New user, potential Telluride purchaser (soon), have questions, concerns about Kia brand

[tobidog]

We had a 2010 Kia Soul, the first generation. After 8 years we sold it, 37 K miles, 30 minutes after I posted on Craig List the first caller bought it.
The only reason I sold it was the lack of rear view camera - heated seats.
Besides regular maintenance we had a front marker bulb gone bad, (not the headlight) nothing else.
We have two Hyundais now and neither one these three vehicles ever gave us any trouble.
I wanted a Honda Ridgeline, but a week on their forums made me sober up quickly. And I was a Honda tech before retirement.
I got better treatment from the various Kia / Hyundai dealers than when we had Hondas and Toyotas or Volkswagen.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

I wanted a Honda Ridgeline, but a week on their forums made me sober up quickly. And I was a Honda tech before retirement.

What was wrong with the Ridgeline forum?

 

[tobidog]

The forum is fine. The Ridgeline itself has way too many problems, more than Kia and Hyundai combined.

 

[Telluride419]

Greetings:

I have been actively looking for a new car for the past 3 months. My family is growing and my wife's parents are moving into our house. We need a big, 3 row car for the times we need to haul 6 people.

I'll be honest with you, I'm a Toyota/Honda guy. I don't think they are perfect, but I'm into reliability, cost of ownership (repairs, parts, service, resell value) more than any other aspects of a car (looks, ride, tech, etc), and you just can't beat Toyota/Honda in that area. Again, I freely admit both companies have issues too, especially Honda with their transmissions/turbos lately.

The Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, CX-9 were the three cars I narrowed my choice down (before the release of the Telluride and Pallisade), and they were close to what I wanted, but something major was off on all of them. Pilot (looks, history of transmission issues, no power in 3rd row, no birds eye camera). Highlander (3rd row room, zero tech). CX-9 (CVT transmission, turbos, 3rd row room).

I've looked at the Telluride, and it has everything I want as far as looks, tech, ride, storage, etc.

My only concern is the brand, Kia. I know nothing about Kia. I know its been around for awhile and its a Korean brand and is partnered with Hyundai. Buying an "off brand" gives me hesitation. I'm concerned about reliability. I'm concerned about finding parts and non dealer repair people who will know how to maintain/fix a Kia. With Honda and Toyota parts are every where, they are cheap and everyone can fix them.

What are your thoughts, opinions, experience with Kia as far as reliability, parts availability, maintenance work, mechanics who can work on them, etc? I know with a new release there is little knowledge on potential issues with this model yet.

I thought I would ask. Any thoughts, comments, data, url links would be greatly appreciated. For those that have purchased this car, congrats, it looks like a heck of a vehicle.

I am currently a Sales Manager at a Kia Store and I can tell you they have changed dramatically in the last 10 years. My wife and I leased the Telluride and she had a Soul before the Durango we traded in. I will completely trust the Kia brand with my family.

______________________________

 

[Vjim15]

Same here. I was decided on the Telluride, but these issues are very concerning. I’m not sure that I’d be mentally comfortable with the purchase given the company’s history.

Ditto I was so close to ordering a telluride this weekend and on fb I saw a woman post her telluride in flames in her garage
That’s really frightening. Not something I feel I’m willing to risk

 

[PaulD]

From a reliability perspective, I think Honda has slipped quite a bit. Both Consumer Reports stats and anecdotes with my family and friends support this. My wife's 2008 Highlander has been extremely reliable and we wanted to buy another, but my wife didn't like the new one at all.

As far as the Telluride catching on fire, all manufacturers have recalls with similarly bad implications. Honda had a lot of Takata airbags in their cars.

 

[Sswitzky]

Ditto I was so close to ordering a telluride this weekend and on fb I saw a woman post her telluride in flames in her garage
That’s really frightening. Not something I feel I’m willing to risk

So, you’re responding to a post from 2 years ago. Since then, the Telluride has been deemed the best mid-size SUV two years in a row and gotten glowing follow up reviews from Car and Driver, Morortrend, and Consumer Reports. Their original cars now have over 40k on it.

I’ll admit that when it was time to move on from my 2009 Pilot and I started my research, Kia wasn’t even an afterthought. But everyone seemed to love it so I took it for a drive, asked my local mechanic, read as much as possible.

I’ve owned the car for two months now. It is terrific, especially for the price. I actually look forward to driving it. That was almost never the case with the Pilot.

 

[gman1868]

I've been concerned about the dealerships, more specifically, the service after the sale. From what I've read here, some dealerships are stepping up to providing a better experience to coincide with the better quality vehicles and some are struggling to get past the cheesy half-fast practices of the bygone era of servicing cheap econoboxes.

I have only experienced Kia sales and the dealer I patronized is a step above the rest in the experience they provided for me and my wife. From a service standpoint I don't know if they have reached the level of the prestige brands like I experienced with Audi, but I am looking forward to seeing what my local dealer can do.

Then again, I may end up very disappointed

______________________________