2024 Kia Telluride Review: The Pros And Cons Of Aping Luxury SUVs

It's tough out there, if you've got luxury taste with a mainstream budget and can't compromise on three rows of seats. The 2024 Kia Telluride might not be the first family hauler you think of when it comes to bridging that gap, but behind the divisive looks there's a whole lot of SUV to like.

2024 Telluride ownership kicks off at $36,190 (plus $1,365 destination) for the LX trim, rising to $53,385 for the SX Prestige X-Pro before options. Within that span there's something for just about everyone, whether space for eight is your primary goal, or you prefer off-road styling and seats that wouldn't be out of place in a Lexus or Audi.

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That's an ambitious proposal, though elsewhere the Telluride feels oddly reticent to follow where the rest of Kia's line-up is headed. Never mind the absence of electrification, there's not even a turbocharger here to help deliver the frugality most mainstream SUV buyers expect these days.

Style is subjective, but I suspect only Kia's designers would call the Telluride "handsome." There's something of the axolotl about its fascia, with that grille pulled wide into a rictus grin, and the bulbous headlamps pushed to the very edges. At the rear, the arching taillamp clusters add some visual interest, while the 18-inch black alloy wheels — shod in all-terrain tires — unique to this X-Pro trim look good against the black trim that replaces other Tellurides' chrome.

There's between 8 and 8.4-inches of ground clearance, trim depending, and while a Telluride probably won't be the first SUV of choice for going off-road, Kia does at least provide a center-locking differential on the AWD models, plus a dedicated snow drive mode. Trim-depending, there are either eight seats or seven, the latter swapping the second row bench for a pair of captain's chairs.

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Leather is standard from EX up; from SX-Prestige trim, it's nicer Nappa leather. There's decent passenger space in all three rows, and reasonable accessibility to the third. With the second-row seats slid back, I — at 5'8 — fit in the third row with an inch or so of headroom to spare. Adults wouldn't enjoy being three abreast back there, mind.

A power liftgate is standard from EX trim and higher. When all three rows are up, there's 21 cu-ft of cargo space to play with. Drop the third row, and that expands to 46 cu-ft; with the second row collapsed, you're looking at 87 cu-ft max. That's about 10 cu-ft behind a Toyota Grand Highlander.

Plenty of safety tech comes standard. All Telluride trims sport blind-spot warnings; forward and rear collision warnings with avoidance; rear parking sensors; and lane departure warnings with lane keep and lane follow assist (that all err on the aggressive side, particularly on narrower backroads where the Telluride seems to think it's much wider than it actually is). Adaptive cruise control is standard, too, along with Kia's Highway Driving Assist; cheaper trims get v1.5 is standard, with v2.0 from the SX up.

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SX trim is also the point where front parking sensors; rear parking collision avoidance assist; a 360-degree camera; and blind-spot view monitor are added as standard.

Inside, Kia's dashboard is a button-heavy affair. There's a row of shortcut keys under the 12.3-inch central touchscreen, along with both volume and tuning knobs. Beneath that are the physical HVAC controls. The heated/ventilated seat switches are below there, integrated into the grab handles, and then the drive mode knob and other drivetrain controls — including a dedicated camera shortcut, always appreciated — behind the physical shifter.

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Factor in another eight buttons on the steering wheel, plus four toggles, and some more switchgear by the driver's left knee, and there's a whole lot going on. This SX-Prestige X-Pro trim also has a head-up display, 12.3-inch driver display (lesser trims get analog gauges and a 4.2-inch cluster display), digital rearview mirror, and a wireless phone charger (standard on all but the base LX trim). All trims get tri-zone climate control with the second-row controls in the headliner, out of the reach of smaller kids.

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Heated front seats are standard on all but the LX, with ventilation from the EX up. The second row are ventilated and headed from SX-Prestige up. A heated steering wheel is standard from EX X-Line up, and optional on EX and SX. 

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Kia spreads USB-C charging ports across all three rows, but Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both wired-only and use a USB-A port. SX-Prestige trim and above have a 110V AC outlet in the second row.

There's a single engine option for the 2024 Telluride, Kia's V6 with 291 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. At 3.8-liters it's a comparatively big engine for the segment, given the market's general shift toward smaller displacement with turbochargers bolted on. A 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander, by way of contrast, squeezes 265 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque from its turbocharged 2.4-liter inline-four.

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In Comfort or Smart mode, the Telluride drives like, well, most any three-row SUV on the market. The suspension is generally comfortable but can be wrong-footed with rutted road surfaces, and nothing here really encourages hustle or eagerness from behind the wheel. Select trims — like this X-Pro — get self-leveling rear suspension, but it's more about keeping an even keel than lending excitement. Still, on balance that's what you want from a family hauler, as is the slushily-smooth 8-speed automatic.

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Switch to Sport mode, though, and things get borderline frenetic. A more sensitive throttle combined with a willingness to let the V6 rev higher sees the Telluride surge forward with a puppy-like urgency, replete with said-puppy's aura of clumsy blundering. It feels skittish and not especially enjoyable to drive, and the naturally-aspirated V6 never sounds all that pleasant when pushed harder, either.

Kia quotes 18 mpg for the Telluride AWD on the EPA's city cycle, 24 mpg on the highway, and 20 mpg combined. The good news is that they're achievable numbers: I saw just shy of 20 mpg after a week of my own, mixed driving. The bad news is that, compared to three-row rivals, Kia's SUV is hardly frugal.

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A 2024 Mazda CX-90 AWD, for example, is rated for 25 mpg combined, while a 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander AWD lands at 22 mpg. Kia's omission of an electrified Telluride is the bigger issue, though. Toyota's 2024 Grand Highlander Hybrid is rated for as much as 34 mpg on the combined cycle, meaning that even though it has a smaller gas tank, the EPA says you could drive more then 200 miles further than the Telluride before you need to refuel.

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If you really want three rows of seats and electrification, of course, Kia will happily point you in the direction of the EV9. Its fully-electric SUV is an impressive vehicle, but the roughly $55k all-in of this particular Telluride X-Pro would only get you into a base-spec EV9, with rear-wheel drive and 230 miles of EPA range. Figure on spending north of $64k for an EV9 with AWD and the 280 mile longer-range battery.

In contrast, a 2024 Telluride starts at $36,190 (plus $1,365 destination) for the LX trim. Even if you take the well-equipped SX as your kicking-off point (from $45,990 plus destination, with another $2k if you want AWD), you're getting a lot of SUV — and a lot of space — for your money.

That's not to say the Telluride is perfect. Wired smartphone projection is annoying; the safety tech can be heavy-handed; and fuel economy is middling compared to rivals. While Kia salves its smaller SUVs' thirst with hybrid versions, that electrification hasn't reached the Telluride (or its Hyundai Palisade cousin) yet.

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What stands out is just how premium the 2024 Telluride feels, akin in its upper trims to three-row SUVs from the segment above, so perhaps it's no great surprise that you pay a little more in running costs for that experience too. While those looking for miles of driving at the lowest expense should look elsewhere, the Kia's all-round refinement make it an obvious choice for families with luxury aspirations and mainstream budgets.