Drive Notes: 2024 Kia Telluride SX-Prestige X-Line

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Last week I wheeled a 2024 Kia Telluride SX-Prestige X-Line around town. I have thoughts, and here they are, in bullet-point form.


As a reminder, this Kia has a 3.8-liter V6 that makes 291horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque, plus an eight-speed automatic transmission.

It's also quite big and boxy.

Pros

  • The steering, while a bit too artificially heavy, feels pretty well dialed-in for a large three-row crossover.
  • This thing is comfortable. Nice seats, lots of room.
  • Kia's infotainment system is generally pretty good.
  • The interior still has plenty of old-school knobs and buttons.
  • For being such a boring box, the Telluride still manages to look stylish.

Cons

  • It's ponderous. Not slow, per se, but you feel the size.
  • Fuel economy is predictably dismal.
  • That name is a mouthful.
  • It's easy to lose this thing in a parking lot full of similar-looking large crossovers.

Hyundai's Palisade is the more stylish of the two siblings, but the Telluride is generally a pleasant pal to live with. Just prepare a large enough budget for fuel.

[Images © 2024 Tim Healey/TTAC.com]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

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4 of 39 comments
  • Chiefmonkey Chiefmonkey on Apr 16, 2024

    Did these have the same security/theft problem that other Kias have? lol

    • See 1 previous
    • MaintenanceCosts MaintenanceCosts on Apr 17, 2024

      No, these have always had immobilizers. But Kia Boyz aren't very smart, so they still break into these more than you would expect with other brands, and insurance premiums will reflect that.



  • Chiefmonkey Chiefmonkey on Apr 17, 2024

    "These are premium luxury vehicles for the affluent"

    I wouldn't go that far...

  • Tassos Tim is not that good with colors.The bright "pink" is not pink, but FUCHSIA. Both colors may look good on a woman's sweater, but not on steel panels.
  • Tassos While I was a very satisfied owner of a much earlier Accord COupe 5 speed (a 1990 I owned from 1994 to 2016), I don't like the exterior styling of this one so much, in fact the 2017 sedan looks better. Or maybe it sucks in white. The interior of my 1990 was very high quality, this one looks so-so. The 157 k miles were probably easy highway miles. Still, Hondas are not Toyotas, and I remember the same service (like timing belt replacement) back then cost TWICE for an Accord than for a Camry. Add to this that it has the accursed CVT, and it's a no. Not that I am in the market for a cheap econobox anyway.
  • 3-On-The-Tree My 2009 C6 corvette in black looks great when it’s all washed and waxed but after driving down my 1.3 mile long dirt road it’s a dust magnet. I like white because dust doesn’t how up easily. Both my current 2021 Tundra and previous 2014 Ford F-150 3.5L Ecobomb are white
  • Bd2 Would be sweet on a Telluride.
  • Luke42 When will they release a Gladiator 4xe?I don’t care what color it is, but I do care about being able to plug it in.
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