Telly trim levels- why did you choose your trim level?

[TN Gal]

Just a curious discussion on the trim levels. We already know why all of us have chosen the Telluride but what features on the various trim levels did you have to have or want to have. I'll start...

It's been 20 years since we have bought a car (stingy retirees here). So stepping into any new car nowadays was just a tad overwhelming . Whoa there, all those electronics and safety features! Just turning on the car was like stepping into the Tardis or Enterprise (yes, I'm a scifi fan). After alot of research and reading and looking at our budget, we decided that we really didn't need alot of the features on the higher trim levels. Yes, they would have been nice to have like that Nightfall edition (love that look) but just couldn't justify the prices and heck, we no longer care much on the looks. Must be the gray hair and wrinkles. Hell, we just upgraded to a smart phone from a flip phone this year (no cell service in our holler). So it all came down to AWD (necessity), heated front seats (old bones) and a sunroof (see old bones reason) and that pesky car payment. Bottom line=S trim AWD.

How about you? What were the features you had to have and/or nice to have?

 

[bags]

In our case, we absolutely wanted a digital temperature control, which pushed us to a minimum of the EX. We have an analog temperature dial in our other vehicle and I can't stand having to constantly adjust it since most of our drives are short drives. I fell in love with the Nightfall and ended up getting that, but other than AWD, nothing else in the Nightfall Edition was a requirement for us.

 

[vinylhaircut]

Fun thread. My retirement date was two weeks prior to receiving my Telluride order last year. I timed my order pretty well! Anyway, I had been driving a company car for my entire career, which meant that the last car I had purchased for myself was in 1983. Of course I'm very grateful for having free cars for all those years, but it also meant that I had very limited choices during that time, and this was to be the first time in decades that I could order something I really wanted. I was originally planning to get an Audi, BMW, Lexus, etc but finally decided that Telluride was the one for me, regardless of price. From that perspective, even a fully-loaded one looked inexpensive, so I never really considered anything but an SX-P. I have to say, living in Minnesota, the heated steering wheel is something I never expected to like so much!

 

[8vsb]

Wanted a SX-P, had to have 8 passenger seating, so EX it is..........the heated steering wheel is very nice.......

______________________________

 

[ColinZealKnows]

We were pretty set on the SX level since we wanted something with leather inside. At the end of the test drive the salesperson gave us the Telluride leaflet and my wife looked at that photo that shows the captains chairs and she said *that's* what she needed. Up to the SX Limited we went.

That small insert literally made us spend additional thousands of dollars.

 

[Nigntfall21]

My wife wanted the nightfall edition. She loved the blackout look. We wanted a vehicle we could travel in comfortably with an extra passenger or two. She has a jeep wrangler that has a lift with wheels and tires, so the telly is our sensible car

 

[Sidney Dandridge]

Wanted the 20 inch wheels with the chrome finish and captain's chairs. So, we ordered the EX with premium package. The anticipated delivery date on our order was uncertain, so our dealer let us accept the first EX premium that came in. The only thing that it did not have on it was fog lights and the programable garage door opener. The dealer ordered the last feature and has since installed it. We wanted white but accepted gray. We have 5k miles on it and love it.

 

[DarkMossJustin]

For the record, I love all the Telly trims.

The reason I went SX-P/T is because:

#1: the rims. Never had black wheels before and these OEM SX wheels looked amazing from the get-go.
#2: the HUD. I know some don't like this feature or have it turned off but less eye shift from the road is a good thing in my book and great for my posture. All we need is a Night Vision package Kia. Just kidding, let the Volvo XC90 top-trimmers overpay for that.
#3: rain-sensing wipers. It actually works, takes a bit to get started and sometimes I manually wipe during lighter drizzles or non-rain fog-water accumulation because it needs more rain to work the best. In heavy rain, flawless function.
#4: bright AF LED head lights. If oncoming drivers don't like them, that's their problem, not ours. With the auto high beam feature, I've only been flashed once and once I flashed them back for 1 second, they got the picture. Nonverbal communication, the way we used to get things done without words.
#5: DUNE TO THE MOON !!!
#6: Premium cloth microfiber dark-colored headliner that's puppy soft. Perfect for de-stressing before/during/after rough days at home or work or a worst-case scenario of working from home
#7: I may or may not tow a snowmobile or hunting/camping/overland gear trailer with this bad boy, but the OEM factory-installed: Tow Hitch Receiver looks great and creates another horizontal line in the back by cutting into the rear diffuser, eliminating some aluminum/light gray trim color and adding a nice black section back there. Trailer hitch covers will still allow some black on both sides which looks oh-so-good!
#8: SX is SEX without the E. Too soon for a joke about 90s Rave Culture?
#9: Harman really did a great job with the Harman/Kardon 10-speaker system. Sure it won't please the most OCD audiophiles, but this thing pumps and bumps and does everything I need it to do and more. Love it.
#10: the value: I personally think that the step up from SX to SX-P/T was well worth the additional cost. Plus, we're already getting amazing bang for the buck with our Tellurides from the get-go. All the interior touch points that I actually touch are perfect. Plastic seatbacks are actually ideal for me. I don't want my snowboard accidentally slipping out of the bag and cutting leather. Or my bike or camping/hunting gear either. The Maligator pups will have nothing to chew on the seat backs, right? Yes, the left stalk selector has a few rough edges on the plastic, but that's just being nit-picky. Where I put my left shoulder to the door handles to the dash, center console buttons, the comfy seats with just the right amount of padding for enough support but also comfortable enough to relax to Sounds of Nature or "Easy (like Sunday Morning)" and try not to drive too fast down the PCH.
#11: it's been fun interacting with y'all on the Telluride Forum, talking design, the great floor mat debate/discussion of 2020-2021, comparing notes, recommendations. Even when I get insulted from time to time, it's great to not have to use FB/IG/Twitter to have an old-school message board agree/disagree/debate/discuss Forum. I miss old-school 90s internet message boards and this is kind of nostalgia for me. Lovin' every minute thanks to y'all !!

______________________________

 

[gimpy]

I wanted the highest trim level possible, but, the wife nixed that idea because of the price..
so, we wanted:

leather, heated seats
captains chairs, second row
power tail lift gate
AWD
white or black color with a light colored interior

So, bought the EX with premium package, Night Fall edition only because it was what the dealer had in stock.

 

[superk1977]

For the record, I love all the Telly trims.

The reason I went SX-P/T is because:

#1: the rims. Never had black wheels before and these OEM SX wheels looked amazing from the get-go.
#2: the HUD. I know some don't like this feature or have it turned off but less eye shift from the road is a good thing in my book and great for my posture. All we need is a Night Vision package Kia. Just kidding, let the Volvo XC90 top-trimmers overpay for that.
#3: rain-sensing wipers. It actually works, takes a bit to get started and sometimes I manually wipe during lighter drizzles or non-rain fog-water accumulation because it needs more rain to work the best. In heavy rain, flawless function.
#4: bright AF LED head lights. If oncoming drivers don't like them, that's their problem, not ours. With the auto high beam feature, I've only been flashed once and once I flashed them back for 1 second, they got the picture. Nonverbal communication, the way we used to get things done without words.
#5: DUNE TO THE MOON !!!
#6: Premium cloth microfiber dark-colored headliner that's puppy soft. Perfect for de-stressing before/during/after rough days at home or work or a worst-case scenario of working from home
#7: I may or may not tow a snowmobile or hunting/camping/overland gear trailer with this bad boy, but the OEM factory-installed: Tow Hitch Receiver looks great and creates another horizontal line in the back by cutting into the rear diffuser, eliminating some aluminum/light gray trim color and adding a nice black section back there. Trailer hitch covers will still allow some black on both sides which looks oh-so-good!
#8: SX is SEX without the E. Too soon for a joke about 90s Rave Culture?
#9: Harman really did a great job with the Harman/Kardon 10-speaker system. Sure it won't please the most OCD audiophiles, but this thing pumps and bumps and does everything I need it to do and more. Love it.
#10: the value: I personally think that the step up from SX to SX-P/T was well worth the additional cost. Plus, we're already getting amazing bang for the buck with our Tellurides from the get-go. All the interior touch points that I actually touch are perfect. Plastic seatbacks are actually ideal for me. I don't want my snowboard accidentally slipping out of the bag and cutting leather. Or my bike or camping/hunting gear either. The Maligator pups will have nothing to chew on the seat backs, right? Yes, the left stalk selector has a few rough edges on the plastic, but that's just being nit-picky. Where I put my left shoulder to the door handles to the dash, center console buttons, the comfy seats with just the right amount of padding for enough support but also comfortable enough to relax to Sounds of Nature or "Easy (like Sunday Morning)" and try not to drive too fast down the PCH.
#11: it's been fun interacting with y'all on the Telluride Forum, talking design, the great floor mat debate/discussion of 2020-2021, comparing notes, recommendations. Even when I get insulted from time to time, it's great to not have to use FB/IG/Twitter to have an old-school message board agree/disagree/debate/discuss Forum. I miss old-school 90s internet message boards and this is kind of nostalgia for me. Lovin' every minute thanks to y'all !!

@DarkMossJustin this such a great description and overview of why the sx-p is a great model! Regarding the rain-sense wipers, do u know how to turn them off?

 

[PassingTime]

SXP AWD Tow, had everything I wanted. I drive cars until they fall apart, or they can't be repaired reasonably, or they are totaled from a wreck or deer crash, etc. I learned that getting what I wanted never caused me to have second thoughts or want to upgrade or have buyers regret and wanting to trade up after a few months. I'm seeing here and on FB that happens a lot so for me the higher price now gets easier with age and I don't have to run right out and trade it in for what I really wanted. I understand now (after reading the forum and FB) there are a ton of those type of buyers never seem to get out from the upside down car value, never ending car buying experience and forever payments. I don't like to be in car buying hell (and payments) for years. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy owning new cars, I just like to get my hard earned moneys worth. I don't buy on a whim, I research, I ask questions, I test drive, I go home and research more then I test drive again because I don't like being surprised as soon as I get home with something I didn't know about the car I just plunked down $50 K for. I don't buy on impulse and so after all that I generally get exactly what I thought I was getting and I know exactly what that car has on it and how much it should cost and how I am going to pay for it. I like to know just as much and in the case of the Telluride I knew more about the car than the salesman before I walk in to buy. Most of the time it is a better equipped vehicle, and best bang for the buck. I spent over a year researching and test driving cars in this SUV group and kept coming back to this one. I tend to like the top trim levels and in the long run for me it only costs a little more to go first class.

 

[bruesjoh04]

Regarding the rain-sense wipers, do u know how to turn them off?

If they’re on auto, push the wiper stalk up one position.

It goes (from top to bottom): Off, Auto, Low, High. Mist is if you pull up when it’s already off.

______________________________

 

[idoc25]

We went with the SX prestige. HUD and rear seats that were heated/cooled were our primary wants.

 

[superk1977]

The prestige has already paid for itself because my kids love the heated/cooled seats in 2nd row. I did some driving on the highway yesterday (daytime and any might) and used the HDA... I am blown away at how good it was!! I went for a good 5 minutes at night not worrying and was shocked how safe u felt. My wife after driving it today is slowly becoming a believer...

 

[superk1977]

If they’re on auto, push the wiper stalk up one position.

It goes (from top to bottom): Off, Auto, Low, High. Mist is if you pull up when it’s already off.

Thanks!!

 

[KDasch]

Just a curious discussion on the trim levels. We already know why all of us have chosen the Telluride but what features on the various trim levels did you have to have or want to have. I'll start...

It's been 20 years since we have bought a car (stingy retirees here). So stepping into any new car nowadays was just a tad overwhelming . Whoa there, all those electronics and safety features! Just turning on the car was like stepping into the Tardis or Enterprise (yes, I'm a scifi fan). After alot of research and reading and looking at our budget, we decided that we really didn't need alot of the features on the higher trim levels. Yes, they would have been nice to have like that Nightfall edition (love that look) but just couldn't justify the prices and heck, we no longer care much on the looks. Must be the gray hair and wrinkles. Hell, we just upgraded to a smart phone from a flip phone this year (no cell service in our holler). So it all came down to AWD (necessity), heated front seats (old bones) and a sunroof (see old bones reason) and that pesky car payment. Bottom line=S trim AWD.

How about you? What were the features you had to have and/or nice to have?

Ahhh... a fellow Whovian

______________________________

 

[MyBad]

Interesting responses from everyone.

We initially ordered the gravity gray SX AWD with gray interior. A little while later, after a lot of deliberating, we canceled that order and changed to SX Nighfall Wolf Gray. Kia hadn't accepted our first order yet. I hope this didn't set our arrival date back too far. The dealer said only three orders were made at their dealership between our first and second orders.

Initially we were thinking EX but we also wanted 2nd row captain chairs. This would be an extra expense for the EX and figured we might as well get the SX with 2nd row captain chairs standard and also get surround view monitor and blind spot view monitor. I really wanted the surround view monitor.

We changed to the nightfall package because we love the wolf gray color with black lettering and grille. We were really wanting the gray seats but the wolf gray took that out of the picture.

We knew the LX and S trims would not work for us. Better for our marriage to have dual zone climate control. My wife also wanted the heated leather seats, she is always cold, and I won't be surprised if she uses heated seats in the summer.

We plan to keep this car a long time so we figured we would make sure we get everything we wanted. I hate the fact that we paid extra to have the wolf gray color because appearance wasn't one of our higher priorities. But ... wolf gray is pretty sweet.

 

[MyBad]

The prestige has already paid for itself because my kids love the heated/cooled seats in 2nd row. I did some driving on the highway yesterday (daytime and any might) and used the HDA... I am blown away at how good it was!! I went for a good 5 minutes at night not worrying and was shocked how safe u felt. My wife after driving it today is slowly becoming a believer...

Curious if you already applied your spray ceramic coating. If so, how do you like it and which brand did you use? I have been researching and becoming obsessed to a fault.

 

[Gorillamac]

Went with the LX, never had a sunroof and really don't think they are a match for Wisconsin weather. Other bells and whistles are cool, but just more things to have problems with as I usually keep my vehicles long term. Don't do much off road and have never had problems driving in the winter with FWD so went that route. So far so good, although I worry about the fuel filler door a few years down the road in the middle of winter, seems fragile.

 

[superk1977]

Curious if you already applied your spray ceramic coating. If so, how do you like it and which brand did you use? I have been researching and becoming obsessed to a fault.

No haven't applied yet. All of my wash items I ordered (Amazon) haven't been delivered yet. Still waiting in the wheel cleaner, wash matts, wash and wax soap. I did get my power washer though! Plus the roads have been kinda wet with all of the snow melting, and there was chance of rain this week. So hopefully, I can wash with pressure washer and apply the ceramic spray this week. Will post pics.