2020 explorer VS Kia Telluride

JohnC12 said:

I was recently in the market for an Explorer. Short story long... I ended up spending a hair bit more on the Lincoln Aviator because the fit and finish on the new Explorers was horrible. For the money Ford is asking, I expected a lot more... it looked like an 8 year old assembled them. The Aviator, on the other hand, is very nice from all aspects - build quality, refinement, comfort, drive, etc.

If it’s between the two, I’d buy the Telluride.

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Raptorrunner2019 said:

Hello all,

i am looking into swapping vehicles for more space. Looking into the Ford Explorer or Kia telluride. Explorer platinum with 3.0 turbo is around 50k. Kia telluride loaded is 45k.

I have read reviews comparing them and seems to go both ways. What are your thoughts? Are these vehicles too new to have any reliability indicators? The explorer seems to have had many recalls but most seemingly 2.3l engines.

Most say for the price difference telluride is clearly the winner. Here, the prices are much closer.

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FordTechOne said:

I don't understand the media hype over the Telluride. It is a Kia Sedona with an SUV body, same engine as well. Their 3.8L V6 is gutless (peak torque is 262 lb⋅ft at 5,200 rpm), yet their fuel economy within 1 MPG of the Explorer ST, despite the ST's 110HP and 153 lb-ft of torque advantage.

The Explorer is RWD based, with the 10R60 transmission and Super 8.8 IRS axle, which I personally think shifts smoother than the 10R80 due to it being a slightly lighter duty unit. All you need to do is put both vehicles on a lift to see where Ford spent the money; it's in the chassis and powertrain. While the Kia has economy car grade stamped steel front control arms and multilink rear suspension, the Explorer uses dual (front/rear) forged aluminum front control arms and an aluminum intensive rear multilink. The Telluride's subframe doesn't even extend past the powertrain, and their CV shafts look like something off of a Kia Rio. It also irks me that a foreign company uses the name of an iconic American city to sell their product.

When I "build" a Telluride on Kia's website, it comes out to $49,310 with the options that match an Explorer ST. I highly recommend driving the ST before making a decision; it's drives more like a Mustang than a 3 row SUV, yet still tows more than the competition with more interior room and by far the best exterior design in the segment. The Telluride interior design has more contrast with the material choices, but the ST's interior looks much better in person than it does in pictures.

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FordTechOne said:

I don't understand the media hype over the Telluride. It is a Kia Sedona with an SUV body, same engine as well. Their 3.8L V6 is gutless (peak torque is 262 lb⋅ft at 5,200 rpm), yet their fuel economy within 1 MPG of the Explorer ST, despite the ST's 110HP and 153 lb-ft of torque advantage.

The Explorer is RWD based, with the 10R60 transmission and Super 8.8 IRS axle, which I personally think shifts smoother than the 10R80 due to it being a slightly lighter duty unit. All you need to do is put both vehicles on a lift to see where Ford spent the money; it's in the chassis and powertrain. While the Kia has economy car grade stamped steel front control arms and multilink rear suspension, the Explorer uses dual (front/rear) forged aluminum front control arms and an aluminum intensive rear multilink. The Telluride's subframe doesn't even extend past the powertrain, and their CV shafts look like something off of a Kia Rio. It also irks me that a foreign company uses the name of an iconic American city to sell their product.

When I "build" a Telluride on Kia's website, it comes out to $49,310 with the options that match an Explorer ST. I highly recommend driving the ST before making a decision; it's drives more like a Mustang than a 3 row SUV, yet still tows more than the competition with more interior room and by far the best exterior design in the segment. The Telluride interior design has more contrast with the material choices, but the ST's interior looks much better in person than it does in pictures.

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FordTechOne said:

When I "build" a Telluride on Kia's website, it comes out to $49,310 with the options that match an Explorer ST. I highly recommend driving the ST before making a decision; it's drives more like a Mustang than a 3 row SUV, yet still tows more than the competition with more interior room and by far the best exterior design in the segment. The Telluride interior design has more contrast with the material choices, but the ST's interior looks much better in person than it does in pictures.

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FordTechOne said:

It sounds like you may have looked at an early build Explorer; those had some build quality issues due to the plant being entirely changed over for the 2020 models. I've inspected at some recent 2020 builds and they are leaps and bounds above the early ones. Aviator is beautiful, nice choice regardless.

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