2025 Kia Telluride -- Living With the Family Favorite! (Buy NOW or WAIT??)

What's going on YouTube? So since its launch the Kia Telluride has really become a household name in the world of family SUVs And with the next generation yet to be revealed We wanted to spend an entire week with the current generation to see if this is still a great pick Well, let's go ahead and find out Like always let's start things off with a quick spec dump So the powertrain situation does not change for the Telluride this year You continue to have a 3.8 liter naturally aspirated v6 engine on all models It makes 291 horsepower This paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission and combined fuel economy with all-wheel drive is 20 mpg Now the base price of the Telluride this year is thirty six thousand dollars And if you're looking to buy one or any new vehicle We'd encourage you to go to carconfections.com slash new car quotes to get the best price Now, of course, this is a seven day review So we can't wait to talk about our impressions throughout the week of living with this model We'll also be discussing things like real world fuel economy after going through a tank of gas But let's go ahead and close up the hood because a big part of the Telluride's long lasting appeal Has always been the exterior design as well as the luxury on the inside So for the exterior, obviously This has been a really well received look because like I said at the introduction This really went from a nameplate that didn't exist at all and in the span of just six years a household name And that's because it has that very bold design. It's very boxy You certainly have that look up here in the front, especially when you choose a trim like this So this is the sx prestige, but it has the x pro package That's going to give it a little bit more of a rugged vibe and give you the gloss black finish and badging right through there Speaking of that that's also going to give you a little extra ground clearance We have 8.4 inches of ground clearance and let's go ahead and talk about the lighting So we've got very premium full led lights as standard equipment on all models You've got the signature amber daytime running light and turn signal indicator through there These are pretty nice and effective at night and then down here We also have led fog lights, which is something a lot of the rivals have been eliminating Now as far as the wheels are concerned you get some choices between 18 inches and 20 inch alloys We have the 18 inch alloy because the x pro model gives you that with the kind of dark finish there More important than that is that this one is the only one that comes with the all-terrain Tires for a little bit more capability off-road now as far as cladding is concerned Just a little bit nothing too boxy or anything like that and then as far as our mirrors are concerned you will have power folding on the ex and above and then all of them will Have heating and blind spot monitor now at the side of the telluride this vehicle comes in at 196.9 inches in length and as far as some of the design touches We do have you know a lot of blacked out elements for this x pro model We also do have the bridge style roof rails up here at the top and as far as design on that new telluride We've seen a couple spy shots. It does look like it's going to be very boxy kind of like this generation maybe even more boxy if that's something you're interested in looking at but as we head around to the Rear of the current telluride I have to say this vehicle has aged like a fine wine I think it looks absolutely fantastic here in person despite its age now as far as design touches. We have a spoiler We have a wiper all of our branding is going to be blacked out on this version And then on the sides you will notice these really cool tail lights. They're very distinct looking They're also going to be led with a clear finish to them. Very nice looking However, you do have an incandescent reverse light down here at the bottom Dropping down to the bottom. You will notice a little bit of gloss black We also have dual exposed exhaust outlets here on the right side. And as far as your tow rating It's 5 000 pounds for most models. If you choose the x pro it is beefed up to 5 500 pounds Now when it comes to your safety systems, i'm happy to tell you that kia doesn't mess around you get all of those as standard Equipment that will even include things like adaptive cruise control with highway drive assist if you choose this sx trim Though that will additionally include highway drive assist 2.0, which is a little bit more advanced But guys we need to talk about the interior and what we thought about that for the last week But first if you're new here, we're brothers and we've been reviewing cars since we were 12 and 16 We started young and since then we have reviewed over 2 000 vehicles at every price point No matter what you're looking for from humble to high end We'd love for you to subscribe to be a part of our car confections family Let's learn a lot and have some fun with all the latest cars All right. Now let's head to the cabin first. Here's our kia key fob It's the newest version here You have standard smart entry as well as remote start on all models digital key though is reserved for your higher end examples As you walk up to the vehicle it senses your approach. You'll fold the mirrors outward Just grab behind the handle there that will unlock the door. Now. Let's take a look at this interior As you can see still has a very luxurious and refined look even after six model years on sale And before we get into the individual details of how this is aged and how this stacks up against the competition Let's start with the seats as always So the telluride begins with the leatherette seat all your middle trims come with a real leather seat And then you have the fine napa leather here on our top in sx prestige Really beautiful design to these seats We've got specific x pro branding up there a nice quilted design going throughout And the key is always really good about giving you a lot of color options here on the telluride We have the terracotta on this one But you've got a ton of different choices that are a little bit more bougie than what you expect in the class The seats themselves on this high-end example also have some additional adjustments They're 14 way with four-way lumbar and even a power thigh extension I have to say they are they are extremely extremely comfortable. And of course we have memory seats over here as well But let's go ahead and climb on inside And let's look around at the rest of the cabin materials. So over here on our door trim You have a nice leatherette material with a stitching detail You have a soft touch plastic along the top and a little bit of a faux wood that's very textured so that it's quite realistic The upper part of the dashboard here is finished in a soft material with a stitching detail More of that faux wood runs through here to add a little bit of visual richness to the cabin and then down here You've got your signature telluride handlebars also finished in the same leather as the seats. Let's go ahead and fire it up And now that we're all fired up here, let's dig into the individual details. We'll start with the gauge cluster As you can see we've got the large 12.3 inch full digital gauge cluster It is reconfigurable and the design changes when you change things like the drive mode Now on this top model, we also have a head-up display It has a good amount of information inside of it. I particularly like the blind spot monitoring information and speaking of that This also has a blind spot camera system. So this is a vehicle You definitely ought to be able to feel confident when changing lanes and not hitting anybody now moving back to the steering wheel we have Uh the typical telluride steering wheel it has not been updated with that latest kia steering wheel that has the off-center logo I'm kind of appreciative of that to be honest The wheel itself is manual tilt and telescoping across all models and your upper end examples, of course get heating Now, let's go ahead and turn over here and take a look at interior storage next So I open up the center console here. We just have a nice square shape. Nothing crazy going on here, but it is nice and deep Of course, we've got the donuts inside because we want to check the volume compared to the competition This has on board 20 donuts. So that is a really tremendous amount Obviously, it's really approaching the top mark that we have which is two dozen donuts. Some of the competition does achieve that though Up in front of us. We have our two cup holders a little storage cubby right there And then underneath of that trim piece you have a large cubby with a wireless phone charging pad and a couple usb connections One thing I want to point out is of course, this has a piano black finish. So just be aware It's definitely a fingerprint magnet and is also could be prone to getting scratches if you have pets or kids that are rough on cars As far as the shifter is concerned Just a traditional style pull back for drive bump over here to the left if you want to shift manually. There's no paddle shifters And then we go into reverse. Here's our backup camera Of course you get a traditional one on your lower end examples the upper end models Have the 360 camera and by the way, we do talk a little bit more about which specific trim levels get which features in our 2025 main review this one we're kind of focusing mostly on impressions My impression of this backup camera is that it is quite good. You even have the 3d view which is something more similar with luxury suvs Back behind that you have your electronic parking brake with your brake hold And then this of course is your drive mode controller as you can see You've got a few different ones the default for this model is the comfort mode Now as we move up into this region, we've got physical controls for all your main things So that of course, you know stands out nowadays since a lot of models are moving to digital controls in the screen We've got all of our climate controls with big old knobs physical buttons here It's super nice and easy to use Now this is a three zone automatic setup as you can see and then underneath of it That's where you'll find your little toggle here for your three stage heated seats That's on most models and then your ventilated seats are on the top model One thing I will say is that we've certainly been testing out the ventilated seats this week. It's super super hot And they're not fantastic. They're they're decent. You can feel it a little bit But even on the top setting I kind of expected to feel it a little bit more Especially when I was in thin shorts, and I did not Now you also have a nice row up there for your physical audio controls and a nice volume knob This has the harman kardon sound system and we'll go ahead and give it a sample Overall sound quality of this system is certainly really good. I've enjoyed listening to this audio system It's better than a lot of the competition I will say despite again this vehicle's age So the interior in a lot of ways has been aging super gracefully Now let's talk about the technology here with our main Unit here our infotainment system. This is something that's not aging quite as well for whatever reason I guess in in Anticipation of the next generation coming out kia has chosen not to really upgrade the telluride's head unit here Like they have some of their other models So this has a little bit of an older version the main thing that people are going to notice and that we certainly Uh did not appreciate this week was just that this still requires a usb connection There's no wireless android auto or apple carplay So you have to plug in with a usb that is uncommon these days across the entire auto industry Nevertheless, it does have still have things like built-in navigation And some other nice functions that you get inside of the infotainment system But like I said just a little bit out of date for sure compared to the competition We'd anticipate the next gen will definitely rectify that and probably give you a bigger screen and everything Now up top here on our top model We've got the auto dimming mirror and the camera system that cuts out rear obstructions. You have home link universal remotes as well nice Suede finish to our headliner super nice And i'll go ahead and slide back the sunshades There's two of them because we have a rear sunroof on this model And we also have a front sunroof and of course as you can see the front one opens up Now we've been talking the entire time about how well this telluride has Aged and the back seat is no exception to that either You have a lot of space and also a ton of luxury and we've certainly been enjoying that This week that we've been living with this model now as far as the space figures are concerned, uh first I don't think it went it didn't go in front of the camera Now despite the butterfly's interruption, let's talk about some space figures first and foremost 42.4 inches of legroom and 40.2 inches of headroom guys That is one of the very largest options in the segment when it comes to rear room Which certainly is a big deal for a lot of families now Uh, I of course I brought along the official car confections ruler The reason I do that is so I can get a realistic knee room figure for you This seat is adjusted to drew who is five foot eight i'm five foot nine and we are sitting at nine inches of rear Knee room, so that's quite good Also, my feet can slide up underneath of the seat The seats do slide forward all the way to be able to touch the front seat. That's very useful Uh quick access for like things like a child seat and then they can slide all the way back And recline a ridiculous distance to really maximize your comfort now speaking of these chairs Bench seating is standard on just the lx and ex grades all the other versions will get the captain's chairs That does mean your overall seating capacity is going to be seven passenger instead of eight passenger Uh, however, you do still have this nice armrest through here and then let's start talking about some of the features So up here in the center area will you will notice two cup holders. It's actually big enough to fit this gigantic water bottle We additionally have usb ports in each seat back as well as a household style and a 12 volt outlet Now the other features will be concentrated up here on the roof. So you have your own climate controls through here You also have some led interior illumination your rear vents come out of the roof Which is actually quite nice because it's very close to your face to cool you down And then if you turn over to the door trim, you'll find a couple more features on ex grades and above You'll have the rear window sunshade so you don't have to get the top model for that Very nicely done door trim with the more the faux wood leatherette all through there and then in front of the window You'll find two buttons that are still very rare for the segment heated and ventilated seats That's going to be included on the top sx prestige grades. It will get you both of those features. That's really quite nice down below There is also a bit of storage And let's go ahead and check out the third row as well in order to get back here It is really easy. You have this button right here That will tilt the seat back and then slide the seat out of the way do be aware the seat back itself does move though and then as far as the third row itself Let's hop on back here We're sitting at about 31 inches of legroom and about 38 inches of headroom. Those are honestly pretty good figures This is not going to be the largest third row. You can get in the segment things like the toyota grand highlander honda pilot Those will have bigger third rows But overall it's definitely pretty comfortable back here As you can see with the seat slid all the way back I don't have any additional knee room maybe a half an inch of knee room My feet can slide up underneath of the seat though, and the thigh support is decent I wish the seat was maybe raised a little bit further off the floor We'll see how the new telluride handles the third row now as far as features are concerned. We have Cup holders on both sides. We also have usbs on both sides and vents coming out of the ceiling here Once again mounted in the roof. So it's a good to keep you nice and cooled down One thing worth noting no heated third row and no power sliding third row at least in the current version of the telluride Now as far as how this rates on our third row rating scale, it's actually a pretty good third row So i'm going to say this is fit for the in-laws Walking up to the tailgate you get a hands-free power tailgate on ex grades and above And then let's go ahead and check out the cargo area see how much space you're going to have now When it comes to this It's a pretty good area for this vehicle about 21 cubic feet of space behind the third row of seats If we fold them down which by the way It's not a power folding third row that is still not available on the telluride But it is very easy to fold the third row You're looking at 46 cubic feet behind the second row and then we can use these convenient buttons over here on the sides To electronically fold the second row down and then that's going to give you your maximum of 87 cubic feet of cargo capacity Now if you're curious as to how that compares to all of the rivals Like I said, there's a ton of rivals in this three row midsize segment We encourage you to go to carconfections.com Vehicle rankings now The reason you do that is because we've looked at each of those options in the segment and ranked them in individual Categories that might matter more or less to you things like overall cargo capacity third row technology interior luxury safety features Power train choices all of that is detailed for you on our website So if you want to make an informed buying decision definitely utilize our tool at carconfections.com vehicle rankings Now back to the telluride. I will have to go kind of push those seats down so I can get our cargo measures And now that we've got those seats folded down Let's get our cargo length width and height figures in case you're looking to haul something specific as far as cargo length Uh, 86 inches is what you can expect behind drew's five Eight driving position from behind the second row of seats with them slid all the way back 48 inches From behind the third row of seats 21 inches Over overall opening really good 48 inches wide and then height It's coming in 31 inches of height overall Load in height as well. It's going to be 30 inches and then as far as under the floor you Will have a little bit of underfloor storage and you also have a spare tire integrated underneath of there Well guys here we are behind the wheel of the 2025 kia telluride in this test drive We're going to be discussing quite a lot as you can see on the screen right now We'll get things like our sound level reading discuss our real world fuel economy and our impressions after living with it But first we need to start with that hard acceleration All right, and there we are 260 miles per hour So like we said at the spec dump the powertrain situation not changing for this telluride We still have the 3.8 liter naturally aspirated v6 engine with 291 horsepower 262 pound feet of torque. It's the only option um, so obviously uh, if you've been following this three row segment in the last I guess six model years since this telluride came out a lot of things have changed. Um, The big thing is that powertrain has started to switch to four cylinders turbo four cylinders instead of v6s So this is one that still retains the naturally aspirated v6 and with that comes some benefits The big one is refinement. Uh, this is a very smooth and refined powertrain So even when you floor it you just get that nice kind of growl Nothing, you know very harsh sounding which some of the competition of course gets from the four cylinders Yeah, even upon like a cold start in the morning so after living with this it just sounds so refined It doesn't have any jerkiness to it. Really really nice powertrain experience, especially on the luxury end Now, uh, what about some cons? Well, the con would probably namely be the torque figure because compared to the turbo four cylinder rivals The torque is going to be down a quite a substantial amount and you can feel that when you're out driving on the road You kind of have to slam it down Maybe a little bit harder than you would in some of the competition that has more torque to get you up to speed yeah, definitely if you're going up a hill it feels perhaps a little underpowered, um, but You know, it's not too bad. That's for sure. I think a lot about the new traverse I think is a great Compare and contrast to this powertrain because this feels a little less powerful, but sounds so much more refined the traverse Uh feels more powerful, but then also kind of sounds Very harsh so it you know pros and cons. It's kind of up to you with what you think and of course for the next generation uh, we anticipate that Probably you're going to be able to still get a v6 But that you'll also get the additional hybrid powertrain on board Which should bring the power figure up if it's going to match what the palisade has Now as far as the other element of the powertrain, we've got an eighth speed automatic Terrific partner to this powertrain or engine. It's very smooth When you put your foot down You don't have to wait too long even in the standard comfort drive mode to get a downshift and get all the power you need Yeah, and as far as how power is routed to the ground You do of course have front wheel drive or all-wheel drive Of course this uh fully loaded model comes standard with all-wheel drive with the x pro package And as far as the epa estimated fuel economy that's sitting at 22 or 20 mpg Combined those figures are going to be less than the turbo four-cylinder rivals. And of course, there's no hybrid offering So you certainly will be paying a little bit more at the pump for this telluride which leads me into talking about the Real world fuel economy that we've been experiencing this week Uh so far we have not quite concluded our full week of testing on this telluride but early indications are saying it's going to be a little bit lower than uh, Well, actually, I mean decently close to the epa estimate, but it's not going to be very good So just be aware of that. That's also a con of the v6 But speaking of some other real world impressions Let's discuss ride quality because I have to say this telluride has nothing but impressed me over the past six years And after living with it this week I have to say even more impressed as you go over bridge abutments like that. It just absolutely handles it phenomenally. It soaks it up Very well, um, especially on this model with the x pro package We have the smaller wheels on the outside the beefier tires I think that even improves your ride quality perhaps even more than the other versions of this vehicle The seats are incredibly comfortable. I can just imagine. This is a car that you would take on multiple Hour long road trips and arrive completely refreshed. Yeah, definitely. This would eat up a multi-state road trip There's a little sport mode acceleration Just to show you what that looks like and we'll go back into the normal mode though the comfort mode as it's called For our sound level reading. Yep fan speeds on one. Let's see how quiet it is Oh, yeah, very good 53.9 decibels is what we are sitting at as our sound level reading in the kia telluride sx prestige x pro We don't have to sit here and guess how it compares to its numerous rivals We can find that at carconfections.com sound level readings and see how it compares And cheers to consistency Rates among all the other kia tellurides that we have ever tested out on our channel It's not quite the quietest option in the segment There are a few that are a little quieter mazda cx-90 the grand highlander hybrid max platinum Was slightly quieter, but this is a very very refined fueling cabin They've done a lot with the noise insulation. It feels very luxurious in here when it comes to that So I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and believe me. There are a lot of other options that are a lot louder in this segment Yeah, and this has all-terrain tires, of course as we discussed in this version Despite that it doesn't really make, uh, you know any road roar that I can pick up on these are Not the most aggressive all-terrains. That's for sure They're definitely a good mix between giving you a little extra capability and just being nice to live with every day Now even though it's of course not a focus of a three-row family suv. I'll mention the driving dynamics are Pretty good. This is a very well balanced vehicle In the sense that it's not sloppy even on a back road Uh, so they've paid attention to keep the body roll under control the steering nice and responsive off-center Not too heavy in everyday use though. So again, just a nice balance And let's go ahead and get into our car confections slam dunk and air ball Which is our favorite and least favorite element about the telluride drew. Why don't you kick us off with the slam dunk? The slam dunk is is just going to be in general the aging of this vehicle. We've already mentioned it numerous times It's six model years old at this point And yet it's still easily one of the best options in the segment Which is quite incredible because there's so many there's like 14 or 15 choices in this segment So it's it's it's very likely that you know, your vehicle will be passed up by the competition in just a couple years But this one has held up so remarkably Well, yeah on the airball side of things what we're going to say is the technology I think really the biggest deal with this telluride And the thing that people will really not appreciate is things like the wireless carplay wireless android auto people have come to expect that Everything else is so nice But the tech is a little bit on the older side And you will notice that maybe a few features as well like the power folding third row still not being offered on this model I hope that they certainly will add that for the next generation And it's a seven day review So do we like this telluride better the same or worse after living with it for the full week? Well, I think we're both gonna have to say Better and the reason why we say that is because we've experienced this telluride a ton of times We've reviewed it so many times on this channel We've actually never had the chance to live with it for a full week though And now that we did live with it for a full week It really just confirms that this vehicle is more than just a nice interior more than a nice exterior It really is a fantastic family three-row option and we experienced that this week Now as far as pricing you can see the full lineup of prices on the screen right now We of course have the fully loaded example today. This is the sx prestige x pro all-wheel drive 2025 model year We also do have pretty much every option that you can get on it. There's not very many options 14 15 destination We're sitting at fifty six thousand two hundred and forty dollars as tested today Uh, and you know kind of speaking about the new version of the telluride We do expect that to of course have a price increase So if you're wanting the best value you might be able to get a better deal And a little bit of a lower price point on the current telluride Now if you're looking to buy a kia telluride or any new vehicle, we'd encourage you to go to carconfections.com New car quotes the reason you do that is because we have a tool on our website That will connect you with local car dealers in your area to get you the best price It's also going to give you access to invoice pricing information, which is a great tool for dealership negotiation If you'd like to take advantage of that as well as things like our monthly payment tool You can find a link to that in our video description as well as a pinned comment at the top of this video But buying a car is about more than just the original msrp. So let's discuss resale and reliability First up let's talk about resale value as an economics graduate myself We took the time to develop what we think is a good estimate for this kia telluride's potential resale value We estimate that after five years and 60 000 miles, it'll be worth 49.02 percent of original msrp and after 10 years and 120 000 miles 21.1 now it is worth noting that is right on par with the industry average for all vehicle brands. However, Some of the competitions such as toyota honda mazda Those will have better resale value percentages Now i've also done the same for reliability by developing the combined reliability index This takes into account several trustworthy sources on reliability and combines them in a way that gives you the most holistic picture In this regard kia is rated above the overall industry average for all vehicle makes Now if you'd like to learn more about our resale values our reliability data or our methodology Be sure to go to carconfections.com slash resell and carconfections.com slash reliability Buying a new vehicle is a very big decision So you want to make sure you're making a smart purchase, especially if you're cross-shopping between different vehicle brands Now also important in that decision would be your warranty Kia does give you a really really good one a five-year 60 000 mile basic warranty ten-year 100 000 mile powertrain warranty. They do not do complimentary maintenance And guys that's going to wrap up our in-depth review of the 2025 Kia telluride if you enjoyed learning about our seven-day impressions with this model We'd really appreciate it if you hit that subscribe button down below by subscribing You're going to be a part of our car confections family and you're going to help us to make more videos like this By subscribing you show the manufacturers that this video is important to you So they send us more vehicles for us to live with for a full week So please do that down below if you haven't already if you're already a fan and subscriber Thank you so much for your continued support. We'll catch you next time as we sample more of the latest automotive delicacies