Photo: Kia
It’s natural for a dealership to markup a car by a few percentage points over the manufacturer’s recommended retail price, but that’s not often the case with a volume-oriented model such as eight-seat crossovers. The 2020 Kia Telluride, however, costs up to $5,000 more in Texas according to a Redditor who offered MSRP but no dealership took him seriously.
u/nwss00 mentions that lesser trims of the Telluride are $2,500 over the recommended price in the Lone Star State, which is why he settled for the Hyundai Palisade. The Redditor has “no regrets” for his pick, more so if you remember that the two models feature the same platform, six-cylinder engine and eight-speed transmission, although the styling is different.
There are two reasons, however, that explain the Telluride’s markups. First and foremost, the design is more conventional and masculine than the Palisade. Secondly, the bigger brother of the Sorento is manufactured locally in West Point, Georgia while the Hyundai is imported from Ulsan, South Korea. There’s a difference in MSRP that favors the Palisade by $115, but then again, that amount of money isn’t a deciding factor in anyone’s book.
Another detail that makes the Telluride the better pick is the traditional gear shifter, which is preferred to the push-button layout of the Palisade. The question is, why is there such a high demand for three-row crossovers? The answer to that is coolness and practicality. At $30,790 right off the bat for a minivan such as the Honda Odyssey, an eight-seat crossover is more appealing in the eyes of many customers.
Because they’re unibody by design, the Telluride and Palisade also happen to be more affordable than body-on-frame SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban. All in all, it sounds curious but also easy to understand why Texas-based dealers are selling the Telluride at such prices.
For the 2020 model year, Kia offers front- and all-wheel-drive along with no fewer than four trim levels. The 3.8-liter Lambda V6 is standard across the range, packing 291 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. Better still, the Telluride can also tow up to 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms).
There are two reasons, however, that explain the Telluride’s markups. First and foremost, the design is more conventional and masculine than the Palisade. Secondly, the bigger brother of the Sorento is manufactured locally in West Point, Georgia while the Hyundai is imported from Ulsan, South Korea. There’s a difference in MSRP that favors the Palisade by $115, but then again, that amount of money isn’t a deciding factor in anyone’s book.
Another detail that makes the Telluride the better pick is the traditional gear shifter, which is preferred to the push-button layout of the Palisade. The question is, why is there such a high demand for three-row crossovers? The answer to that is coolness and practicality. At $30,790 right off the bat for a minivan such as the Honda Odyssey, an eight-seat crossover is more appealing in the eyes of many customers.
Because they’re unibody by design, the Telluride and Palisade also happen to be more affordable than body-on-frame SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban. All in all, it sounds curious but also easy to understand why Texas-based dealers are selling the Telluride at such prices.
For the 2020 model year, Kia offers front- and all-wheel-drive along with no fewer than four trim levels. The 3.8-liter Lambda V6 is standard across the range, packing 291 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. Better still, the Telluride can also tow up to 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms).
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