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101,122 miles review

DarkMossJustin

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 16, 2020
Messages
1,971
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Location
Camarillo
Long story short:

I still loving driving this thing basically everyday.

For those who want more details:

Well maintained with regular oil changes at the recommended 7,500 mile interval.

I’ve now switched to 6,000 miles between changes since my big 90,000 mile service, checkup.

Mobil 1 Full Synthetic, considering using the High Mileage variant or just sticking with what has worked well since I switched to Mobil 1 after my first free dealership oil change.

The rear shocks are great now after being replaced around 70,000 miles when I started getting the clunking noise and they went firm (no give, rough ride for a few thousand miles until I got the dealership service department to replace them.

I ran this car hard for the first 20,000 miles trying to shake out any flaws and it performed great. Thank God for Sport Mode and learning how best to manually adjust drive modes.

Smart Mode is probably fine for most people who are passive drivers, but really understanding the differences between Snow, Sport, Comfort, Eco and the AWD Lock is best for active drivers who want the most performance, fuel economy, balance, response out of your AWD Telly.

Snow Mode + Lock (active under 25 mph) is a lifesaver in winter/spring blizzards up on Donner Summit. Performed great with manual shifting gears to control speed/engine braking etc.

Sport Mode: the Telluride drives best in this mode. Feels planted, maximum responsiveness and control in both city and freeway driving, going up the mountain gives you that push, going down the mountain, gives you the maximum speed control and traction.

Eco Mode: great on long flat stretches of freeway where you can just feather the pedal and coast. Also good for roller coaster mode when going high-speed down a moderate grade.

I haven’t used Comfort (Default) or Smart Mode much besides breaking in the car when I first got it, but others seem to like it.

Windshield wipers: Bosch Focus or Bosch Icons for the front, I still go Kia OEM for the rear wiper.

Windex windshield fluid is the best dried splattered bug remover, works great down to 32F.

Dune Brown Napa Leather was still the best choice.

Can’t believe Kia even offered it for a couple years. Classier than my sisters’s Audi Q7’s brown leather seats.

Tires: Liked the Michelin Primacy Tour A/S that came with the car. Got over 70,000 miles out of mine because I’m a great driver and rotated every 7,500 whenever I changed oil.

Currently wearing Michelin CrossClimate 2 tires and they’re awesome, sticking with these from now on. Great rain and slush and snow/sand performance, the tread pattern is superior for many adverse conditions. Not noticing a huge drop off in fuel efficiency but it’s slight.

Also, they can’t be rotated like Primacy Tours because they’re directional tires.

Everything else besides the shock issue has been minor, no major problems with this car.

100% satisfied with my daily driver since December 2nd, 2020.
 
Love my Michelin Cross Climate 2s as well. I am on my 2nd Telluride. 1st one was 2022 SX Prestige AWD. Drive mostly Highway miles in Eco mode and Sport mode for on ramps :) I use Smart mode for Towing the 16' fishing boat. I change my oil ever 7,500 and also get the tires rotated. Only issues I have had was a bad rear seat harness where the seat would not fold with button and 1 front sensor for parking sensor went out well within warranty period. Traded it in for a 2025 when it hit 78,000 miles. New 2025 has 8300 miles on it already. Love the Mahogony interior. No issues so far.
 
Long story short:

I still loving driving this thing basically everyday.

For those who want more details:

Well maintained with regular oil changes at the recommended 7,500 mile interval.

I’ve now switched to 6,000 miles between changes since my big 90,000 mile service, checkup.

Mobil 1 Full Synthetic, considering using the High Mileage variant or just sticking with what has worked well since I switched to Mobil 1 after my first free dealership oil change.

The rear shocks are great now after being replaced around 70,000 miles when I started getting the clunking noise and they went firm (no give, rough ride for a few thousand miles until I got the dealership service department to replace them.

I ran this car hard for the first 20,000 miles trying to shake out any flaws and it performed great. Thank God for Sport Mode and learning how best to manually adjust drive modes.

Smart Mode is probably fine for most people who are passive drivers, but really understanding the differences between Snow, Sport, Comfort, Eco and the AWD Lock is best for active drivers who want the most performance, fuel economy, balance, response out of your AWD Telly.

Snow Mode + Lock (active under 25 mph) is a lifesaver in winter/spring blizzards up on Donner Summit. Performed great with manual shifting gears to control speed/engine braking etc.

Sport Mode: the Telluride drives best in this mode. Feels planted, maximum responsiveness and control in both city and freeway driving, going up the mountain gives you that push, going down the mountain, gives you the maximum speed control and traction.

Eco Mode: great on long flat stretches of freeway where you can just feather the pedal and coast. Also good for roller coaster mode when going high-speed down a moderate grade.

I haven’t used Comfort (Default) or Smart Mode much besides breaking in the car when I first got it, but others seem to like it.

Windshield wipers: Bosch Focus or Bosch Icons for the front, I still go Kia OEM for the rear wiper.

Windex windshield fluid is the best dried splattered bug remover, works great down to 32F.

Dune Brown Napa Leather was still the best choice.

Can’t believe Kia even offered it for a couple years. Classier than my sisters’s Audi Q7’s brown leather seats.

Tires: Liked the Michelin Primacy Tour A/S that came with the car. Got over 70,000 miles out of mine because I’m a great driver and rotated every 7,500 whenever I changed oil.

Currently wearing Michelin CrossClimate 2 tires and they’re awesome, sticking with these from now on. Great rain and slush and snow/sand performance, the tread pattern is superior for many adverse conditions. Not noticing a huge drop off in fuel efficiency but it’s slight.

Also, they can’t be rotated like Primacy Tours because they’re directional tires.

Everything else besides the shock issue has been minor, no major problems with this car.

100% satisfied with my daily driver since December 2nd, 2020.
Thanks for posting something positive.
If you listen to all the nay-sayers, they're all junk.
Most with something positive, stay silent.
 
Thank you for the positive post. I hit my 1 year point last month and I love my Telluride. I recently drove from Seattle to Salt Lake City and got great mileage. Average 23.4 on the way to SLC and 26.1 on the trip back. I basically drive about 5 mph over the speed limit, which means 85 mph from the Oregon/Idaho border to Ogden UT. I was impressed with how much the driver assistance package made the whole trip easier. I drove home in about 13 hours and felt more rested than anytime I've driven this trip. I had enough energy to wash the car before it got dark.

I installed the CrossClimate 2s after about 5,000 miles. They are great tires. On my trip out, I drove for about 4 hours in heavy rain, including a couple of hours in the Columbia River Gorge. The roads are really bad through the gorge and cars can really hydroplane bad in places. I had no problems with the Telluride on the CrossClimates. I had bought them after a really bad trip over Snoqualmie Pass in which it hydroplaned badly on the OEM tires. I also installed the Bosch Icon's just before the trip and they were awesome. Highly recommended!

I'm doing oil changes at 1,500, 5,000 and then every 5,000 miles with Mobil1 and the OEM filter. I hate cartridge filters.

I appreciate your thoughts on the best transmission settings. I've been using Smart mode most of the time.
______________________________
 
Who has gotten good at turning the drive mode knob two clicks clockwise to get to Eco and two clicks counterclockwise to get back to Sport, bypassing Comfort?

My only suggestion for improvement is that I wish the drive mode knob clicks were crisper, more positive, and audible, like on a quality old-school manual camera or on a quality riflescope’s elevation and windage turrets.

Still loving this Telluride.

Great on road trips all over the Western States.

2nd row passenger comfort, roomy, spacious, plenty of headroom, legroom.

Benefits of being big and boxy = Lots of capacity and comfort.
 




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