A Kia Dealership Thinks Demand For The Telluride Means They Can Sell It For Nearly $80,000

A Kia Dealership Thinks Demand For The Telluride Means They Can Sell It For Nearly $80,000

The Kia Telluride (and its Hyundai Palisade cousin) have been hot sellers since their debut. Over 75,000 were sold last year. Some buyers were waiting months to get theirs because the factory literally couldn’t make them fast enough. None of that justifies dealer markups though. As Motor1 reported (via Reddit), one dealership thinks the Telluride is the most sought-after SUV in the world. So they are going to charge accordingly.

The dealer based in Billings, Montana, has a new 2021 Telluride SX with Prestige package listed for $US78,995 ($102,227). That’s not the best part though. In a note posted on a window, the dealership explains that they won’t let anyone test drive the car unless they are willing to pay the markup. From the note, summarized by Motor1 because it’s rather hard to make out:

“CONGRATULATIONS! You have located the most sought after vehicle in the world. The 2021 Kia Telluride, this is the highest rated Mid SUV on the market. But you already know that. that’s why you’re here today. Due to the extremely limited availability and the popularity the Telluride sells for a market adjusted price of between $US15,000 ($19,412) to $US18,000 ($23,294) over the original MSRP.

“We cannot order you one, nor can we dealer trade for one. The colours and options that we currently have in stock are what are available for you to purchase today. If what we have in stock is something that you can see yourself owning at our market adjusted price, then we would be happy to take you on a test drive. If the foretasted conditions are not agreeable, then we appreciate you stopping buy however we are not going to be offering a test drive at this time. We encourage you to keep an eye on [redacted] for updated inventory.”

Imagine shopping for a house and the realtor telling you the seller said you can’t see the house unless you agree to $US100,000 ($129,410) over asking price. You’d walk. And that’s what I would suggest anyone do if they’re thinking about this particular Telluride. Walk. Until they bring it back down to or below MSRP.


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