2020 KIA TELLURIDE Complaints

In short, Kia is putting inferior rear self leveling shocks on at least their Telluride model with tow packages. We are one of many (per Kia blog posts) who have been forced to drive our vehicle for thousands of miles with ceased shocks. Kia has been aware of this safety issue since the model was released in 2020 but done nothing aout it. Then they're just replacing with the same inferior shocks, which I've seen from others posts are failing a 2nd time. We had our vehicle in several times before they finally agreed to replace (over 5K miles from 1st shop visit) ours, which did repair the issue, but it's the principle. Come to find out from multiple Kia employees, Kia makes their dealer repair shops jump through hoops to perform warranty work and why this took so long. I reached out to Kia corporate in the midst of this fiasco to see what they're doing about this and they told me ONLY the NHSTA could issue recalls (your site says otherwise), to which I replied "that's not acceptable". I also asked Kia corporate how in the world elderly or less driven individuals could navigate this, no response. They did offer restitution with a sign off for the issues, which I declined because all I want to do is help the next guy and hold Kia accountable. Kia needs to be exposed for their negligence on this issue and lack of proper customer service due to their ridiculous warranty policy and the mindset they've instilled into the minds of their techs to perform the bare minimum. I've attached my running notes with dates and the multiple repair docs to assist with the review of this issue. If you need more info please let me know!

High Beam issues. It started out with one high beam out, and I figured the bulb needed replaced. When I looked into it, I learned the low beam and high beam share a single filament bulb. Later on, the high beam seemed to work again. And now it is not working again. Apparently it has to do with the mechanical "curtain" inside the housing that everyone is having issues with.

High beams fail to light No warning lights, H beam indicator light functions but no activation. No codes on OBD2 reader. Have not taken to dealer for this problem because no recall. Very likely to replace on my own if no recall as I am a mechanic.

One day with approximately 58,000 miles on the car it would not start. No warning lights had appeared prior to not starting. The car was towed to a Kia dealership. They claimed there was no oil in the car. Kia refused any warranty work and the dealer filled with oil and said everything was fine. Three weeks later the car stalled at highway speed in a dangerous situation on the highway. Again no lights were present until the stall. The car would not restart and was towed back to the dealership. The dealer says Kia is refusing to cover under warranty and claiming the car was not maintained unless I can find every oil change receipt from purchase. They want to disassemble the engine and have me be responsible for the cost to prove I did not maintain the car which makes no sense. Kia does not accept any responsibility and fails to see the seriousness of the car stalling at speed on a highway three weeks after they did nothing to properly diagnose and fix the issue.

My high beams quit working for no reason. Dealer said I must replace the complete housing assembly at $680 a piece. I have 80 thousand miles in the car with zero accidents. $1360 for headlights?? This is not acceptable.

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.

Attempt to open sunroof via sunroof button/normal operation resulted in failure of sunroof track and snapping of support bars. Total amount of times sunroof used less than 10.

Severe vibration at highway speeds between 60-80 mph on intermittent basis. Low frequency vibration at speeds 40-50 mph on intermittent basis. 10/11/2022 Reviewed by service at Wasatch Front Kia, no issues found. Problem continues. 12/16/2022 Reviewed by Costco Tire Center, Draper, UT. Screw/nail found in tire. Tire repaired. Wheel/tire balance performed. Problem reduced but not eliminated. 01/04/2023 Vibration occurred at similar intensity as to prior to 12/16 service.

The contact owns a 2020 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that the second-row rear driver’s side seat would intermittently recline and move forward independently with an occupant in the seat. The vehicle was taken to a dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and opened an investigation. The contact was informed that unless the dealer replicated the failure, the vehicle could not be repaired. The failure persisted and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it remained. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

As the owner of this 2020 KIA Telluride, I have noted that the headlamps on both din and bright are very poor and are a safety concern when driving on a dark road, particularly when wet or no other lights around. I did some online research and found that many Kia owners had the same concern so I reached out to KIA Care or Kia America (Case # 15236897). Twice I was directed to my local dealer who basically did an inspection and stated" the lights work as designed" With that, I said that this was a poor or bad design and that Kia America should have safety people look and get a resolve. The internet has many complaints regarding the OEM lights for this vehicle but i would like someone to physically do a road test and do a comparision. The headlamps on this vehicle are a major safety concern and need evaluation.