2020 Kia Telluride Starts At $31,690: How Does Its Price Stack Up To The Competition?

2020 Telluride

Is Kia’s sub-$32,000 asking price for the Telluride a bargain?

It’s a fact you can’t escape — cars are just getting more expensive these days. So much so, when you see a price like $31,690 for the 2020 Kia Telluride, you do have to ask, “Is that really a good starting price?” While the configurator isn’t live yet, Kia did publish trims and pricing information on its website. The 2020 Telluride is available in four trim levels. From the base LX, there are the S, EX and top-of-the-line SX models. How do the low-end and top-end prices compare to its competitors?

2020 kia telluride
2020 Kia Telluride. [Photo: Kia]

Remember, this segment of the market is nearly as competitive as compact crossovers. Nearly every manufacturer has a car in the fight, so the 2020 Kia Telluride needs to be competitively priced to sell. It’s even going to compete against its cousin, the Hyundai Palisade. At this point, however, pricing for the Palisade isn’t available yet.

2020 Kia Telluride: Pricing By Trim Level

The table below compares the base price of each car at its lowest trim level (excluding destination fees), as well as its highest available trim level, before individual options. The highest price also includes all-wheel drive, even if the car has a front-wheel drive option (since some only offer AWD on their top trims). The highest-priced 2020 Kia Telluride, for instance, will include the $4,000 all-wheel drive option as part of the SX Prestige Option Package. Without it, the top-end price for a front-wheel drive Telluride is $41,490.

2020 Telluride

Pricing: 2020 Kia Telluride vs. the Competition

ModelLowest Trim MSRPHighest Trim MSRP
Kia TellurideLX FWD ($31,690)SX AWD ($45,490)
Chevy TraverseL FWD ($29,930)High Country AWD ($53,200)
Dodge DurangoSXT RWD ($29,995)SRT AWD ($62,995)
Ford ExplorerBase FWD ($32,365)Platinum AWD ($54,165)
GMC AcadiaSL FWD ($30,195)Denali AWD ($48,695)
Honda PilotLX FWD ($31,450)Elite AWD ($48,020)
Mazda CX-9Sport FWD ($32,280)Signature AWD ($45,365)
Nissan PathfinderS FWD ($31,430)Platinum AWD ($44,460)
Subaru AscentBase ($31,995)Touring ($44,695)
Toyota Highlander*LE ($31,330)Limited Platinum ($45,550)
Volkswagen AtlasS 2.0T FWD ($30,895)V6 SEL Premium AWD ($48,395)

On the entry-level model, the 2020 Kia Telluride is roughly in the middle on its base price. There are less expensive options, like the Chevrolet Traverse and Dodge Durango. However, the shopping can get a bit more complicated when you compare apples-to-apples on standard features.

At the high end, however, the fully-loaded 2020 Kia Telluride SX is one of the more competitively-priced options in the segment. Of course, cars like the Dodge Durango offer a range of powertrains, and that’s why the price spikes to over $62,000. The Kia Telluride has just one option: a 3.8-liter V6 engine with 291 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque.

Update 2/6/19: Added trim level images, corrected “L” trim to “LX” trim.