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 favour 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 Preferred trim level offers a clean, modern, and uplevel look and feel. The most expensive versions of the Palisade have premium leather, 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 Canada, Hyundai sells the 2025 Palisade in four trim levels: Preferred, Urban, Ultimate Calligraphy, and Ultimate Calligraphy Night Edition. Prices range from $53,284 to $63,584, including the $2,050 destination charge and other fees. Our test vehicle came in the U.S. equivalent of Canada’s Ultimate Calligraphy trim with Robust Emerald paint, bringing the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) to $62,460, including destination.

Every 2025 Hyundai Palisade offers a 3.8-litre V6 engine making 291 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. An eight-speed automatic transfers power to all-wheel drive (AWD), which is standard in Canada. Hyundai says the maximum towing capacity is 2,268 kilograms (5,000 pounds), and, according to Natural Resources Canada, the Palisade averages 11.1 litres per 100 kilometres in combined driving.

Considering the Palisade’s age, it’s held up remarkably well regarding how it drives. Aside from shuddering over speed bumps, which 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 50 km/h as though they didn’t exist. You can’t expect that behaviour 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 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 favour of grumbly turbocharged four-cylinder engines to eke out better fuel economy, this one is a delight. However, it’s not very fuel-efficient. We recorded 13.9 L/100 km during the city driving portion of our loop, and 11.9 L/100 km by the end of the evaluation. That’s 0.8 L/100 km more than the NRCan 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 we 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 behaviour. 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 Preferred trim and available on the Urban trim.

Our Palisade Ultimate 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 ventilation on the Ultimate Calligraphy trims. Of note, all Canadian Palisade models come with heated outboard seats in the first two rows as well as a heated steering wheel, but the heated third-row seats shown in our test unit are not offered in Canada. 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 in this top trim, they were ready for any kind of weather, and the standard side window shades cover 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.

If the people sitting in the second row slide forward a bit, adults can accept a third-row 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 centre 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. 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 509 litres, 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 1,297 litres of cargo. Maximum cargo capacity behind the front seats amounts to 2,447 litres.

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, a navigation system, voice recognition, and Bluelink+ connected services.

During testing, the voice recognition system passed the evaluation with flying colours, 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. The Palisade is available with a digital rearview mirror that uses a camera to provide a clear, 180-degree view behind 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.

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-centring assist system to create a hands-on highway driving aid.

An ultrasonic rear occupant alert system is also standard, which can issue a warning to the owner via a smartphone app. The Palisade Urban includes front parking sensors to go with the standard rear parking sensors, and it adds a surround-view camera. This trim is also the starting point for the camera-based blind-spot warning system called Blind Spot View Monitor.

An evasive steering assist system and several lane-change assist functions are incorporated into the Ultimate Calligraphy trim, along with automatic braking when parking and Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA). Using RSPA, you can stand outside 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 Ultimate Calligraphy trim level, the 2025 Palisade looks and feels like it should cost more money. That spells value alone. Add a five-year/100,000-kilometre standard and powertrain warranty with roadside assistance, and you have a good reason to choose the Palisade right there. Also, the Bluelink connected services plan is included for three years for Canadian owners. That includes remote engine starting, a car finder function, a panic notification, automatic emergency assistance, 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.

The 2025 Palisade gets so many things exactly right that the few flaws are easily overlooked. Skip it at your peril.

Note: Images show a US model.