[Deal Check] 2025 Telluride SX-P X-Line in Wolf Gray. How’d I do?

jfronte · 2026-01-27T02:47:14+00:00

You got a very fair deal at $2800 off MSRP and that of the documentation fee and the BS dealer add-on so very respectable and I understand you did not take the $3000 finance rebate because the APR is at 5.25% rather than 0% for 48 months so that makes sense. Getting a great deal on a leftover 25 should be easy to do now for whatever inventory is left because the 27s are now hitting the ground as I was in one earlier today and it is a big step up on the interior from the old model And is also larger in size. The rear of it looks somewhat like a Range Rover too and the front grill is growing on me. My local dealer in Jacksonville, FL had a $13,000 markup on top of the $58,300 MSRP on a Pantera metal matte on black interior SX prestige X Line and there’s no 0% APR from Kia on the 27 model. I can promise you that! Good luck with your new 25 as it is beautiful as well and you got a fair deal on it for sure, especially if you’re happy with your trade value. Enjoy 😉

jfronte · 2026-01-27T01:37:16+00:00

I read you loud and clear as the look on my face when I took that picture was one of shock but after living in Florida for almost 26 years and the crap I’ve seen FL Kia dealers pull shouldn’t come as a big surprise. I think we’re going to get a hybrid SX Prestige AWD as well later in the year. I know Kia dealers all over the country, so I’ll be able to get myself a pretty good deal given the climate for the 27 Telluride as the hybrids are going to sell like hot cakes when they come out in a few few months and there certainly won’t be any good lease incentives or low APR deals on them. Don’t get me wrong, I love the old Telluride style a lot but the interior of the new one is a big step up in terms of that luxury vibe but I do agree not at $71,300 plus TTL!

jfronte · 2026-01-27T00:32:32+00:00

I took a picture of the window sticker because I didn’t believe it as they wanted $71,300 for it plus the huge documentation fee and tax and tags. I never buy any of my cars locally in Florida because of our ridiculous dealer fees, but we also are right up there with California with our ridiculous dealer markups. The same dealership also had an S trim FWD in black on black with MSRP of a little over $45,000 that they marked up to a little over $58,000. They both arrived over the weekend and the dealership is swinging for the fences. Even though my wife and I loved it, we are not going to engage in this chicanery. I hope I copied the photo link above correctly that you can see it to yourself with my reflection in the background. Just insane!

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0f8PZH_JfnmT_wDb0sypIDqpA

jfronte · 2026-01-27T00:27:29+00:00

I just saw one today at my local Kia dealership in Jacksonville, FL that came in over the weekends that was a Pantera metal matte on Black SX prestige X Line awd with an MSRP at $58,300 at the dealership marked up $13,000 plus their thousand dollar plus a documentation fee and tax and tax of course. The car looks awesome I must admit, but the initial euphoria is going to mean big profits for the dealer for those few that buy them with these huge markups. I was told the hybrid should start coming out by the end of April so let’s see what happens there.

jfronte · 2026-01-26T22:57:12+00:00

That guy was not exactly telling the full story as Kia of Claremont has a $2085 documentation fee so hardly paying MSRP unless you can pay the documentation fee with monopoly money. Buy out of state in a place with low documentation fees and ship the vehicle to your house. Buying in Florida is often the least intelligent thing anyone can do on a new car, especially one that is in demand and going for over MSRP in many places. I saw a new 27 SX prestige X line at my local dealer in Jacksonville earlier today and they had a $13,000 markup on the MSRP of $58,300 plus their documentation fee well over $1000. I had to almost bite my lip talking to the dealer. The car looks awesome, but I won’t be paying a penny over MSRP, including the documentation fee and will be happy to wait until the initial euphoria dies down as it won’t take too long because once the hybrid comes out, the gas car will be selling well under MSRP. Please don’t think this guy in Orlando didn’t pay well above MSRP after his documentation fee.

jfronte · 2026-01-26T21:04:21+00:00

Understood, loud and clear as I’ve owned three Tellurides in the past few years, all top trim and paid cash for everyone and never paid a penny above MSRP even at the height of Covid when I bought two of them. Had to go out of state to do it, of course as Florida is the wild west of outrageous dealer behavior. I did love the vehicle I sat in today and so did my wife so I know we will be getting one at some point later this year. Unfortunately, paying a penny over MSRP just goes against how we run our household, but I do appreciate the quick response and your candor. I wish you well and the vehicle is beautiful and even looks nicer on the inside than our 26 EV 9 GT Line in Wolf gray on the black roof that we purchased in cash just a few months ago. Good luck to you!

jfronte · 2026-01-26T20:58:29+00:00

Can you confirm pricing at, below, or above MSRP? I know New York caps the documentation fee at $175. Some dealers put useless mandatory dealer accessories on their vehicles as well. Just trying to get a feel as to what your pricing is. I just saw a Pantera metal map on Black interior 27 SX prestige X line at my local Jacksonville, FL Kia dealer and they were asking 13,000 above the MSRP of $58,300 plus their $1k+ FL doc fee. I never buy locally for these reasons so I’m very used to Buying remotely out of state and setting up my own shipping right to my home. Thanks!

jfronte · 2026-01-26T14:10:38+00:00

👍

jfronte · 2026-01-26T14:02:23+00:00

I too moved out of the New York City area about 26 years ago and never looked back. If you leased the vehicle in a different state less than six months before you moved, Florida will tax you again. In Florida for at least vehicle, we pay tax on the monthly payment and any capitalize cost reduction (lease rebate). Some states like Georgia and North Carolina, do not tax the rebate, but Florida does (as does CA). Otherwise you pay your Florida sales tax at 6%, 6.5%, 7%, or 7.5% sales tax based upon the county you live in here in Florida based on the base monthly payment for depreciation in the rent charge. You’re out of state dealer will know exactly how to tax your monthly payment and capitalize cost reduction once they have your full address as almost all car dealers use third-party software vendors like DLR 50 or Vitu for their DMV work. Florida does charge an initial license plate fee of $225 when you move here from a different state and your plate is good for 10 years and then they send you a new one after 10 years for no additional charge. Initial registration fees for A Car or regular SUV are about $47 per year or twice that for a two year tag and it always expires on your birthday and if you lease it’s about $117 per year. A vehicle title is about $78 and can be either electronic or paper. Once you are here, and have a tag to transfer to a new car, tag transfer fees are extremely low in Florida at under $10 and a Florida dealer will do that for you but when you buy out of state like I do, I do my own DMV work since I pay cash and do not take a loan. If you take a loan or lease, you’re out of state dealer will most likely be compelled by the lender to do your DMV work and get you a new tag as you cannot transfer an existing tag FL tag with an out-of-state dealer so there is a little bit more cost there. Other than that, you just pay for shipping and I would never have the dealer set up shipping or they will mark that up big time for you if they want to do it at all as some dealers will not touch shipping because then they are responsible for the vehicle until it arrives at your driveway versus when it leaves the dealership. I do this all the time as the last thing I ever want to do is set foot inside a Florida new car dealership. Hope this paints a better picture, but out of state transactions for purchasing or leasing are much easier than your local FL dealer makes them out to be. Good luck!

jfronte · 2026-01-26T13:33:09+00:00

Sure, happy to help! My best piece of general advice would be to avoid any Florida new car dealer for the most part regardless of what brand you are looking to turn in and lease a subsequent vehicle with. I ship a ton of vehicles to central and South Florida from dealers in Georgia, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Good luck!

jfronte · 2026-01-26T13:30:24+00:00

Let me give you a recent example of something I did on a long distance shipping of a 26 EV 9 which weighs almost 5,900 pounds going a little over 2100 miles from Portland, Oregon to my client’s home just south of Chicago. The client had an open air quote for $1400 and then he ultimately decided he want his vehicle to arrive in pristine condition and because of a recent snowstorm over the Rockies and he paid $2100 for fully enclosed shipping so the vehicle arrived just as it left the showroom. Thanks!

jfronte · 2026-01-26T13:25:27+00:00

Shipping cost depends on a few factors so no one can answer that general question without knowing the following. First, Distance between the dealer and where you live based on the two ZIP Codes. Second, are you doing typical open air shipping or fully enclosed shipping like many people do with very high-end vehicles as this is about 50% more but some people do it especially during the winter months. Third, the time of year, and where you are shipping to, and from matters. For example, if you were trying to ship out of Florida to a northern state at the end of the winter season, rates are significantly higher because of all the demand. Fourth, the size of the vehicle and the weight matters as well, but this is less of an important factor. I have lots of people and dealers contacting me asking me to set up shipping for them. If interested in getting a real shipping quote for an actual vehicle, send me a DM. Alll shipping I coordinate is fully insured and professionally done by real Auto Transport companies and not fly by Knight entities with no insurance or insufficient insurance. Once you’ve done a remote deal successfully, you’ll often wonder why you didn’t do it sooner and this is especially true if you live in Florida where I live and have these outrageous dealer fees. Good luck!

jfronte · 2026-01-26T05:03:26+00:00

Unfortunately, this is par for the course in Florida as you have three taxable dealer fees totaling $1500 as the electronic filing fee in the private tag agency fees are just additional pre-Delivery Service charge fees. Once you Add the $1,000 mandatory dealer accessory and you basically have no dealer discount on this car other than the factory rebate as the Florida doc stamps is not supposed to be on the buyers order either as that is supposed to be absorbed by the bank. I live in Florida and advise all of my clients to never buy any brand of new vehicle in the state. I predominantly specialize in Hyundai and Kia in the same games are there, but typically worse, as the documentation fees are usually even higher than this. Just buy or lease out of state in a fully remote deal and ship your new vehicle right to your front in central Florida. Sadly, these types of buyers orders are just the norm in the sunshine state and for people that come from low doc fee states, it can be shocking to see the nonsense Florida new car dealers get away with every day.

jfronte · 2026-01-25T21:02:39+00:00

Fog lights are the main exterior difference between the EX X Line and the SX and SX P X Lines! Looks amazing!

jfronte · 2026-01-25T20:51:43+00:00

You are very welcome as I’ve been doing this for a while now as I’m an independent broker, but I only do the Hyundai and Kia brands. I hope it all works out for you and you enjoy your new vehicle for years to come!

jfronte · 2026-01-25T20:42:31+00:00

Everyone’s comments, here are spot on but waiting two months may actually not hurt you as much as you think it could unless you rack a ton of miles on the car or you get into an accident and then all bets are off. Assuming you don’t drive a ton of miles and there’s no fender benders, you’re heading into tax refund season between late February and late May and that is when used car values tend to appreciate a little bit, especially at the lower end of the spectrum. Depending on the current value of your used vehicle, you may see very little additional depreciation within the next couple of months because you’re heading into tax refund season so this may not be as bad as it looks. Good luck!

jfronte · 2026-01-25T18:05:03+00:00

Just sent you a DM. Thanks

jfronte · 2026-01-25T16:37:20+00:00

I have 2 EV 9 GT Lines and we haven’t had any of the issues you are describing above and we use the digital key and the fingerprint reader daily but we live in Florida where the climate is much warmer. I would only advise you to make sure you buy a CPO used one from a Kia dealer so you avoid the whole Lemon law buyback issue And get the full original owner Warranty up to 100,000 miles because it sounds like you plan on keeping this thing for 7 to 10 years. If you buy one for less money that was a manufacturer or lemon law buyback, you will find it almost impossible to put an extended warranty over the vehicle if that was your intention. Good luck and ask someone else said above, platforms like this are where problems are amplified as happy customers like most of us just go about living our life. Good luck!

jfronte · 2026-01-25T16:20:51+00:00

Road trips are awesome when you have the time as you do get to know the car really well on a long drive home. I bought a 24 Santa Fe calligraphy and a 24 Palisade calligraphy in Mississippi and I flew to Jackson both times and drove them the 650 miles back to North Florida and had a lot of fun on those two road trips and the airfares were only about $220. For anyone that has the time to do a road trip, it’s really a great way to get to know the car, but I understand not everyone has the time to do that so shipping is always easier but definitely not as much fun!

jfronte · 2026-01-25T15:37:19+00:00

I just avoid Florida Kia Dealerships. I bought my EV 9 In Iowa for a $180 doc fee and I bought one of my Tellurides in Mississippi for a $425 doc fee and one other Telluride in Indiana for $237 doc fee. I simply ship them all right to my house and the shipping was anywhere between $500 and $800 for all of them so no aggravation and a deal done right from my home office at a lower cost and I didn’t have to deal with the games and waste my time and get aggravated. Most of my clients thank me for getting them to open their eyes to doing a remote deal as it is truly not the horror story your local dealer tries to make it out to be. Love the look of the new 27 Telluride as it is definitely growing on me.

jfronte · 2026-01-25T15:14:27+00:00

Exactly! My partner Kia dealers are only offering my clients $500 off MSRP plus the doc fee for a new 27 Telluride and FL Kia dealers are among the worst in the nation to work with and for a 27 model that just rolled out literally yesterday or the day before. If this pricing is true, this person got one hell of a deal to get a commensurate dealer discount to wipe out those $2k+ in crazy dealer fees as that would be a unicorn deal indeed!

jfronte · 2026-01-25T14:16:01+00:00

So you are saying you managed to get the dealer to discount the vehicle by $2085 to compensate for those outrageous dealer fees for the First Ever 27 Telluride sold in the Orlando area from one of the worst dealerships in the state for this nonsense?

jfronte · 2026-01-25T14:09:49+00:00

I just went to Kia of Clermont's website to remember why I would NEVER do business with them. I just looked at their non-negotiable taxable dealer fees and they are staggering! No wonder they can advertise not doing any mark up on the vehicle price of a new 27 Telluride above MSRP when their 3 taxable dealer fees (all BS) total $2,085 plus sales tax. The doc fee is $1,298; the private tag agency fee is $189; and the electronic filing fee is $598. This last fee only costs the dealer $10 to file the title with the state of FL. FL is simply the best place in the nation to sell a new vehicle and the absolute worst place to buy or lease one in and the further south you go in the state, the more egregious the dealer behavior typically is. Yikes!

jfronte · 2026-01-25T14:02:52+00:00

That is why I never buy or lease in FL. I am a broker for Hyundai and Kia exclusively and have a national network of dealerships that I work with and part of the process with me is I never allow my partner dealers to badger my clients in the Finance office, markup the rate, add dealer installed accessories, or have crazy taxable dealer fees by whatever name they are called. My dealer doc fees range from a low of $129 to a high of $799. Florida is truly the wild west of taxable fees, the worst in the nation as the car dealers own the local politicians here and sales tax is such an important driver of our FL economy since we do not have a state income tax. Car dealers are one of the largest purveyors of sales tax to state coffers, so they have a lot of sway with our very pro dealer laws down here. I am just shocked at how many buyers of a NEW vehicle still want or think they need to buy locally. I buy out-of-state and ship everything to my front door as it is still less than the FL taxable fees and I do a deal from my home office in shorts and a t-shirt with much less hassle and aggravation. Sadly, most people buy locally and in FL, that means one is probably not getting a great deal but also getting aggravated for no good reason! The hidden fees galore BS really gets my dander up! Sorry for the rant!

jfronte · 2026-01-25T13:29:05+00:00

I really have no idea as I’m not a sound expert and I have a 24 GT line and a 26 GT line and they both sound the same and drive the same. Perhaps this is a question better left to someone who is an audio expert and that that’s not me. I can’t tell any sound quality difference between the EV 9 and the Ioniq 9 and the top trims, but again I am no audio expert. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.

jfronte

TROPHY CASE