First Impressions (Telluride vs Sorento)

[Alan]

My wife and I test drove a new 2021 Sorento SX Prestige a few weeks back and today FINALLY we were able to test drive the holy grail Telluride! It hasn't been easy to find a dealer in our area that had Tellurides available for a test drive but today we got behind the wheel of an EX Gravity Gray with Black Leather fwd (no awd available for test drive) The first thing to note was before we even got near the Telluride was the whole speech about the continuing high demand and the "chip shortage" and that "EX model on lot are 5k over sticker ($46 and change) and the SX on lot are sold but for reference are sticker plus $10k." Wow... we just looked at each other and gasped! Are we at a Kia dealership? lol.. Later we saw an SX-P NightFall window sticker showing $61K!! Everybody and their grandmother must be buying these things

We were impressed overall with our EX tester. It was interesting to checkout, test drive and compare to the new Sorento. For us personally, we liked the Telluride more except for the crazy prices!! The Telluride was peppier than we thought it would be for a large vehicle, not as swift as the new Sorento but it's power seemed to come on in a more relaxed linear fashion. The Sorento is jumping to go with the 2.5 Turbo which many would enjoy but it added to it's overly eager busy ride which also felt a bit more firmly tuned than the Telluride. The Telluride is obviously considerably bigger but was still relatively maneuverable and felt easy and relaxing to drive. It's easy to see the appeal, the design in and out the space, safety and tech, driving experience etc. We also liked the The one thing other than the inflated prices that we were a little concerned about was seat comfort. I'm not sure if the SX model with the Nappa leather seats are anymore padded than the EX or other models? but we both thought that the seat cushions could use a little more padding. It wouldn't be a deal breaker for us but we kind of came away thinking the seats look more comfortable than they really are! Maybe we were over thinking it! We had also a couple of hours beforehand test drove a 2021 Honda Ridgeline (a whole different story!) and those front seats were extremely comfortable, not as well bolstered as the Telluride but for us we felt much better cushioning in the seats!

Overall we found the Telluride to be a great vehicle on initial impression and a pleasure to drive. We would personally pick it over the new Sorento mainly for how it drives, the additional space and call us old fashioned but we preferred the traditional instrument cluster and info screen over the "newer digital screens" of the Sorento. They may look "cool" but we both thought the traditional instrument cluster was easier on your eyes to look at! Also the Sorento had a bit too much piano black trim around the center console and as a result a lot of glare off all the screens and this shiny gloss piano black trim.

The biggest hurdles now seem to be price and availability especially in the SX trim which we'd probably look towards getting. As great as the Telluride is, at some price point the value proposition gets watered down. We have a lot to think about but may wait for the 2022 at this stage. Hopefully the long wait times for orders and the huge markups will eventually ease for all us potential Telluride owners

 

[Tortuga07]

My wife and I test drove a new 2021 Sorento SX Prestige a few weeks back and today FINALLY we were able to test drive the holy grail Telluride! It hasn't been easy to find a dealer in our area that had Tellurides available for a test drive but today we got behind the wheel of an EX Gravity Gray with Black Leather fwd (no awd available for test drive) The first thing to note was before we even got near the Telluride was the whole speech about the continuing high demand and the "chip shortage" and that "EX model on lot are 5k over sticker ($46 and change) and the SX on lot are sold but for reference are sticker plus $10k." Wow... we just looked at each other and gasped! Are we at a Kia dealership? lol.. Later we saw an SX-P NightFall window sticker showing $61K!! Everybody and their grandmother must be buying these things

We were impressed overall with our EX tester. It was interesting to checkout, test drive and compare to the new Sorento. For us personally, we liked the Telluride more except for the crazy prices!! The Telluride was peppier than we thought it would be for a large vehicle, not as swift as the new Sorento but it's power seemed to come on in a more relaxed linear fashion. The Sorento is jumping to go with the 2.5 Turbo which many would enjoy but it added to it's overly eager busy ride which also felt a bit more firmly tuned than the Telluride. The Telluride is obviously considerably bigger but was still relatively maneuverable and felt easy and relaxing to drive. It's easy to see the appeal, the design in and out the space, safety and tech, driving experience etc. We also liked the The one thing other than the inflated prices that we were a little concerned about was seat comfort. I'm not sure if the SX model with the Nappa leather seats are anymore padded than the EX or other models? but we both thought that the seat cushions could use a little more padding. It wouldn't be a deal breaker for us but we kind of came away thinking the seats look more comfortable than they really are! Maybe we were over thinking it! We had also a couple of hours beforehand test drove a 2021 Honda Ridgeline (a whole different story!) and those front seats were extremely comfortable, not as well bolstered as the Telluride but for us we felt much better cushioning in the seats!

Overall we found the Telluride to be a great vehicle on initial impression and a pleasure to drive. We would personally pick it over the new Sorento mainly for how it drives, the additional space and call us old fashioned but we preferred the traditional instrument cluster and info screen over the "newer digital screens" of the Sorento. They may look "cool" but we both thought the traditional instrument cluster was easier on your eyes to look at! Also the Sorento had a bit too much piano black trim around the center console and as a result a lot of glare off all the screens and this shiny gloss piano black trim.

The biggest hurdles now seem to be price and availability especially in the SX trim which we'd probably look towards getting. As great as the Telluride is, at some price point the value proposition gets watered down. We have a lot to think about but may wait for the 2022 at this stage. Hopefully the long wait times for orders and the huge markups will eventually ease for all us potential Telluride owners

If you can find an MSRP dealer in your area with refundable deposits then you might as well order one now. You can always cancel the order if the wait is too long.

 

[Wiluride]

Excellent comparison..

Personally I just could never really stomach paying over MSRP, at least not like $5000 let alone $10,000, still I know there are many locations still selling Telluride at MSRP.. I would go 1000 miles away or more before I'd pay some ridiculous amount above MSRP.

Personally I really need the 5000 lb towing capacity of the Telluride so the new Sorento was never an option. I did previously own a 2019 Sorento AWD with the same engine and towing capacity as the Telluride... so I was strongly considering a good used 2019 Sorento. I actually recently test drove an extremely well kept 2019 Sorento with top level trim. It tempted me very much. ( my previously owned Sorento was a mid level trim and was totaled after an accident ). The used Sorento was darn near 1/2 the price of the Telluride I bought... so my decision to buy the Telluride wasn't easy.

Of course the longer warranty on the brand new Telluride was a major factor in my choice, but... the Telluride is also bigger and slightly more comfortable than the 2019 Sorento too.

anyway, good luck on finding a Telluride at MSRP. I know you can if you tey... and I believe it will be worth the effort to find a Telluride at MSRP

 

[BasilFawlty]

I would go 1000 miles away or more before I'd pay some ridiculous amount above MSRP.

I rented a one-way rental car and drove 10+ hours to Texas to buy mine at MSRP (actually $400 off MSRP since I got veteran’s discount).

______________________________

 

[kcwjr1948]

I flew to Denver to buy mine after a 5 month wait after ordering at MSRP. Then enjoyed the 7 hour drive home. It can be done if you have the patience.

 

[Alan]

I rented a one-way rental car and drove 10+ hours to Texas to buy mine at MSRP (actually $400 off MSRP since I got veteran’s discount).

How was the process buying out of state? Did it add a lot of extra steps and time to get your Telluride? thx for your response!

 

[PittPa]

Having driven out of state for almost every preowned car I purchased, the inconveniences for a day or so far are minor compared to the benefits of the car you will own for years. Call me different, but I actually liked the adventure and the quest.

 

[Alan]

If you can find an MSRP dealer in your area with refundable deposits then you might as well order one now. You can always cancel the order if the wait is too long.

I know that's the big question! Finding the model we would want at a fair price with a way out if the wait went on months and months. Also I'm thinking at this stage of the year we're probably only 4-5 months out from the 2022's. If we're willing to wait this long maybe the 2022 model will have a few new color choices and minor updates worth waiting for! It will be interesting to see how long this "Selluride Craze" continues, I've never seen or heard of anything like this in the auto industry especially for a mainstream brand vehicle. It certainly is the exception to the rule. Back in 2019 before the Telluride wave hit an SX non prestige could be got for $42k and change no problem, that didn't last long. People paying 61K for a fully loaded one is out of control imho

______________________________

 

[BasilFawlty]

How was the process buying out of state? Did it add a lot of extra steps and time to get your Telluride? thx for your response!

Actually it was very simple and painless. I had done some research to see which dealers might be selling without a ridiculous markup. I ended up calling several places that were within "reasonable" driving distance (I was ok with up to 10-12 hours one-way). I ended up with Central Kia of Plano. Once they (Jordan Garrett) told me they would order for me at MSRP, I put a $1000 deposit down with a debit card over the phone and told him exactly what I wanted: Dark Moss SX with Butterscotch, AWD NightFall (non-Prestige) with Tow Package, carpeted mats, cargo cover and cargo net. Actually, since I'm a veteran, KIA had, at the time, a $400 military discount for active duty or veterans (no idea if they still have that discount but if you're a vet be sure to ask). I just had to take a copy of my DD-214 to give them.

We had a small snag on taxes because their system was telling them NM taxes were more than what they were for a new car (They were looking at 8+% gross receipts tax for NM but tax on new cars here is only 4%). I sent them a link to NM Tax and Revenue web site showing the tax on new cars and they agreed so I only paid the 4% (plus very reasonable processing and doc fee). They took care of working with a title company local to my area to get me the title - that took a few weeks but was pretty painless. The title company took care of getting me my title and my registration.

Full disclosure - I ended up not financing with them (though they really really wanted me to) as I had decided to just pay cash (I didn't tell them that right away as I wasn't sure yet whether I wanted to finance or not). Had I not paid cash I probably would have financed with them since the rates at the time were pretty reasonable. The finance guy mentioned I could get an additional discount if I financed but I didn't feel pressured at all. Also, to my surprise, after a couple weeks, I received a check from the dealer in the amount of about $35. I had no idea why, so I called them and the lady told me it was because they had over-estimated the cost of getting the Title and Registration through the title company, so they sent me a refund for the over-charge. That was a nice surprise.

So in summary, the process was pretty painless. As for time to get my car - that was a good news story. When I ordered the car (end of August 2020), Jordan informed me it might be several months (maybe 6) before I got the car. I was fully expecting to wait well into 2021 before expecting a call, but to my surprise, I got a call I think in early October and was told my car had left the factory and would be there at the dealer in a few days. My total wait from order to delivery was just under 2 months (53 days to be exact).

I rented a car (a Jeep Cherokee as it turned out) and drove to Plano and arrived on that Friday about an hour before they closed. Once there, the paperwork only took about 20 minutes to complete and I handed them a cashiers check for the agreed to total and got a Texas Temp tag. Jordan, my sales person, gave me a very thorough run through of all the systems (he was very good and very patient with all my dumb questions). Did I mention they threw in a complete set of all-weather OEM floor mats at no charge? That was another nice surprise. The last thing I needed to do was get my rental car to the Enterprise car rental place out at the airport. For that, Jordan drove my Telly to the rental place while I followed in the rental, then he drove us back to the dealership. By this time it was well past their closing time and I was ready to drive back to NM. As we were saying our goodbyes, I handed Jordan an envelope with $100 cash as a gratuity for doing such a great job.

I started the drive back and at around 11PM, somewhere between Wichita Falls and Amarillo, I pulled into a rest area, put the seats down, and crawled into a sleeping bag! I was back on the road again before sunup the next morning (Saturday). As the sun started to rise, I noticed that the sky was especially pretty, so I decided to pull off the highway onto some ranch road and take a picture of my new Telly with the sunrise as a backdrop (I had taken my DSLR camera with me). This was more than you probably wanted too know, but I was on a roll

 

[Tortuga07]

"Actually it was very simple and painless"
I like that you started with this before writing a novel.
Great story though.

Buying a Telluride is like planning a Vacation.
Two groups of people:
Those who love the process of planning every detail and waiting for their perfect vacation, get a Telluride.
Those who settle for the first preplanned tour package they see, settle for a Palisade.

 

[Alan]

Actually it was very simple and painless. I had done some research to see which dealers might be selling without a ridiculous markup. I ended up calling several places that were within "reasonable" driving distance (I was ok with up to 10-12 hours one-way). I ended up with Central Kia of Plano. Once they (Jordan Garrett) told me they would order for me at MSRP, I put a $1000 deposit down with a debit card over the phone and told him exactly what I wanted: Dark Moss SX with Butterscotch, AWD NightFall (non-Prestige) with Tow Package, carpeted mats, cargo cover and cargo net. Actually, since I'm a veteran, KIA had, at the time, a $400 military discount for active duty or veterans (no idea if they still have that discount but if you're a vet be sure to ask). I just had to take a copy of my DD-214 to give them.

We had a small snag on taxes because their system was telling them NM taxes were more than what they were for a new car (They were looking at 8+% gross receipts tax for NM but tax on new cars here is only 4%). I sent them a link to NM Tax and Revenue web site showing the tax on new cars and they agreed so I only paid the 4% (plus very reasonable processing and doc fee). They took care of working with a title company local to my area to get me the title - that took a few weeks but was pretty painless. The title company took care of getting me my title and my registration.

Full disclosure - I ended up not financing with them (though they really really wanted me to) as I had decided to just pay cash (I didn't tell them that right away as I wasn't sure yet whether I wanted to finance or not). Had I not paid cash I probably would have financed with them since the rates at the time were pretty reasonable. The finance guy mentioned I could get an additional discount if I financed but I didn't feel pressured at all. Also, to my surprise, after a couple weeks, I received a check from the dealer in the amount of about $35. I had no idea why, so I called them and the lady told me it was because they had over-estimated the cost of getting the Title and Registration through the title company, so they sent me a refund for the over-charge. That was a nice surprise.

So in summary, the process was pretty painless. As for time to get my car - that was a good news story. When I ordered the car (end of August 2020), Jordan informed me it might be several months (maybe 6) before I got the car. I was fully expecting to wait well into 2021 before expecting a call, but to my surprise, I got a call I think in early October and was told my car had left the factory and would be there at the dealer in a few days. My total wait from order to delivery was just under 2 months (53 days to be exact).

I rented a car (a Jeep Cherokee as it turned out) and drove to Plano and arrived on that Friday about an hour before they closed. Once there, the paperwork only took about 20 minutes to complete and I handed them a cashiers check for the agreed to total and got a Texas Temp tag. Jordan, my sales person, gave me a very thorough run through of all the systems (he was very good and very patient with all my dumb questions). Did I mention they threw in a complete set of all-weather OEM floor mats at no charge? That was another nice surprise. The last thing I needed to do was get my rental car to the Enterprise car rental place out at the airport. For that, Jordan drove my Telly to the rental place while I followed in the rental, then he drove us back to the dealership. By this time it was well past their closing time and I was ready to drive back to NM. As we were saying our goodbyes, I handed Jordan an envelope with $100 cash as a gratuity for doing such a great job.

I started the drive back and at around 11PM, somewhere between Wichita Falls and Amarillo, I pulled into a rest area, put the seats down, and crawled into a sleeping bag! I was back on the road again before sunup the next morning (Saturday). As the sun started to rise, I noticed that the sky was especially pretty, so I decided to pull off the highway onto some ranch road and take a picture of my new Telly with the sunrise as a backdrop (I had taken my DSLR camera with me). This was more than you probably wanted too know, but I was on a roll

View attachment 18353

Awesome story, just read it to my wife! You were definitely determined to get what you want and seems like the process went very well. Thanks for sharing! Great photo too, Kia could use that in a promo

 

[BasilFawlty]

Kia could use that in a promo

I actually sent a framed copy to my salesman

______________________________

 

[whatthewhat]

One thing to note is that Kia already took the last orders for 2021 Tellurides. Everyone on waitlists at this point are waiting for 2022s. Even if you found a dealer with a short waitlist now, you likely will not get a car until after August or September at earliest. Many dealers selling without markups have months long waitlists at this point.

There are dealers who are willing to sell without exorbitant mark ups and are willing to ship from out of state. We are waiting for one through NowCar, which includes shipping to your front door. When we joined the waitlist two months ago, we were #4 for an SX AWD and we aren't expecting to get our car until August. Others here have posted that list is now 12+ deep.

 

[Alan]

One thing to note is that Kia already took the last orders for 2021 Tellurides. Everyone on waitlists at this point are waiting for 2022s. Even if you found a dealer with a short waitlist now, you likely will not get a car until after August or September at earliest. Many dealers selling without markups have months long waitlists at this point.

There are dealers who are willing to sell without exorbitant mark ups and are willing to ship from out of state. We are waiting for one through NowCar, which includes shipping to your front door. When we joined the waitlist two months ago, we were #4 for an SX AWD and we aren't expecting to get our car until August. Others here have posted that list is now 12+ deep.

Thanks for the information and I hope it all goes well for you. It’s still baffling to me that the demand for a mainstream albeit a very good one is still so high over two years later! It also looks like pretty much everybody wants the same trim, the SX-P with or without the Nightfall package. So with the manufacturing issues and crazy demand for this trim customers seem to be there own worst enemy and pushing the price often well over 50k for a vehicle that was supposed to sell at top trim for around 48k when it launched! I think there’s talk Kia may up the 2022 price by $1500 across the board too!

 

[tucker]

Excellent comparison..

Personally I just could never really stomach paying over MSRP, at least not like $5000 let alone $10,000, still I know there are many locations still selling Telluride at MSRP.. I would go 1000 miles away or more before I'd pay some ridiculous amount above MSRP.

Personally I really need the 5000 lb towing capacity of the Telluride so the new Sorento was never an option. I did previously own a 2019 Sorento AWD with the same engine and towing capacity as the Telluride... so I was strongly considering a good used 2019 Sorento. I actually recently test drove an extremely well kept 2019 Sorento with top level trim. It tempted me very much. ( my previously owned Sorento was a mid level trim and was totaled after an accident ). The used Sorento was darn near 1/2 the price of the Telluride I bought... so my decision to buy the Telluride wasn't easy.

Of course the longer warranty on the brand new Telluride was a major factor in my choice, but... the Telluride is also bigger and slightly more comfortable than the 2019 Sorento too.

anyway, good luck on finding a Telluride at MSRP. I know you can if you tey... and I believe it will be worth the effort to find a Telluride at MSRP

Hi Wiluride - you mention you need the 5000 lb towing. I haven't checked the blog recently but a while back I was researching something for my 2020 Telluride and came across a LOT of posts bout the towing capacity, in reality, is only 3500 lb. If not too late (like you already are trying to tow that much), I would research it before you do possible damage. Apparently the 5000# spec is not accurate. I'm not sure if it was all models or just a single model. Good luck.

 

[Tortuga07]

Hi Wiluride - you mention you need the 5000 lb towing. I haven't checked the blog recently but a while back I was researching something for my 2020 Telluride and came across a LOT of posts bout the towing capacity, in reality, is only 3500 lb. If not too late (like you already are trying to tow that much), I would research it before you do possible damage. Apparently the 5000# spec is not accurate. I'm not sure if it was all models or just a single model. Good luck.

It can tow 5000lbs. But like with any vehicle you need to take more precautions if you're towing near its limits.

______________________________

 

[DarkMossJustin]

My wife and I test drove a new 2021 Sorento SX Prestige a few weeks back and today FINALLY we were able to test drive the holy grail Telluride! It hasn't been easy to find a dealer in our area that had Tellurides available for a test drive but today we got behind the wheel of an EX Gravity Gray with Black Leather fwd (no awd available for test drive) The first thing to note was before we even got near the Telluride was the whole speech about the continuing high demand and the "chip shortage" and that "EX model on lot are 5k over sticker ($46 and change) and the SX on lot are sold but for reference are sticker plus $10k." Wow... we just looked at each other and gasped! Are we at a Kia dealership? lol.. Later we saw an SX-P NightFall window sticker showing $61K!! Everybody and their grandmother must be buying these things

We were impressed overall with our EX tester. It was interesting to checkout, test drive and compare to the new Sorento. For us personally, we liked the Telluride more except for the crazy prices!! The Telluride was peppier than we thought it would be for a large vehicle, not as swift as the new Sorento but it's power seemed to come on in a more relaxed linear fashion. The Sorento is jumping to go with the 2.5 Turbo which many would enjoy but it added to it's overly eager busy ride which also felt a bit more firmly tuned than the Telluride. The Telluride is obviously considerably bigger but was still relatively maneuverable and felt easy and relaxing to drive. It's easy to see the appeal, the design in and out the space, safety and tech, driving experience etc. We also liked the The one thing other than the inflated prices that we were a little concerned about was seat comfort. I'm not sure if the SX model with the Nappa leather seats are anymore padded than the EX or other models? but we both thought that the seat cushions could use a little more padding. It wouldn't be a deal breaker for us but we kind of came away thinking the seats look more comfortable than they really are! Maybe we were over thinking it! We had also a couple of hours beforehand test drove a 2021 Honda Ridgeline (a whole different story!) and those front seats were extremely comfortable, not as well bolstered as the Telluride but for us we felt much better cushioning in the seats!

Overall we found the Telluride to be a great vehicle on initial impression and a pleasure to drive. We would personally pick it over the new Sorento mainly for how it drives, the additional space and call us old fashioned but we preferred the traditional instrument cluster and info screen over the "newer digital screens" of the Sorento. They may look "cool" but we both thought the traditional instrument cluster was easier on your eyes to look at! Also the Sorento had a bit too much piano black trim around the center console and as a result a lot of glare off all the screens and this shiny gloss piano black trim.

The biggest hurdles now seem to be price and availability especially in the SX trim which we'd probably look towards getting. As great as the Telluride is, at some price point the value proposition gets watered down. We have a lot to think about but may wait for the 2022 at this stage. Hopefully the long wait times for orders and the huge markups will eventually ease for all us potential Telluride owners

Telly and patience FTW !!

 

[DarkMossJustin]

Nice write-up.

If you end up going SX w/ Prestige Package, might as well go Dune to the Moon !!

Dune Brown Interior Feedback

Hello! I'm leaning to ordering Boss Moss with Dune Brown Interior...of course I have seen neither in person and am shooting from the hip. Wondering if people could send me pictures if they have this setup or just a rough idea of how they like their interior. I believe @jw_tx21 has this combo...

tellurideforum.org

Dune Brown Interior Feedback

Got a call from dealer today who told me the Nappa leather (I ordered Dune Brown) is having supply chain issues and my 2021 SXP will now be delayed again. This is my 3rd delay since my February order - First June, then July, then August - Now October. I am a bit of a skeptic on the delay...

tellurideforum.org

Dune Brown Interior Feedback

After 1 month of ownership. Still lovin’ the cozy upscale Dune Brown interior :)

tellurideforum.org

* Dune Brown Nappa Leather seats w/ the Dark Gray premium cloth microfiber headliner is exclusive only to SX Prestige Package (USA only, sorry Canada)

 

[Wiluride]

If a Telluride wasn't capable of towing 5000 lbs, there will be class action law suits.

I have not towed more than 800 lbs yet. However I have no doubt it can pull that much.

 

[tucker]

If a Telluride wasn't capable of towing 5000 lbs, there will be class action law suits.

I have not towed more than 800 lbs yet. However I have no doubt it can pull that much.

I'm just reporting about extensive threads I read about this.