re: Has Kia really come far in reliability over the years? *Telluride related*

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If they changed the logo, you'd never know it wasn't a high arse end SUV.

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In Korea, they use a K badge instead of the Kia one they use here.

Googling some images of a rebadged telluride with the “telluride” letters taken off and the Korean Kia emblem added. Looks sharp.

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They stole all the top designers from Mercedes BMW etc to help so its much better then in the past

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Things have come full circle, BMW is now ripping off Kia's design.

I see a bunch of idiot replies about it being a "Kia". Well this was a Toyota Celica in the 70's




They came a long way since that time to overtake the prestigious American and German auto makers in reliability/consumer satisfaction.

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Hyundai and Kia are the same thing.

As far as reliability, they are much better than MINI, Fiat, Dodge or Ford. They are about on par with Nissan, VW, Mazda, or Chevrolet. They are way behind Toyota or Honda.

Your results with vary. I’ve had family members with an atrociously bad Genesis. Some friends also had great look with a Kia Optima.

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Your post is indicative of two things.

First, you are mainly dealing with anecdotal data points and long term perception. Consumer Reports provides the best data-driven information on reliability and dependability you can get outside the industry and they show a different picture than you paint with Kia and Hyundai. They score rather differently despite ownership. Long term perception is ingrained in people that loosely follow the industry but two companies pop out at me as being perception based. Honda (and Acura) have gone down significantly in recent years in terms of reliability and Mazda had jumped up significantly. Data shows Mazda has moved well ahead of Honda. However, perception lags significantly behind reality.

The other point you make is very salient, model (also model year) is extremely important when looking at reliability. While Toyota/Lexus has many models at the very top of reliability they also have models that are middling, normally due to one or more pattern issues. The problem here is given a 1st year of production the only thing one has to consider is the recent overall reliability of the brand.

One thing to note that helps keep Toyota/Lexus at the very top of the pyramid is their reluctance to embrace new technology. All that nifty tech in Ram trucks drags them down for example.

All that said if I had to bet I would guess the Telluride will be middle of the pack in reliability in its first year and will likely have at least one pattern issue that is either an inconvenience or stupefyingly maddening for the owners that have it.

The question is, can Kia’s go 200k plus miles like a Toyota? If they can establish that reliability in the minds of consumers, resale value will rise, along with sales. They might be there already, but the general population doesn’t know it yet.

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Their quality is much improved but their value still stinks. Do not buy a brand new Kia unless you're absolutely sure you're going to run it until the wheels fall off. I had a 2014 Forte that cost me $21k. After 4 years it was only worth about $8k. I was upside down on the loan through the whole thing and wound up paying the loan off later so I could trade it in.

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That's not unique to Kia, but yeah, resale value isn't great because of the poor stigma that this thread shows still exist.

Yes

I had the new optima sx when they first came out. I loved it and didn’t have a smidge of trouble. Just traded it in for an suv after having it about four years. The warranty is great as well. The Telluride is next on my list to purchase.

An idiot who drives a 10 yr old manual 5 series with 150k on the clock...