Kia Telluride vs Toyota Highlander: which is more reliable?
The Kia Telluride is clearly ahead of the Toyota Highlander on the federal record: 76/100 against 65/100 across every model year we score.
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)
Toyota Highlander
- 11 model years scored
- 2,349 owner complaints on record
- about 27 complaints per year on the road
- 39 recall campaigns, 24 safety-critical
- best year 2016 (86/100) · worst 2020 (37/100)
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 Highlander
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
Toyota Highlander
- Power Train — 461 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 363 complaints
- Electrical System — 306 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Telluride's complaints concentrate in Unknown Or Other, the Highlander's in Power Train. 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.
Toyota Highlander — avoid: 2018, 2019, 2020.
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 Toyota Highlander at about $40,800 — the Toyota Highlander is roughly $22,300 less, and they return 20.0 against 25.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Kia Telluride or the Toyota Highlander more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Kia Telluride scores 76/100 against the Toyota Highlander's 65/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Kia Telluride carries about 95 complaints per year on the road against 27 for the Toyota Highlander.
Which Kia Telluride and Toyota Highlander years should I avoid?
Kia Telluride: no year scores below 45. Toyota Highlander: 2018, 2019, 2020. 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 Toyota Highlander?
The largest complaint group on the Kia Telluride is Unknown Or Other (376 complaints); on the Toyota Highlander it is Power Train (461).
Is the Kia Telluride or the Toyota Highlander cheaper to own?
A recent used Kia Telluride prices at about $63,100 and a Toyota Highlander at about $40,800, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.