Have you ever been in the unfortunate situation of too much choice? The sort that might have you second-guessing which option to go with, or at least reaching for a spreadsheet. Well, that feeling’s hitting the three-row crossover segment hard, and I’m not talking about entirely different crossovers. Kia has officially announced pricing for the new Telluride, and in the process, buried the lede that customers will have to choose from a selection of ten trim levels. Ten!
Granted, Kia isn’t setting a record here. When Mazda launched the CX-90, it offered its large crossover in no fewer than 11 trim levels. However, that included both low-output and high-output models, whereas the non-hybrid Telluride simply offers one engine: A 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-four pumping out 274 horsepower and 311 lb.-ft. of torque. Solid numbers, but beyond that, there’s a lot to wrap your head around.
The range of the new Telluride starts with the absolute base model, the $40,735 LX. Only available in front-wheel-drive, it’s quite modestly equipped for a flagship three-row crossover. We’re talking about a manual non-heated driver’s seat, a lack of a matching LED cargo area lamp, and a little 4.2-inch screen in the gauge cluster. Then again, it still gives you dual wireless phone chargers, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, tri-zone climate control, and a spare tire.
Want the option of more driven wheels? You’ll need to at least step up to the S trim, which stickers for $43,635 with front-wheel-drive and $45,635 with all-wheel-drive. While a $2,900 walk-up is pretty big at this end of the market, the S actually adds stuff that should make driving more comfortable. Features like heated front seats, an eight-way power driver’s seat with adjustable lumbar support, second-row captain’s chairs, a moonroof to feel the wind in your hair, an LED cargo light so you can see your shopping better, and a power liftgate with a programmable stop so it doesn’t hit the ceiling of your garage. A set of 20-inch wheels is a nifty addition, too.
It’s a smaller jump from the S to the EX (stop giggling), with the mid-range model ringing up at $45,535 with front-wheel-drive and $47,545 with all-wheel-drive. It does give you acoustically insulated front door windows, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, full faux-leather upholstery, rear side window shades, and ventilated front seats, but the tradeoff is that the second-row captain’s chairs get swapped back out for a bench. Not macho enough for you? The X-Line EX AWD costs $1,290 more than the regular EX AWD and gets you 21-inch wheels, blacked-out trim, projector fog lights, a heated steering wheel, and…second row captain’s chairs.
Four down, six to go, and the next rung on the ladder is the $50,335 Telluride SX, which is only available with front-wheel drive. That sounds weird at first, but it’s going to still sound weird later. Anyway, this is where the extras start to ratchet up a level, with toys like a second sunroof, mood lighting, a 10-way power driver’s seat with memory, a 14-speaker Meridian audio system, a 360-degree camera system, a more comprehensive suite of advanced driver assistance systems, and the big 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. Mind you, the Telluride SX does commit a sin because it costs more than the X-Line EX AWD and takes away the heated steering wheel, a move that’s frankly unforgivable.
If you’re wondering where the all-wheel-drive option suddenly went, allow me to introduce the $53,335 Telluride X-Line SX and the $55,235 Telluride X-Pro SX. These two trims might sound similar, but you have to be sure to pick the right one. While the X-Line SX focuses on Starbucks drive-through posing, the X-Pro SX focuses more on camping-down-a-gravel-road posing. The X-Line gets 21-inch wheels, the X-Pro gets 18-inch wheels with chunky all-terrain tires. The X-Pro gets recovery hooks, the X-Line does not. The X-Pro gets a household plug socket, the X-Line does not. Otherwise, they’re pretty similar, building on the SX trim with blacked-out trim, the aforementioned features, and a heated steering wheel.
Oh, but we’re not done yet. For some insane reason, there are still three trim levels to go. Let’s start with the $55,435 SX Prestige, where things actually get really nice. Think sueded headliner, heated and ventilated second-row seats, actual wood interior trim, part-suede upholstery, a power-adjustable steering column, a 12-inch head-up display, the sort of touches that take a car into luxury territory. Mostly material changes you can feel, plus the added sweetness of all-wheel drive. Effectively $2,100 over the X-Line SX for a much nicer interior seems money well-spent, but the pricing structure doesn’t top out there.
Yes, like with the regular SX, the SX Prestige also gets X-Line and X-Pro variants, ringing up at $56,435 and $58,335 respectively. You know the drill by now, blacked-out trim on both, all-terrains and recovery hooks on the X-Pro. At the SX Prestige level, the X-Pro adds “engineered carbon” trim, but that’s about it as far as unique bits go.
This is probably too many trim levels, especially considering how close the X-Line SX, X-Pro SX, SX Prestige, X-Line SX Prestige, and X-Pro SX Prestige are, five different trim levels all within a $5,000 spread. Oh, and we still don’t know how many hybrid trim levels Kia’s planning, as those won’t be announced until closer to Spring. There’s this concept of analysis paralysis, when consumers are overwhelmed by too many choices to the point of not choosing any of them, and I worry that’s going to be what happens when shoppers walk into a Kia showroom. Then again, knowing how the old Telluride sold, Kia probably won’t have any trouble shifting every last unit.
Top graphic image: Kia
The real crux is those X-__ trims, they all run together to me on other Kia models. But the main difference is they’re mostly monospec trims without major options. When the domestic makes were big on required quick order packages you’d have just as many buried within the trim designations. A 90s Dodge Caravan could have up to 8-10 combinations depending on wheelbase length and not even including the multiple powertrain choices.
Even Civics and Accords could exceed a half-dozen trims for just a single powertrain choice on final model years when you throw in VP & SE trims.
Most excessive was the 2004 Sienna: 4 trims, but 12 packages for the LE, 21 for the XLE – all different combos of equipment. But not all offered in the same region and pared down greatly for 2005, presumably after they figured out what packages worked better for each region.
What are the odds of any dealer stocking multiples of all 10 of these? Don’t they fly off the lot anyway? So you’re gonna pick the one they let you buy. Maybe if you’re lucky there will be 3 to choose from.
Right. Here in New England, they will only stock the AWD units anyway. You will rarely find a non-AWD version of any car.
I drove a manual Yaris through the streets of Brighton for 4 yrs. Builds character.
Meanwhile, Canada gets zero trim levels…Kia Canada isn’t offering the new 2026 Telluride due to tariffs. Hyundai is offering the new Palisade, but thus far Kia has chosen not to offer their largest vehicle.
Makes (dollars) and sense…
The Hyundai Palisade is produced in S.Korea.
The Kia Telluride is only manufactured at their plant in West Point, Georgia, USA
I didn’t realize the Palisade was built in Korea, I thought both were built in Georgia.
Yeah I didn’t either, I looked it up.
I know Hyundai and Kia are ‘sister’ companies.
I was surprised in both cases that each of these models is only produced in 1 location each as noted above
It gets even more convoluted. Because of the labor union agreements Hyundai Group have made in South Korea, the Telluride is barred from sale because they’ve agreed not to import any of their products built overseas for the KDM. Thus in Korea if you want a 3-row Kia you have to go with a smaller Sorento, a massive Carnival, or an EV9. Or a PV5 for that matter.
The real problem here is not enough engine choices. the NA v6 should still be an option, the Genesis 3.5 without turbos would be fine to replace it. add in the turbos to get it to Prestige territory, or to get one of these to tow 8,000 lbs would be good too.
Isn’t it getting the 3.5 without turbos? Should be the same as the Palisade.
Story above says 2.5 Turbo only. Maybe I am misunderstanding?
Guess I didn’t read. Odd they would offer the V6 on the Hyundai but not the Kia. Although I think the Hyundai is made in Korea, while the Kia is made in the US. So maybe they used what they have in the US supply chain.
That’s 1 more trim level than there are letters in “Telluride”! What value!
A trim level chart would be helpful to keep up with what’s offered.
Easy there. I don’t think you get to count the E’s and L’s twice. They still need more.
As the wise ancient philosopher Devo once said “Freedom of choice is what you’ve got, Freedom from choice is what you want”
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. –Kris Kristofferson
Freeeeeedom! Yeah, right. –Zach De La Rocha
Janis took Kris’ song into the mainstream, though.
Wonder what he’d have to say about having 40 options in the toothpaste aisle.
“Ten trim levels? Those are rookie numbers, bro!”
-Porsche 911
Do the previous nine hundred ten Porsche models also have as many trim levels?
I was genuinely curious in which year the 911 exceeded ten trim levels. If you don’t count the cars with up-rated engine outputs as different trim levels, the 911 exceeded ten trim levels with the 996 generation. If they do count, it looks like the 911 has always exceeded ten trim levels in every generation.
If I recall it really only picked up after the 711.
Customer: The LX looks nice. It’s everything I need and it’s right in my budget.
Salesman: For just a few more bucks we can step you up to the S.
Customer: Nice! I like those extra features.
Salesman (halfway through paperwork): Actually, you’re really close to EX money here.
Customer: What the heck. I should live a little.
Salesman: Ok, I can put you in an EX, but you really should consider an EX AWD.
Customer: Makes sense. It does flood a bit in my neighborhood.
Salesman: While we’re looking at AWD, check out the X-Line AWD. It’s even cooler.
Customer: Wow! And just a few bucks more?
Salesman: I probably shouldn’t do this, but you really should drive an SX.
Customer: We’re pushing my budget now, but ok.
Salesman: We didn’t have an SX on the lot, so we’re going to test drive this X-Line SX. It’s just a bit more but you’ll like it.
Customer: Really because I don’t know about the color. I wanted something in green.
Salesman: I have green, but you’ll have to step up to an X-Pro SX.
Customer: Ok. My wife was insistent on green.
Salesman: Gotcha. If your wife is involved here, you’re going to want to try this SX Prestige.
Customer: I don’t want her to hate whatever I buy, so ok.
Salesman: Shoot. Someone took it on a test drive. That’s ok. I have an SX Prestige X-Line around back.
Customer: What kind of down payment am I going to need for this?
Salesman: Look, I probably shouldn’t show this to you since it just came in and we haven’t even removed the protective plastic yet, but how would you like to be the only person in southeastern Hampton with an SX Prestige X-Pro? Don’t answer… Just… just… touch it.
Customer: I give up. I didn’t really want to retire in my 50s anyway.
More likely –
-customer comes in wanting high trim level
-doesn’t want to pay that much/can’t afford/trim isn’t immediately in stock
-dealer says “heyyy is it just heated seats/sunroof/AWD/whatever you want?”
-shows them lower trim that ticks the boxes of what they need
-but shows lesser/no discount vs. the higher trim, just their goal payment
-hopes customer doesn’t pull that one up on website or just use a calculator
-???
–profit (..for dealer)
Isn’t this common? They order exactly one of the poverty spec to be able to advertise and then when ppl come in they get some story about how they’re REALLY hard to get a hold of but if they don’t want to wait let’s go walk out to the lot…
It is the old trick, but it ties into the idea that most people are seeking the base model or know how it’s equipped. They might initially if they’re just walking into the showroom without researching, but once they find out it doesn’t have this or that feature they want or expect (ex. the base Telluride LX doesn’t have a power liftgate or a power driver’s seat), they’re probably moving up the range.
Dealers are going to push what they have, but they also don’t really want a customer to keep moving between vehicles, they’re trying to land you on what you’re most likely to buy. Moving to a lower trim to make the price work may seem counterintuitive but they still need to move a unit and kinda resets the price conversation.
This was entertaining. Thanks for copying and pasting Customer: Salesman: all those times.
That last line though…do people even have an option to retire in their 50’s anymore?
If you’re interested in retiring early… you may be interested to check out the Mr. Money Mustache website &/JLL Collins ‘A simple path to wealth’ book which started as a series of blog posts for his young adult at the time daughter.
The guy behind MMM it is from Canada, lives in Longmont, Co and retired officially when he turned 30, I think he’s 47 now.
Bullshit attitude. All we ever do is talk about how rad it was that in the 70s you filled out an option sheet and got what you wanted exactly. This is about as close to that as you are going to get in 2026 and you are complaining?
No matter what permutation of options you desire, you still need to pick a package that will force you to pay for things you don’t.
You tell the sales person you really want a sunroof, heated steering wheel, and need the bench seat. Now you’re both staring at the spec sheets trying to figure to count how many trims fulfill those needs. And none of them will be on the lot anyway so let’s decide which “must” to cross off the list and start over. I suspect this will be maddening.
I have nothing to add except that I don’t think I’ve ever seen the same grille twice on the Palisade or Telluride. No other car even comes close.
The heck with trim levels, why does it look like an electric shaver? Or is that just all cars these days and I’m old?
Kia and Hyundai are clawing hard at the bottom of the ugly barrel these days.
It’s relative. Aren’t these things like the best-selling SUVs around?
From what I understand, Hyundai and Kias are great cars, they’re just hideous (comment does not apply to Genesis, which I think look pretty darn good). Maybe some people don’t mind driving a mud fence around as long as it’s a great vehicle otherwise?
Either way, my tastes often aren’t mirrored by the general population.
While not my cup of tea, I’m not as viscerally offended by these things as a lot of other ppl here. Maybe bc they are still relatively novel. But a few more years and they may go the way of the PT Cruiser (ugly, based in part on ubiquity. No one wants to remember but EVERYONE thought they looked cool until they were everywhere)
It seems like a lot of auto exterior designers (or their leaders) give zero shits about making an attractive vehicle, rather the interest is in making something that ‘stands out’ regardless if it is viewed as astetically pleasing or not. And the general public os voting with their wallets either bc they like ‘standing out’ as well or they are willing to put up with the ugly exterior looks bc they like the rest of the vehicle
Does all of this just cost them money they do not need to spend?
Like 20 years ago Chrysler had minivans with like 3 motors, 2 lengths and several(?) transmissions and countless trims and Honda had 1 motor/trans and base, premium and premium with nav and that was it. (going off memory)
Do they still make the Honda Vans? I thought Kia and Pacifica were basically it these days?
https://automobiles.honda.com/odyssey
After narrowly avoiding the Hyundai -Kia “self-destructive” engine scenario by dumping our last H/K product our driveway will ever see again after owning years of Kia and Hyundai products, they can have 100 different models and give them away and they will still remain a dead manufacturer to me and my family. Too bad there are 100,000’s of Americans willing to be new suckers to the lies and deflection of denied warranty claims on defective engines and transmissions. Beauty is said to be only skin deep, with a H/K product be careful what lies behind the curtain.
Always the answer.
Truthfully, two people I work with that have the Telluride have not had those problems. Three other people I work with, though, have indeed had those problems, and add in one repeatedly stolen Kia for their daughter.
So, no. Always the answer.
Could you, at least, help us all out with matching photos to the trim levels instead of the shotgun approach that car manufacturers like to do of “top trim” models only?
Yes!
to The Autopian,
I asked Mercedes about this in her tractor article too. Can you please caption the image with what is in it?! Image credit is necessary, but can you also add what exactly I’m looking at?
Does anyone else miss the good old days when there were NO trim levels and you could just order what options you wanted on the damned thing more or less individually? This is ridiculous, and guaranteed not one of these things matches how I would want it configured.
Trim levels are for econoboxes, not premium/premiumish cars.
When I can order down to adding a “tachometer” line item regardless of all other options I selected, you know there’s some severe inefficiencies in the manufacturing process going on.
Are there in this day and age though? The robots don’t really care what they deliver to the line or not, and getting the parts there is the supplier’s problem. BMW used to be very proud that there were over 1M possible variations on the 3-series. And then there is Porsche…
One of the perks of paying the money for “Premium” is having it your way. Rigid trim levels are not premium. But this is only pretend-premium anyway.
Yes, it forces increased stock levels, more SKU to manage, increased build complexity & troubleshooting, and vastly increases the difficulties in maintaining the equipment which now needs to handle model variants which add up to a massive number of combinations.
There are still manufacturers (mostly EU with their vast number of engine options) which mechanically identical vehicles are configured solely by software based on the order.
Not to mention challenges in spare parts later for warranty and maintenance.
If you are going to offer the variations in trim levels, IMHO you might as well let people have it their way. As I said, the robots don’t care. In the case of BMW, they did limit what dealers were allowed to order for inventory. But ultimately, technically EVERY BMW was a special order, and it made no real difference whether it was a dealer ordering the car or it being built for a specific person. The robots don’t care, and having done the BMW factory tour in Munich there are shocking ly few humans roaming around the place.
Having 10+ trim levels is certainly doing the stocking situation no favors already.
Like I said, *choice* is part of being premium, and that should mean more individuality than nearly identical trim levels.
It probably just comes down to consumer shopping preferences. We’re all used to having almost anything delivered to our door within hours. For enthusiasts custom makes sense. But no one is a Telluride Enthusiast.
How many ppl out there would seriously consider building their “dream telluride” if it meant waiting 6 months vs picking whatever is good enough on the lot that can be in your driveway today?
It shouldn’t take six months. That is a manufacturing failure. BMW can deliver a custom order to the East Coast from Germany in little more than a month unless it is something limited production – and two weeks plus of that is on a ship. I assume the X cars built here can be even faster. No reason every other manufacturer can’t do that too – or faster if the car is built in the US. Though reality is many makers don’t REALLY do orders. What is happening is you are waiting for them to make the car in their pre-determined “production plan” that was going to be built anyway.
But yes, this is very much an “instant gratification” culture – which I just find odd in what is most people’s second most expensive purchase in their lives.
I know it’s possible, but I’m thinking of the current market where for some things (ie Siennas), you’re waiting 6 months just for a regular one, I don’t see custom happening any faster (aside from BMW and the like who have been at it for decades).
That is literally a choice that Toyota makes to limit production of them. They don’t need to be buyer friendly in any way with those things, they have a wait list for every one they bother to build.
I didn’t realize they were throttling supply intentionally. But given their job is to make money, why wouldn’t they want to bring supply closer up to demand?
I assume it is a limitation on battery supply or some such. They likely only have so much capacity, and they would rather use it for Highlanders and whatnot and charge stupid prices for the vans. I am sure they have very much optimized their profit situation.
But the limited supply is WHY there is generally a long wait to get one. Last time I looked there were only something like six within 500 miles of me (in the fourth most populous state in the country with a zillion dealers), all super high loaded top trim examples, and I don’t necessarily believe they were actually sitting unsold. If you want a lower spec cheaper one, take a number. And you best not be choosy about color.
Ah — forget they are hybrid only now. The battery theory makes sense.
Agree except for the spares. As long as they’re offering infinite permutations but roughly the same number of options, it should make no difference. ie: if one of my seat motors craps out, it really doesn’t matter whether I’ve got the sunroof, 2nd row bench seat, AWD, and on and on..
Corvette should do this. Up to one million happy customers who can (honestly) say they have a 1-of-1.
Or maybe it is just extreme customer satisfaction with the company.
Honestly though, standard orders for lot fodder for the people who don’t have a big interest in some options is fine, but for those willing to pay the extra, I don’t see a single reason why they cannot spend the extra to get what you are willing to pay for.
Liner, Bed Covers, extra lights and even dog mats for the back seat are optional with some brands and that work is often done by secondary upfitters, so it would not even affect assembly line efficiencies really.
I’m kind of in the opposite camp, I prefer more trimlines and fewer standalone options — the latter might get you exactly what you want if buying new, but it makes used valuations harder for the bulk of buyers. Plus, at least from my experience, a la carte features end up costing a lot more than packages.
That said, I also hate the randomness of “you must have a sunroof to get the leather” or whatever. There needs to be a happy medium. If dealers were more reputable, I would say we could solve this through dealer-installed options — which is largely still true for things like roof racks, upgraded floor mats, etc.
You must like slippery seats. Those of us who prefer cloth always get fucked.
I’ve got two cars with non-perforated slippery leather and have grown to hate it. The one with perforated pleather is actually pretty great, just as grippy and cool as cloth. I’m still a cloth fan, but after 15 years of children in the car, I wrote it off pretty early just for stain control. But I agree it’s a travesty that nice cloth can’t even be optioned beyond middle trims, if at all.
Also, bad memories of all my high school years and the cigarette “dents” in cloth seats (mostly plush style, not woven — they’re worlds apart)
You know kids won’t actually die of starvation/dehydration if you don’t let them eat/drink in the car, right?
We always pushed hard for good hydration habits from an early age (food in the car was a little more rare).
But I think you’re ignoring the “bodily function” aspect here, too 🙂
If only the headliner and floor was all made out of rubber. Spills don’t just neatly land on the seat…
I do not understand why parents aren’t rioting in front of the Toyota dealership over the fact that you cannot buy a minivan with rubberized flooring. It is insane. Weathertech will sell you kits to cover the whole vehicle (including raised lips so spills don’t leak down to the seat tracks) and it’s worth every penny.
So when you stop to take care of the “bodily functions”, feed and water the little dumplings. If my brother or I were puking, we were not in the car to start with. But my parents also were not in the business of providing taxi services to children. I spent far more time on the school bus than I ever did in their cars.
Think of the non-smokers and non-rugrat-owners!
So far, we’ve picked the highest trim level possible with cloth for our vehicles. Subaru killed that for the ’26 Outback, the Mazda3 base trim still has it but with zero other options.
Having a trim with cloth but with power seats and a leather-wrapped wheel is nearly unheard of now.
the i3 came pretty close. But point taken.
OOF nobody has made an off color comment at this yet. I am disappointed.
The snacks aren’t to save the kids. They’re to save YOU.
I just watched a video of a guy who abandoned his 4 yr old on the side of the highway bc he couldn’t take it anymore. If only he’d brought the Cheez-Its.
(In seriousness it was hard to watch and I only mention it bc it had a happy ending: motorists stopped to save the kid and the guy went to jail).
We had something like a 2 hr rule. If under 2 hr dive no videos no snacks, just audiobooks. over 2 hrs, everything is fair game.
Interesting about effects on the used market. I figured options (aside from powertrain) just get ignored. For example KBB seems to value things like “premium sound” as being worth $20-40.
It really makes no difference. With vanishingly rare exceptions, you almost never get back the cost of options. Generally there isn’t much difference between mid-spec and top spec once the car is used, and of course the top-spec has more crap to break. True poverty-spec cars can be kind of a hard sell – for example any car without A/C today. But that hasn’t been a thing for eons now. Or RWD pickups in the north as another example of where you probably will get all your money back at resale time if you buy AWD instead.
One of those exceptions is that had I ordered my BMW wagon with the sport or M-sport packages, those actually do add about what they cost new to resale value of the cars. But I have no regrets, and I have no intention of ever selling it anyway. And some fancy options can be a turnoff – people don’t really want e9x BMWs with the early implementations of iDrive and the ugly double-hump dash much anymore.
Yes the only thing I could remotely think of is used Wrangler Rubicons sell for much more than used wrangler sports. it is stretch though.
But do they sell for as much more as the Rubicon was new? Those things get crazy expensive.
Ultimately basing buying decisions on resale value is a fool’s errand. Any car that has exceptional value retention wasn’t discounted much or at all new, and inevitably the ones with terrible depreciation were heavily discounted new. Within the same class of car, of course. You can’t compare Corollas to S-Classes. Within a class, there is rarely much difference between worst and first.
“Ultimately basing buying decisions on resale value is a fool’s errand.” I agree!! but if you look at the comments here and back on the old site it was very very common and people were very into it.
People are odd at best. 🙂 Especially “car people”. I freely admit to being firmly in both categories.
Ultimately you either accept that you will lose lots of money on a car, unless you get extremely lucky and/or keep it forever.
Yup. It’s similar to ppl who find out the hard way that adding $5K of aftermarket crap not only does not come back to them, but will likely reduce the resale value vs a stock example. Ain’t no one paying for that sweet “carbon fiber” diffuser you saved up for.
Also a jeep thing. I will not pay full price parts and labor for the scowly grill and light bars.
Exactly. And there are plenty of ppl (like me) who wouldn’t pay anything for a car with that face. (Yeah I know you can take it off for not much work, but way more work than just clicking on the next listing and not having to deal with it at all).
OH Yeah – mods inevitably reduce value with extremely rare exceptions. Best to take them off and sell them separately. And a modded car turns off a LOT of buyers, myself included. Inevitably the thing was hooned.
In hot climates quality window tint is definitely a plus (assuming its not limo black or something polarizing…punt intended)
Here in FL that doesn’t hurt. But ANY tint beyond factory is often illegal up north, so it becomes a dilemma too. I’ve had to strip the stuff off cars I bought down south back in the day – no fun at all but it does save the interiors.
I wouldn’t really consider tint to be a mod per-se though, done tastefully and properly. Though personally I hate the look of anything darker than factory. When/if I bring my BMW wagon down from Maine, I plan to get the clear tint that JUST blocks UV/heat without darkening the windows at all.
Yeah I count clear(-ish) ceramic too (did the windshield in the spring and it’s been amazing). Given it’s something extra you did to the car that is not easy to undo, I think it counts as a mod
I think BMW hit that pretty well. There were packages, but most things could still be ordered individually if you didn’t want certain things (but I had to order the Premium Pkg to get lumbar support in the seats, irritatingly). But not everything. In Europe, where almost everyone special ordered the cars and dealers stocked little more than demo models, there were FAR more individual choices. And lots of options we didn’t even get in the States, like cloth interiors. Grumble, grumble.
Limiting colors to certain trims (and limiting exterior and interior color combinations) is what grinds my gears. The robots doing the painting have no idea at all what they are painting, so it really shouldn’t matter. Again to use BMW as an example, the only cases where colors were limited was the M-Sport cars. And that was because the M-Sport front and rear bumpers were painted separately by the supplier, and they didn’t have the ability to paint the full range that the factory did. So you got only about half the color choices for those cars, and IIRC one color that was exclusive to M-Sport. But other than that, you could have any interior color with any exterior color on a special order. There were certain colors dealers were not allowed to order though (no idea why). My car has both order-only interior and exterior colors, though not the special “Individual” expensive options. That does mean there are only two wagons and a handful of sedans and coupes in my color combo in the US, to channel my inner Corvette owner, LOL. Most of the dealer stock is boring shades of gray with black or beige interiors anyway.
The LAST thing I would ever want is dealer monkeys installing anything more complicated than floor mats. No thank you.
Re: limited paint colors. Maybe it was here or somewhere else, but I remember learning how much R&D goes into creating a new color. Way more than you would think. Including leaving panels in the Arizona desert for 1+ yrs to validate durability. Now, why they can’t continue adding to the rainbow of what they’ve already developed, who knows. Probably following trends or variations in the commodity prices of pigments or what not.
For non-premium cars, 6-8 choices are fine. But lets not make five of them shades of gray. That is finally getting better, actual colors ARE returning!. And is just NO reason why if you want the brown interior you can only get it with THOSE two colors, the black interior with THOSE three colors, and the tan interior with the rest. For premium cars I expect a decent choice of interior colors and latitude to mix and match. I think I had a choice of a dozen exterior and 8-9 interior colors (I think for three of them there was a choice of vinyl or leather, the rest were leather) when I ordered my BMWs. And VERY few restrictions other than the color that was limited to M-Sport cars.
Cheap cars will usually have far fewer options, but you shouldn’t be stuck with a black interior if you want a blue exterior, but they offer tan with other colors. Fiat ticked me off though – for a base Pop there were about 15 colors like a bag of Skittles with a choice of three interior colors. But the Turbo only had 7-8 with one interior color, and the Abarth only five (and they all kind of sucked – white, red, black, metallic black, and metallic gray in 2013). And a choice of black cloth or lurid red leather. Mine was metallic black on black.
I’d love to know what the bean counters/product planners were thinking when they made those decisions.
I am sure there was a penny to be saved there. For the Fiats, my educated guess is that it’s the same situation as BMW with the M-Sport cars. They were limited in the colors the Abarth bits could be painted. And same with the Turbos – but they expected to sell a lot more turbos so they bothered more.
One would think with all the never buy new people that it would not matter if people can order what the want. I have special ordered cars because I know what I want. I have also just bought what was on the lot.
People are weird. <shrug> For cars where there was a lot of choice (aka my BMWs), and zero chance of one to my spec existing already, I ordered. For cars where there wasn’t, I bought off the lot. No point ordering a GTI Sport when the only option was what color you want, and in the case of my Abarth what I wanted was sitting on the lot already, exactly as I would have ordered it right down to no stripes. I did have to wait a week while they got my white GTI from the port, the horror.
Overall, I really enjoyed buying new cars. I don’t find the sales process at all onerous, and I like getting exactly what I want without much compromise. Used cars are inevitably beggars can’t be choosers unless you get super lucky, and even then it will have someone else’s farts in the seats and typically not maintained to my standards. But I am also perfectly happy buying 10yo cars at a huge discount. When I was a kid fresh out of college poor as a church mouse I never dreamed I would get to the point where I could order a new BMW or two and pick the things up in Europe – but that’s what happens when you play your cards somewhat right and get old(er). Approaching retirement scarily fast I am perfectly happy there aren’t any new cars I want anymore though – they ARE an expensive affectation.
Still not enough, if that’s the base model in silver in the second pic. Where’s the bare steelies and blanking panel where the passenger side door mirror would go?
Those cost extra.
Oh, Thomas, do shut up, DON’T JINX IT !!!
More is better than less. Two factors heavily influence my kid-hauler SUV choices: number of seats, and tire size (provided that nothing but AWD will be considered anyway). And the third factor of course – 360 degree view. Which is always great with Ki-yundai.
The simple fact that they offer a model with a bench middle seat rather than the #$@#$ captains chairs in anything above base level is worthy of a monument. 99% of the 3 row SUVs in this price bracket can’t be bought with both a bench middle seat (8-passenger) AND 360 parking view. All switch you to captains chair somewhere in the middle or below.
It makes them into completely different vehicles. One can be used for taxis and rentals and whatnot, the other is a weird animal that always kicks two kids to the back living in a world different from the middle and front, where the 1% rot in luxury.
Still not perfect, can’t have the SX with 18 inch wheels rather than the pothole-loving 20s, but it is what it is. You can still have the MOST EXPENSIVE version with 18s !!! NYC roads, here I come (unafraid) !!!
AND, you can add pano roof to almost all versions.
I also hate that you’re forced into captains chairs once you hit mid trims in most family cars. The whole point of the thing is that its large enough to cram a bunch of humans into it. Why reduce that capability for freaking captains chairs?
Yeah, even on minivans of all things.
That’s the most baffling of all. Sienna does that, if you want anything mid-tier or above you’re forced into these ridiculous captain’s chairs that can’t be removed.
I don’t care if they recline, heat, whatever. It’s a minivan, they’re going to have car seats on top of them most of the time.
Right. I forget who offered built-in booster seats but that’s the sort of feature that matters. I assume regulations might make that impossible now.
Still, I’m sure a crack team of engineers could figure out how to make dealing with car seats less sucky rather than adding on seat heaters and leg rests that will never be used.
The stow and go seeting is why we took a chance with a pacifica over a sennia.
How do you feel about that? We had the hybrid, so had to give up stow and go…
6 years and 150K miles all over country hauling 3+ big dogs and it has only needed tires. It is nice to pop up a seat if we need to take someone someplace and we are not near the garage to get a seat. It happens more often than pick up truck drivers haul mulch.
Are you primarily hauling dogs? Do you have crates/kennels installed? Looking for a vehicle for that now, and the Stow N Go seems like it’d be nice. Plus it seems a Pacifica AWD Pinnacle goes for $10-12k less than a Sienna Platinum.
One custom 42×42 crate in the back and a removable one behind the passenger seat. https://tnccrates.com/pages/custom-crate-request
Your maintenance history alone is enough to reveal you clearly did not get the hybrid.
Volvo does or I know they used to have at least 1 built in child seat on some models
Well, on a minivan you still end up at 7 seats even with captain chairs. Also some have that removable middle seat that makes the rear into a bench.
But on an SUV you end up with six seats. It’s still idiotic for any family with more than two kids.
Regular cars used to be five seats. Three kids in the back, or two and the cupholders in the middle.
Or get the other idiocy – family with two small kids and an SUV with captain chairs. One in a booster seat and one in a baby seat.
The mom has to sit on the back seat with the baby, the booster seat kid has to go in the third row because they’re not ready for front seat time yet.
That situation is the biggest reason we ended up with an Odyssey – two young kids get the outboard seats, and a parent can sit in between when needed. Day to day we remove the middle seat so the dog can lay on the floor there. Bonus is that the outboard seats can slide together with the middle removed, which my oldest likes.
For road trips we put the middle seat back in so Mom can help the kids and have the entire back bench folded into the floor for luggage capacity. With permanent captains chairs we’d have to leave one of the third row seats up for Mom and lose almost half the luggage space, which is critical for the amount of stuff you need for young kids.
Stow n Go is an even better version of this concept. That alone is why the Pacifica is still relevant even if it’s ancient.
I think they look at birth rates and realize if the average family has 2.1 kids, the .1 can just fit in the center console.
Seriously though, for families with 2 kids, captains chairs keep the peace. I can also understand why, for families with 3+, this would be infuriating.
We’ve got two, and the Odyssey’s fold-down center console has worked perfectly as a divider and a cupholder for over a decade. Then if a friend needs to come along, you fold it up and it’s an instant seat.
I never really understood captains’ chairs as a “premium feature.” IMO it should be the other way around. Because modern benches can still have seats just as nice as individual chairs (ie, they’re not really benches, they’re 40/20/40 split seats)
the fold down console does seem like the way to go, although it is nice having a bit more “civilized” access to the 3rd row. Esp that, given the carseats, that’s where the grandparents usually end up.
As a kid my favorite place to get an ice cream cone was Baskin-Robbins with their signature “31 Flavors”.
Way to go Kia!
Just a marketing plot to get buyers to pick a trim level instead of adding desired options. It is human nature to select from available options instead of customizing options even if it is available.
I bet if you look into it you can get a better deal choosing options
There’s this book called the Paradox of Choice. We think we want the store to have 30 kinds of toothpaste but survey research shows people feel more satisfied if they’re only allowed to pick from 3 (or even 1). I had a car where my choices were S, SL, and SV (or whatever they called them–doesn’t matter). Took me about 10 seconds to figure out which one was right for me, even if it meant getting some things I didn’t care about. As a general rule I’d prefer that to 10 trims with all sorts of overlap. But yeah, best of all would be to be handed a spec sheet and be told “check the boxes on what you want.” I just don’t see that option as being realistic.
I agree with you. Anyone who doesn’t take them to the aspirin in the grocery store and have them pick.
it’s diabolical. I’m not an MD or a chemist so what exactly am I supposed to be going off of? Whoever spent more time focus grouping the crap out of the packaging of their commodity product? I hate it.
Hello, I would like a new porch.
“Sorry sir we do not have the porch you are seeking, maybe a Bentley or a Rolls Royce might suit sir”
I would like a new porch
“We have a Kia, would sir like to configure it?”
A new porch how difficult can this be?
“Ah, sir might might to try our sister company, Bodgit Scarper and Runne, you are talking to Weesaw u cumming and gotcha”
So no new porch then?
” Hold on sir, what colour of door were you looking for? we have a large variety of hinges and latches”
Damn, that’s a nice-looking big box.
Damn, that’s expensive.
I owned the first gen, few years after it came out. It was a great car. My brother’s family currently has one. I believe they enjoy it as well.
I wouldn’t own this one. It looks like a model for a fragrance commercial. Trendy and weak. It won’t look good in 5 years, if you even think it does today.
The first gen of this car, set the tone for Kia and was their breakout into the mainstream. I think this is backtracking. It’s cousin the Palisade, seemed to take a more conservative approach to this upgrade and rounded out the corners better.
Cool.
When are you doing a drive review to tell us how it drives and which of the ten flavors of driving you prefer?
There’s no publication anywhere with the resources or interest to try all 10 so you’ll never get the answer you seek.
Then again, I don’t think we need reviews of things like heated wheels or fancy headliners to decide whether we want them.
Manufacturers usually have product introduction press days where they invite many auto journalists from many different publications/outlets to come somewhere often scenic to drive a few flavors of their newest vehicle for a few hours and nibble on shrimp cocktail – then the freshly fed and newly enamored journalists go to a press room/back to their hotel/home to write about their experience and how nice the newest gadgetmobile from Brand X is.
Sometimes manufacturers will even have ride/drive events during the days before a big Auto Show – because they know journalists will already be there, so why not come eat our shrimp and smear cocktail sauce on our seats, steering wheels and screens.
Then manufacturers have Press pools where they will deliver and loan cars for longer periods of time for journalists to take home/on vacation to drive for more in depth reviews.
That’s how this works.
To a point. I’ve read plenty of reviews on this site where they’ve gone to those junkets but even then the article says “we didn’t have a chance to review the AWD version (or whatever) but if it’s anything like their other models, it should be good.”
And I’ve read that the press pool vehicles are almost always top-of-the-line.
Wheelbarrow of shrimp for the win
Still looks like the front fell off. I know it’s not very typical…
May as well go back to the American sales model of the 1950s-1980s where (most) every option was a la carte.
This.
I would love this. Really all I want is the safety suite, premium audio, and ventilated seats. It’s super frustrating that they’re all usually locked behind the most expensive package that’s full of stuff I don’t want or care about. I don’t give a shit about the screen size, the camera rear view mirror, the a billion inch wheels with no sidewall that are going to get destroyed in DC, etc.
You need the XXL Trim to buy the Sound and Fury package to get the nice speakers.
Aftermarket? Sorry, the audio is wired into the ADAS computer now, that would be unsafe.
“yeah, I’m looking for tires for my telluride. It’s a 265/.5R1000000000, whaddya have in stock? I’m looking for something around $100 a tire, ideally.”
Do a search for the tires for the Sierra EV Max Range Denali (275/50R24)
I’m sure either in a few years they’ll have boiled the frog and we’ll see those monstrosities on everything or you’ll have to retire your car because the two tire models currently offered are no longer available.
You wouldn’t believe (though I’m sure you would) the number of people that come in with <5 year old cars that are literally sweating, often nearly crying, at the idea of replacing a tire. And if they do have to, they aim for the $115 store brand turd of a tire, because they're car-poor. What good is a 2023 car if you're so fucking broke that paying $200 for a decent tire can ruin you? It turns out the 215/40R19 on your Camry – which soaked up one (1) pothole before bending the wheel, by the way – wasn't such a great idea after all.
I bought a 26′ Equinox EV.
Sadly the smallest wheels are 19″!
I would have gladly gotten 16″s if offered.
As is when it comes time I have heard 18s will clear the brakes
Considering that they sold about 6 of them you are probably going to be correct.
Maybe it’s possible to put a more normal wheel on it?
Of course it is. Unfortunately, the overlap of Telluride buyers and aftermarket wheels are probably 1% or less.
/shopping aftermarket wheels for my Odyssey now
//I am the 0.01%
Does the Odyssey not share wheel sizes with the Pilot/Passport/Ridgeline?