Thoughts on telluride vs Honda passport?

[vroom]

Hi,

I have narrowed my search down my to the Honda passport or a telluride.

The passport elite is at about $47k as configured. The telluride sx is about $50k. So no price difference in practical terms.

After test driving both I didn’t have any preference. The passport is noticeably faster.

My reason for selecting the passport is its excellent off roading performance. We live in the mountains so if there is a fire or something I would feel better. It has 8.1 much clearance, for example. I also don’t really need three rows.

But I have dogs, go shopping, need to haul stuff, so the room of the telluride is nice.

The telluride is much nicer on the inside and has more modern features. And I think my wife would prefer its more car like driving experience.

Reliability is key as we often drive in the middle of no where. The passport has conflicting reliability reports. And of course the telluride doesn’t have a track record, only projections.

The Honda dealer is good, Kia dealers have a horrible rep.

I have a feeling the resale value of the telluride will be better.

Any thoughts?

 

[Tellthemride]

Have you considered comparing the smaller 2021 Kia Sorento to the Passport?

You don’t necessarily need to use the third row to still enjoy all the Telluride has to offer.

Off roading practicality probably goes to the Passport.

Modern luxuries and comfort at an unbeatable price point (if purchased at MSRP) goes to the Telluride.

One last important thing to consider is how soon do you need the car and how hard do you want to work to get one? Passport can probably be had immediately. But if you don’t want to pay high markups for the Telluride, you will need to find a dealer that sells at MSRP. Then order and wait months, or research for allocations and make a lot of calls to secure one in current production.

 

[YAH DEF]

Hi,

I have narrowed my search down my to the Honda passport or a telluride.

The passport elite is at about $47k as configured. The telluride sx is about $50k. So no price difference in practical terms.

After test driving both I didn’t have any preference. The passport is noticeably faster.

My reason for selecting the passport is its excellent off roading performance. We live in the mountains so if there is a fire or something I would feel better. It has 8.1 much clearance, for example. I also don’t really need three rows.

But I have dogs, go shopping, need to haul stuff, so the room of the telluride is nice.

The telluride is much nicer on the inside and has more modern features. And I think my wife would prefer its more car like driving experience.

Reliability is key as we often drive in the middle of no where. The passport has conflicting reliability reports. And of course the telluride doesn’t have a track record, only projections.

The Honda dealer is good, Kia dealers have a horrible rep.

I have a feeling the resale value of the telluride will be better.

Any thoughts?

I owned Hondas for 20+ years. Good, solid cars, and the Passport has a good rep for function, handling and (mostly) reliability. My issue with Honda is how dated the styling is, outside and in, and just how blah overall. There's been so little effort to make them interesting, exciting cars. Which I surprised myself to learn that I actually care about. I used to be all about function, and now I seem to care about style, vibe, personality, energy just as much. I've never *enjoyed* a car as much as this Telluride. Just so much pleasure. And comfort.

I haven't had any Kia dealership experiences yet, so who knows there. The Honda dealership I used for decades is just awesome - great, knowledgeable, helpful people.

Btw, I don't need three rows either. But I'm kinda digging it.

Good luck in your journey! Not an easy decision.

 

[stanaka1]

The lack of a 360 camera on the Honda was a deal breaker. The highway driving assist (autonomous driving) is awesome on long drives.

______________________________

 

[gman1868]

I chose the Telluride over the Pilot because the style, fit, finish, and price.

 

[DigMyRide]

Telluride has better reliability rating (projected) than the Pilot. That was a big plus for Telly. Pilot is much easier to get your hands on then the SX. To me, decision was around short term vs. long term benefits.

 

[skuzuker28]

I took a test drive in a Pilot (without the salesperson thanks to COVID) and actually stopped by the local Kia dealer with it. Compared side-by side with the Telluride, interior space was no contest. Nor was the styling or quality of materials.

The current Pilot is definitely long in the tooth, it will be interesting to see what Honda brings to the table for the next gen model.

 

[vroom]

Have you considered comparing the smaller 2021 Kia Sorento to the Passport?

You don’t necessarily need to use the third row to still enjoy all the Telluride has to offer.

Off roading practicality probably goes to the Passport.

Modern luxuries and comfort at an unbeatable price point (if purchased at MSRP) goes to the Telluride.

One last important thing to consider is how soon do you need the car and how hard do you want to work to get one? Passport can probably be had immediately. But if you don’t want to pay high markups for the Telluride, you will need to find a dealer that sells at MSRP. Then order and wait months, or research for allocations and make a lot of calls to secure one in current production.

I did take a look, but the Sorento is too small for me. I do like the headroom of the telluride.

______________________________

 

[12MANY]

I too considered the Passport, ended up ordering the Telluride.
I have a 2009 Pilot with 250K miles on, uber reliable (will pass it on to my son when the Telly comes in)
Newer Pilot was too minivan-looking. Passport seemed to fit the bill. Slightly less cargo but a bit sportier.
Good numbers on paper but 2 disappointing test rides later we moved on.
It felt old in the tooth, like driving a previous generation car compared to the KIA.

 

[YAH DEF]

I took a test drive in a Pilot (without the salesperson thanks to COVID) and actually stopped by the local Kia dealer with it. Compared side-by side with the Telluride, interior space was no contest. Nor was the styling or quality of materials.

The current Pilot is definitely long in the tooth, it will be interesting to see what Honda brings to the table for the next gen model.

I'm also curious about this. When Honda gets around to updating, what will their dated but passable vehicles look like?