Complaint volume
315 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
315 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Kia Telluride, grouped by component category.
315 Total complaints
7 Crash reports
4 Fire reports
6 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, 6 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 37 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 11,798 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
6 Injury
0 Fatality
8 Towed
5 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Kia Telluride complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 66
VISIBILITY/WIPER 52
ENGINE 33
STRUCTURE 20
VISIBILITY 14
POWER TRAIN 13
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9
SUSPENSION 9
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 8
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 5
315 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2024 | ENGINE | My car started having an oil leak on [XXX] of 2023 which is the date reported to Mark Martin Kia. They replaced the oil pan on [XXX] 2024 and said that the issue was fixed. I drove it home, and the next day oil was still coming from my engine. I took it back and they said that the housing was what was leaking. The tech told me that 10k parts were on backorder so I'd have to keep putting oil in until the part arrives. Over a month went by of me having to pour oil in. [XXX] was when they fixed it. [XXX] my engine is no longer functioning. Major nock. Needs replaced! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Driver's side door will lose power while in park or while driving. This causes the locks to not work and windows (driver's and passenger's) will not go up or down. The mirrors will not fold in. Lights on the door goes out. Controls goes completely unresponsible. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Sunroof on Kia Telluride will not close completely. Will begin closing and then will not set down into the closed position. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | SUSPENSION | . Cannot drive the vehicle because the rear end bounces up and down and side to side violently making it difficult to control ehile driving. Kia dealership said rear shock absorbers need replacement and Kia warranty does not cover $1800 repair. Kia dealer said this has happened previously. There are many comments on the internet from other Kia Telluride owners about the same problem. I opened a case with Kia Motor Company requesting they cover a portion of the repair given the numerous online complaints, and the obvious safety risks. They refused. Kia is clearly installing defective parts on this vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | STRUCTURE | Sunroof wind deflector snapped off after light use | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | This vehicle was purchased back in July 2023. On multiple occasions since then, the Automatic Emergency Braking system has activated and slammed on the brakes when not needed. There have been no other cars, animals or other hazards to cause it to do so. Very dangerous that this keeps happening. Most recent and worse incident was yesterday(5/16/24). It is going to the dealer for service today. It's still under warranty and has approximately 55000 miles on it. Kia customer service help line showed little concern over incidents. We'll see what happens at the dealership today when I take it in. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | STRUCTURE | Sunroof guide/rail plastic piece broke upon opening and will not close. Sunroof is now stuck open. Dealer claimed entire sunroof needs to be replaced. Vehicle cannot be driven as sunroof glass feels like it'll pop off. No warning at all when it happened. Sunroof was open when driving and when we got home and parked it, it would not close and visibly confirmed the plastic part of the guide appeared broken. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | SUSPENSION,WHEELS | The rear shock is leaking/bad. My car only has 30K miles. It caused my wheels to wear unevenly, which could have led me and my family to have a car accident if a wheel popped while driving. An independent service center has confirmed this when the vehicle failed inspection. No warning of the issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Here are some basic facts on what has happened: On August [XXX] I was in my driveway, in Mt Pleasant, SC, when my car rolled down my driveway with my two kiddos inside, resulting in me reacting and getting knocked over by the driver side door and the car running over my chest. I had 5 broken ribs, 4 are now titanium, several broken bones, a punctured lung and a torn acl. There is a police report but do not have to upload right now This was reported and Kia had my car for about a month to investigate it and gave us a very brief response stating “After the preliminary investigation results indicate that the vehicle functioned as intended, no issues found with the parking mechanism.” Because of the trauma this has caused me, I made my husband make the car disappear and he sold it to a local CarMax in Charleston. This safety recall came out on March 26th saying cars rolled away and they are updating software so cars do not move with car doors open. Kia is also stating there have been 16 cases not resulting in injuries. The Kia I had is a 2021 within this range and the VIN is [XXX] . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 1 Medical attention | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Vehicle has a vibration at 60-75 miles per hour. It's a rhythmic vibration that you can feel in the gas pedal and sense in the front of the vehicles drivetrain. Kia has a TSB about this issue. Kia TSB 099. But our vehicle is past the 60k mile warranty period that would protect it. Kia knows that some cars manufactured between the start of production and February 2021 have this issue. They know which production lots of the affected parts have the issue, yet they refuse to make it a recall issue. Anyone who is unlucky enough to lapse the warranty period is such with a detective part that Kia is fully aware of. The issue is so difficult to diagnose, I had to go to two dealerships to even get an answer about what the issue might be and that the warranty will not cover it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Windshield cracked sitting in driveway for no reason, nothing that impacted it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | On Saturday, [XXX], while driving my 2021 Kia Telluride [XXX} from Laredo to San Antonio, Texas, my husband (passenger) and I (driver) heard a loud, explosion-like sound. This made me swerve onto the other traveling lane. Thank God there were no vehicle near us or next to us because it would have been catastrophic. We quickly realized that our sunroof had exploded/shattered as we could hear all the shattered glass being blown away. Luckily, the sliding sunroof panel was closed and no glass went inside our vehicle. These must definitely get investigated since it is a public safety issue. Upon doing research, we learned that there are several other people that have experience this same issue with Kia Tellurides and it’s windshield/sunroof quality. I note that there was no vehicles near us and we were traveling 75 mph. Kia needs to recall this ASAP before there is a fatality! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | We were driving on the highway and the sunroof was partially open in the angle as a wind deflector. When the sunroof made a pop noise and started flapping in the wind, we were so concerned that the sunroof is gonna come flying off and hit a car behind us. We end up taping it down and taking it to Kia of Daytona or they told us it was $5000 to repair, they had said the mechanism that holds the window up a plastic finger broke. Apparently they do not manufacture a quality product for something so crucial as such a sunroof, we were so fearful that the sunroof glass part was gonna fly out. We had to drive from Jacksonville, all the way to Daytona, with a flapping in the wind. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | My car was in park and went into reverse with my two kiddos in the car in my driveway. I tried to jump in but the car door knocked me over as the car rolled faster as I was holding my sweet one year old and ended up rolling over my ankle and chest. [XXX] fortunately ended up with a scratch but I ended up with a broken leg and 6 broken ribs, a punctured lung and torn acl. I am lucky to be alive There is a police report I do not have right now and a ton of medical bills INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 1 Medical attention | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving the Kia Telluride, the forward collision avoidance warnings started flashing, then said it was failing, then the tire pressure system did the same, then the speedometer and tachometer failed as did the turn signals, gear shift, and lights. The car was becoming unsafe to drive. The car has been at the dealer for 3 weeks now, the dealer changed the Cluster Assembly-Instrument at at cost of $2600. Within 1/2 of leaving the dealership the same problem noted above began happening, again making the car unsafe to drive. In researching on line at the KiaTelluride forum there have been a large number of similar unsafe occurrences by other Kia Tellurides as reported by owners. This is a serious safety problem that has been noted numerous times. (I can't get my images of the 2 page dealer invoice for Cluster Assembly-Instrument $2600 that did not solve the problem to download on this form. ) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | ENGINE | Excessive engine oil usage. No low engine oil level. Engine overheating. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The sunroof is stuck opened because the wind deflector brackets have broken. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On February 16th at about 6 AM, I was in a collision. I was first hit in the front by a pickup truck impacting my frontside, from right to left. I expected my Kia Telluride to engage it's safety features such as, Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, and at the very least the Airbags, which none of them deployed at anytime during this collision. I was then rear-ended by an 18-wheeler; smashing my entire back window. The 18-wheelers' trailer that it was holding then slide down on the passenger side of my 2021 Kia Telluride. With that my vehicle was then pushed into the guardrail from the impact and power of the trailer falling on the passenger side. My vehicle has been inspected by my insurance company, Geico Inc. as they declared my vehicle a total loss. There was no warnings, or any indicators that my vehicles safety issues were compromised and the date of my vehicles last service by the dealer, Demontrond Automotive Group was October 4, 2023. I have pictures of my vehicle, where it will reflect; The damage the vehicle endured, The airbags intact; and The back window shattered. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | There was no visible crack or i dictation there was damage or an issue with the windshield and all of the sudden there is a 2 foot long crack going from the middle to the driver side of the windshield causing it to have to be replaced vs. if there was a chip indication I could just have that repaired. I am the only driver and never heard anything that would cause the crack | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY | Tried opening my sunroof and when I pushed the button I l heard a loud “pop” and or quit working. My sunroof is now stuck in the open position. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The sun roof has only be used several times during the year. The sun roof plastic mechanism parts are broken. This causes the sun roof to be unable to close. With the sun roof slightly open and unable to close, my fear is that it may flip open in the highway and hit another car behind me. The car has been brought to the dealership to inspect and it will cost over $5,000 dollars to fix and replace the whole sun roof assembly. I feel this is a manufacturer defect as many other Telluride owners are having the same sun roof issue. There were no warnings or symptoms prior to this issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | There were 2 lanes going in the same direction and I was on the right. The road was turning to the right and ended up hitting a car in the lane on the right. Road conditions were wet but no puddling. I depressed the brake pedal to reduce my speed for the turn, but and I kept going as if I hadn't hit it at all. By moving from the right to the left lane, the car was going up a slight bank. There was no skidding, no rumbling from the anti-lock, just a steady forward motion. I was so caught off guard with this unusual movement of the car that I thought my brakes had locked, so I didn't bother try turning the wheel. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | VISIBILITY/WIPER,VISIBILITY | Sunroof spontaneously shattered. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | SUSPENSION,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Around 65,000 miles Rear self-leveling shock absorbers started making clunking noises, now they're extremely stiff, not compressing with weight, even small speed bumps affect the rear of the car, rear/cargo bouncing up violently over mild speed bumps, rough on 2nd/3rd row passengers. the standard front shocks which are still good. The problem, reproduced on a drive, verified by a dealership service department tech. Local dealership reported problem to Kia, and Kia offered to cover parts but I'd be charged over $500 labor. A premium package car shouldn't have such a rough ride because of failing suspension parts. Kia should fix the rear shock issue on the 2021 Tellurides ordered w/ "self-leveling rear suspension" under a recall. Thanks for your attention. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The clips for the Sun Roof Wind Deflector broke. As a result the sun roof will not close completely. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |