[MUSIC PLAYING]
BRIAN WONG: Oh my god.
We're back again--
[BACKSTREET BOYS, "EVERYBODY (BACKSTREET'S BACK)"] All
right.
BRIAN WONG: --with yet another three-row midsize SUV video.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And of course, you can't have one of those
without this thing.
SPEAKER 1: The Kia Telluride.
SPEAKER 2: Kia Telluride.
SPEAKER 3: Kia Telluride.
SPEAKER 4: Every time I'm tempted
to talk about the Telluride--
SPEAKER 5: The Telluride.
SPEAKER 6: Telluride.
SPEAKER 4: --I have to put a dollar in this thing.
But that one didn't count.
First one's free.
BRIAN WONG: We love the Kia Telluride.
It's been perched atop our midsize three-row SUV rankings
for quite some time now, and it took home our Edmunds Top Rated
Award for Best Overall SUV as well.
But in such a popular segment, new challengers
are always arriving.
And today, we've got three other vehicles
that are either brand new or got serious recent updates, all
aimed at toppling the Kia from its perch atop the mountain.
They are the Volkswagen Atlas, Toyota Grand Highlander,
and the Honda Pilot.
Here at Edmunds we give these vehicles overall ratings,
but that's not the only thing that we score.
We also score them on different categories,
things like interior comfort, technology, and how they drive.
The Telluride has an overall rating
of 8.4, which is the best in this group.
And that's mostly because it's good at just about everything.
But good doesn't mean that it's the best
in every individual category, so what we've done
is taken four categories that we think
are important to shoppers in this segment,
and we're going to see which of these vehicles
is the best in each individual category.
The four categories are interior and comfort,
technology and safety, cargo storage, and finally,
value and fuel economy.
But before we go on, please hit those
like and subscribe buttons.
And for more information about any of these vehicles,
check out the links in the description
or head over to edmunds.com.
We'll kick things off with interior and comfort.
Now, these are two things that we usually score separately
on the Edmunds rating, but for today, I've
combined them into one category, taking
the average for each vehicle, and lined them up
to see which one comes out on top.
Here's how they shook out.
Not a lot of separation between these four vehicles
for this category, only a half point
difference between the Telluride on top and the Pilot down
on the bottom.
But I'm here in our winner, the Kia Telluride,
and it definitely stands out among this group.
When you climb into the Telluride,
it just feels different.
There's a big step up in quality here
compared to these other vehicles, from the materials
to the layout.
It feels like a near luxury vehicle
for definitely nonluxury price.
We love the buttons and how simple it
is to find everything that you need.
Also simple is the infotainment system,
but that's something we'll get into a little bit later.
Each of these door openings are very large,
so it's very easy to get in and out of the Telluride.
And it has a pretty good third row,
although I will say that the Atlas still
probably has the best third row in this class,
thanks to how roomy it is.
The Telluride also comes with a ton of features.
It has heated and ventilated seats
across the first and second rows.
The Grand Highlander's interior also nice and comes close.
We like the third row of that vehicle much more than the one
you get in the regular Highlander
because that one is so small and cramped.
It's basically relegated to kid duty.
The Pilot's third row is smaller than the other vehicles here,
and it has less features overall,
so it can't really compete.
One thing that we do like, though,
these little releases on the second row
seats that make it easy to get in and out.
The Telluride also stands out for its ride quality.
On the road, it does a really good job
of soaking up imperfections and keeping the cabin quiet.
Our next category is meant to encapsulate
two things, in-car multimedia and advanced driver aids,
both of which fall under the umbrella of technology.
Three of these vehicles have large, crystal clear,
modern infotainment screens.
And then there's the Pilot.
SPEAKER 7: Bruh.
BRIAN WONG: Each of these vehicles
comes with pretty similar safety features.
They all have standard adaptive cruise control with lane
keep assist, and each of them offers a surround view camera,
so we grade them all pretty similarly on that front.
Here's how the results shook out.
Our winner in this category is the Grand Highlander,
and it comes with this very nice,
standard 12.3-inch touchscreen, as well as wireless Android
Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Spread across the cabin are USB charging
ports for all three rows.
And we also like Toyota's native navigation.
The navigation system here actually integrates
results from Google, so if you search for something,
you can see its star rating and get
additional info, like the phone number,
all through the native navigation.
We also like that Toyota has upgraded its voice command,
so now you can actually use natural speech
and tell the vehicle to turn off and turn on functions
all with your voice.
The safety aids on this vehicle all work as advertised.
We think it does a particularly good job
of keeping the vehicle centered in its lane
when driving down the highway using the adaptive cruise
control.
And we like the variety of views that you get
with the surround view camera.
Why, screen?
Why are you sized like you're from 2010?
Why does the Honda Accord get Google
integration and a large screen, and you are here?
Why?
Also, the Pilot's advanced driver aid's
not quite as dialed in as the rest of these vehicles.
When you're going down the highway,
the lane centering kind of ping pongs you
to the left and right, and the forward collision warnings
are a bit too sensitive.
Here in the Telluride, a very nice, simple,
easy-to-use infotainment system, but there
are two things that really hold it back
versus the Grand Highlander.
The Grand Highlander's native navigation
is much better than this vehicle,
and the Telluride only has wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay,
so no wireless connectivity for either of those
here in the Kia.
The Atlas's refresh was supposed to improve its technology,
but instead, it's taken a step forward and a step back.
This screen is larger and better,
but it's also adopted the interface
that we had in our long-term [INAUDIBLE] 4,
and we didn't really like that.
That would include these touch-capacitive controls right
below the screen.
And the problem with these controls
is not only that they're capacitive and not
quite sensitive enough-- the other problem is they're not
illuminated at night, so you can't actually easily change
the temperature or volume once the sun goes down,
and that's not good.
The other problem with putting all these controls right here
below the screen is that if you're going to use the screen,
you will naturally put a finger down here
to maybe help balance your hand as you're using it,
and every time you do that, you're
going to accidentally activate one
of those touch-capacitive buttons.
It's fun.
Real fun.
Anyone buying a vehicle this large
is probably planning to carry a bunch of people
or a bunch of stuff, or even a bunch of people
and their stuff.
That's why our third category is cargo and storage.
And it doesn't just cover this area
behind the second and third rows.
We also take into account interior storage,
so useful cubbies and storage spaces,
and we also measure for car seats, how easy they
are to install, how easy they are to take out,
that kind of stuff.
Now, I don't have any kids, so it might
be helpful to have one here.
Anybody have a kid?
Anybody have a kid we can borrow?
Anybody?
The Grand Highlander is our winner in this category,
and it's fortunate for Toyota that we brought this one here
instead of a regular Highlander because
for the last few generations, that vehicle has
been too small for those who plan
to use the third row or the cargo area frequently,
a problem that Toyota remedied by building this vehicle, which
is the size that the regular Highlander probably
should have been all along.
The Grand Highlander has 20.6 cubic feet
of cargo space behind its third row, and that's roughly on par
with what you're going to get in the Telluride and the Atlas,
but if you fold down the third row and the second row,
that expands it to 97.5 cubic feet of cargo room.
And that figure is class leading.
It's not only the cargo area that gives the Grand Highlander
the win in this category.
It's also plenty of useful storage spaces
spread throughout the cabin.
Starting up front here, you have this nice bin
in the dashboard for the passenger,
and in front of the shifter, another large storage
space, and the center console, also pretty big as well.
Also, at each of the four doors you're
going to find pretty large door pockets.
And for the third row, each of those passengers
gets two cup holders and even a spot to put your phone.
We also like the Telluride's cargo area.
It has a nicely sized underfloor storage
area that can fit a backpack or any other items
you'd want to keep hidden.
And it also has a unique feature that these other vehicles don't
have, and that's these buttons right here, which
allow you to drop the second row seats from the cargo area,
like this.
Nice feature.
But up front, again, you're missing
the same interior stores that we like so much in the Toyota,
so just a little step behind.
The Pilot comes in last in this category as well,
but there are things about this cargo area that I do like.
At 18.6 cubic feet, it's not that much smaller
than the others.
And just like the Telluride, you get a pretty big underfloor
storage compartment.
Now, this is only usable if it's, like, this empty.
It's this large because you can actually
take out the center seat of the second row
and store it back here when you don't need it.
So if you want this storage space,
you can even leave that seat at home
and just have seating for one fewer passenger.
Even though all four of these vehicles
are pretty good for car seats, the Pilot
has the highest car seat accommodation score
because it's the only vehicle with three sets of upper
and lower lash anchors in the second row,
so you can install three seats across.
So if you have kids with car seats,
you may have to consider the Pilot,
even though that screen is dinky.
The Atlas and the Telluride tie for second place
in this category, and the Atlas does have a pretty large cargo
area, just like it has a large third row,
but it doesn't quite have the same amount of interior storage
as the Toyota has, so it falls slightly behind.
One thing the Atlas does that none of these other vehicles do
is that you can actually tilt and slide the second row
forward, even with a forward-facing car
seat installed, provided that it's
anchored by the latch anchors and not with the seatbelt.
Our fourth and final category, value and fuel economy.
Now, fuel economy-- pretty self-explanatory.
These four vehicles actually got pretty similar fuel efficiency
numbers.
They all got between 22 and 24 MPG on our ratings loop.
But value-- that is where they start to separate themselves.
And that's how we measure things like cabin quality
and features for the amount of money
you're going to pay for the vehicle.
And we also factor in ownership benefits,
like scheduled maintenance and, of course,
how long a vehicle's warranty is.
The Telluride wins this category mostly because of its fantastic
value proposition.
With high-quality materials inside and great design,
it almost feels like a luxury vehicle,
and it comes with more features than the other competitors
as well.
Backing that up is a great, 10-year,
100,000-mile powertrain warranty,
which is the best in the business.
And it's also got a five-year, 60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper
warranty, which is better than most as well.
Coming in second is the Toyota.
And just behind that is the Atlas.
Now, both of these vehicles feature interiors
that we do like, but both of them are a step behind the Kia
when it comes to fit and finish and overall quality,
so this is where they land.
What's notable about both of these vehicles
is that they do offer free scheduled maintenance.
For the Toyota, it's two years or 25,000 miles,
and for the Volkswagen, slightly less at two years
or 20,000 miles.
Bringing up the rear once again in this category
is the Honda Pilot.
Now, the Pilot has a pretty well-appointed interior,
but the problem is the design already feels very dated.
And you look at that tiny screen,
and you don't really feel mad, you're just disappointed.
As we mentioned earlier, efficiency
isn't a strength for any of these contenders.
And in Edmunds testing, they all got pretty similar fuel economy
results, with the Grand Highlander coming in
on top at just over 24 MPG.
It's also worth mentioning that the Grand Highlander is
one of the few vehicles in this segment to also offer
a hybrid powertrain.
And in this case, it actually offers two of them,
both of which will give you better fuel
economy than the gas engine.
So in the final accounting, that was
two category wins for the Telluride
and two for the Grand Highlander.
And that makes sense because those two vehicles
have the two highest Edmunds overall ratings
among this group.
None of these three vehicles could really
dethrone the Telluride, but we think
that a new contender that arrives next year
may have a real shot.
That would be the 2024 Chevrolet Traverse, which
got a big redesign of its own.
That vehicle has traditionally had tons of cargo and interior
room, but it never really had an interior or technology
to compete with the top of this segment.
That changes next year, though, as it gets a new,
17.7-inch touchscreen.
So next year, there may actually be a shakeup in this class,
and we'd love to see it.
Thanks for watching.
Those categories are interior comfort, technology
and safety--
don't got it.
SPEAKER: Cargo storage.
BRIAN WONG: Cargo storage.
[BEEP]
Oh.
Have my legs crossed.
Oops.
[BEEP]
Here in the Telluride--
[ENGINE REVS]
SPEAKER 7: [LAUGHS]