Compare the2025 Kia TellurideVS 2025 Toyota Sequoia

Both the Telluride and Sequoia have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Telluride has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Sequoia’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

Full-time four-wheel drive is optional on the Telluride. Full-time four-wheel drive gives added traction for safety in all conditions, not just off-road, like the only system available on the Sequoia.

For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Telluride uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The Sequoia uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.

Both the Telluride and the Sequoia have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

The Kia Telluride has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Sequoia has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.

The Telluride comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Sequoia’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the Telluride 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Toyota covers the Sequoia. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Sequoia ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Telluride third among upper midsize suvs in their 2024 Initial Quality Study. The Sequoia isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 29 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 17th.

On the EPA test cycle the Telluride FWD gets better fuel mileage than the Sequoia RWD (20 city/26 hwy vs. 21 city/24 hwy).

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Kia Telluride uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Sequoia requires premium, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

The Telluride stops much shorter than the Sequoia:

The Telluride LX/X-Pro’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Sequoia’s standard 70 series tires.

The Telluride has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Telluride flat and controlled during cornering. The Sequoia’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The Telluride SX 4x4 handles at .81 G’s, while the Sequoia Capstone pulls only .76 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Telluride’s turning circle is 1.4 feet tighter than the Sequoia’s (38.8 feet vs. 40.2 feet). The Telluride’s turning circle is 5.8 feet tighter than the Sequoia TRD Pro’s (38.8 feet vs. 44.6 feet).

The Kia Telluride may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 1500 to 1750 pounds less than the Toyota Sequoia.

The Telluride is 11.2 inches shorter than the Sequoia, making the Telluride easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Unibody construction lowers the Telluride’s center of gravity significantly without reducing ground clearance. This contributes to better on the road handling and better off-road performance and stability. In addition, unibody construction makes the chassis stiffer, improving handling and reducing squeaks and rattles. The Sequoia doesn’t use unibody construction, but a body-on-frame design.

The Telluride has 1.7 inches more front headroom, .2 inches more front legroom, 1.8 inches more rear headroom, 3.2 inches more rear legroom and 2.5 inches more third row headroom than the Sequoia.

The Telluride’s cargo area provides more volume than the Sequoia.

The Telluride has a higher standard payload capacity than the Sequoia (1662 vs. 1555 lbs.).

Consumer Reports rated the Telluride’s headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the Sequoia’s headlights, which were rated “Good.”

Insurance will cost less for the Telluride owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Telluride will cost $2245 to $7330 less than the Sequoia over a five-year period.

The Telluride will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Telluride will retain 57.67% to 58.24% of its original price after five years, while the Sequoia only retains 53.9% to 56.02%.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Kia Telluride will be $20563 to $23771 less than for the Toyota Sequoia.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Kia Telluride, based on reliability, safety and performance. The Toyota Sequoia isn't recommended.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Telluride second among upper midsize suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Sequoia isn’t in the top three in its category.

The Telluride was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2024 and 4 more times in the last 5 years. The Sequoia has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.

Motor Trend selected the Telluride as their 2020 Sport Utility of the Year. The Sequoia has never been chosen.

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the Telluride as the 2020 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year. The Sequoia has never been chosen.

The Kia Telluride outsold the Toyota Sequoia by almost five to one during 2023.