Kia Telluride vs Chevrolet Equinox: Which Family SUV to Rent in LA
Three rows or two, AWD either way — picking the right family hauler for the trip you actually have planned.
Most families who call us about an SUV rental in Los Angeles are choosing between two of our most-booked vehicles: the Kia Telluride and the Chevrolet Equinox. Both are AWD. Both are detailed and fueled at delivery. Both are at the practical end of our fleet — comfortable, modern, and rated five stars by the families who actually rented them.
They are not, however, interchangeable. One is a 3-row, 8-passenger, 87 cubic-foot family hauler. The other is a 5-passenger crossover with a smaller footprint and a smaller daily rate. Pick wrong and you either pay $35 a day for space you do not need, or you wedge a sixth person into a backseat that is not designed for them. Here is how we tell guests to decide.
The short version
Rent the Telluride if you have five or more people, three or more car seats, a roof box worth of luggage, or a multi-day road trip with bikes, boards, or strollers. It is $157 per day, AWD, 167 trips on the books, 4.92 stars across them.
Rent the Equinox if there are four of you or fewer, you are mostly in the city, and you want a real AWD SUV without paying for the third row you will not use. It is $123 per day, AWD, 65 trips, 5.0 stars.
LAX to Disneyland with two kids and a stroller
Equinox. Easily. Two adults, two kids, two car seats, a stroller, and four roller bags fit in the Equinox without folding the rear seats. Disneyland-area parking lots and hotel garages around Anaheim are tight, and the Equinox slots into a standard space without the precision the Telluride sometimes asks for. You also save roughly $35 a day, which over a five-day trip is a full extra hotel night.
BUR to Big Bear with the in-laws
Telluride. Six adults, snow gear, and a weekend's worth of bags is exactly what the Telluride was built for. The third row fits two real adults, not just kids, and you still have cargo space behind it. AWD plus the standard winter tires we keep on it through March make the climb up Highway 18 a non-event. Equinox is doable for four adults plus gear, but six is past its design.
Beverly Hills hotel to Joshua Tree
Either, depending on the group. Two couples in a Telluride is luxurious — captain's chairs in row two, room for hiking gear and a cooler in the back. Two people on a long weekend is overkill in the Telluride, and the Equinox is the more honest pick: better fuel economy, easier in the canyon switchbacks coming out of Pioneertown, and the same AWD when you turn off the pavement at Hidden Valley.
Parking and footprint in the city
The Telluride is 196 inches long. The Equinox is 183 inches. That 13-inch difference matters in older Beverly Hills hotel garages, in valet lanes on Sunset, and in any structured parking on the Westside. If most of your trip is sitting at a hotel and getting valet-parked, the Equinox is the easier guest. If you are taking I-5 north for a week and the car is mostly moving, the Telluride's size becomes irrelevant.
Fuel economy
The Equinox returns roughly 26 mpg combined. The Telluride is closer to 22. On a 600-mile weekend, that is a tank-and-a-half versus two tanks at premium California prices — meaningful, but not the deciding factor for most trips.
What both vehicles include
Both rentals come with 200 miles per day, free delivery to LAX and BUR, and hotel delivery throughout the Greater LA area. Detailed and fueled at the curb. We answer the phone ourselves if anything comes up during your trip.
Still not sure? Tell us the trip — number of adults, number of car seats, where you are going — and we will recommend the one we would actually rent for our own family.
