Working mostly from home, we decided to get another SUV for road trips and weekend excursions. I got out to test-drive a bunch of new performance SUV's back in May due to inflated trade values on my three year old sedan and the potential of working into a nice deal. I had wanted to order a Tesla Model X but they're not making more until Jan/Feb so that was out.

Test drove the Mercedes GLE53 AMG (loved it), Genesis GV70 3.5T Advanced(and G90 sedan), Audi Q7 3.0T and SQ7 with 4.0TT. Great but very wagon-like...not a bad thing but was a bit surprising. I also had driven a Telluride SX which I liked but didn't feel it had enough power (which led me to the GV70 cousin with more HP). We decided on the Telluride (figuring I'd order the Tesla next year and the SUV would be 100% for SUV tasks) but we came to find out that they've been selling at double the clip over expectations even pre-pandemic so hard to find and dealer gouging.

Lots of dealers around me asking $20K over even on used ones. $59K for a two year old Kia SUV with 25k miles, $69K on a new one. Even Carmax was in the 50K+ range for used ones nationwide (everything they say about used car shortages is true). We called off the search...no need to overpay and certainly no need to buy right now.

Fast forward about two weeks later, a dealer out in the Shendandoah called me (I had queried dealers 3+ hours away) and asked if I was still in the market. "Sure, what do you have?". Apparently a customer had ordered one but found another locally so it had just come in and I was first on the list for that trim level (SX-Prestige, Dune Brown interior and Gravity Gray paint with top-spec). They said they were charging MSRP, nothing over like the rest so we discussed details on my trade (they agreed to match Carmax values), so drove my happy ass down the next evening after conferring with the wife. I was on the fence, she said "go do it...it's exactly what you wanted which it was indeed).

So, I drove a 2018 Honda Accord 2.0T Touring for three years and 41k miles and got 81% of what I paid on it back then in trade (owed a LOT less).

Stopped by DinosaurLand, just west of Mt. Weather, VA (you can see "the mountain" as we call it here in the background) on the way home.



And two weeks later at a private MG shoot at Cavalier Sporting Clays in Montpelier, VA. The 115V A/C outlet came in handy for running a Butler Creek AR15 mag loader by the way.



We've put 2k miles on it in five weeks across four states. My concerns about a lack of power were unfounded. It carves up highway miles with ease and has plenty of power on the highway. Sure, it's no SRT TrackHawk or AMG but also spent half as much.

Not my pic but this is the interior. Black suede headliner, heated/cooled front and rear seats, rear captains chairs with pass-through (for long guns!) and under floor storage in the rear large enough for a pair of assault rifles :-)

https://i.imgur.com/pxVNh7G.jpeg

I should also add that we've become vehicle snobs of sorts, having owned several BMW's and Mercedes over the last decade. Maybe it's middle age, but, I just don't care that much anymore with "normal" non-luxury brands offering such terrific content-level. Everything I had on both Mercedes E550's, I got on my Accord (LED headlights, heated/cooled seats, radar cruise control, adaptive suspension, etc) and it was barely a second slower 0-60.

More $$ left for guns, right?

The gray exterior and brown leather look nice together.

I see the paint protection film (PPF) brochure. The Telluride's reputation is for soft (ie. scratches easy), thin (not much margin for paint correction) so putting on PPF or ceramic coating sooner rather than later is good.

Yep, same on the Tesla Model 3 we got in March 2019. It got completely done in AutoFlex with colorshift back then when it was a week old. It took some gnarly damage in April from an awning that flew off a windstorm at a local restaurant. $1900 in paintless dent repair later, the factory paint was unharmed so we peeled it and it's back up at the shop in PA getting new color laid down. We were supposed to swap out today to leave the SUV there for the clear but taking a bit longer than expected (been there two weeks). The Telluride will go up to swap vehicles on Thursday and they'll have it done by that Sunday.

It's two hours away so not ideal but back-roads up through Gettysburg and Hershey are a nice drive and not too much debris-wise now that all the construction in MD and PA along Rt 15 is mostly done.

We’ve got the 2021 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy; these are both (Telluride and Palisade) great vehicles for what they offer and the price. About 5K trouble-free miles so far.

Looks like a nice ride & smart acquisition..

So PGT, congratulations! And I have a question for you:
I've read online that one can load a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the Telluride with the seats folded.
I haven't been to a dealer (don't want to deal with the hassle until I'm ready to deal) so I'd like to know if that's true, AND if one can do it and close the tailgate?

Also: How easy is it to get into the third row? How comfy are the second row seats?

My wife loves her Odyssey, and we need one big vehicle to take the whole family in with the grandkids. But I hate dragging the middle seats out of the Odyssey to load plywood; and it's silly to buy a truck just for that.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.
Stan

@bcereuss - I was considering that as well but just as hard to find it seems. Whichever came available at a fair price, first, was the goal. Truth be told, I do like the looks of the Telluride better but some of the features of the Palisade more.

@CQB60 - indeed, thanks! It's been great...comfortable for long trips and lots of room on our monthly "gun runs" to peruse distant shops for interesting used stuff.

@sjtill - I'll have to measure to see if a 4x8 fits. My guess would be "yes" as they all fold to flat. The second row on ours is captains chairs...they have adjustable seatback angle and move fwd/backward and the third row is easy enough for my 5'3" teenager to get in the back (she actually loves riding way back for some reason). Third row is fine for shorter folks...I haven't tried to get back there at 6'1" though lol.

The new Kia logo does make it look much nicer, a small detail I know, but takes it up a notch.
Kia has come along way in the last few years.

Yep, for sure. Looks a lot more expensive than it is.

I will say, there's room for four adults and a load of guns/ammo for range days. It's been great for that, especially when the private club is all gravel to the back range where we can run MG's and stuff. (a friend brought his MG-42 at the one we went to on 7/5 and another friend his SIG AMT, which I got to shoot).

I was impressed with the Telluride back in March when the wife was looking. They didn’t have any new one on the lot and they were pretty much sold before they arrived at the dealer.

Back then you paid sticker price, now I hear they are going a few grand over. My wife only leases and she could not get over paying close to $700 a month for a mid level vehicle.

Nice. I see you don’t have the Nightfall package, but you do have the tow package. That’s what we have except white with a black interior. A lot of the features leave me scratching my head and it really could use more power than our 2012 Odyssey had, but we like it so far otherwise. Our kids really like the cooled second row seats.

The second row seats are comfortable and my 5’11” 14 yo fits in the third row. My wife would kill me if I tried to put plywood in her new car.

I like the NightFall but not the wheels on it. Prefer these more. I also thought all blacked out might be too much on the gray, a little contrast is good. If it were white or the Wolf Gray, def would have gone that route and than swapped these wheels on

My wife drives a 2015 Sienna awd limited and she loves it but lately I've heard Telluride more than once. She gets what she wants so I won't be surprised.

Yours is very nice!

I had a 2018 Jeep JK Sahara that I sold into the panic this May. Drove it 2 years and made 6k net. Instead of replacing with something in same price range I'm going with 3, 10-12 year old luxury rides. I bought my 08 Ridgeline new and it is my daily driver - 65k miles bury me in it - my toys are a 2011 Durango Citadel 2wd hemi and a 2011 Toyota Avalon 4 door sedan, black on black w/black tint. Both are one owner, Scotty Kilmer approved and I've got less in all 3 than I got out of the Jeep plus I love paying the minimum license and registration fees.

We're very close to ordering a Telluride, we'll just have to put up with the wait. It's my wife's car and she's also wanting to see a full sized Bronco. The local Kia dealer is at MSRP on ordered units, never have any in stock. We'd travel a bit but won't pay a dealer mark up.

Beautiful vehicle! I like the look of the Telluride a little better than the Palisade as well. And who wouldn't like more money for guns?

We looked at the Telluride 2 years ago. They were just hitting the market and dealers couldn’t keep them in stock back then. Some dealers in STL had customers coming in from CA to purchase. Really like the looks of them. Kia is trying to get in and become competitive with Toyota/Honda. Haven’t looked at the prices recently, but we were told they underpriced them originally and we’re going to increase the price.

The Telluride is top of the list to replace our Flex (pending we like how it drives).
We're probably a year out, so hopefully dealer stocks will be better.

I've been eyeing the WL Grand Cherokee & have seen a few GC Ls on the road.

We got this to replace a used Highlander we sold a friend in need last year. The new Highlander is smaller inside than the last two generations which led me to the Telluride. What we got is about $10K lower MSRP than a comparable Toyota. The Highlander is a little bit sportier handling but neither is a sports car

Envious of some of the long guns there!