The Kia Telluride has been on the market for four years. And the Kia Telluride has won our Best Buy Award in the 3-Row Midsize SUV category four times.
We Test Them All
There are a lot of new car awards. But there’s nothing quite like our annual Best Buy Awards.
Many publications pin a ribbon on the new car that impresses them the most. But they tend to evaluate cars as pieces of engineering and give awards to cars with impressive performance numbers.
We award cars that are good decisions for the buyer.
Our editors drive more than 300 new cars every year. They look for cars that are pleasant to drive, comfortable, offer intuitive entertainment and information systems, and have a long list of modern safety technologies. They study reliability data. And they run the numbers on buying and owning each car, factoring in depreciation, resale value, insurance, maintenance, financing, fuel, fees, and taxes.
It takes all year. But, in the end, our editors find the vehicle that best balances driving pleasure, capability, and long-term affordability.
They keep arriving at the same conclusion – among 3-row SUVs, nothing out-balances the Telluride.
Refreshed Telluride Maintains Its Dominance
A design refresh for 2023 has kept it current, updating the look inside and out and adding a pair of light-off-roading trims.
The Telly offers a near-luxury interior at an affordable price. Cool, modern touches like a dual-screen setup mounted to look like one ultra-wide screen make it feel like something more expensive. Kia offers seating for eight, with two rows of bench seating in the rear, or seven, with a pair of second-row captain’s chairs better suited to adults and a bench in the back. Terraced stadium seating lends a spacious feel.
Its 291-horsepower V6 is adequate for any driving task, even towing up to 5,500 pounds properly equipped. And it performs well in both government and insurance industry crash tests.
But the Telluride’s best trick is the numbers. A $35,690 starting price is mid-pack among 3-row SUVs. But it includes a long feature list. When you add options to bring the competition up to a comparable equipment level, the Kia becomes more and more of a bargain.
Add in the longest warranty in the business, and it’s clear why the Telluride is the best buy in its class – four times in a row.
