2023 KIA TELLURIDE Complaints

It had snowed in DC area. Vehicle was in snow mode, idle at stop light. When light turned green, slow acceleration turning left and then when pressing down on pedal, all acceleration stopped. Roads were cleared with no signs of snow or ice. Frightened driver and children in vehicle. Were able to coast to the side of the road, turned off vehicle and restarted and able to drive off. Clearly seems to be an issue with “snow” mode.

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that on two separate occasions while driving the vehicle in Snow Mode and attempting to accelerate while making a left turn, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact stopped and restarted the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.

We had the vehicle in 'snow' mode and AWD activated. We turned from a stoplight and as we tried to accelerate and merge, all power cut out. The accelerator was down to the floor and no response for 3-5 seconds. It was potentially dangerous as we were trying to merge at an onramp onto the interstate with cars behind us and next to us. We have not had it to a dealer to try to be replicated but have heard from other Telluride owners that this is happening. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms.

Telluride was in snow mode with 4 wheel lock activated due to snow covered roads. I was at a stop light, when light turned green I removed my foot from the break. My vehicle began to roll forward slightly as it always does. I gently pressed the gas to continue forward but vehicle did not gain speed, it continued to slowly roll as if my foot was not pressing the gas. I removed my foot from the gas and again pressed the gas gently, my vehicle was not advancing. I deactivated the 4 wheel lock feature but remained in snow mode, gently pressed the gas and my vehicle advanced as normal. The same incident happened with my husband the day prior. Several complete stops were made prior to the incident while in snow mode with 4 wheel lock activated and no issues occurred. After research and reading other incidents like mine it appears this is a common issue. Most people stated this was normal to prevent sliding and spinning. If this is a normal feature then KIA needs to revisit this and consider safety. It is not safe to be rolling into an intersection and having no power when pressing the gas. KIA owners should not have to switch drive modes or deactivate a feature to have the ability to advance their vehicle out of an intersection. This feature could result in serious accidents.

The problem has occurred 3 times in the last 3 weeks while driving in "Snow Mode". The accelerator doesn't respond to me pushing on it which has left me in the middle of an intersection and needing to quick change to a different driving mode to get the car to move again. All 3 times it occurred after coming to a complete stop. It allowed me to go forward for about 2-3 seconds but then the accelerator stopped responding whether I was barely pushing on it or pushing harder. The wheels were not spinning, it was a matter of the accelerator not responding. Luckily there were not cars coming in all 3 instances otherwise we would have been hit. It takes time to realize the accelerator isn't working and then think to switch it to another driving mode before you can move again. In that time we could have been hit from the sides or the back. Very scary and not safe at all. I have not brought it into the dealership to get looked at yet. No lights or warnings were on the screen. No other driving mode has this problem occur, just the Snow Mode.

The heater in the driver side seat, burnt through the seat through a jacket T-shirt, and burnt the back of my son

Had to get the front windshield replaced with only about 2,000 miles on the car, had a crack across the entire windshield. Now with only about 6,000 miles. I have another chip on my windshild. I barely drive on the freeway and have nomal driving conditions. This shouldn't be an issue on a new car. Windshield is fragile and makes me worried glass is unsafe.

When put into Snow Mode the car won't accelerate from a stop at normal speeds. It feels like the car is stuck in neutral and I'm just coasting. It won't accelerate normally until I switch it into another driving mode like Eco. This has caused a few close calls when turning out of driveways or onto busy streets.

There is something wrong with the electrical system that drains the battery. I keep getting. An ESC code, and then the battery goes dead. The car has been at the dealership for the past three days and they are unable to duplicate the problem. I showed them a video I took of the instrument cluster which shows the code and electrical issues. The Kia dealership says they cannot do anything about the code because they are unable to duplicate the air while the vehicle is in their possession. This has happened twice on a new 2023 car. The dealership says they are returning me my vehicle with no resolution. So essentially, I’m getting a broken car returned to me. When you online search “ESC” Kia there appears to be a lot of complaints about this exact same issue but no fix?

Since November 10th we have gotten this message at least 3 times while driving and a message showed up on the screen "Check Lane Change Assist Function". It went away after a few minutes. Dealership was unable to duplicate so nothing was done. (see photo B and C)