FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander Seven Seater
A big practical and luxury family hauler
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The 2023 Hyundai Palisade is available as an eight-seater with bench seats in both the second and third rows or as a seven-seater with captains chairs in the second row and a bench seat in the third row. This week we have the seven-seat top-spec Highlander diesel model in our garage so let's dive in and see how it stacks up as a BabyDrive…
BabyDrive Verdict
The 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander is a very spacious, large SUV. It looks great on the outside and the inside has some luxuries like a camel coloured suede ceiling in the Highlander model I tested.
New to the Palisade is the BlueLink system in the media system, this allows you to control and monitor a lot of things about the car remotely on your phone through a phone app. One really handy feature is being able to send your sat-nav directions to your car from your phone (rather than try concentrating to program it when the kids are causing mayhem in the back) and it will then continue the navigation from wherever you park the car to your destination on foot, through your phone!
There are aircon vents in all three rows of seats in the Palisade, in the rear two rows they are round vents in the ceiling which is excellent for little passengers in the back, so you can keep them at a comfortable temperature while you are driving along. Parents can control the rear climate from the front which is very handy.
Seating and legroom is something the 2023 Hyundai Palisade really excels in. The third-row bench seat will seat three passengers comfortably with very good legroom, headroom and kick room for taller passengers and your lanky teenagers will fit back there comfortably.
There are top tether anchorages in the central and far side third-row seats and ISOFix in the far side seat too. I found I could only fit one Infasecure child seat, I installed the Infasecure Aspire More, in the third row as there is not enough room to put two child seats next to each other using the top tether anchorages. You can put an Infasecure Versatile Folding Booster Seat in the other outer seat as it does not require a top tether anchor strap.
In the second-row captains chairs of this seven-seat Palisade there are ISOFix and top tether anchorages in both seats.
We found legroom to be fantastic in the Hyundai Palisade Highlander and we could fit a 182cm passenger in the third row with a forward-facing child seat in the second row and a 184cm+ driver in front. Or with a rear-facing child seat on the passenger side, a 180cm passenger in the third row and a 182cm passenger can sit in the front.
The captains chairs create a lovely walk through to the third-row or the can slide forward individually, giving a small gap to get through. The rear doors open really nice and wide which helps a lot when installing child seats and getting in and out of the back of the Palisade. The 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander has a double sunroof so the rear passengers get a great view of the sky as you are driving along, my kids loved this at night time!
Storage is well thought out throughout the Hyundai Palisade. There are a few that stand out like the central console bridge that is large enough for an iPad or great for storing your handbag.
The second-row doors have a small bottle holder and two cup holders in them that are great for kids to easily reach their drinks while driving along, so you are not having to pass things back and forth.
There are map pockets on the back of both front seats which will hold and conceal an iPad and each has a phone net. There are USB sockets on the side of both front seats here for rear passengers as well as USB sockets in the third-row too and cup holders.
There are phone nets on the side of both the captains chairs in the second row too.
In the front, the central console is well-appointed with two cup holders and a wireless phone charging pad and a large central console box.
Both the glove box and door bins offer a large amount of storage and have room for iPads and wallets.
The rear doors have built-in window blinds in the Palisade Highlander model, which are fantastic for keeping the rear of the car cool and protecting little rear passengers from the sun, without worrying about any aftermarket products falling off while driving along. Also to protect your rear passengers there are curtain head airbags that extend to all three rows of seats which gives us parents some peace of mind.
Boot space in the 2023 Hyundai Palisade is very good when using only the second row of seats. It will hold 22 shopping bags, which is the same as the new Nissan Pathfinder, three more than the Toyota Kluger, and five more than the Mazda CX-9 but still four bags less than the Kia Carnival which holds 26 shopping bags.
There is a carpet you can put down in the back of the Palisade Highlander when you are only using the first two rows of seats, so you can transport a very large family dog or a few smaller fur babies very comfortably in the back.
When using all three rows of seats, the new 2023 Hyundai Palisade will hold eight shopping bags, which is the same as the new Nissan Pathfinder and the Toyota Kluger that both hold eight shopping bags too. The Mazda CX-9 will hold six shopping bags and the Kia Carnival will hold ten shopping bags.
A double, twin, tandem or single pram will each fit in the Palisade's boot when using all three rows of seats with a few bags of shopping, which is so practical for large families. For more detailed boot storage information see the expandable section ‘storage' below.
The media system in the new 2023 Hyundai Palisade has lovely big touch screen, it is modern, clear and simple to navigate and use. There is built-in sat-nav which is simple to use and works with the Bluelink app.
One of the features I particularly like using with my kids is Passenger Talk, this amplifies your voice when driving from the front through to the third row so you don't have to shout. My big girl likes us to play with that while driving.
There is also Quiet Mode which brings the speaker volume to the front, which is great when your little ones fall asleep in the back.
The Palisade has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which is great for little passengers listening to some of the apps like ABC Kids Listen etc while driving as well as easily accessing your messaging, calendar and navigation apps.
The camera images are really crisp and clear and you can view the car in 3D or 2D…
…and from all different angles.
The Hyundai Palisade has indicator camera images that come up in the driver's screen which allow you great visibility down the side of the car and confidence when turning or changing lanes.
You can turn the parking sensors off with a button in the central console. And there is an easily visible seatbelt removal visual beside the media screen.
Overall the seven-seat 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander is a very spacious family SUV. It is definitely a contender to the new 2023 Nissan Pathfinder, Kia Carnival and Mazda CX-9.
The Hyundai Palisade Highlander is an enjoyable car to drive, it feels luxurious and is cocooned from external road noise. Its turning circle is practical but does not compete with that of the Kia Carnival. so it is a little more cumbersome in school and supermarket car parks. The Palisade Highlander, in particular, is packed FULL of family-friendly features and either the seven or eight-seat version has a very large and practical boot space for families when using all three rows and has great legroom throughout.
The new 2023 Hyundai Palisade has been given a five-star ANCAP safety rating which is better than the old version's four stars and comes with seven airbags; dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags are standard. A centre airbag to prevent occupant-to-occupant interaction is standard.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How big is the boot of the 2023 Hyundai Palisade?
When using only the first two rows of seats, I could fit 22 shopping bags in the boot of the new 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander, which is the same as the new Nissan Pathfinder, three more than the Toyota Kluger, five more than the Mazda CX-9 but still four bags less than the Kia Carnival that holds 26 shopping bags.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Bub’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
The twin side-by-side stroller fits in the boot of the Palisade with thirteen shopping bags beside it.
The tandem stroller fits in the boot of the Hyundai Palisade, with fourteen shopping bags beside it.
The single stroller fits in the boot of the Palisade with fourteen shopping bags beside it.
The compact stroller fits in the boot of the Hyundai Palisade with eighteen shopping bags around it.
Or an extra-large dog fits in the boot easily and the 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander comes with a carpet for the boot floor which makes it nice and flat for dogs, boot suppers and for emergency nappy changes!
When you are using all seven seats in the Hyundai Palisade the boot is still a really practical size for a family and will hold eight shopping bags. This is the same as the new 2023 Nissan Pathfinder and the Toyota Kluger that both hold eight shopping bags too. The Mazda CX-9 will hold six shopping bags and Kia Carnival will hold ten.
A twin side-by-side stroller will fit in the boot of the Hyundai Palisade when using all seven seats, which is really good as if you need an eight-seater car you may well need a pram that carries two kiddies and you can fit a few shopping bags beside it too.
The tandem pram fits in the boot with two shopping bags beside it as well.
The single pram fits in the boot with two shopping bags.
The compact stroller fits in the boot of the Hyundai Palisade when using all three rows of seats with six shopping bags around it.
There is a bag hook in the boot of the Palisade, the boot floor is nice and flat which is good for emergency nappy changes and a small dog will fit when using all three rows of seats.
The retractable roller blind is stored underneath the boot floor in a large plastic storage space. We found this good for storing wet or fragile items to separate them from the rest of the boot as it can be easily wiped clean.
 How good is storage in the 2023 Hyundai Palisade?
Storage in the cabin of the 2023 Hyundai Palisade is really good throughout. In the third row, there are double cupholders on both sides that are good sizes for a reusable coffee cup and water bottle. As well as USB sockets on either side too so passengers can charge devices.
The rear doors have FANTASTIC double cup holders which we found great with our family as the kids can reach their own water bottles or cups while you are driving along. There are also long storage wells in the door handles and small door bins that will hold a 600ml bottle.
The map pockets on the back of both front seats will hold and conceal a book or an iPad and there are nets on the front of them for a phone. There are USB-C sockets on the side of the seat backs for rear second-row passengers to charge their devices while travelling and a 12V socket in the back of the central console.
There are phone storage nets on the side of each of the captains chairs.
I tested the seven-seat Highlander model so there is no central seat with a fold-down armrest containing cup holders that you find in the eight-seater Palisades.
The front of the Hyundai Palisade has some more great in-cabin storage solutions. One of my favourites, that we are seeing in more new SUVs now is the bridge central console handbag storage area! Finally! There is also a USB and 12V socket down there too, great for iPad charging while driving.
In the central console, there are two cup holders that rotate out from the side of the storage area, so you can retract them if you are not using them and beside them is a wireless phone charging pad and USB socket. The central console box is a generous size, with USB and 12V sockets inside and a tray in the top for your glasses as there is not a glasses case in the ceiling.
The glove box is a practical size in the 2023 Hyundai Palisade and will hold an iPad and wallet with the manual.
The door bins in the front are big enough for a large refillable water bottle, wallet and iPad and there are storage wells in the door handles too.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander? How good is the media system in the 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander?
The 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander I tested has a diesel engine but was surprisingly quiet inside while driving because you are well cushioned from the road and engine noise like you are in a luxury car such as the Audi Q7 or BMW X7.
The media system in the new 2023 Hyundai Palisade has a lovely big touch screen, it is modern, clear and simple to navigate and use. There is built-in sat-nav which is simple to use and Voice Memo which I love for recording funny conversations I have with my kids while driving. There is an easily visible seatbelt removal visual beside the media screen and you can turn the parking sensors off with a button in the central console.
This new 2023 Hyundai Palisade has BlueLink, which allows you to control a lot of functions in the car remotely from your phone using the phone app as well as sending navigation directions from your phone to the car before a journey, which will continue after your park and guide you on foot to the destination using your phone.
Another of the features I particularly like using with my kids is Passenger Talk, this amplifies your voice when driving from the front through to the third-row so you don't have to shout.
There is also Quiet Mode which brings the speaker volume to the front, which is great when your little ones fall asleep in the back.
The Palisade has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which is great for little passengers listening to some of the apps like ABC Kids Listen etc while driving.
The camera images are really crisp and clear and you can view the car in 3D or 2D…
…and from all different angles.
The 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander also has indicator camera images that come up on the driver's screen which allow you great visibility down the side of the car and confidence when turning or changing lanes.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
Instead of a traditional gear lever, the Hyundai Palisade has press-button gears that are easily accessed on the central console.
The Highlander model Palisade that my family tested also has heated and cooled seats in the front and a heated steering wheel. There are also controls in the back of the central console box for heating and cooling the second-row captain's chairs.
The indicators are not too loud in the Hyundai Palisade and the doors and windows can be locked from the driver's door control panel. In the Highlander model, there is a child lock button that locks them both at the same time. I found the doors were not too loud to open and close.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander?
In the seven-seater model 2023 Hyundai Palisade Highlander I have tested with the two captain's chairs in the second row. There are top tether anchorages in the back of both seats that are clearly labelled and within plastic guides and ISOFix in both seat bases that are easily connected to.
Two Infasecure child seats fit really nicely in the second-row captain's chairs I have Installed here the Infasecure Attain More and Infasecure Achieve More. With one turned as a forward-facing seat, it gives great walkway access through to the third row. In the eight-seater Hyundai Palisade, the second row is a bench seat with three top tether anchorages and ISOFix in the two outer seats.
In the third-row seats, there is one set of ISOFix points, which are within plastic guides and easy to connect to in the far side seat.
Two clearly labelled top tether anchorages within plastic guides are located on the third-row seatbacks and easily accessible through the boot.
I found one Infasecure  Aspire More child seat fits really well in the third row, with the flexibility of positioning it either in the centre or to the side. With a child seat in the central position, we found a passenger could sit on either side comfortably. You can put an Infasecure Versatile Folding Booster seat in the third seat as this does not require a top tether strap. Legroom is excellent throughout the Palisade. In the third-row, there is plenty of kick room and headroom for your lanky teenagers.
We found that with a passenger in the third row and a rear-facing child seat in the second-row captain chair, then a 184cm+ passenger can sit in front of it in the front passenger seat. With a forward-facing child seat in the second row a 184cm+ driver can sit in the driver's seat.
With the seven-seater Hyundai Palisade there are two methods of accessing the third-row seats. The captain's chairs give an excellent walkway through to the third-row, or you if you are using the ISOFix in the second-row seat you can slide the captain's chair forward, giving you enough space to walk through to the third row.
Posting Bub into their child seats in the second-row from inside and outside the car is really easy. The rear doors open really wide, the ceiling is high and there is plenty of interior space.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
I found there is room to feed bub in the first, second or third row. The Palisade is very spacious.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the 2023 Hyundai Palisade? And How good is the 2023 Hyundai Palisade to drive?
The front seats of the 2023 Hyundai Palisade are very comfortable.
In quilted, perforated leather they are heated and cooled and controls are in the central console.
For a mum travelling in the back with Bub, the second-row captain's chairs are very comfortable and heated and cooled too. Third-row seats are also very comfortable even for a tall adult. We found it a squeeze to get two people beside a child seat when it is in the side position, however when it is in the central position then a passenger could easily sit on either side.
For the first year of my first daughters life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with her so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down. The cruise controls are on the right on the steering wheel and are easy to use. I found the cruise control to be very accurate on both motorways and at lower speeds on undulating roads which is reassuring.
There are eight air-conditioning vents in the Hyundai Palisade. Four across the front dashboard; two below the media screen and one at either end of the dash…
… and round air-conditioning vents in the ceiling of both the second and third rows.
There are air-con controls in the back of the central console box for the rear vents.
This can be over-ridden by the climate controls in the front dash if there are fiddly fingers in the back.
There are handles above both rear doors which are well-positioned to hold a baby toy for rear-facing passengers…
…and window blinds built into the rear doors of the Highlander model.
There are lights in the ceiling of the second-row of the Palisade behind the sunroof, they are reachable from the front seats.
I have found our kids do not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.
Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
Visibility in the 2023 Hyundai Palisade is really good, with captains chairs and only one child seat in the third row, visibility is actually very good for such a large SUV. Visibility is helped by the indicator cameras in the Highlander model.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and my daughter has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Palisade was simple to park as the visibility with the cameras is very good!
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
How safe is the 2023 Hyundai Palisade?
The 2023 Hyundai Palisade has been given a five-star ANCAP safety rating (the previous model had four stars). It comes with seven airbags as standard including;
Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags and a centre airbag to prevent occupant-to-occupant interaction.
The Hyundai Palisade has a seatbelt removal warning for both rear rows of seats, that is clearly visible next to the media screen.
As standard, all models of the 2023 Hyundai Palisade come with  adaptive cruise control (ACC), anti-lock braking system (ABS), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – Car-to-Car, VRU, backover and junction Assist, automatic emergency call (eCall),  blind spot monitor (BSM), child presence alert, electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), event data recorder (EDR), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue reminder, fatigue monitor/detection, forward collision warning (FCW), lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), pre-crash systems, rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA),  reversing collision avoidance (camera), roll stability system, secondary / multi-collision brake, speed assistance – auto / intelligent speed limiter, speed assistance – manual speed limiter, speed assistance – speed sign recognition & warning
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when my daughters are asleep!
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What trim of palisade is this?