Kia Telluride (2023) Review

The Telluride works because Kia got the boring parts exactly right. The body is upright and boxy, which means real headroom in all three rows, big square door openings and glass you can see out of. The third row seats adults. The load bay behind it is usable rather than symbolic. Interior materials on the SX trim look and feel like a luxury product, the switchgear is physical where it should be, and the driving position is excellent. Mechanically it is deliberately old fashioned, with a naturally aspirated 3.8 litre V6 making 291 horsepower through a conventional eight speed automatic, which is smooth and utterly unstressed but returns barely twenty two miles per gallon combined and needs premium behaviour from your right foot to do that.

There is no hybrid. Reliability has been good without being flawless, and there have been recalls, though nothing that changes the ownership picture. The part that surprises people is resale, because demand ran ahead of supply for years and used values stayed extraordinary for a Kia. Buying new here has been one of the better financial decisions in the segment.