Where does everyone get their ETAs from? I ordered my Telluride a couple weeks ago with an 18-20 week wait. No estimates on when it could be ready or anything like that..
I’m pretty sure it will come from the dealer directly. If you look at the signatures of those who have ETA’s, they are mostly a month or so after the order. Probably won’t get anything at least until it’s picked up in KFOS.
Correct. Once the order is in KFOS and accepted the dealer is given an initial ETA. Prior to that is just a guess....hence the 18-20 weeks. As it gets closer to production and as production starts, the dealer will receive updated ETAs for delivery. Once the vehicle is actually in production you should be roughly 3-6 weeks out from delivery. Keep in touch with your salesman every so often to get the latest ETA and as you get closer they can give you a VIN.
I can also validate Lev Kia’s philosophy. They choose to not overprice based off MSRP like other dealerships. What they are doing is building a trusted customer base and spreading the word of their fair and honest business practices. When Tellurides are more available, my guess is people will continue to shop there. I know I would choose to buy from someone who operated like Lev did during a period when competitive dealerships were squeezing customers because they felt like they could.Ok, let's keep this thread going - Lev Kia KEEPS killin' it!
I just got off the phone with Ken, and finally put in my order for an EXP / GG / Grey interior / AWD.
As all have said, great guy, super knowledgeable and transparent about the entire ordering process. We both commented about how great @jenfowler78 is, and appreciate her Telluride advocacy
Now the waiting game begins, but hoping to get into KFOS come the November ordering timeframe.
One small detail: for out of state orders, Ken let me know that there's a $250 fee that is paid to a company they work with to register the car, get the plates, "purify the title", etc. This was new to me, and am unsure if others ordering from out of state have encountered this? He said I could possibly get out of it if I brought my own financing (or paid cash). Tax / Title is around $100 in Rhode Island, so the overall fee isn't crazy to me, but I honestly just thought I could drive it from MA to RI on their temporary plates and figure out the rest at the DMV. Anybody have any insight on that part?
Overall though, super excited! Ken picked up the phone when I called the dealership number, and quickly convinced me that this would indeed be an "anxiety free" process, to use his words
I noticed your signature says you got sidesteps. Did you have them factory installed or did the dealer do it? I ordered without since I knew dealer could do it if necessary. Do you actually use them or did you just get them for the look?
I ordered thru manufacture. The cost was 690. Otherwise the dealer will charge you for install after the fact. I got them because imo it makes it look more premium. But it does have some functionality such as allowing you to access the roof for cleaning. Also, my mom is short and she will use them to step up into the vehicle much easier when I take her places. All in all it was a good purchase. They are quality steps as well.
Good to know. I'll see how I like it without. My current and previous SUVs all had it and I liked the look. But I really only used it to clean the roof and my kids use it now to climb in, but I'll see how they manage without.
Doug - I placed my order on 9/3/20 was also told 18-22 weeks by Ken Russian (found him thanks to this forum). I too have not heard anything but given what I've read on these pages I'm not worrying about it because it's clear this is a process that requires some patience.
That was an old post of his. He got super lucky and already has his Telluride
What trim did you order?
Congrats! Yours is not the first post on this forum as a whole (not just Lev) where I've seen floor mats mentioned. That VIN (I'm assuming) is the one from 10/20 on Failcat?
Yes, it is!
Nice. I was curious if I would find out my VIN before it shows up in Failcat but since you found out 10 days after, I guess not. Maybe yours was a dealer allocation and they were able to fill your order sooner. Either way, that's great news! My first ETA after KFOS was 11/23 so I'm hoping mine pops up in Failcat within the next week.
I was just looking at Lev's VIN's in Failcat and noticed the same thing, most of them have carpeted floors mats. When I spoke with Ken earlier this week, he recommended not adding a ton of add-ons and also providing an initial discount to their parts store to buy anything I would have wanted ordered. My order supposedly has no add-ons.
Random question: Looking at your signature, I'm wondering why you didn't make it into the July or August KFOS windows. Did Ken mention if he had a wait for EX-P's ahead of you at the time?
When I ordered, there were 55 orders in line (total, not just my trim). The 20 week estimate wasn't far off. It took about 12 weeks to get into KFOS and my first official ETA is about 8 weeks after that. Also just a minor note, but you mentioned EX-P's, from my understanding of how this works, the P is not considered in allocations. It's just the Trim level and whether it's AWD or FWD.
How did you know how many orders were in line? Second newbie question is what is KFOS? Probably Kia...something lol.
When I first contacted the dealership I asked and they knew how many orders there were. There is an informative thread on this site that describes the ordering process with KFOS (Kia Forward Ordering System, I think). At a very high level, there is KDealer dealer ordering system that dealers enter your order into. Then once per month, KFOS picks up orders from KDealer on a first-in first out basis based on the Trim - AWD/FWD and how many cars Kia is allocating that dealer for that month. So as an example, of those 55 ahead of me, let's say maybe 20 of them were EX AWD trims and I was 20th in line. If Lev got an allocation of 7 EX-AWD for July and 8 EX-AWD for August and 7 EX-AWD in September, mine would go in the September allocation. Not sure if that helps or not.
