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So my story is that I have had a Hyundai Santa Fe (2007) since new - 13 years! It had been a great car and served us well for over 317 thousand miles! Then, back in August, something in the timing chain area gave out and there was a very loud noise from under the timing chain cover. I suspect that either a damper or a guide had broken. The cost to repair was just not worth it so I decided to donate the car to charity and started looking for something else. Given the new grand daughter I knew I wanted another SUV.
I had seen a Kia Telluride at a Costco a few weeks earlier and really liked the look of it. I started doing some research and saw that this SUV was getting rave reviews, so I decided this was going to be the replacement for the Santa Fe. Because these cars are very popular (go figure - a popular Kia) the local dealers were adding a "dealer markup" that was several thousand above MSRP. So, I started calling dealers in other states. The best deal I could find was to pay MSRP (first time in my life I've ever paid MSRP for a car) and I ended up ordering the exact car I wanted from a dealer in Plano Texas. I actually paid $400 under MSRP because Kia had a military discound - I just had to provide a copy of my DD-214. I placed the order at the end of August and drove a one-way rental car to Plano and took delivery 53 days later when my car was delivered to the dealer.
I have now had this car for one week and have been blown away by this thing. It is an extremely quiet and surprisingly luxurious car with a ton of safety technology. Time will tell how reliable this thing will be, but it does have a very good warrenty (5 years/ 60,000 miles basic / roadside assistance and 10 year / 100,000 drive train warranty). The color is Dark Moss with Butterscotch leather.
Took this picture at sunrise on way back from Plano.
I had seen a Kia Telluride at a Costco a few weeks earlier and really liked the look of it. I started doing some research and saw that this SUV was getting rave reviews, so I decided this was going to be the replacement for the Santa Fe. Because these cars are very popular (go figure - a popular Kia) the local dealers were adding a "dealer markup" that was several thousand above MSRP. So, I started calling dealers in other states. The best deal I could find was to pay MSRP (first time in my life I've ever paid MSRP for a car) and I ended up ordering the exact car I wanted from a dealer in Plano Texas. I actually paid $400 under MSRP because Kia had a military discound - I just had to provide a copy of my DD-214. I placed the order at the end of August and drove a one-way rental car to Plano and took delivery 53 days later when my car was delivered to the dealer.
I have now had this car for one week and have been blown away by this thing. It is an extremely quiet and surprisingly luxurious car with a ton of safety technology. Time will tell how reliable this thing will be, but it does have a very good warrenty (5 years/ 60,000 miles basic / roadside assistance and 10 year / 100,000 drive train warranty). The color is Dark Moss with Butterscotch leather.
Took this picture at sunrise on way back from Plano.