The Kia Telluride changed the family vehicle landscape when it debuted as a 2020 model. Five years on, the Telluride is still the same old thing, albeit now carrying some meaningful changes that came in 2023 and the subsequent X-Pro upgrades made since. Despite it showing its age, the Telluride remains easy to like.
Vying for continued praise
It’s not that the Telluride needed a refresh as much as the competition and market demanded it receive one to stay competitive. After all, that’s what it takes in a world of rapidly advancing tech to have a seat at the table. The changes Kia applied were more incremental than monumental: Slightly different front/rear styling (you need to be in the know to see it), standard 12.3” touchscreen (it was 10.3” until 2023), an available 10” Heads Up Display, and more robust safety suite. The aforementioned updates helped the Telluride maintain the argument that it deserves the seat at the head of the table, and the X-Pro line helps give it some of the off-road cred that enables outdoorsy dreams and in turn sells cars.
X-Pro was supposed to be big and exciting news for the Telluride when it debuted. Kia added a center locking differential, all-terrain tires, gloss black exterior trim, X-Pro embroidering on the seats, a 110V power inverter in the cargo hold, 0.4 inches of additional ground clearance, self-leveling rear suspension, and a tow mode that allows the vehicle to pull up to 5,500 pounds off its hitch. All of these are nice additions at little expense to the Telluride’s on-road manners, but they definitely do impact NVH.
More content = more better?
Our test vehicle was also equipped with the Prestige package which, for an additional ~$6k over the EX X-Pro, adds things like roof rails, additional safety tech, a 360-degree surround camera, digital key, digital rearview mirror, 10-way power driver seat, heated/cooled 2nd row seats, dual power moonroofs, Nappa leather, 64-color interior mood lighting, a 12.3-inch digital gauge, 10-inch Heads Up Display, Harman Kardon 10-speaker audio, and LED fog lights. It’s actually quite a lot of stuff for the money.
While we appreciate all of the quality of life and modernization-related improvements (including those you get when springing for the Prestige trim), driving and spending time in the Telluride is largely unchanged from when it debuted. It has a mundane, mellow character; if this is the norm for unibody SUVs, that’s not a bad thing, if not just a little uninspiring. The X-Pro weighs 5,917 pounds and is moved by a 3.8L V6 that makes 291 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. That combination is recipe for mediocre responsiveness and motivation. The fuel economy matches this and rings in at 18/23/20 city/highway/combined; we saw 18 MPG over our week of mixed city and highway driving. All of that is to say, we do wish there was an update to the V6 to go with the other changes the Telluride received.
X-Pro and inside the Telluride
Despite the off-road upgrades, the X-Pro realistically isn’t a real rock crawler or hardcore wheeler but rather offers slightly more dirt road cred than its more street-friendly counterparts. Sure, you can hit harder trails with it than those on highway tires, though even with the locking center differential it’s not going to keep up with the likes of even a Toyota 4Runner SR5. Approach and departure angles of 17.9 and 23.2 degrees are better, but this is still a front-wheel-drive based all-wheel-drive system without a low-range transfer case. Set your expectations accordingly.
Inside the Telluride is where Kia shows the biggest strides it made in tech and advancing what the 3-row family vehicle offers. There’s screens aplenty and everything is nicely lit. It’s not overwhelmingly techy, and getting used to the infotainment system and accompanying inputs is fairly easy compared to some of the other more screen-based setups on the market. The seats are unfortunately not as good, and the all-terrain tires are both stiffer and louder than is ideal.
Our test vehicle was optioned up from the SX-Prestige X-Pro’s base price of $53,685 to an as-tested price of $56,240, making well above the entry-level LX trim’s $36,390 MSRP. Everything is expensive today, and the Telluride is creeping ever closer to the once-magical $60k mark that denoted a luxury vehicle price point. Is the cost justified? Yes and no. This is the best Telluride so far, yet spending this much opens up a lot of upmarket options on the used market that trounce the Telluride in terms of both luxury and off-road capability. Still, Kia’s 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty is a big selling point for many.
Same as it ever was
All-in-all the 2025 Telluride SX-Prestige X-Pro makes for a decent package, but the underpinnings and inherent characteristics of the platform aren’t really up to snuff compared to the leaders on the luxury or 4WD fronts. It’s also not the best driving, instead just mid-pack.
Still, the Telluride remains a likable, easy, competent vehicle in a sea of them. Its standout features remains the styling and well-roundedness of the vehicle, and while the pricing is creeping ever-higher and the off-road improvements the X-Pro offer are more of the “say you have it to sell vehicles” kind, we’re still fans. The issue isn’t the Telluride as much as it is the ever-improving competitive landscape, which means that while the Kia isn’t necessarily the class leader across the board, it’s still a good choice.
Yay
- Looks good despite its age
- Notable improvements in technology and off-road capability
- Extremely easy to use and interact with
Nay
- V6 shows its age
- Small off-road upgrades worsen on-road NVH more than they improve off-road capability
- Price inching towards $60k makes for a hard value proposition
The Takeaway
Once a groundbreaking vehicle in its class, the 2025 Kia Telluride SX-Prestige X-Pro makes for a better Telluride than ever before if not one that’s trying a bit too hard to be everything to everyone, and yet it’s still very easy to recommend.