However, the HDA system worked exceptionally well in a variety of conditions. As traffic thickened closer to urban areas, it was less helpful because it leaves a big gap ahead and can cause frustration in other motorists.

Regarding crash-test ratings, through 2024, the Palisade earned a Top Safety Pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). However, a Poor safety rating in a new version of the moderate overlap frontal-impact test prevented the SUV from receiving that accolade in 2025.

In evaluations performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Palisade earns five-star frontal impact and four-star rollover resistance ratings. The NHTSA hasn’t assessed the 2025 model’s side-impact collision performance.

Especially with the upscale Calligraphy trim level, the 2025 Palisade looks and feels like it should cost more money. That spells value alone, but when you factor in the ownership benefits associated with buying a new 2025 model-year Hyundai, the Palisade is undeniably cost-effective.

Starting with the warranty, you get ten years or 100,000 miles of powertrain coverage. Add a five-year/60,000-mile standard warranty and five years/unlimited miles of roadside assistance, and you have a good reason to choose the Palisade right there. But wait, there’s more!

Scheduled maintenance is complimentary for three years or 36,000 miles, a perk that Hyundai is discontinuing in 2026, so get it while you can. Also, the Bluelink+ connected services plan is free for life to original owners of new Hyundai models. That includes remote engine starting, a car finder function, a panic notification, automatic emergency assistance, safe teen driver settings, and more.

Now, is the Palisade the most fuel-efficient choice in its class? No. But that V6 engine sounds sweet, pulls strongly, and still returned decent fuel economy on our testing loop. So, we’re still impressed by the overall value here.

Better yet, the 2025 Palisade would be worthy of your consideration even without all of these ownership benefits. It gets so many things exactly right that the few flaws are easily overlooked. Skip it at your peril.