Compare the2027 Kia TellurideVS 2026 Jeep Grand Wagoneer

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Kia Telluride have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Jeep Grand Wagoneer doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

Both the Telluride and Grand Wagoneer 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 Grand Wagoneer’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.

The Telluride has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Grand Wagoneer doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

To deliver safety and visibility under dusty conditions the Kia Telluride’s backup monitor has a standard rear washer to keep the view clear. A camera washer system costs extra on the Jeep Grand Wagoneer.

Both the Telluride and Grand Wagoneer 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 Grand Wagoneer’s Rear Cross Path Detection 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 Grand Wagoneer uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.

Both the Telluride and the Grand Wagoneer have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, 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 Telluride comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Grand Wagoneer’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 Jeep covers the Grand Wagoneer. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Grand Wagoneer ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia above average in initial quality. With 5 more problems per 100 vehicles, Jeep is rated lower.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia above average in long-term dependability. With 6 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Jeep is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ March 2025 Auto Issue reports that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Kia 10 places higher in reliability than Jeep.

On the EPA test cycle the Telluride gets better mileage than the Grand Wagoneer running its gasoline engine:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Kia Telluride uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Grand Wagoneer with the 3.0 turbo 6-cylinder engine requires mid-grade for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 49.8 cents more per gallon.

The Telluride has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Grand Wagoneer. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

For better maneuverability, the Telluride’s turning circle is 1 foot tighter than the Grand Wagoneer’s (39.2 feet vs. 40.2 feet).

The Kia Telluride may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 1100 to 1350 pounds less than the Jeep Grand Wagoneer.

The Telluride is 1 foot, 4.9 inches shorter than the Grand Wagoneer, making the Telluride easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Telluride is 5.3 inches narrower than the Grand Wagoneer, making the Telluride easier to handle and maneuver in traffic.

The Telluride is 7.5 inches shorter in height than the Grand Wagoneer, 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 Grand Wagoneer doesn’t use unibody construction, but a body-on-frame design.

The Telluride has .5 inches more front legroom, .4 inches more rear headroom and .3 inches more rear legroom than the Grand Wagoneer.

The Telluride’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Grand Wagoneer’s standard power windows’ rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully.

On a hot day the Telluride’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Grand Wagoneer can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Kia Telluride stands out above the Jeep Grand Wagoneer by offering not one, but two Qi-compatible phone chargers. This convenience helps travelers with multiple devices to keep powered up on-the-go. Wireless charging eliminates lost or cluttered charging cables and one of them provide more flexibility.

The Telluride Prestige’s Remote Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Grand Wagoneer’s automatic parking system does not offer parking by remote control.

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

The Kia Telluride outsold the Jeep Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer by over two to one during 2025.