— A Kia Telluride cracked windshield lawsuit in court for six years is moving forward after the federal judge refused to dismiss the class action.
The lawsuit claims certain 2020-2023 Kia Telluride windshields are defective and will chip, crack and break.
Two Kia Telluride windshield class actions (Margaret Ritzler v. Kia, and Yandery Sanchez v. Kia) were consolidated, but over the years nationwide claims were dismissed.
The Kia Telluride cracked windshield lawsuit now includes these states and Telluride model years.
- California: 2020–2022 Kia Telluride
- Georgia: 2020–2023 Kia Telluride
- Indiana: 2020–2023 Kia Telluride
- Iowa: 2020–2022 Kia Telluride
- New Mexico: 2020–2023 Kia Telluride
- North Carolina: 2020–2022 Kia Telluride
- Pennsylvania: 2020–2023 Kia Telluride
- Tennessee: 2020–2023 Kia Telluride
- Texas: 2020–2023 Kia Telluride
- Virginia: 2020–2023 Kia Telluride
Kia argues the entire class action should be tossed because the plaintiffs provide no evidence that a common defect exists across all Telluride windshields. Kia also references its own windshield expert and an expert for the plaintiffs.
Kia told the judge the expert for Telluride owners conducted no testing to confirm the tensile stress of the Generation II windshields, while its own expert tested the Gen II windshields and found the tensile stress was within the reasonable range, even according to the plaintiffs' expert.
The automaker further argues the mounting angle, curvature and thickness of the Telluride windshields are “squarely within the normal range for vehicles in its class.”
Kia contends there “is nothing unique about the curvature of the Telluride windshield” and “the only credible evidence in the record regarding windshield thickness shows the Gen II windshields are unremarkable.”
According to Kia's motion to dismiss, cracked windshields are not an unreasonable safety hazard, but even if they would be considered a hazard, Kia says it had no knowledge of the safety hazard when the Tellurides were first sold.
Additionally, Kia asserts the plaintiffs cannot point to “a single instance in which a cracked windshield caused an accident or other injury.”
But the judge notes one plaintiff complains, “it was very hard to see out of the window sometimes."
In the end Kia's arguments did no good other than the dismissal of express warranty claims by three plaintiffs. The remaining windshield claims will move forward in court.
Judge Josephine Staton says she "must examine all the evidence in the light most favorable" to the plaintiffs and is "required to interpret the facts in the light most favorable" to Kia owners.
The Kia Telluride cracked windshield class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Sanchez, et al., v. Kia Motors America, Inc.
The plaintiffs are represented by Lemberg Law, LLC.