Compare the2025 Kia TellurideVS 2025 Nissan Armada

Both the Telluride and Armada 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 Armada’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.

Both the Telluride and Armada have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Telluride has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Armada’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.

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 Armada uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.

Both the Telluride and the Armada 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, available all wheel drive and 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 2025 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 Armada has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2025.

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 Armada’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 Nissan covers the Armada. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Armada 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 Armada 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 Nissan vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 3 more problems per 100 vehicles, Nissan is ranked 6th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia above average in long-term dependability. With 3 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Nissan is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ March 2025 Auto Issue reports that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Kia 3 places higher in reliability than Nissan.

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

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 Armada SV’s standard 70 series tires.

The Kia Telluride may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 1550 to 1650 pounds less than the Nissan Armada.

The Telluride is 1 foot shorter than the Armada, making the Telluride easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Telluride is 7.7 inches shorter in height than the Armada, making the Telluride much easier to wash and garage and drive (lower center of gravity).

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 Armada doesn’t use unibody construction, but a body-on-frame design.

For excellent aerodynamics, the Telluride has standard flush composite headlights. The Armada has recessed headlights that spoil its aerodynamic shape and create extra drag.

The Telluride has .2 inches more rear headroom, 3.2 inches more rear legroom and 1.9 inches more third row headroom than the Armada.

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

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Telluride has a standard rear wiper. The Armada doesn’t offer a rear wiper.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Telluride to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Armada doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The Telluride’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Nissan only offers heated mirrors on the Armada Platinum/PRO-4X.

The Telluride EX/SX has standard front air conditioned seats and the Telluride SX Prestige also has them in the second row. This keeps the passengers comfortable and takes the sting out of hot seats in summer. The Armada doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats for the second row.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Kia Telluride, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Telluride was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2025 and 5 more times in the last 6 years. The Armada 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 Armada 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 Armada has never been chosen.

The Kia Telluride outsold the Nissan Armada by over seven to one during 2024.