Gun shy...

[klledoux]

Hi All! I have been in the market for about two years looking for a replacement for my 2011 Ford Explorer Platinum. I have looked t every third row SUV on the market and am being picky but, I am intrigued by the Telluride. I was burnt by many, many issues with a first year redesign on the Explorer, we spent a lot of time in those first 18 months at the dealership and it still has some lingering issues. I wondered if there is a thread here about any issues with Tellurides coming off the line? This may be something I consider leasing, just in case. I have never leased and will go ten years with my car but I drive less than 10k a year. So any initial feedback from new Telluride drivers on mechanical issues? I have seen a few comments online at review sites like Edmunds so am weary. Thanks so very much for any insight you can share! Kim

 

[Gwyn]

So, to be honest, every first model release is going to have some bugs. The telluride will have some bugs. If you are afraid of first build bugs, then hold off for a year. But if you are expecting the level of a bugs that you would find with the Ford explorer, then don't worry, it will not be close. All car manufactures have improved reliability in the last ten years. Ford, Kia, subaru, toyota...all of them. In a survey of 2015 cars, in 2018, found that kia was 5th place with 122 problems per 100 cars. Lexus was in first with 99 per 100. Ford was in 17th place with 152. But keep in mind those numbers include reported problems like "bluetooth will not pair" and " built-in voice recognition" does not work. The industry average in 2011 of reliability was about 9% today it is 3%. Kia is always in the top 5 most reliable cars.

Would I worry about problems with first production runs, no. With a good warranty I would not worry about it. But if you don't want to be tester for a car, then I would wait a year.