The Chevrolet Traverse is one of the most popular SUVs on the market, but with the new Hyundai Palisade, the Traverse may have some competition. Here’s what to expect from the impressive Traverse and Palisade, and why you may want to bank your money on the newest 2020 Hyundai Palisade instead.

The Chevrolet Traverse: what’s good and what’s not

The 2020 Chevy Traverse has an attractive starting price of just over $30,000, and it’s a stylish SUV that carries much of the styling seen in other new SUVs. Great looking inside and out, it also comes with comfortable seating and easy driving dynamics. The Traverse comes standard with a 3.6-liter V6 engine that makes up to 310 hp and accelerates quickly on the road. 

The interior comes with an intuitive infotainment system and a 7-inch touchscreen. But for many of the available features, you’ll have to pay extra in the Traverse in comparison to what you’ll find standard in other SUVs. Standard safety features include a rearview camera and a rear-seat reminder.

According to U.S. News, the Traverse is ranked fifth among new midsize SUVs and fifth among SUVs with three rows. It received an overall score of 8.1, with decent scores of 8.8 in Safety and 8.9 in Interior.

The Hyundai Palisade: what’s good and what’s not

The 2020 Hyundai Palisade has a starting price of just over $32,000, but the Palisade comes loaded to the brim with standard features, a powerful V6 engine, and impressive manners on the road. Though it doesn’t have the same striking appearance as other SUVs, the Palisade is a bargain. 

As a three-row SUV, the Palisade can seat seven or eight passengers. With plenty of space for passengers and cargo, the Palisade offers superior comfort and easy access to both second and third rows. Legroom in the third row is spacious and comfortable without sacrificing any room for cargo. It comes standard with a 3.8-liter V6 engine that’s paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. According to Kelley Blue Book, the 2020 Hyundai Palisade “delivers plenty of power” and feels “confident and comfortable on the road.”

The Palisade also comes standard with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a long list of standard safety features like forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, a rear-seat reminder, forward automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, driver attention monitoring, a rearview camera, and more.

According to U.S. News, the Palisade is ranked third among new midsize SUVs and second among SUVs with three rows. It received an overall score of 8.4, with impressive scores of 9.2 in Critics’ Rating and 10.0 in Safety.

Does the Hyundai Palisade come out on top?

The Chevy Traverse and Hyundai Palisade come standard with powerful V6 engines and easy-access third rows, but the Traverse doesn’t offer the same standard features for the same price. While both the Palisade and Traverse have right around the same starting price, the Traverse simply doesn’t come with the same standard safety features as the Palisade.

As Kelley Blue Book points out about the Traverse, “Unfortunately, you have to spend nearly $40,000 to get the safety and driving assistance features that are available in the Hyundai Palisade.” Though the 2020 Chevy Traverse is a good-looking, capable SUV, you’ll need to spend some serious cash to match the offerings of the 2020 Hyundai Palisade.

Even Consumer Reports ranks the 2020 Hyundai Palisade over the Chevrolet Traverse, giving the Palisade an impressively high overall score of 87 and its seal of recommendation. Naming the Palisade “an extremely functional family vehicle,” Consumer Reports ranks it the second-best midsized SUV for the 2020 model year (second only to the Kia Telluride). The 2020 Chevy Traverse only receives an overall score of 65.