Complaint volume
334 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
2021 Kia Telluride Complaints
334 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Kia Telluride, grouped by component category.
334 Total complaints
7 Crash reports
4 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 unknown or other, visibility/wiper, engine. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 7 crash reports, 4 fire reports, 7 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 40 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 17,163 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, visibility/wiper, engine?
- 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 2021 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.
2021 Kia Telluride
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Kia Telluride complaints?
7 Crash
4 Fire
7 Injury
0 Fatality
8 Towed
5 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Kia Telluride complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 69
VISIBILITY/WIPER 53
ENGINE 37
STRUCTURE 21
VISIBILITY 15
POWER TRAIN 13
SUSPENSION 12
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 8
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 5
334 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2022 | AIR BAGS | I was broadsided by a chevy cobalt traveling over 40mph. The impact was so great it spun my vehicle. No airbags deployed at all and the rear passenger door took the brunt of the impact. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The windshield of the car cracked on its own. There were no chips in the windshield and nothing hit the windshield of the car but it cracked while driving and continued to grow significantly in a very short period of time affecting visibility. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The windshield began to crack on the edge of the glass and spread across the entire windshield for no apparent reason. Nothing impacted the windshield like a rock or debris during driving. This happened overnight and then continued to spread, again, for no apparent reason. I have had windshield repair technicians look to see if I am missing something and they also agreed there were no chips or anything obvious that would start the crack on the windshield. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Had a new transmission installed in February 2022. Now, beginning March 13, warning lights come on to check blind spot and forward collision systems. About 10 seconds after the car lurches violently. This has happened at full speed on interstate which is a huge risk for injury/death. I have video of this phenomenon. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield cracked without reason | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | STEERING | The contact owns a 2021 Kia Telluride. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH into a right curve, the steering wheel did not respond while turning. The contact stated the "Take to Dealer Immediately" warning message was displayed. The contact was able to regain control of the steering wheel and drove the vehicle to her residence. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed that a bolt had become loosened and fell off into the driver’s side from the steering column. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The contact had the vehicle towed to the same dealer who diagnosed that the entire steering shaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 17,000 |
| Feb 2022 | VISIBILITY | This incident has happened twice in a short matter of time. While driving a small rock hit the windshield, and then the windshield cracked immediately. This seems to be a major complaint from many owners and I know it was an issue for 2019 and 2020. There are now two cracks spanning across the windshield that obstruct a clear view. This is a major safety issue and it is difficult to get a windshield due to supply issues. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The molding on the left side of the windshield, driver's side repeatedly came lose and impaired my vision when turning left. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | POWER TRAIN | We were driving the car and it began lurching unpredictably. It was difficult to maneuver safely. It is now 3 weeks past that time and my Kia has been at the dealership this entire time. The dealer says that they cannot do anything without checking with Kia HQ and each time they do, Kia has them run another diagnostic. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | We were sitting in the a parking lot (not driving), and heard a loud pop. The windshield had spontaneously cracked. There were no chips prior. The entire windshield had to be replaced. I had to pay $563 (insurance deductible) to have it replaced. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | ENGINE | When starting in the cold (approx 30 degrees F or less), the Kia has a very high pitch squeal. The sound appears to be coming from inside the engine and is NOT a pulley or slipping belt. There is a lot of discussion about this issue on the web, and Kia has not issued any resolution to any of the customers who have complained and taken to dealers. This link is not my car but is the same noise - if necessary, I too have my own video I can share. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-68J5bocqVxzPLIDpabmgd_St6CMoxky/view Note: Dealer was able to replicate, and has a video of the issue from us, but has stated that they do not know how to fix. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Sustained small rock chip in lower left of windshield. After a few miles formed a crack that extended half way across windshield. Research shows that Kia claimed 2020 vehicle issues and would replace windshields for no charge. They will not for 2021 Kia Telluride. I feel they have a quality issue in the windshield of the model I own, yet they refuse to take ownership if the issue. I see forums with owners having the exact same issue. I have owned vehicles for over 50 years and have never seen a windshield crack as easily as these. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ENGINE | On cold mornings when the temperature falls below thirty degrees, the car emits a loud screeching noise from the area of the throttle body. I had the belts and pulleys checked at my last oil change (two weeks ago) and they were fine. It it’s distinctly coming from the area of the air intake and throttle body. The high pitched squeal will last for about 10 seconds and stop. By the time the vehicle gets to the dealer, it has warmed up or the temperature has gone above 30. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Optional LED headlight buckets fog up and will not dry out. Kia has a service bulletin out regarding this issue, it was performed and the situation has not improved. Recently, in minus 20-30 degree F weather, the condensation inside the housing frosted up the entire inside of the housing. The LED headlights do not generate enough heat to adequately melt the frost creating decreased headlight performance. The vehicle has been into the dealer multiple times and the service bulletin was performed once and the desiccant packs were replaced the second time. The frost issue occurred after both had been done. Kia states that this is normal operation for their LED headlight bucket and the dealership, claiming to be under orders from Kia will not dedicate any more time to the investigation of my issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | VISIBILITY | Windshield cracked and quickly spread with no sound or impact. Inspection at dealership reveals a tiny chip along the crack that the dealership says indicates and impact. Windshield seems very fragile as I have had other cars that have suffered more serious impact and not had major cracking issues. Also windshield replacement cost is very high as the dealership claims they need to recalibrate the camera that is use for lane keep assist. The previous years also had windshield issues that were covered by warranty. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | While driving, small amount of snow fell from roof on to windshield and was unable to see the road clearly. Wipers were unable to lift the small about of snow to clear the windshield. Luckily I was not on a busy road an was able to stop. After clearing the small amount of snow the wipers were able to function. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | A tiny rock hit the windshield going 30 miles an hour. The crack has consistently grown every day. My whole windshield has to be replaced. I've never had a vehicle that has such a weak windshield. This car is only 11 months old. The crack is horizontal and affects my view if the road because it's right in the middle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ENGINE | As I started the car, it began to shake and shudder while idling. And the check engine light turned on. I could smell the unburied gas inside the car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Kia has been on notice of the Telluride's deficient headlights with the ES model since at least 2019 and have done nothing. The highest end model has LED lights so Kia is more than capable of fixing this problem. I know that dozens of consumers like myself have filed complaints with the NHTSA and other organizations and nothing has been done. I have called Kia headquarters at least 3 times to complain. The headlights do not provide enough light to safely drive at night. I'm not an engineer (I'm a lawyer) but I know that the design is faulty. Now that it's wintertime and dark at 5:00, I am unable to drive the car at night for fear of killing myself, my family, a pedestrian, or pet. Why hasn't NHTSA done anything to investigate these numerous complaints? Why have years gone on with resolution or recall? Is Kia (or the NHSTA) waiting for someone to actually die before they do something? (It seems so based on the below questions). I guess it's not enough that consumers like myself can't use our cars at night. I CAN'T BE ANY CLEARER: SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED. YOU ARE ON NOTICE. Please let me know the results of your investigation into this matter because this has gone on long enough. Conduct an investigation and get to the bottom on this please. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | What happened: The analog speedometer and digital speedometer were not working. I was driving the car and I would be moving but my speedometer and digital readout remained at 0 mph even with my RPM showing as moving. All other gages and read outs were working except for speed. Safety risk for myself and others: I was unaware of how fast I was driving Problem also happened once prior a few weeks ago I put the car into Park and put back into Drive and it fixed it. This time however when I tried that it did not fix the issue. I even tried turning the car off and back on and it did not fix the issue. The issue was fixed after waiting until the next day to drive and when I got in to drive it worked again. Unable to repeat the issue as it is happening sporadically and does not seem to have a specific cause. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The front windshield cracked. There was no known hit by an object and the windshield has cracked on the passenger side and continues to grow. Visibility is reduced due to this crack and it is a known issue in the 2020 model year and it appears to be continuing in the 2021 model year. The windshield will need replacement. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Two chips are in the windshield . Low speed. Then the windshield cracked. At low speed and nothing hit the windshield. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Windshield chipped very easily when driving on the highway. Only have 2000 miles on here. Reading this model has this issue commonly | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | VISIBILITY | The windshield on my vehicle chips and crack easily. It is a common problem among other Kia Tellurides as well. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The sunroof exploded on us driving down the highway. We had the sunroof close, but the shade was open so glass fell down on us when driving. There was a loud pop when this happened, but we didn't see any objects flying towards our car before this happened. Looking this issue up, it appears to have happened to other owners of this car. Glass hit me in the face while driving at highway speeds, luckily I remained in control of the car. There were no other symptoms prior to this happening, and the car was taken into the dealer for inspection afterwards. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |