Kia Telluride vs GMC Yukon XL: which is more reliable?
The Kia Telluride and the GMC Yukon XL are level on the federal record — 76/100 against 73/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Kia Telluride
- 5 model years scored
- 1,624 owner complaints on record
- about 95 complaints per year on the road
- 26 recall campaigns, 5 safety-critical
- best year 2021 (82/100) · worst 2020 (66/100)
GMC Yukon XL
- 5 model years scored
- 667 owner complaints on record
- about 42 complaints per year on the road
- 23 recall campaigns, 10 safety-critical
- best year 2025 (87/100) · worst 2023 (59/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Telluride against Yukon XL
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Kia Telluride
- Unknown Or Other — 376 complaints
- Engine — 273 complaints
- Visibility/Wiper — 270 complaints
GMC Yukon XL
- Engine — 432 complaints
- Power Train — 122 complaints
- Electrical System — 85 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Telluride's complaints concentrate in Unknown Or Other, the Yukon XL's in Engine. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Kia Telluride: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025.
GMC Yukon XL: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2022, 2024, 2025.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Kia Telluride prices at about $63,100 and a GMC Yukon XL at about $63,100 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 20.0 against 16.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Kia Telluride or the GMC Yukon XL more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Kia Telluride scores 76/100 against the GMC Yukon XL's 73/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Kia Telluride and GMC Yukon XL years should I avoid?
Kia Telluride: no year scores below 45. GMC Yukon XL: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Kia Telluride and the GMC Yukon XL?
The largest complaint group on the Kia Telluride is Unknown Or Other (376 complaints); on the GMC Yukon XL it is Engine (432).
Is the Kia Telluride or the GMC Yukon XL cheaper to own?
A recent used Kia Telluride prices at about $63,100 and a GMC Yukon XL at about $63,100, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.