Kia Telluride Problems — All Years, Common Issues & Reliability
Year-by-year breakdown of safety recalls, NHTSA owner complaints, reported deaths, injuries, crashes, and worst problem areas. Updated daily from federal databases.
Recent Safety Incidents — Last 5 Model Years
Own a Kia Telluride? Check your specific VIN for a full history report.
Kia Telluride — Year-by-Year Problem Comparison
| Year | Verdict | Recalls | Complaints | Crashes | Injuries | Deaths | Top Issue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026Best | Excellent | — | — | — | — | — | — | Full report → |
| 2025 | Good | — | 38 | 4 | 6 | — | Unknown Or Other | Full report → |
| 2024 | Caution | 4 | 138 | 4 | 3 | — | Unknown Or Other | Full report → |
| 2023 | Good | 3 | 117 | 8 | 2 | — | Unknown Or Other | Full report → |
| 2022 | Caution | 5 | 186 | 2 | 4 | — | Unknown Or Other | Full report → |
| 2021 | Caution | 3 | 194 | 1 | 5 | — | Unknown Or Other | Full report → |
| 2020Worst | Avoid | 2 | 397 | 9 | 9 | — | Exterior Lighting | Full report → |
7 model years shown. Crashes, injuries, and deaths from NHTSA complaint filings. Click any year for full details.
Most Common Kia Telluride Problems
Based on 1,070 owner complaints filed with NHTSA across all model years.
Recent Safety Recalls — Kia Telluride (2022–2026)
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2022 Telluride vehicles. The LCD display screen may remain blank after startup. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 101, "Control and Displays."
Remedy: Dealers will update the instrument cluster's software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 3, 2021. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC215.
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2022 Telluride vehicles. Excess adhesive in a circuit board within the instrument cluster may cause the instrument cluster display screen to be blank. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 101, "Control and Displays."
Remedy: Dealers will replace the instrument cluster assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 15, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC237.
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2022 Sorento and Telluride vehicles. The vehicles may be equipped with an incorrect spare tire which, when installed, can impair the anti-lock braking system (ABS) and the traction control system (TCS). As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the spare tire, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 27, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC244.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Telluride vehicles potentially equipped with a Genuine Kia 4-pin tow hitch harness installed as original equipment, or purchased as an accessory through a Kia dealership. Debris and moisture accumulation on the tow hitch harness module printed circuit board (PCB) may cause an electrical short, which can result in a fire.
Remedy: Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will install a new fuse and a wiring harness extension. Dealers will also inspect and replace the tow hitch harness assembly, as necessary. All repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 12, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC247.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2020-2024 Telluride vehicles. The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged, which can result in vehicle roll away while in PARK.
Remedy: Owners are advised to manually engage the emergency parking brake prior to exiting the vehicle until the recall remedy is performed. Dealers will update the electronic parking brake software and replace any damaged intermediate shafts as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 15, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC303.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2020-2024 Telluride vehicles. The front power seat motor may overheat due to a stuck power seat slide knob, which can result in a fire while parked or driving.
Remedy: Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will install a bracket for the power seat switch back covers and replace the seat slide knobs, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 30, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC316.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Telluride vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error, the wire harnesses for the second row seat side air bags may become damaged, causing them not to deploy in the event of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace, or secure the air bag wire harnesses, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 28, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC262.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage Plug-in Hybrid, Niro Hybrid, Niro Plug-in Hybrid, Soul, and Telluride vehicles equipped with a digital instrument cluster containing a 4.2" LCD screen. The instrument cluster may fail to display any information when the vehicle is started. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 101, "Control and Displays," and 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."
Remedy: Dealers will update the instrument cluster software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 26, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC270.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Telluride vehicles. The door belt molding trim can delaminate and detach from the vehicle.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the belt molding trim assemblies as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 19, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC347.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2024 Telluride vehicles. The engine valve springs may break while driving, which can result in a loss of drive power and possibly create a hole in the engine block.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the engine sub-assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 5, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC296.
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2025 Telluride and 2026 Sorento vehicles. The vehicles are equipped with an incorrect spare tire which, when installed, can impair the anti-lock braking system (ABS) and the traction control system (TCS). As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
Remedy: Dealers will replace the spare wheel and tire assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 3, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC355. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning November 13, 2025.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2025 Telluride vehicles, equipped with power front seat(s). Due to a manufacturing error, the driver and passenger seat back frame assemblies may fail to properly restrain occupants in a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the front seat back frame assemblies, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed April 24, 2026. Owners may contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC362. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov on March 9, 2026.
Showing 12 recalls from 2022–2026 model years. See the full year-specific pages for older recalls.
Recent Owner Complaints
Direct reports filed with NHTSA by Kia Telluride owners — 2022–2026 model years.
Standard opening of sunroof, the a part of the wind deflector snapped, without any abnormal incident or misuse. This caused the glass to be misaligned and other damage to the sunroof track. Estimated cost $6000. No warning and no prior damage for causation.
The contact owns a 2023 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission was slipping. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while the vehicle was stopped, it unexpectedly lunged forward. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, there was an abnormal sound coming from the muffler. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and it was determined that the ECM software had failed and needed to be reprogrammed. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 91,000.
The contact owns a 2023 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front windshield started to crack on the upper passenger’s side of the windshield. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 38,200.
This is a follow up to the above referenced case #XXX This has been reported to the Attorney General’s Office and they have requested that I send along the following information to your office. I purchased a 2022 Kia Telluride approximately 2 years ago. At the time, I also purchased a 100,000 mile extended warranty from KIA. The cost was $3,200. Since owning the vehicle, I have had a problem with the heating system. I contacted the Balise KIA dealership, West Springfield, MA where the car was purchased to have the heating system checked out. It is still not working correctly! The most recent attempt by KIA to fix the heat was 2/2/26 and was not successful. KIA stated “there is no fix”. Please refer to invoice #XXX. Driving a car with little or no heat is unacceptable. I was told that if there ever was a fix, the warranty would cover it. I was also charged a diagnostic fee of $159.95 which I paid, but did not agree with. This fee is charged if a customer decides against having the work done, which I agree with, but in this case, I wanted the work done, but they couldn’t do the work because there is no fix. If there was a fix, the warranty would have covered it. I feel this problem greatly reduces the value of this vehicle and some kind of resolution should be reached. I am [XXX] old and driving a vehicle that has little or no heat is not only uncomfortable, but unhealthy. I’ve been paying close attention to the heat when I’m in the car. It seems to work ok above 30 degrees, but below 30 degrees it doesn’t work properly. Thank you for your time and I await your response [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I lease a 2025 Kia Telluride. This vehicle has experienced three serious safety failures around the one year mark, all with young children in the car. Incident 1: accelerator failure and inability to shift gears approaching a freeway on-ramp — transmission was replaced. Incident 2: complete loss of steering control, brakes would not fully engage, and vehicle moved without accelerator input — dealership found nothing wrong and returned the vehicle with no explanation. Incident 3: accelerator failure and failure to shift in active traffic — another vehicle nearly rear-ended us — dealership said there was a belt loose that can cause issues sometimes. Kia Financial Services, as legal owner, has refused early lease termination despite these documented safety failures. The root cause of a loss-of-steering and brake-failure event has never been identified.
I was at a complete stop, made a right hand turn, and as I was turning, the driver side door opened/became a jar and then my car alerted me that the door was open Yes, my safety was at risk because the door was open It beeped the lights were on in the cabin, and there was a notification on my dashboard
I was driving on the service road of the freeway, driving approximately 40 mph when my main screen started flashing warnings. I was only able to catch 2 before the screen shut off. One was saying front collision sensors not working and the other said side sensors not working then the screen where the radio was went black. Then my brake pedal locked up, the car lost all power steering. The car started to just roll and I was able to pull into a side parking lot and the car died. I was not able to start the vehicle and called roadside assistance and had my vehicle towed to the car dealership. This was during rush hour traffic with multiple vehicles in the road. I was terrified as my vehicle was slowly starting to stop moving and there were multiple cars surrounding me while I lost all brake function and power steering. At the time of this report, the service department at my dealership was closed and will call them in the morning. The tow truck left my vehicle there as it is inoperable. From the time I noticed the warnings on the screen to when my vehicle came to a complete stop was about 2 minutes.
While driving about 35 MPH, the vehicle began to alarm and stated "the engine is off; pull over, put in park or neutral, and restart the car". I pulled over and found that the engine had indeed turned itself off in the middle of driving. When the engine turns off, both the braking vacuum system and the power steering go off, making it harder to brake and steer to safety. If I were going highway speeds, this would be a serious safety situation. I don't know exactly what caused the engine shut off, but it seems like a malfunction of the auto stop/start feature, which I had switched off during the incident (so the car should never turn off). The Kia website gives instructions on what to do in this situation [XXX] ), which would imply it is a known issue. There are forums of people reporting the same issue with 2025 Tellurides. My vehicle has not been inspected since the incident, but because it is electrical and there is no engine code, there is likely no evidence a mechanic could find. There were no warnings prior to or after the event. The vehicle has only 1650 miles on it. I expect it to happen again, and I will attempt to produce a video to document. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Not sure if this is electrical or engine related.... The vehicle has experienced multiple instances (6 times) of unexpected engine shutdown while driving, including a recent event while turning off a major roadway. During these incidents, the vehicle loses power and displays the message: “Engine Off – Shift to P or N then start engine” This creates an immediate and dangerous situation, particularly when navigating traffic with passengers in the vehicle, including my grandchildren. Loss of engine power also impacts steering and braking assist, significantly increasing the risk of an accident. This condition is: Intermittent and difficult to reproduce I am aware that many other owners have reported similar issues, which raises additional concern about a broader defect.
Windshield cracks so easily, slightest road debris creates a chip then crack
Recall on my vehicle, dealership has not done anything about it despite me taking it to them.
I was driving 20 mph when I heard a loud crack, shortly after I noticed my windshield had a huge crack toward the bottom that has gotten progressively worse and affects my vision while driving.
710 total complaints retrieved from NHTSA for 2022–2026. For older model years, see individual year pages.
Telluride Years to Avoid
Best Telluride Years to Buy
Years with fewest complaints and recalls.
Kia Telluride Problems by Year
Frequently Asked Questions — Kia Telluride Reliability
What year Telluride has the most problems?
Based on NHTSA data, the 2020 Kia Telluride had the highest combined complaint and recall count — 397 complaints and 2 safety recalls. See the full 2020 report for specific defects.
Is the Kia Telluride reliable?
The Kia Telluride has accumulated 1,070 owner-filed complaints and 17 safety recalls across all model years in NHTSA's database. The 2026 model year shows the fewest reported issues. Always run a VIN check before purchasing any used Telluride.
What are the most common Telluride problems?
The most frequently cited problem areas are: Unknown Or Other (198 reports), Visibility/Wiper (175 reports), Exterior Lighting (97 reports), Electrical System (95 reports). Based on NHTSA complaints across all model years.
How do I check if my Telluride has an open recall?
Use the vehicle's 17-character VIN at VinCheckEngine.com. Our free VIN report pulls the latest NHTSA recall data along with auction history, odometer records, and 30+ intelligence signals.
Check a Specific Kia Telluride VIN
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