Complaint volume
709 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2020 Kia Telluride Complaints
709 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2020 Kia Telluride, grouped by component category.
709 Total complaints
8 Crash reports
7 Fire reports
7 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are exterior lighting, visibility/wiper, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 8 crash reports, 7 fire reports, 7 injury reports, and 1 fatality report. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 188 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 18,754 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to exterior lighting, visibility/wiper, unknown or other?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2020 Kia Telluride?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2020 Kia Telluride
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2020 Kia Telluride complaints?
8 Crash
7 Fire
7 Injury
1 Fatality
7 Towed
6 Medical attention
What are the most common 2020 Kia Telluride complaint categories?
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 162
VISIBILITY/WIPER 121
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 86
ENGINE 80
STRUCTURE 34
POWER TRAIN 31
SUSPENSION 19
VISIBILITY 12
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 11
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9
709 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2023 | ENGINE | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Left headlight is stuck in high-beam mode. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 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. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | VISIBILITY | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | STEERING,SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | SEATS | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | 30,000 |
| Jan 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | High beams went off. Not showing any errors on dash. Switch seem to be working. High beam sign goes on and off when you try to switch between the low and high beams, But only low beam lights working. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Bright lights stopped working! Replaced bulbs and no change. I have read many stories of people having the same problem and the dealer charging them $1300 to &2000 to repair them and some did not fix the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | The high beams have stopped working. I have brought the car to the dealer and they report the related lighting systems are fine and working as they should. I have replaced the bulbs and the high beams still don't work. There are multiple reports of this same issue in other Kia Tellurides ( 2020) on the web. I am left with out a solution and need my high beams. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | VISIBILITY | The windshield cracked in the vehicle within the first few thousand miles of owning it. It was replaced by Kia via goodwill. The replacement windshield cracked less than a year later, and happened rapidly without the ability to repair before it spread. After research, it appears to be a widespread issue with the Kia Tellurides. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | I recently bought the Kia used at approximately 75000 miles. The high beams do not work and the only way to repair them is an expensive complete headlight assembly replacement. Headlights should not become defective so soon and I have read forum after forum of those with the Telluride who have experienced the same problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Hooded projector lights provide very limited vision on dark roads. We hit a deer and have significant damage to our vehicle due to this issue. Our brights do not come on either. Nothing happens when we select the bright option. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | The High Beams have stopped working. This is a known issue as it can be found on many forums across the internet. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | High beams not working | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,TRAILER HITCHES | The contact owns a 2020 Kia Telluride. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 20V436000 (Electrical System, Forward Collision Avoidance, Exterior Lighting) and 22V626000 (Trailer Hitches) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the brake pedal was firm while attempting to stop the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | 45,000 |
| Nov 2022 | SUSPENSION | My Telluride mileage just passed 30K. The rear suspension seems like no shock-absorbing capability since the car is so bumpy. The front suspension looks fine though. I went to a service center, but they told me they couldn't find any symptoms. I was shocked when I heard about that because I could see an apparent difference even with pushing it with my hand! Strangely, there's no squicking noise. And they told me no oil leakage. But, it's bumpy. I'll try to visit the service center for the recall and ask them to check the suspension together with me. The rear suspension has the optional self-leveling shock that has a noise concern. I may need to replace them with a normal suspension. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Dim Headlights. Vehicle is available for inspection.Headlights do not illuminate the road resulting in not being able to see while driving at night. High beam lights no longer function. Vehicle was inspected and it was determined headlights would need to be replaced at owners expense. There were no warning messages that high beams no longer worked. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | At about 45,000 miles on the vehicle both bright lights no longer worked suddenly at the same time. I figured they had burn out so I purchased brand new bulbs for both sides at advanced auto parts. advanced auto parts installed the lightbulbs, and when I flipped the switch for brights again no bright lights. Apparently there’s an issue on the 2020 tellurides for some reason, the bright lights quit working. This is a serious safety issue, especially with it getting darker earlier and with deer running at this time of the year. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | VISIBILITY | Sunroof exploded while driving. Nothing hit it, heard a loud noise while driving, thought it was a tire. Took car to KIA dealership in Chula Vista CA, they said someone from KIA headquarters is coming to inspected since they dont believe the fact that nothing hit it. Car has been there for 2 days with no answer. This claim remains to be resolved as of 11/21/22. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | The high beams stopped working which is very dangerous & sounds like several others have had same issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | SUSPENSION | My 2020 KIA Telluride has faulty suspension related to KIA's factory installed towing system. This makes the vehicle very noisy while everyday driving and unsafe when towing. Yes the problem has been confirmed by the dealer, KIA has put out a service bulletin, but hasn't extended the warranty to cover their known defect. This started a couple months ago. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | High beams stopped working | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Vehicle was in for an oil change and safety system upgrade/fix(?) and now the high beams no longer work on our vehicle. The blue indicator light shows up but neither on of our high beams turn on. I have contacted the dealership and they claim they've never heard of such a thing happening, but I have seen many complaints online about it. We do not feel it is safe to drive out in the country, at night. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |