Anonymous wrote:i have spoken with 5 or 6 Kia Telluride owners. All give the Telluride high praise.

DP here. It’s not that I wouldn’t buy one or drive one. It’s that I refuse to pay what they are charging. It’s not that much nicer than all the competitors.

i have spoken with 5 or 6 Kia Telluride owners. All give the Telluride high praise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who thinks a Kia is even middle class? I am sorry but all I think of is the old Sportage or Sonata that used to catch fire and flip over. It was the go-to car for welfare or broke college people. Reputation is hard to overcome. Just because it cost a lot does not mean you should buy it. Btw, I am speaking with no experience of ever driving in or driving one, so just my opinion.

I have to say that I really appreciate the uninformed snob who will admit that they have zero experience with something but feel that their opinion is of value enough to share. I mean, Ford made cars that exploded in the 1970s, but I'm sure nothing has changed in the interceding years. Then again, this is DCUM, too, so "middle class" usually means someone with an HHI under $350K.

I don't have a Kia, but they seem to be as common as Subarus in my suburban neighborhood, so someone's buying them, and I'm pretty sure that people on welfare and broke college students would not be able to even rent in our particular location. Folks down the street have a Tesla, a Telluride, and a classic Porsche, but maybe they've taken in some poor relation temporarily. The Telluride and the Sorrento hybrids seem to be getting a lot of love from car magazines, too. I definitely wouldn't pay Volvo or Audi money for one, but they're far better than their market entry point was back in the day.

OP here. Yes the telluride seems like a nice car if you get it at msrp or a fair price. But if you get an upper trim level and incorporate the mark up- which was 8k when we were looking for the past year- you are already entering the luxury suv territory. We ended up getting a good deal on a Volvo xc90 for barely more than the telluride would cost, and that seemed ridiculous to me.

FWIW Volvo XC90 gets low ratings (56 out of a possible 99) from Consumer Reports while the Kia Tellurise received CR's highest rating (97 out of a possible 99). However, the Volvo CX90 fools people with its super comfortable front row seats. Expect serious brake issues with the Volvo CX90. Other issues are engine, fuel system, electrical, and noises/leaks. The Volvo XC60 is better than the XC90.

Kia has come a long way and the Telluride is a reasonably attractive and apparently nice vehicle but, c'mon man. $15K mark-up is for vehicles that aren't fungible.

NP. I really want to like the Kia Telluride but for some reason the box-like angles remind me of that old ugly Nissan cube... and now I can't unsee a cube when I see the Telluride. Which makes me lean towards the Palisade, but the new front grill on the Palisade looks overdone - seems to be polarizing like the Lexus RX 350 front grills.

But I admit there's a chance I am overthinking it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who thinks a Kia is even middle class? I am sorry but all I think of is the old Sportage or Sonata that used to catch fire and flip over. It was the go-to car for welfare or broke college people. Reputation is hard to overcome. Just because it cost a lot does not mean you should buy it. Btw, I am speaking with no experience of ever driving in or driving one, so just my opinion.

I have to say that I really appreciate the uninformed snob who will admit that they have zero experience with something but feel that their opinion is of value enough to share. I mean, Ford made cars that exploded in the 1970s, but I'm sure nothing has changed in the interceding years. Then again, this is DCUM, too, so "middle class" usually means someone with an HHI under $350K.

I don't have a Kia, but they seem to be as common as Subarus in my suburban neighborhood, so someone's buying them, and I'm pretty sure that people on welfare and broke college students would not be able to even rent in our particular location. Folks down the street have a Tesla, a Telluride, and a classic Porsche, but maybe they've taken in some poor relation temporarily. The Telluride and the Sorrento hybrids seem to be getting a lot of love from car magazines, too. I definitely wouldn't pay Volvo or Audi money for one, but they're far better than their market entry point was back in the day.

OP here. Yes the telluride seems like a nice car if you get it at msrp or a fair price. But if you get an upper trim level and incorporate the mark up- which was 8k when we were looking for the past year- you are already entering the luxury suv territory. We ended up getting a good deal on a Volvo xc90 for barely more than the telluride would cost, and that seemed ridiculous to me.

Anonymous wrote:Who thinks a Kia is even middle class? I am sorry but all I think of is the old Sportage or Sonata that used to catch fire and flip over. It was the go-to car for welfare or broke college people. Reputation is hard to overcome. Just because it cost a lot does not mean you should buy it. Btw, I am speaking with no experience of ever driving in or driving one, so just my opinion.

I have to say that I really appreciate the uninformed snob who will admit that they have zero experience with something but feel that their opinion is of value enough to share. I mean, Ford made cars that exploded in the 1970s, but I'm sure nothing has changed in the interceding years. Then again, this is DCUM, too, so "middle class" usually means someone with an HHI under $350K.

I don't have a Kia, but they seem to be as common as Subarus in my suburban neighborhood, so someone's buying them, and I'm pretty sure that people on welfare and broke college students would not be able to even rent in our particular location. Folks down the street have a Tesla, a Telluride, and a classic Porsche, but maybe they've taken in some poor relation temporarily. The Telluride and the Sorrento hybrids seem to be getting a lot of love from car magazines, too. I definitely wouldn't pay Volvo or Audi money for one, but they're far better than their market entry point was back in the day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dh is dead set on getting a telluride. The dealer wants a 15%+ markup on it. I think its egregiously overpriced and with the premium, in the realm of a luxury SUV. Am I miss something here? Is it on par with the Volvos and Audis? Tell me I’m missing something here.

No. It's a luxury SUV for lower class.

In other news, Kurt Cobain has died!

Anonymous wrote:don't buy into the hype and overpaying for cars. The National Assoc of Auto Dealers created this by saying there is a car shortage and the media ran with it.

Do this, go talk to the dealer, walk away and your phone will be ringing with the salesman sayin he talked to his manager and we can sell the car at.........

Not in today's market.

I found the seats (first and second row) to be really spartan and uncomfortable. Ended up with an MDX.

We have two and love them. One was a used Sorrento we bought for DD. Then when a new Telluride came on the lot we had a request in for with the dealer and snapped it up. We've now had them 3/4 years and had a flawless performance. highly recommend. And I'm stopped by strangers in parking lots all the time asking what we think about the cars.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stupid telluride.
I was intrigued by them when they first came out and almost bought one but the only one we could find was a terrible green color.
I bought an Audi Q7 instead and after 3 tears my wife still wants a telluride. No idea what the deal is with these cars and lots of women who seem to love them.
Now I am going to have basically of 2 of the same car. Stupid telluride - it’s like crack for some people or something.

Trade in your wife if she thinks a Telluride is preferable to a Q7.

Nah. Trade in your wife if she is a gold-digging status-seeker who wants to pay an extra $20k for a logo.

LOL. If you look at reliability ratings and the like, you will realize that your view of KIA quality and fit is immensely outdated. JD Power ranked KIA #1 for vehicle reliability in 2022.

But to the original question: The Telluride is worth the hype, but I'm not sure I'd pay what dealers in this area are asking (7-10k over MSRP). MSRP is worthless anyway. For years, most cars were selling below MSRP now some cars are consistently going above MSRP.

The question you should be asking yourself: is this a $60k car in my eyes/experience? It's getting great reviews, has a great warranty and comes from JD Power's most reliable car brand.

Full disclosure: I paid MSRP for my top of the line (SX-Prestige-Nightfall) 22 Telluride. It took 7 months from order to delivery (I wasn't in a rush). I love it. Is it perfect? No (I think it is a little underpowered for my taste), but it's a damn good 3 row SUV, far better than competitors like Highlander and Pilot, and much closer to (if not better than) the more expensive MDX, Q7 and XC-90

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dh is dead set on getting a telluride. The dealer wants a 15%+ markup on it. I think its egregiously overpriced and with the premium, in the realm of a luxury SUV. Am I miss something here? Is it on par with the Volvos and Audis? Tell me I’m missing something here.

Think really hard about buying a Kia!!! Look at my thread below about my mom's Kia Soul- it's not a Telluride but the experience with Kia and how they do not stand behind their own bad craftmanship!

I don't see your link, but regarding the Kia Soul... we talked about buying a car for my 15yo and she mentioned the Soul a few times. I priced them and thought they were somewhat "cute" but a litle overpriced for a Kia (DH and I were considering a Honda or Toyota). Anyway, I pointed one out to my DD and asked if she liked the color; she was appalled and said she was not serious and that the Kia Soul is a joke... a meme among kids her age. Other than the cars makes that we have owned, she didn't know many others, but knew for sure that she would be the laughing stock if she actually drove up in a Kia.

I'm the pp of the Kia Soul thread-my 70 something yo mom didn't care about Soul memes LOL she bought it because it's easy for her and dad to get in and out of. But last week at 75k miles, the engine had a 'catastropic event' and Kia will not honor the recall on the engine because mom did not get a previous recall done-during covid. It should have never happened and Kia is handling it badly. No way would I spend any money on a Kia, seeing how this 5 year old one is facing many thousands of $ for engine replacement!

Anonymous wrote:Stupid telluride.
I was intrigued by them when they first came out and almost bought one but the only one we could find was a terrible green color.
I bought an Audi Q7 instead and after 3 tears my wife still wants a telluride. No idea what the deal is with these cars and lots of women who seem to love them.
Now I am going to have basically of 2 of the same car. Stupid telluride - it’s like crack for some people or something.

Trade in your wife if she thinks a Telluride is preferable to a Q7.