10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 2
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 3 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 1,428 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
The high beam on my headlights are not working. As I switch back and forth you can't see a brightness. There is no notification of false beam or anything. Have not used the high beam often. Just notice this issue.
- Abilene, TX, USA
My vehicle is 3 years old and the frame of my sunroof snapped. The warranty only covers the motor and the frame is what is damaged. When I called the warranty, they said this is a very common problem among Kia Tellurides. Why is this not a recall? It would cost me $4,000 to repair. This is not right.
- Hollister, CA, USA
While driving at highway speeds (above 50mph, ) the Telluride-??s front windows (driver and passenger) will not roll up. It seems that the The pressure that builds up in the cabin is pulling the glass out too far and when the window tries to make the seal, it-??s out of place and rolls back down. There is a temporary fix to either roll down the back seat window or the sunroof to equalize the pressure, then the front window will go up - but that took a lot of trial and error. I figured it must be a safety issue since when it happens, I am talking my concentration off of driving and trying to figure out how to get the window back up. I-??ve since been on forums and Kia owner pages where I-??ve read of many people running into the same issues.
- Austin, TX, USA
The Wind deflector broke on one side. My sunroof won-??t close. It is causing water damage and the amount to fix it over 1k. After research this problem has been reported numerous times but no recall yet. Please recall this safety feature in the telluride.
- Charlotte , NC, USA
My mother noticed a fluid stain on the driveway and said it looked like oil. We didn't notice it at first because we parked over it. I had my husband take a look; it was oil, and our oil was low but not low enough that the check engine light came on. It started after our first freeze in Dallas, Texas, on October 31st. My husband took it up to a local guy because he thought maybe the dealership people did something when I took it up to get an estimate for the headlight high beam issue and frozen spare tire hoist. Both were covered under warranty BTW. The guy said it was the gasket to the oil pan. I took it to the dealership when the parts came in to fix the other issues, and they said the oil filter housing was cracked. It is made of plastic, which is really dumb. I went online and discovered this happens quite a bit right after a freeze, and it is often blamed on the customer or whoever did the last oil change. Our last oil change was on 9/21/23, over a month before the first freeze, and we had no oil leak before that. From what I have read, this usually occurs with less mileage the farther north you are. We bought our Telluride in Houston which is why I believe it has not occurred yet. I feel KIA should do a recall for Tellurides that are having this issue.
- Dallas, TX, USA
Paint is peeling off the car. Car is 3.5 years old. Kia refuses to take issue with the car. They are standing behind mileage. I first reported this KIA of North America at 40K+ miles..
- Riverview, FL, USA
Went to open the sunroof and the track mechanism cracked. Now it is stuff half open, off the track and dangerous to drive with. It is unable to open/close anymore than it is now. Looking online I see 20+ complaints in two different Kia Telluride forums about the same issue, with no apparent reason.
- Kernersville , NC, USA
High beam lights do not work. It shows them on but they never turn on. We found out driving on a mountain road in NM that had no street lights. We had to slow down to 10 miles an hour because it was so dark and we couldn't see. It was scary and dangerous. We wouldn't have been able to react in time if a deer or other animal ran into the street. We looked it up and saw it was a known problem. We checked it numerous times, and it never worked. The driver's side window won't close all the way. It has a 1/2 in gap. The only way to get it to stay closed when we are not in the car is to hold the window lever up, turn off the car, and open the door. However, as soon as you start the vehicle, it drops down again. It also doesn't open all the way when you click the down level. It stops about a 1/2 inch left showing. This causes a lot of road noise that is very distracting and makes the safety features difficult to hear. The wire that holds and lowers the spare tire down won't go back up. We had to remove it because it would drag on the ground. We are unable to carry the spare, so we are at risk if we have a flat. We have not had any of these issues evaluated by the dealership. However, we do plan to.
- Dallas, TX, USA
2020 Kia Telluride 70,000 miles. Sunroof/moonroof off track and cannot close. Kia refuses to cover under warrantee despite car being only three years old. Both social media and NHTSA have multiple complains from other kia Telluride owners of identical issue.
- Morgantown, PA, USA
Had my seven year old Granddaughter in my vehicle and was momentarily distracted and the traffic in front of me stopped for geese crossing. I was in cruise control and my forward collision warning system failed to work! No accident as I took the ditch. KIA America Inc. had a voluntary recall for this problem and I took it in to my dealer and they reprogrammed the system. Did not work so I called KIA to see when there would be a recall" They told me to take my vehicle to a different dealer" As this is a safety issue I am concerned and even though they acknowledged it is a problem they seem to not want to do anything!
- Hugo, MN, USA
The car will NOT start with a ESC warranty
- Villa Rica, GA, USA
Both of the high beams have gone out. I had the issue diagnosed at KIA Richmond as a solenoid defect. Invoice attached. As you are aware, this is not an anomaly for KIA -??. Other has the same problem. An expensive fix snd unsafe driving. I have reported this to 3 KIA dealerships and all claim ignorance as to any awareness of a problem. I have also reported to the BBB. I have been out of the count for the lady 4+ months so that is ehyI did not report earlier. I lv again June1 and will not return til November 7.
- Point Roberts , WA, USA
I noticed paint delamination and chipping on my 2020 Kia telluride with pearl white paint. Upon further research, all other Kias with this color are having the same issue. Vin-[XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
- Lockhart, TX, USA
Side view mirror motor is defective (30,000 miles, well cared for). Dealer service department needs to get clearance for repair and do not know when the mirror motor parts will be in. In the meantime, the driver's side mirror cannot be manually adjusted into proper position. This makes left lane changes very risky. Several others owners have also had this issue.
- Redington Shores, FL, USA
High beams stopped working. When I called with issue the dealership stated that it was a safety issue. Took car to dealership and they stated that the actuator lighting system more than likely has a short. They recommended that it would be $1700 for them to replace the system and then retest to see if that was the issue. Upon further research it was found that other owners with the 2020 model were experiencing the same issue after 60,000 miles.
- Jonesboro , GA, USA
The all wheel drive and antilock break are not working. Also, the dashboard has no indicator lights on and the diagnostic app says nothing is wrong. So the computer system has failed too. This is an all wheel drive KIA Telluride with less than 15,000 miles. It all started this snow season, when there is the least bit of snow or ice we have no control of the vehicle. Our 2 wheel drive Prius handles better. This resulted in my wife losing control on a roundabout and hitting the curb, which in turn damaged the a TIE rod and alignment. We were lucky she was driving in our neighborhood, just 1/2 a mile from our house and was driving slowly. The vehicle is no longer safe to drive. It is currently being serviced at a Kia dealership. At this point the service provider says there's nothing wrong with the AWD and the antilock breaks because the computer's is telling them it's fine. Service person is blaming it on the ice however at the time of the incident there was snow and slush. I and my oldest son have also driven it recently and noticed the same issues as my wife when driving in snow. We didn't take it in because the app says the car is fine. Initially thought maybe we had accidentally pushed a button that deactivated AWD, but further reading indicated AWD is always on. The initial plan was to address the way it felt driving it in snow at next oil change (which was due in about 100 miles) but we trusted the computer system.
- Carmel, IN, USA
My car has heated/air conditioned seats. They have started coming on by themselves. My passenger side mirror opens and closes when it wants to. The the auto off works when it wants to. I have the option of turning that feature off but it will turn off anyways. I can also hear my air condition loud and clear when I turn my car off (decompressing I am guessing) it just started when all these other problems started.
- Randleman, NC, USA
At a little over 63000+ mileage my vehicle's alternator have gone bad and now sitting in the shop for repairs that are not cover by my warranty because it was a little ove 60000 mileage. On the day my alternator gave in, I was on the freeway and all my hazards lights were lit. The steering wheel stiffen and it was hard to drive, I try to pull over and the vehicle went dead in mid freeway. All blinkers and lights were no longer working too so I was in the mid of a freeway at night in the dark. For all i know someone couldve side swipe me or crashed into me with the sudden power loss. I've only have this supposedly new car off the lot for 3 years with only 63k mileage and the alternator is bad already and drained my whole battery.
- Waterford, MI, USA
Windshield glass instant webbing and cracking
- Covington , GA, USA
- New Deal, TX, USA