Should I Buy a New Mazda CX-90 or a Kia Telluride?
Should I Buy a New Mazda CX-90 or a Kia Telluride?
Deciding which three-row SUV you should buy for your family can get overwhelming quickly. You’ll find a wide range of full-size and mid-size SUVs jostling for your attention, offering everything from off-road features to luxury cabins. While many three-row SUVs now come with eye-watering MSRPs, Kia and Mazda deliver some more affordable options without cutting corners. Both the Kia Telluride and Mazda CX-90 deliver some of the most elegant SUVs on the market, delivering amenities across all three rows, with plenty of cargo space for your next road trip. In the sections below, we’ll compare and contrast the different SUVs, covering everything from fuel economy ratings to MSRPs. Of course, we’re a Mazda dealership, so we might have some implicit bias here, but since our network of car dealerships also includes a Kia dealer, we’re intimately familiar with both models and have recommended both to friends and family. Need help determining which SUV makes the most sense for your family? Keep reading to learn more.
Mazda CX-90 vs Kia Telluride Fuel Economy and Engine
Both the Kia Telluride and Mazda CX-90 come with your choice of a hybrid or gas powertrain, though for the sake of simplicity, we’ll keep our comparison today limited to the gas powertrains for each SUV. Let’s start with the Kia Telluride, which is equipped with a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 274 horsepower. Power is routed through an eight-speed automatic, with your choice of FWD or AWD. It’s a smooth daily driver, and at its most fuel efficient, it gets 20 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. Those ratings drop to 18 and 24, respectively, with AWD. The Mazda CX-90s come with a 3.3-liter turbocharged inline six-cylinder, but output depends on the model you choose. Most get 280 horsepower, but Turbo S models get 350 horsepower. Either way, power is routed through an eight-speed automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive is standard. It’s faster and more athletic than the Telluride, but when comparing base models, their outputs are similar. The CX-90 gets 24 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway. That’s a significant upgrade from the AWD Telluride, so we’ll give the win to the CX-90 when comparing powertrains.
Kia Telluride vs Mazda CX-90 Cargo Space and Cabin
Moving on to cabin space, the Telluride is slightly larger than the CX-90. Both have room for three rows of seating, with the option for captain’s chairs in the center row. In the CX-90, there’s 15.9 cubic feet of cargo volume in the rear, increasing to 40.1 cubic feet of volume behind the 2nd row and up to 75.2 cubic feet of total cargo volume. The Telluride gets 22.3 cubic feet of cargo volume behind the rear row, with up to 89.3 cubic feet of total volume behind the first row. Both SUVs are well-crafted and deliver cabins that feel luxurious without the higher price tags you’ll find from the imported European brands. Both are also sturdily built, as each earned a five-star overall safety rating from the NHTSA. The CX-90 is a newer nameplate than the Kia Telluride, offering a technologically advanced cabin with tons of driver-assistance features and display screens across the front of the car. The Kia Telluride has a great cabin as well, and as it enters a new generation, it’s expected to get even better. If you’re looking to maximize every inch of cargo space for your next road trip, we’d give the Kia the win in this section. If that’s not as big a concern, we think both cabins are among the best in the industry, with no clear winner.
CX-90 vs Telluride Pricing Comparison
As mentioned, both SUVs are available with hybrid powertrains, but in the sections below, we’ve limited our comparison to gas models. We’ve listed each trim level for both SUVs, alongside their MSRPs. The CX-90 is offered in six trim levels:
| Trim Level: | MSRP: |
| Mazda CX-90 3.3 Turbo Select | $38,800 |
| Mazda CX-90 3.3 Turbo Preferred | $42,950 |
| Mazda CX-90 3.3 Turbo Premium Sport | $46,980 |
| Mazda CX-90 3.3 Turbo Premium Plus | $50,270 |
| Mazda CX-90 3.3 Turbo S Premium Sport | $53,940 |
| Mazda CX-90 3.3 Turbo S Premium Plus | $57,370 |
The next-gen Telluride is available in 10 trim levels:
| Trim Level: | MSRP: |
| Kia Telluride LX | $39,190 |
| Kia Telluride S | $42,090 |
| Kia Telluride EX | $43,790 |
| Kia Telluride X-Line EX | $47,290 |
| Kia Telluride SX | $48,790 |
| Kia Telluride X-Line SX | $51,790 |
| Kia Telluride X-Pro SX | $53,690 |
| Kia Telluride SX Prestige | $53,890 |
| Kia Telluride X-Line SX Prestige | $54,890 |
| Kia Telluride X-Pro SX Prestige | $56,790 |
From top to bottom, both SUVs are priced very competitively. When accounting for features, we think the Mazda usually offers more for the price. If we compare the trim levels at the $42,000 price point, Mazda offers a power-sliding glass moonroof, leather-trimmed heated front and 2nd-row seats, and 21-inch wheels. The Kia gets heated front seats, 20-inch wheels, and a power sunroof. While similar, we think the CX-90 usually edges out the Telluride on the margins. Visit our OKC Mazda dealers to compare and contrast the SUVs for yourself!
Which SUV Should You Buy?
With more fuel economy and standard AWD at the same price as the Telluride, we’d say you should choose a Mazda CX-90 if you’re not going to need much use from the trunk. If you need that extra cargo space in the trunk, the Kia Telluride is a great SUV. We don’t think you can go wrong either way, but if you’d like to see for yourself, visit Bob Moore Mazda dealership!