Kia Telluride Complaints

1,204 consumer complaints on file.

#11744390June 16, 2026
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
My vehicle was purchased XXX - VIN #[XXX] - on 6 or more occasions, the while driving on the highway with cruise control on at 70 mph, the cruise control feature suddenly applied the brakes bringing the vehicle sometimes down to 48 mph for a few seconds and then re-engages the cruise control to 70 mph. This happens with no obsticals, vehicles, or other interference in front, however, there have been vehicles behind and this is a huge safety issue as it could cause a rear-end collision. My vehicle had been returned to the dealer, the first time for a week, they could not duplicate the issue, the vehicle was returned to me. On XXX I brought my vehicle again to the dealership for the same reason as the cruise control continues to disengages for no reason. The dealership has finally been able to duplicate the issue. The dealership still has my vehicle, not for 34 consecutive days. Kia tech line has been involved and now reports that it is not Kia's issue and they have denied fixing the vehicle and indicate that it a 3rd party issue referring to satellite and internet issues. The dealership has now disabled the satellite connection feature and wants me to try the car out to see if the issue continues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11744367June 16, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The dash screen has gone out at random times. Currently there is not TSB or any acknowledgement from Kia about this safety issue. Their dealers service department doesn't know what to do and aren't admitting there is a problem. The only fix from customers online was that Kia replaced the entire gauge cluster which is a massive expense to Kia. The consumers are suffering because of this and Kia is not taking responsibility. They need to start a recall campaign or at minimum introduce a TSB so that Kia service departments know what is needed to fix this issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11744031June 14, 2026
ENGINE
My 2021 Kia Telluride (approximately 82,000 miles) suffered catastrophic engine failure caused by excessive and abnormal oil consumption. The engine consumed oil at a dangerous rate with no warning lights or dashboard indicators of any kind. The only symptom prior to failure was an unusual engine noise. There was no opportunity to take corrective action before the engine failed completely. This failure occurred while I was driving with my children in the vehicle, creating a serious and immediate safety risk. A sudden engine failure at highway or city speeds — with no prior warning — presents the risk of loss of vehicle control, inability to accelerate out of traffic, and potential collision. The failure has been confirmed by two independent service centers: Vanguard Kia in Arlington, Texas and Christian Brothers Automotive. Both confirmed engine failure. The vehicle and failed components are available for inspection upon request. Kia America has declined to provide warranty assistance or goodwill repair coverage despite this being a widely reported issue among 2021 Telluride owners with the same Lambda II V6 engine. No recall has been issued. Repair cost is approximately $11,000. I am still carrying a loan on this vehicle. I am requesting NHTSA investigate this as a systemic safety defect and consider a mandatory recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11743966June 14, 2026
STRUCTURE:BODY
Clear coat on pillar trim around windows on all four doors is oxidizing.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11743821June 12, 2026
SERVICE BRAKES, STEERING, SUSPENSION
While braking in slow traffic at about 11-15 mph, the vehicle hit a pothole/road irregularity and the ABS appeared to activate. The brake pedal vibrated, but the steering wheel also began shaking rapidly left and right. Braking effectiveness was greatly reduced. Even with firm brake pressure, the vehicle did not slow as expected and continued toward stopped traffic ahead. The brake pedal pushed back against my foot. I tried to steer around the vehicle in front of me, but the steering wheel vibration interfered with my steering input and made the vehicle difficult to control. A rear-end collision was avoided only after I shifted the transmission into Park, which brought the vehicle to a stop. All driver assistance systems were off, including adaptive cruise, lane keeping, highway driving assist, and steering assist. This occurred during normal low-speed braking, not aggressive or high-speed driving. I have had similar but less severe ABS behavior before when braking over potholes, bridge joints, or rough pavement, with excessive ABS activation and reduced braking performance. Dashcam footage is available showing the pothole/road irregularity, vehicle speed, steering/hand vibration, my avoidance attempt, and the near-collision. This appears to involve unexpected ABS activation, reduced braking effectiveness, and steering interference during routine low-speed braking, creating a serious safety hazard.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11743623June 11, 2026
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Vehicle shifts into drive and reverse, but will not move freely. Feels as though brakes are locked up, but emergency brake is not on.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11743371June 10, 2026
ENGINE, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Engine shuts off without warning while driving. First reported to the dealer on XXX (approximately 12,000 miles) and has continued for 2.5+ years despite repeated repair attempts. Shutoffs typically occur at low speed while decelerating, such as turning into neighborhoods or approaching stops, but have also occurred while coasting at 33 mph on a busy road with cruise control active (August 8, 2025). Frequency has varied from roughly every 1,000 miles to severe clusters: three shutoffs within one hour on [XXX] and again on [XXX], and five in a single day in mid-August 2025. The dealer reproduced the failure with diagnostic equipment connected in August 2024. Most recent events: XXX;XXX (quit while coasting at 20 mph on a busy four-lane road with cruise control engaged);XXX (quit while slowing to turn onto a neighborhood street, 87 degrees F, A/C on high). The vehicle usually restarts immediately, but on [XXX] it would not restart for 5-7 minutes. After restart, cruise control retains its previous set speed, indicating an incomplete power cycle. The dealer (Kia Store East, [XXX]) has attempted repairs since September 2023 under Kia case #XXX, including crank position sensor replacement, MAP sensor replacement (June 2025), and a four-wheel-drive coupler replacement plus software update (October 2025); shutoffs continued after every repair. Historical fault codes include P0068 and B1763. Events have occurred in traffic and at intersections with several near-misses, including one that nearly caused a collision in an intersection on XXX. This is a family vehicle regularly carrying children. Repair orders are available upon request. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11743248June 10, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Sunroof wouldnt close. Broken assembly.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11743240June 10, 2026
ENGINE
I am the owner of a 2025 KIA Telluride. The engine shuts completely off with a Warming stating "Engine OFF! Shift to P or N, then restart engine". Car has no power and creates a dangerous situation in traffic. You are on a highway and you have to stop the car to restart. The traffic flow is dangerously interrupted. This issue happens randomly on it's own time and the reason is still unknown. The dealership usually cannot duplicate this Warning and several 2025 Tellurides are experiencing this dangerous condition.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11743201June 10, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The sunroof failed and is stuck open. This creates a hazard as you cannot secure the vehicle, it is open to the elements, and you have highway noise. This is not a simple small motor fix it is $3000+ and a complete replacing of the track/cassette.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11743123June 10, 2026
POWER TRAIN, WHEELS, STEERING
The vehicle experiences a recurring mechanical failure where the electronic AWD coupling/rear axle locks up and binds when accelerating through turns. This creates an immediate safety hazard by altering steering dynamics and causing vehicle hesitation or severe wheel hop in intersection turns. A certified Kia dealership has already fully replaced the entire factory AWD Coupling assembly twice: first under the original warranty on July 16, 2024 at 48,054 miles, and again under warranty on May 2, 2025 at 59,350 miles. Following a preliminary check-in for the same symptom on April 9, 2025, this identical component failure has now recurred for a third time at approximately 77,000 miles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11743078June 9, 2026
WHEELS
The tire separated after only 20k miles. Mechanic stated that I still had half of the tires life left. Was advised not to drive more than a mile on it as it could blow out and cause harm to myself and 2 young children. I had two new tires put on the vehicle. My mechanic will be checking the two remaining at every oil change I have in the future. There was no warning, my vehicle started violently shaking and veering heavily to the right, so much I had to fight it with both hands. Kumho (tire manufacturer) has ignored my calls and emails. Kia told me they cannot help me and to reach out to Kumho.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11742831June 8, 2026
STRUCTURE:BODY
Sunroof won't fully close which becomes a big issue when driving or parking the vehicle in the rain. Kia dealership diagnosed that the full sunroof assembly needs to be replaced at a total expense of $6,441.56 since the vehicle is out of the 5-year warranty period. No warning messages were displayed on the vehicle prior to this issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11742748June 8, 2026
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Purchased vehicle 1/18/2025; first and only owner. Occurrence = Engine Shut off, alarm sounded and warning lights flashed; Error: "Engine off, shift to N or P, Then start engine." Had to shift to Neutral and Push Start to restart engine. -During March: occurred 2 times, both times worked after shifting to Neutral. -4/1-4/3: occurred 1 time, worked after shifting to Neutral. -4/16: occurred 1 time, had to stop and shift to Park to restart engine! -Kia of LaGrange 4/23/26: could not replicate issue; no error codes found -Kia of Newnan 4/29/26: left vehicle for 2-4 days and they didn’t have time to check it, so we picked it up because we needed a vehicle. -May 5: occurred 3 times on same road; only got pics. Then occurred 1 time after stopping and different trip, got video. All occurrences worked after shifting to neutral. -May 11: occurred 1 time and got picture only, worked after shifting to neutral. -Kia of LaGrange 5/15/26: replaced low pressure fuel pump and provided 2026 Sorrento for vehicle. -May 19: occurred 1 time and got video, worked after shifting to neutral. -Kia of LaGrange 5/21-6/3: could not replicate after driving 100 miles and provided 2026 Sorrento for vehicle I have video from May 5 & May 19, but could only upload pictures.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11742649June 8, 2026
POWER TRAIN, AIR BAGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed at night, the side view mirror's blind-spot system generated phantom alerts while there was no object nearby. Additionally, the headlights inadvertently fluctuated between dim (low beam) and extremely bright (high beam) settings. The instrument cluster displayed that the vehicle unintendedly switched to Smart Drive Mode but failed to display the transmission gears. The trunk button intermittently failed to operate as needed. The back over prevention sensing system failed to alert that there was an object behind the vehicle while reversing. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure, but twenty-six history trouble codes were retrieved, indicating the power steering, ABS, air bags, blind spot collision, front radar, and Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU) malfunctions. The contact stated that prior to the failure, a Voluntary Emissions Service Campaign: SC357 Engine Control Unit (ECU) was performed on the vehicle; however, the dealer informed the contact that the failure was not related. The dealer recalibrated the front radar, but the failure recurred at night while driving. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer, but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 71,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11742628June 8, 2026
POWER TRAIN
A week after purchasing a New 2025 Telliride with less than 8 miles on it the Transmission stopped shifting into gear. I would have to move manuel mode and shift into each gear to keep SUV moving. Never got a check engine light and nothing showed when codes were ran on car from dealership. The first dealership where I purchased from replace throttle body thinking that would fix it but it did not. After driving a few hours back to work the same issue happened again and I had to bring to closer dealership near job for repair. They said you transmission is completely not working and needs to be replaced. They opened a case with KIA, unlike previous dealership and repaired the Transmission. Since I have had the transmission completely repair it is starting again, but seems it has something to due with the engine nothing throttling down and up and make a little jump when taking off or slowing down.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11742379June 5, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Jan 2026 I was driving into my workplace that is an inclined driveway. Released pressure from gas pedal and telluride began accelerating despite release of gas pedal. I ended up going through the building and lots of damage to both vehicle and building. After it was repaired there were two more instances this happened once while in a parking lot and at a slow speed. Vehicle has been at dealership since March and is in an active case due to kia saying they found nothing wrong with it although it is unsafe to drive
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11742185June 4, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
All wheel drive coupler is failing a third time. There is no safety warning. Difficulty accelerating especially when turning.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11742102June 4, 2026
VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD
The contact owns a 2025 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that the windshield had significantly cracked without impact. The contact stated that the crack appeared to have started from underneath the seal at the bottom of the driver's side of the windshield. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where the contact was was informed that the vehicle could be repaired a a price lower than the insurance company estimate. The contact was awaiting a response from the dealer's finance department. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 35,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11741795June 3, 2026
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
This vehicle (VIN: [XXX] ) has suffered repeated catastrophic engine shutdowns and complete loss of propulsion power while in motion. The dashboard displayed "Engine off! Shift to P or N, then start engine." This has occurred so many times the owner lost count, requiring multiple tows to Kia of Beavercreek. Following one incident, Service Manager Brad personally assured the owner's wife, looking her directly in the eye, that the repair was successful and the vehicle was safe. Within 48 hours of pickup, the identical shutdown recurred. The vehicle was towed back a second time. The dealership now states they cannot duplicate the condition, leaving this life-threatening defect unresolved. Delivery has been officially refused due to imminent risk of collision or serious injury. Kia America case open: No. [XXX]. Ohio Attorney General case open: No. [XXX]. This vehicle is an active, unaddressed public safety hazard requiring immediate federal investigation. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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