What breaks most · 2020 to 2027 model years
Kia Telluride problems by year
Owners have filed 1,967 safety complaints with NHTSA about the Kia Telluride across model years 2020 to 2027. Three years stand out: 2020 for exterior lighting complaints, 2021 for wipers and visibility complaints and 2022 for wipers and visibility complaints. The quietest years are 2023 and 2024.
- Years to check closely: 2020, 2021, 2022
- Fewest complaints: 2023, 2024
- Complaints on file
- 19672020 to 2027, all trims
- Worst year
- 2020748 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 4023 fires · 42 injuries · 1 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 8kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 35Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 748 | 8 | 7 | Exterior lighting (183) | |
| 354 | 7 | 5 | Unknown or other (98) | |
| 319 | 10 | 7 | Unknown or other (79) | |
| 205 | 5 | 6 | Unknown or other (58) | |
| 215 | 6 | 5 | Unknown or other (61) | |
| 106 | 3 | 3 | Engine (37) | |
| 20 | 1 | 2 | Seat belts (6) |
What fails on the 2020 Kia Telluride
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exterior lightingHeadlights, tail lights and bulbs | 24% |
183 | 2 | Shop exterior lighting parts for the 2020 Kia Telluride |
| Unknown or other | 19% |
140 | 1 | — |
| EngineEngine gaskets and seals | 18% |
138 | 0 | Shop engine parts for the 2020 Kia Telluride |
| Wipers and visibilityWiper motors and blades | 18% |
135 | 1 | Shop all wipers and visibility parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Powertrain and transmissionTransmission parts | 9% |
70 | 1 | Shop all powertrain and transmission parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Electrical systemAlternators, starters and ignition | 8% |
57 | 1 | Shop all electrical system parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Body and structureDoors, latches and body hardware | 7% |
52 | 0 | Shop body and structure parts for the 2020 Kia Telluride |
| SuspensionStruts, springs and control arms | 4% |
31 | 0 | Shop suspension parts for the 2020 Kia Telluride |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
In owners' words
Complaint narratives as filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length.
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SC299 (high‑beam headlight failure) is actually a safety defect tied to visibility and part of a recall which my telluride falls just outside of
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Windshield wipers pause during use in intermittent and slow/low setting. Was initially told that the wipers were old and needed replacing and this would fix the issue. Wipers were replaced and still having same issue.
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The windshield cracked for no apparent reason. The crack was on the driver's side, about 16 inches long, starting near the top and curving around the driver's view to the middle of the windshield.
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 6, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which Kia Telluride years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 2020, 2021, 2022 carry the most filings on the Kia Telluride. The 2020 alone has 748 complaints, led by exterior lighting.
What is the most common Kia Telluride problem?
On the 2020 model year, the most-reported component is exterior lighting with 183 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do Kia Telluride problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all Kia Telluride complaints that include mileage is about 8,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.