The Bottom Line: The Best SUV Ever is …. drum roll …. the envelope please …. and the winner is …. The 2020 Kia Telluride …. What? When? How?
Well, it’s like the model year 2020 now and SUVs are the big dollar, high gross, most profitable vehicles on the planet. Nearly every vehicle manufacture builds and sells an SUV. Some brands sell 4, 5, 6 or more different SUV’s to cover every size, shape, price level, and market segment.
The SUV market is just too big, and too profitable to pass up. There are nearly 50 manufactures selling vehicles in the United States right now, and almost ALL of them sell an SUV. Even the Ultra Luxury and Exotic car builders like Rolls Royce, Bentley, Maserati, Lamborghini, and soon Ferrari, sell them. Plus the everyday luxury nameplates like Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, Lexus, Jaguar etc offer several more SUV models to chose from.
And let’s not forget the Big Three either. GM, Ford, and the Chrysler Group all build and sell SUV’s by the millions in America every year. Because that’s where the money is. And as Cuba Gooding Jr. said in the Jerry Maguire movie – SHOW ME THE MONEY !!!
OK, so what about the 2020 Kia Telluride being the best SUV ever? This new SUV from the Kia division of the Hyundai group, and that includes Genesis, is the best example of a Swiss Army Knife rendition of a modern SUV.
Not too big, not too small, 3-row seating, has a powerful engine, with a smooth-shifting transmission, almost zero NVH, Noise Vibration and Harness, excellent gas mileage for this size SUV, low emissions, easy to drive, easy to park, easy to back up, easy to load and easy to live with on an everyday basis, and it’s built-in West Point, Georgia, in the USA. Then there is the price.
I have driven 100’s of SUVs over my 48+ years in the automotive world and nothing hits all the targets like the new 2020 Kia Telluride does. The final voting factor for Best SUV Ever is – the price. My loaded to the teeth Telluride came to a grand total MSRP sticker price of only $47,2055, and that is what makes this SUV the award winner.
When you add up all the good things this SUV delivers in a super nice package, you have to give it the Best SUV Ever Award. And Kia starts the base price for a Telluride at only $31,890.
All the other guys are milking the SUV buying surge for all they can get, and rightly so. Get what you can, while the gettin’ is good. And SUV’s are where the money is at. Just ask Ford, GM, and Chrysler where their small cars are. They’re all gone now, not enough profit in the small car market, so let’s all build and sell SUVs, and pick up trucks. But more on pickup trucks another time.
Now back to the 2020 Kia Telluride. With the styling, ride, handling, options, drivability, size, and the price, you have one heck of an SUV. The last item to put the Telluride on top of the SUV list is the factory warranty. Everything the Hyundai group sells comes with a 10 year / 100,000 drive train warranty from the factory.
Add in every available option, and the total MSRP sticker price comes to less than $47,300, including the $1,045 delivery charge. The price is like $10,000 to $20,000 less than the direct competition from all the other manufactures in this size class. Plus you get the 10 year / 100,000 mile drive train warranty at no additional cost. So if you’re looking for an SUV in the mid-size range you need to take a look, and a ride, in the Telluride.
And if you have ever had to pay for an engine repair for a blown head gasket, or a leaking intake manifold gasket, or a failed transmission, after the normal 3 year / 36,000 mile new car warranty period has expired, then you know how assuring the extra warranty time and mileage is over the long run. Piece of mind is a valuable asset too.
On another warranty note, besides having the longest standard drive train warranty of all the manufactures with 10 years or 100,000 miles, the basic bumper to bumper warranty covers the entire vehicle for 5 years and 60,000 miles and comes with 5 years and 60,000 miles of free roadside assistance. These warranty numbers are the best in the business from any vehicle manufacture, period.
There was not another option, button, accessory, or electronic device that the top of the line Telluride needed to have to be a better fantastic everyday driver. Power everything, easy entry and exit, well-placed controls, super comfortable Nappa leather seating, HUD heads up display, heated and ventilated seats, 20″ Black alloy wheels, LED headlamps, power sunroof, rear fixed sunroof, Harmon / Kardon Surround Sound System, soft-touch interior and headliner, back up camera, surround-view and blind-spot view monitors, cross-traffic alerts, and most importantly – forward collision avoidance assist, plus many, many, many more options, electronics, and accessories.
Price, Performance, Value, and Warranty – Needless to say this SUV has it all. And so the Best SUV Ever Award goes to …. the 2020 Kia Telluride.
Remember “You Are What You Drive ©”
And maybe, just for those reasons alone, you should “Drive one, Buy one, Today ©”.
This Bottom Line Review is provided by: Tony Leopardo © AutoWire.Net.
“Tony the Car Guy” is an automotive writer, editor and publisher in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you have a question, or comment for Tony, send it to tonyleo@pacbell.net or visit AutoWire.Net at www.autowire.net
