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New Member and my Telluride buying story

TWW

Active member
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
141
Reaction score
113
Points
43
Location
Long Island, NY
I tried to google a screen blackout issue for my Telluride and ended up finding this forum. I immediately got some help by browsing through the site and learned about the reset button!!! I ended up signing up as a new member!

My love for Kia Telluride started about 3 years ago during a visit to the NY International Auto Show where they showed the concept vehicle. I was leasing a 2017 Kia Sorento SXL AWD and was so happy with the car so this bigger Telluride caught my attention, and I thought this car may have a potential to replace my 14 year-old Toyota Sienna minivan. When the production vehicle came out during some Fashion show (if anyone remembered) I was a bit disappointed because the front looked quite different from the one showed in the concept vehicle (It had a more squarish grille with "4 eyes" in each headlamps, really reminded me of a Bentley).

It took me a long time to warm up to its look in production while comparing its features and reviews with the Hyundai Palisade. Eventually the push buttons gear shifter of the Palisade was a deal breaker for me so I started seriously shopping for the Telluride since summer of 2019. I know I want the SX AWD Dark Moss color with Prestige package so I checked out manufacturer's website daily with no luck (usually when the car showed up at the site, I called the dealer immediately it was either sold or already reserved). I insisted on not putting any deposits down for the next available car while visiting a few dealers where they claimed the car was available. The only real deal came was when I showed up at a dealer near Eastern Long Island NY checking out a car with Black Copper exterior (everything else matching my requirements).

I was hoping to see more "Copper" color for the real car but eventually it looked like a black car to me so I did not take it. Nonetheless one great takeaway from that experience was that if the dealer has the car in their lot and you showed up at the dealer, they really want to sell the car to you! It is because when I tried to leave the dealer after showing my disappointment with the color they offered the car to me at MSRP instead of $6k markup initially......). After this experience I was more determined to check out the manufacturer's website (almost daily), and kept calling the dealers when the ideal car showed up.

The miracle came when I found the perfect car on new years eve (12/31/2019), didn't sleep well the whole night and called the dealer late morning on New Year's Day. Surprisingly they were opened and told me the car was available. I told the telemarketer I have been cheated a number of times about the availability of the car and he told me he saw the car right in the showroom. So on New Years Day 2020 late morning I said goodbye to my family and drove alone across stateline (from Long Island NY to NJ LOL). Upon arrival I saw the car in the showroom and a salesman came to greet me. I told him I wanted a Dark Moss Telluride SX AWD Prestige but white interior (I lied, they had the exact dune brown leather I wanted lol).

So I "reluctantly" sat down and talked about deals. The salesman was very upfront and told me due to high demand this car has a $6K markup from MSRP. I expressed my "shocks and surprises" and told him I could never accept buying a car above MSRP and this car is not even a perfect car and wanted him to find a white interior for me (LOL). After excusing myself for 15-20 minutes checking out the car again, the salesman came back with an offer of $3K over MSRP. Again I showed my disappointment at the offer and excused myself again in the waiting room for around 10-15 minutes until the salesman came to me and gave me the offer of $2.5K over MSRP. Eventually the deal (48 months financing zero down) was still $4 over an even number and it took them another 10-15 minutes looking for me in the waiting room to give me the number I wanted (with Tier 1 0.9% financing secured).

I arrived the dealer around 12 noon that day and left the dealer at 5PM with the salesman driving my Telluride SX AWD Prestiage Dune Brown Interior to my home at 8:30PM. I think I was the happiest man on New Year's Day 2020 lol.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I tried to google a screen blackout issue for my Telluride and ended up finding this forum. I immediately got some help by browsing through the site and learned about the reset button!!! I ended up signing up as a new member!

My love for Kia Telluride started about 3 years ago during a visit to the NY International Auto Show where they showed the concept vehicle. I was leasing a 2017 Kia Sorento SXL AWD and was so happy with the car so this bigger Telluride caught my attention, and I thought this car may have a potential to replace my 14 year-old Toyota Sienna minivan. When the production vehicle came out during some Fashion show (if anyone remembered) I was a bit disappointed because the front looked quite different from the one showed in the concept vehicle (It had a more squarish grille with "4 eyes" in each headlamps, really reminded me of a Bentley).

It took me a long time to warm up to its look in production while comparing its features and reviews with the Hyundai Palisade. Eventually the push buttons gear shifter of the Palisade was a deal breaker for me so I started seriously shopping for the Telluride since summer of 2019. I know I want the SX AWD Dark Moss color with Prestige package so I checked out manufacturer's website daily with no luck (usually when the car showed up at the site, I called the dealer immediately it was either sold or already reserved). I insisted on not putting any deposits down for the next available car while visiting a few dealers where they claimed the car was available. The only real deal came was when I showed up at a dealer near Eastern Long Island NY checking out a car with Black Copper exterior (everything else matching my requirements).

I was hoping to see more "Copper" color for the real car but eventually it looked like a black car to me so I did not take it. Nonetheless one great takeaway from that experience was that if the dealer has the car in their lot and you showed up at the dealer, they really want to sell the car to you! It is because when I tried to leave the dealer after showing my disappointment with the color they offered the car to me at MSRP instead of $6k markup initially......). After this experience I was more determined to check out the manufacturer's website (almost daily), and kept calling the dealers when the ideal car showed up.

The miracle came when I found the perfect car on new years eve (12/31/2019), didn't sleep well the whole night and called the dealer late morning on New Year's Day. Surprisingly they were opened and told me the car was available. I told the telemarketer I have been cheated a number of times about the availability of the car and he told me he saw the car right in the showroom. So on New Years Day 2020 late morning I said goodbye to my family and drove alone across stateline (from Long Island NY to NJ LOL). Upon arrival I saw the car in the showroom and a salesman came to greet me. I told him I wanted a Dark Moss Telluride SX AWD Prestige but white interior (I lied, they had the exact dune brown leather I wanted lol).

So I "reluctantly" sat down and talked about deals. The salesman was very upfront and told me due to high demand this car has a $6K markup from MSRP. I expressed my "shocks and surprises" and told him I could never accept buying a car above MSRP and this car is not even a perfect car and wanted him to find a white interior for me (LOL). After excusing myself for 15-20 minutes checking out the car again, the salesman came back with an offer of $3K over MSRP. Again I showed my disappointment at the offer and excused myself again in the waiting room for around 10-15 minutes until the salesman came to me and gave me the offer of $2.5K over MSRP. Eventually the deal (48 months financing zero down) was still $4 over an even number and it took them another 10-15 minutes looking for me in the waiting room to give me the number I wanted (with Tier 1 0.9% financing secured).

I arrived the dealer around 12 noon that day and left the dealer at 5PM with the salesman driving my Telluride SX AWD Prestiage Dune Brown Interior to my home at 8:30PM. I think I was the happiest man on New Year's Day 2020 lol.
Welcome aboard! And thank you for signing up. I hope you don't mind, but I added some paragraphs to your post. That makes it easier for some of our old eyes to rear. :p In any event, that's one heck of a new year's story! Wow, that's great. You had some serious patience and waited out the best deal you could get. Anyway, I'm glad you did and I'm glad you're happy with the Telluride. And I'm glad you accidentally found this community! :)
 
Love your story!

Sounds like you found a unicorn since there are a ton of people on the forum looking for a Moss SXP with Dune interiors who have been on order wait lists for months! I was lucky enough to find a dealer on Long Island (smithtown kia) who offered my Telluride at MSRP since it was used as a test drive vehicle for a few months. But I also got the less ~prestigious~ LX trim in Sangria- but I went to Texas A&M so the maroon color is perfect for tailgating LOL.
 
Nice negotiating skills. Most buyers would’ve settled for asking price.
 




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