2020 Kia Telluride complaints

I brought veh to Covina Kia on 1-6-25 for recall (SC299B) of headlight high beams failure. George Arroyo refused to take my veh in telling me my warranty had expired. I told him the safety recall had to be addressed. I insisted mileage doesn’t not void a safety recall. He finally took veh in. My veh has been at dealership for 16 days and has not been touched. It is obvious dealership doesn’t want to perform recall because there is no money to be made for the technician and service advisor. I am getting automated texts but no person calls back to inform me about the exaggerated delays. I have filed a complaint with Kia Motors and situation has not changed, my vehicle is still parked at the dealership.

The Snow White Pearl paint on my 2020 Kia Telluride is rapidly peeling directly above my front windshield. It started as a small 2 inch area first and quickly turned into multiple large areas where the paint is pealing. The largest portion is now roughly 5-6 inches in width. I believe the ENTIRE care needs to be repainted as fixing one spot is not the solution. I have not contacted the Kia dealership or any local repair shops but I could get a quote as needed. Please let me know how to proceed.

The truck was purchased in 2021, with no known issues. In early 2024, it was observed that the truck would struggle to accelerate and started making weird noises like it was about to stop working. The truck received its normal oil changes and no issues were identified by the dealership. In mid-2024, around June, the truck continued to act up after having the oil change completed. The truck was taken to a second mechanic who noticed that the truck was missing a lot of oil after completion of a recent oil change. I paid for another oil change and by September 2024, the truck was now leaking oil. My family's safety was jeopardized because there were no warning lights for me to check the oil or anything else. It was taken to a kia dealership who replaced the timing cannister in October 2024. By December 2024, same issues again. An oil consumption test was conducted in January 2025, and result is the need for a new engine, $10,000. I am unable to receive assistance from any other repair shop because of the known issues with kia engines. I need my truck to be fixed by Kia because this is a known issue from other owners as well.

While traveling at highway speeds between 65-75MPH the vehicle with violently shake while shifting and then lunge forward. However, during the shaking the vehicle is hard to control and feels like it is going to just shut off. This scenario primarily happens on flat roads at the above mentioned speed. However, we have noticed an issue with the vehicle while turning corners and accelerating, as well as, when going up hills or steep highway sections. The vehicle has a V6 but seems to struggle shifting when trying to accelerate even to 40-50MPH. In some instances the vehicle has labored up a hill and seemingly doesn't want to downshift and pick go faster. It seems that this issue has triggered a TSB from Kia, but the issue has potential for elevated risks for other drivers on the road. If the vehicle is unable to maintain freeway speeds or climbing speed, then it poses a risk to traffic on either side of the road and the potential need to pull over. It seems that the vehicle loses power or momentum and would make it very dangerous to get off the road or onto the shoulder. The violent shaking could cause a driver to panic and lose control of the vehicle while at highway speeds and needs to be investigated.

I am the owner of a 2020 Kia Telluride with less than 60,000 miles, and I am experiencing a significant issue with the paint peeling off the top of my vehicle. The car is always parked in a garage and only used for routine school pick-ups, with no incidents or accidents that could explain the peeling paint. After researching, I have discovered that this issue is a recurring problem for many Kia vehicles with the Snow White Pearl paint color. It is evident that this is a result of defective paint, and I am outraged that I am being quoted $3,500 to fix an issue caused by Kia’s faulty materials. The peeling has spread to two different areas and worsens daily, further devaluing my vehicle through no fault of my own. Given the widespread reports of this issue and ongoing discussions of a potential class action lawsuit, I urge Kia to address this problem immediately and take responsibility for the defective paint. I strongly believe this should be treated as a recall and that Kia should cover the cost of repairs. Please respond promptly with a resolution, as this is unacceptable for a vehicle of this age and mileage. I expect Kia to stand by the quality of its products and address this issue without further financial burden on your customers.

Paint is delaminating from top and hood of vehicle.

The contact owns a 2020 Kia Telluride. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V148000( EXTERIOR LIGHTING) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect

Upon braking the vehicle would run rough and the engine would shut off completely. This was first noticed when my wife was turning into our driveway and turning across traffic. She was heading westbound and slowed down to take a left(northbound) into our driveway. Upon braking the engine started to run rough & as she accelerated to turn into the drive, the engine shut off completely. This left her stranded turned perpendicular to oncoming traffic. The oncoming traffic narrowly avoided an accident and left my wife shaken from the incident. I brought it into the dealer where after multiple days of investigating found the vehicle was 4.9l of oil low. There was no indication of low oil in the engine; no indicator light or sounding of low oil, prior to complete engine shut down. The dealership stated when the vehicle shut off, the low oil light would then turn on. This is possible as when it had shut off on me while bringing it to the dealer, there were 4-5 lights that would turn on when the vehicle shut off. The dealership performed an oil change, which it was near to the mileage for needing an oil change anyways. Since this was completed we have not had any issues since. I am working with the dealership currently on why the vehicle is consuming so much oil, but my main concern is there was no warning or indication before the vehicle shut off while in normal driving conditions. I called Kia service and the dealership today and they stated the light should come on when there is le

Oil filter, housing leaks where it bolts to the motor this could become a fire hazard but the exhaust close to it

Paint is peeling above the windshield.

Our vehicle was flagged for a service campaign recall for the power seat control switch and seat slide knobs. According to the service campaign, the power seat switch back cover can be dislodged resulting in an internal misalignment of the seat motor control switch in certain conditions. When taken to the certified KIA dealership for repair on this recall, we were told the service campaign recall ONLY applied to the passenger side front power seat. The dealership therefore only made the repair to the passenger side seat. Less than 6 weeks after this repair (in Nov 2024), we discovered the driver side power seat stopped functioning in the reverse position. We could move the left driver power seat forward, but the seat would not move backward. This became a significant safety issue as once a shorter person drove the vehicle, a taller person had no means to move the seat aft to safely allow sufficient space for legs/feet on the gas/brake pedals. All other seat position functions worked normal, except for sliding the seat aft on the driver side. It simply would not move aft. The car became unsafe to drive for taller individuals and we had to take it back to our dealership to repair at our cost. The KIA dealership verified the seat failed to move in the aft position and they replaced the driver side switch assembly. The recall campaign details seemed to match the symptoms we had on the driver seat; however, our vehicle VIN only correlated the campaign to the passenger side, NOT bo

OCTOBER 2024 Before the main incident Oct 2024, I started noticing slight changes in the way my KIA was operating: - Delayed response to accelerate when at a light - Tire sensors/ crash collision sensors - Lane assist pulling my off the road or into on coming traffic (random) - Intermittent Power loss while driving. - Lights not working properly. - High beams failed to operate in Sept and was told by Burlington WA KIA there was not a fix for the recall, while there for service/oil change. - Car going into parking brake when not activated. - When stopped in car is in drive, when starting to accelerate the car went in reverse causing me to hit a stump and partially tearing front bumper off. About a week after that incident I was driving home from store and car started randomly pulling car into oncoming lane. Thankfully there was not a vehicle at that time. Car then started having weird fluctuations with speedometer and dash info. Went from 24.7 miles to gal to 38 and kept jumping, experienced more instances of power loss while in drive. Then all of sudden dashboard went haywire. Whole dash lit up and was switching from different drive modes. I started noticing an electrical burning smell and smoke coming from hood. I pulled over not even a mile from home and started to pull everything important from vehicle. Think the car was on fire under the hood. After several minutes of accessing the situation and smoke dissipated, I decided to try and get car home. As I put car in drive it

The contact owns a 2020 Kia Telluride. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V148000 (Exterior Lighting); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated when the vehicle was taken to the dealer, the contact was informed that the parts to perform the recall repair were on back order. The contact stated that the parts had not been made available even after waiting for a month. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

-Sunroof Wind deflector arm spring broke and when opening sunroof it got stuck and de-railed the entire passenger side arm making it loose and possible having the sunroof detached on high speeds. Sunroof would no longer close with switch -I was going on a trip and driving on highway, had to make a sudden stop to try close it as it was loose on one side of the arms. -Have an appointmnet with dealer, but I am guessing they will not repair as it is out of warranty -no warning lights or messages

Oil pressure light failed to engage even though engine started to tick.. resuling in Valves not lubricating effectively. It took until next day for Engine to hesitate. When the Auto start feature engaged( the battery light also showed) This left me at the Lights on green, and i had to put vehicle in park to start the vehicle again. The main issue here is that the low oil sensor isnt coming on fast enough for how low the oil is ( 4 quarts low)

My rear struts are leaking and Kia is refusing to repair them. I know that Kia recalled self-leveling struts for my make, model and year, but I'm told that my version doesn't have those struts. Even though I'm at ~85,000 miles now and it's out of warranty, I believe my struts failed much earlier and it didn't become noticeable until now. Moreover, in searching the internet, many other owners of Kia Tellurides are facing this issue. I would like Kia to be investigated for failures related to rear struts for the 2020 Kia Telluride to see if this is a parts defect.

Passenger side seat belt retracts slowly but sometimes not at all. Driver side retracts slowly.

Continues to have issues with dealership to remedy/correct recalls. Have waited for 60+ days since recall remedy was initiated in August 2024 Headlights continue to be a hazzard and due to this we had unfortunate incident of a deer running out and inability to see in the dusk of 6am due to lack of head lights. This has caused immense hardship regarding finances and maintaining a job as we are down one car and Kia has not offered and:or received all parts for any repairs of the recall. Advised if we attempted to fix one recall (power seat) then our “ticket will be closed and you will need to pay out of pocket for the headlights”. However this is not consistent or within the regulations of Recalls and good faith attempts. I have already contacted an attorney to pursue legal counsel. I feel KIA will need to apologize and really earn trust from all consumers as Telluride has been an issue to this day, even newer models. Attached is Allstate claim of the incident on 10/18/24 AND attachments reflecting recall announcements via postal and several follow up appointments since remedy was offered, however no action nor diligence made to correct recalls or follow up as appropriately with us to keep us updated about parts etc. .

The engine is burning oil at a rate of a 1 quart and a half every 1000 miles if this engine locks up with my wife and kid driving this could cause an accident Kia is not standing behide this and it needs to be replaced please look into this

After 30K miles the self-leveling rear suspension had become very hard causing the vehicle to jolt and not absorb bumps which causes a distraction to the driver causing an unsafe condition.

The braking system on the car is failing, the brakes are spongy and require to be pumped for the brakes to work securely, and occasionally the brakes would fail completely. The car has been taken to the dealer three times and ask for the problem to be repaired, I was told the brakes were fine it's just electronic braking system but I was feeling. I did have a mechanic check the brakes and was told the problem need to be repaired by the dealer it was a dealer's problem.

I have had been in several times to correct the recall, they noted the seat repaired under warrenty but the service advisor was stuck when retrieving my car. Headlights have need in twice and I’m being told the fix failed to correct the headlights. Wipers stop working intermittently and paint is down to bare metal along windshield and hood. This car is crap.. rear seat folds up when sitting on it and I am repiadmy told they don’t see a problem. Seats are not electric in the rear. This has a feature of an auto close from the back for loading. And it is triggered when my kids sit in it. Only the right rear captains chair.

About a year ago the pearl white paint on my 2020 Kia Telluride started pealing off for no reason. The car has 80000 miles and is less than 5 years old. There should be no reason the paint is pealing already.

Vehicle has pearl White paint that is peeling off the entire hood where the letters "Telluride" are. Concern is future rust and issues. IF vehicle rusts it can cause other issues and further rust throughout the vehicle. Appeared 11/10/2024

While driving into school parking lot, vehicle very suddenly just STOPPED driving. Engine was on, but accelerator/gas pedal did NOTHING- totally unresponsive. Was in the middle of traffic coming in and out of school and vehicle would not move an inch. Turned on and off, and still nothing. After 10 minutes of turning on and off, it finally went again, and I pulled into a parking spot. Vehicle is too dangerous to drive with unpredictable stopping, had two young children in the car. KIA company is awful, nothing but problems with this car, and very much safety issues!

While driving and attempting to brake, the brake pedal was COMPLETELY unresponsive. Slamming on brakes did nothing, and I could not stop the car. I just kept steering, with traffic all around me. About 15 seconds later the vehicle finally came to a rolling stop. It was EXTREMELY frightening and dangerous. The car had random lights that would flicker on and then off the dashboard when you started it, but then nothing. We had an appt at KIA to address, even though they weren't coming anymore. Roadside assistance took to the dealer, who confirmed that it was a wheel speed/brake sensor, and so car brake would not work. It was not a recall at the time though. We paid $1500+ to repair it all, and months later the real for that exact issue came out. Submitted the reimbursement form to KIA, and despite following up several times, it has been several months still not reimbursed.

This 2020 Kia telluride has paint peeling in between the windshield and sun roof. I have seen tons of post of this happening to people. Kia should be held responsible for this.

Oil filter housing started leaking and had to be replaced. Although the part is part of the engine, it is not included in Kia's powertrain warranty. This is unacceptable/unreasonable and should last longer than a couple years from new. This part should be recalled and I should be reimbursed for it's replacement.

Driving vehicle at 45 mph on secondary road. Small object impacted near the top of the windshield driver side - presumably from passing car. Within 5-10 minutes a small (4") crack appeared. Within 1 hour the crack was about 6". Within 2.5 hours the crack had extended to about 18". Forty eight hours afterwards the crack has extended to ~24" horizontally at mid-windshield on the driver's side. Weather conditions were sunny, clear with temperatures in the low 70s.

Less than 40k miles and the rear suspension has completely gone out. The jolting at low speeds is significant. At higher speeds, the lack of suspension is dangerous. Never used for towing. Purchased with tow package and self leveling shocks. Began early this year and has not subsided.

For the past year at least I've had check engine light come on and turn off before being able to get in for a diagnostic. Along with the entire engine shutting down while idling, parking, turning. Whole electrical system failure. Can't move the steering wheel. Have to restart the car and it takes a few tries. Sometimes the car will be off and will not start back up for a while.

The headlights perform poorly when fully functional, one is out and when I replaced the light it still is not working and now that one is out I am scared to drive at night for fear of hitting a child or pet in my complex. And i will not allow my son to drive because he may get seriously hurt as well. This issue needs to be resolved as to why the headlights just go out and are not fixable with a bulb replacement.

Engine is burning oil deal ship says noting is wrong with the car so then where is the oil going if it does not have any leaks at all

One morning when I went to get into my car I noticed a large crack approximately 12in in length across my windshield. There had been no noticeable chips in the windshield prior and there was no sign of being hit of any kind. I took the car to be looked at by a family member in glass and he said the issue is a manufacturing issue and the glass is thin and unsafe. The dealer said they won’t replace because it isn’t in the date range involved in the class action lawsuit. Since this I have had several more chips and the crack now runs all the way across the glass and extends up and down

Paint peeling from 2020 Kia Telluride. It seems to be a known issue with many Kia Telluride owners experiencing the same paint defects. This is a serious quality issue, I've had many vehicles for 10+ years and never experienced the issues I'm having with this car. The car has under 50000 miles and for it to be peeling like this seems to be a manufacture defect. Kia has refused to fix the issue as they claim its not under warranty.

The sunroof snapped when opening appears the wind deflector had broken in the corners

We contacted Kia US after taking the Kia Telluride to a Kia service station for an oil change.The service tech told us that they were not going to do an oil change because,”the Telluride was a ticking time bomb.” This was said in front of the Kia service Mgr.We were very nervous driving the vehicle because no one explained what that meant.Shortly after the service appointment, the Telluride’s engine caught on fire.We call Kia US that same day to open up a case.We explained all the issues we had with the Telluride (windshield issues, headlight issues, main display screen issues, luggage rack issues, sunroof, drive shaft, wiper fluid filter issues), to include the engine. After paying an attorney to provide all documents that Kia US requested from us, including every oil change receipt for the Telluride, Kia US only offered to only pay for the parts for the driveshaft/engine fire issues. To make matters worse, the Kia service department said that the 100+ parts needed to repair the engine, were on back order. Our Telluride’s engine caught fire in April and Kia US has done nothing for us, even though the issues are under 2 recalls. This is unacceptable for a manufacturer to ignore recalls, especially when it comes to the safety of people, families and children. We contacted Kia US for 6 months with no help from them. We sent registered/certified letters to Kia US executives, legal Dept, Kia Finance and the last communication from Kia US was that they are not doing anything for u

White Pearl paint flaking off front of car above windshield

Paint peeling off car

The contact owns a 2020 Kia Telluride. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 95,335.

Sunroof wouldn’t slide back to open, but the back of the sunroof tilted opened. Now it doesn’t close completely and dealership said can’t close it and it would be $4700 to fix.

We purchased a new 2020 Kia telluride in late 2019. We purchased this vehicle because of its 100,000 mile warranty. We went the extra step and added the best extended warranty possible so we were covered for many miles and years. I have always done my own oil changes as I am a journeyman fitter and understand the mechanics of a vehicle. I kept every receipt from every oil and oil filter purchase for the last 5 years as well as a detailed log book. Around 75,000 miles we started noticing major oil consumption. Approximately 1 quart every months and then up to about a quart every 2 weeks. We also notice a huge loss in engine power and take off. My wife said she was having trouble pulling out onto hills and was very dangerous at intersections, because of the lack of power. We then took the Kia telluride to my main mechanic, he replaced all 6 spark plugs and said we should immediately take it to a dealer as it sounds like the timing chain maybe going bad. This was early August 2024. I made an appointment with Diehl Kia in hermitage the next day for [XXX]. After a few days the dealer called and said that they could not get the car to replicate the noise they heard when they brought it in. It sat for 2 weeks before they decided to open a claim with Kia customer service. Kia recommended they do an internal investigation at the customer cost which we approved. They said they had found some build up and Kia was requesting the oil change records which I promptly provided. Kia then reco

When trying to open the sunroof, the wind deflector broke and knocked the sunroof off its track. I had to remove the sunroof and get it back on the tracks to get it to close and prevent water from entering the vehicle from rain.

The contact owns a 2020 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the "Electronic Parking Brake" warning light remained illuminated, and the vehicle failed to properly accelerate. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the "Parking Brake Connector" had fractured. The vehicle was not yet repaired. Additionally, while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was shaking and vibrating abnormally. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced the rear shock absorbers, rear sway bars, rear control arms, and the motor mounts. The local dealer also discovered that the oil pan and oil filter had cracked. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer has not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 50,000.

- Pressed the moonroof button to open and the panel misaligned and will not open or return to closed position. - With the moonroof ajar I'm am unable to drive in enucleate or raining weather - Dealership is backlogged and tells me I WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE MY CAR FOR 3 FOR A DIAGNOSIS AND WAIT ADDITION DAYS FOR THE PARTS TO ARRIVE AND REPAIR TO BE MADE - No warning messages, sounds or symptoms. First time this has happened and its locked open in misalignment

The driver side and passenger side view mirrors are retractable. Both side view mirrors will get stuck in the closed position which affects the ability to see vehicles on the left or right.

The sunroof became stuck while attempting to open. It would not close and further inspection showed that parts of the sunroof had broken. This seems to be a bigger issue.

Vehicle started on fire and burned up while parked. Fire came from the engine compartment. Unknown from exact location in engine compartment.

Vehicle began having issues around 60,000 miles. Stutters and slips between 2nd and 3rd gear. When on an incline the issue is much more prevalent. On a steep incline, the vehicle is like lurching it is so prevalent and it feels as though the vehicle is going to give up. Around 45 mph, the vehicle begins vibrating; as speeds increase, the shaking (left to right) becomes increasingly violent. At times, it feels as though the vehicle is going to shake off the road. The issues I primarily when accelerating, and when the gas pedal is released, the shaking slows almost to a stop. Tires, balance, and alignment checked multiple times over the course of the issue and tires are changed seasonally. Took to dealership multiple times to be told there was no issue with the vehicle and it was operating properly. Just over 100k miles, back at the dealership and there is suddenly an issue found. Was told at dealership that passenger side front axle inner race is damaged and needs replaced. Took vehicle to local mechanic since dealership had jerked us around so much over the issues, not repairing, keeping car for extended amounts of time without a loaner vehicle, etc. Local mechanic did a lot of research. This is a common complaint of the Telluride and Kia is aware but is not doing anything about it. Mechanics recreated issue immedately said rear driveshaft had movement it shouldn't and replaced. They also serviced the transfer case and transmission. There is a TSB issued on this, but research

The contact owns a 2020 Kia Telluride. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V1480000 (Exterior Lighting) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.