Family Leaders! 2025 Kia Telluride vs. 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander

If you rewind just about 5 years ago, neither the Kia Telluride nor the Toyota Grand Highlander even existed, yet these are now two of the best-selling 3-row SUVs in America. Which is exactly why we are putting them against each other today! So, which of the practical family SUVs wins in a 2025 Kia Telluride vs. 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander battle? Let’s find out right now!

Exterior Design

But getting right into the exteriors, you can tell right away that both have boxier designs to make them look tougher than they really are. The grilles are rectangular and prominently positioned up front, although the Telluride visually looks wider with its headlights and taillights positioned on the outside edges. Both have relatively limited use of cladding with matte and piano black finishes.

Starting with the headlights, both models feature projector full-LED arrangements and even LED fog lamps. 

Walking around the vehicles, you’ll notice both feature 20-inch alloy wheels, although lengthwise, the Grand Highlander is the bigger of the two. Of course, we will be comparing all the interior space and dimensions later in the comparison. 

Lengths: Grand Highlander: 201.4-inches | Telluride: 196.9-inches

In the back, the trend of premium LED lighting continues, and the two models match each other with spoilers, exposed wipers and the ability to tow up 5,000 lbs.  

Towing: Grand Highlander: 5,000 lbs. | Telluride: 5,000 lbs.

The mirrors on each crossover feature heating, power-folding and blind spot monitoring. And as far as the active safety features are concerned, all of them are featured here, even highway assist systems for convenience in addition to helping you avoid crashes. 

That’s going to conclude the outside, so now let’s move on to the more important interiors.

Interior Design

So, walking up to the vehicles, both models have smart entry and remote start systems. But that’s where the similarities almost immediately end.

Seats are our first discussion point here, where you find a suede and leather combination seat in the Grand Highlander and a quilted Nappa leather seat in the Telluride. Nappa leather is one of the highest grades of leather, so Telluride has the advantage there, and it also gives owners several more adjustments from its power seats. Heating, ventilation, and memory functions are included on both models. 

Let’s fully climb inside and talk about the overall cabin quality, which we will divide into solidity and material selection, since it’s broad. In both regards, you’ll notice an appreciable difference in favor of the Kia. When you press on pieces, there is less flex, and when you do things like slam the doors, the Kia feels rock solid. For materials, the use of extra leatherette and wood-like trims elevates the cabin’s premium feel above the mostly basic plastic finishes in the Toyota.

Starting them up, you will be greeted by two fully digital 12.3-inch displays, one tablet style and the other integrated. Both have customizable graphics, or you can just look at the head-up displays instead. One Kia-exclusive is the blind spot camera system.

Even though these don’t have a luxury badge on the steering wheel, they still have leather wrapping, heating, manual-adjustment and rain-sensing wipers. 

Storage and Technology

Now the next major subject to evaluate is interior storage, looking at both the center console and the multi-use cubbies elsewhere. Starting with the console, we performed the signature Car Confections donut test on both, and the GH fit the MAX number of donuts, 2 dozen. The Kia trails it by 13%, or 3 donuts of volume. Forward of that, the Toyota includes a larger storage cubby and even a passenger storage shelf.

One method Toyota deployed to make that work was switching to an electronic shifter. Regardless of your preference, both display 36-degree camera systems when in reverse. 

For the climate controls, we have 3-zone systems that have full controls with knobs and buttons, instead of in a screen, which is increasingly becoming commonplace. 

Alrighty, that brings us to the audio systems, so let’s sample them. Technically, the Kia is down one speaker but it’s the one that’s up in audio quality. Its Harmon Kardon has a more balanced and clear sound that isn’t so bass heavy.

Telluride: 10-speaker Harmon Kardon Premium Audio

Grand Highlander: 11-speaker JBL Premium Audio

Now moving on to the screens, you might’ve expected this area to be the same, but that’s not the case, outside of the 12.3-inch size. The main thing is that is likely to impact your day-to-date is that the Telluride does not use Kia’s latest software, meaning it is still missing wireless AA and ACP. Outside of that, they both have navigation and all the other basic features that are expected. 

Up above, both SUV’s include auto-dimming rearview mirrors, HomeLink garage door openers plus the rear camera ability. Up top, there are large panoramic sunroofs, divided into 2 panels on the Telluride, and it has a suede headliner like a luxury SUV.

Rear Seats and Cargo

As we move to the back seats and cargo areas, there will be several things that favor the Kia and several the Toyota. Legroom is one of the things that favors the Kia, with about a 7% advantage, although headroom is under the 5% difference threshold to score a point.

Telly: 42.4-inches of legroom | 40.4-inches of headroom

GH: Legroom: 39.5-inch | Headroom: 38.5-inch

Features-wise, they have tons to keep the whole fam happy. Both have climate vents, 2 USB ports, and a household outlet. The captain’s chairs slide and recline, while also heating and ventilating your booty. The sun can be blocked with sunshades on the windows. 

The Grand Highlander has a handy center console with storage and cupholders that can be removed if you don’t need them.

The space situation reverses when we move to the third rows. Legroom is larger in the Grand Highlander by over 6%, which makes a difference on long trips. Headroom is just about equal again. 

There are 3 seats with cupholders, vents and USB connections. 

Telluride: Legroom: 31.4-inches | Headroom: 38.1-inches

GH: Legroom: 33.5-inches | Headroom: 37.2-inches

So how much stuff can you bring along with you? Moving to the cargo areas, we see the difference between above average in the segment and class leading. The Kia is above average, but ultimately nearly tying the Grand Highlander behind the 3rd row is the best it can manage. The space with the 3rd row folded and the 2nd row folded, is strongly in favor of the Toyota, by about 11% on the maximum end.

Telly: 21 cubic feet behind 3rd row; 46 cubic feet behind 2nd row; 87 MAX cubic feet

GH: Behind 3^rd Row: 20.6-cu.ft | 2^nd Row: 57.9-cu.ft | MAX: 97.5-cu.ft

Amenities-wise, they are identically equipped with power outlets, manual folding third rows and spare tires. Only the Telluride has 2nd row seat releases in the rear.

But that’s it for the interiors, so now let’s take them out on the road and see how they stack up there!

Powertrains

Some people prefer the simple powertrains, and some people prefer the most advanced options, and that’s the dichotomy we have here. The Telluride has a classic 3.8L V-6 engine, making 291 hp, while the Grand Highlander has 3 turbocharged or hybridized options. We have the top option called Hybrid Max, which combines the two technologies with a 2.4L 4-cylinder. Altogether, it makes a lot more power at 362 hp and 400 lb.ft of torque. It is also faster accelerating by a significant margin.

Telluride: 3.8L V-6: 291 hp | 262 lb.ft

GH: 2.4L Turbo-4 w/ front electric motor and rear e-axle: 362 hp | 400 lb ft of torque

As far as the transmissions are concerned, we have 8 and 6-speed automatics in the Telluride and Grand Highlander, respectively. Both perform well with their engines, and power is put down via AWD.

Test Drive and Fuel Economy

Let’s also talk about on-road manners. Both excel here with excellent ride quality that eats up all but the largest bumps. And while neither of them are super sporty, the Grand Highlander pays a bit more attention to mitigating body roll when driving on a back road.

Here at Car Confections, something we like to do is take sound level readings for all the models we test so that we can compare them. At 55 MPH, the Grand Highlander register just under 1 dB less noise than the Telluride. Sound level readings are not linear, and the average adult ear cannot register less than 1 dB difference.

Telly: 54.4 dB @ 55 MPH

GH: 53.5 dB @ 55 MPH

Finally, when it comes to fuel economy, this is where the Toyota’s hybrid system really shines. Even with way more power, it gets 7 MPG better combined, plus better city and highway MPG’s as well.

Telly AWD: 18/23/20 MPG

GH AWD: 26/27/27 MPG

Reliability and Resale

In our reviews and comparisons, we are also adding in reliability and resale information to give you a better picture of the overall value beyond just the original MSRP. 

Beginning with reliability, we developed the Combined Reliability Index, which takes into account several studies from trustworthy sources, and combines them in a way that gives a more realistic picture. In this respect, the Toyota pulls ahead as the top brand in the auto industry: It is rated 15 spots above industry average. Kia is also above average, at 6 spots. 

Related to that, Kia has the longer basic and powertrain warranty coverage, but Toyota has two years of complimentary maintenance, which Kia doesn’t.

GH: Warranty: Basic Warranty: 3yr/36k mi | Powertrain: 5yr/60k mi | Comp Main: 2 yrs

Telly: Warranty: Basic Warranty: 5yr/60k mi | Powertrain: 10yr/100k mi | Comp Main: N/A

We also put Mason’s economics degree to work to develop a detailed Predicted Resale Value tool. After 5 years and 60,000 miles, Toyota has one of the highest values in the entire auto industry, at 64.5% expected retained value. The margin between it and Kia is fairly significant, at 49.02% after 5 years.

I want to emphasize that if money, reliability or resale value matter less to you personally, feel free to disregard these points. And if you’d like to check out all our data about reliability and resale values, as well as learn about our methodology, make sure to head to www.carconfections.com/resale and www.carconfections.com/reliability. Buying a car is a big decision, and this is a great place to compare all the makes you might be cross-shopping.

Price Assessment

Now let’s break down the cost of these two and evaluate how much value each model is delivering. 

Our loaded Telluride is just slightly under $55,000 after some mid-year price tweaks. The Grand Highlander, on the other hand, continues to set the ceiling for price in this segment. It’s about 5 grand more expensive, at $60,000. 

Grand Highlander (Platinum Hybrid Max AWD): $58,775 | Options: +$0 | Destination: $1,450 | Total: $60,225

Telluride (SX Prestige X-Line AWD): $52,385 | Options: +$225 | Destination: $1,415 | Total: $54,495

Nevertheless, let’s account for the price difference using our scale. There is a $5,730 price difference between them, so keep that in mind if you are more price conscious.

2025 Kia telluride vs. 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander Winner!

So, there you have it! Here are a couple of things to consider when picking each one, for you personally and then which one we’d put in each of our driveways:

Telluride: 

• More premium interior finishes
• Traditional V-6 engine
• Extra features throughout

Grand Highlander: 

• Great predicted reliability and resale value
• More space
• Available hybrid systems & more power 

Now we want to know your opinions, so make sure to head to the comment section and let us know which one you would pick!

Thanks for joining us for another Car Confections Comparison! We’ll catch you next time as we sample the latest automotive delicacies!