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Kia · NHTSA safety record

2023 Kia Telluride

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

201

Complaints

5

Crashes

2

Fires

3

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2023 Kia Telluride have filed 201 safety complaints with NHTSA between December 2022 and August 2026. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 49 of them (24%). The typical failure was reported at 20,000 miles, the median across the 15 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 6 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (6)

SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:POWER ADJUST

26V430000 · July 2, 2026

Park outside until repaired

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2020-2024 Telluride vehicles. The front power seat motor may overheat due to a stuck power seat slide knob or an improper recall 24V407 repair, which can result in a fire while parked or driving.
The risk
A fire increases the risk of injury.
The remedy
Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will install an electronic fuse assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 13, 2026. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC374. This recall replaces NHTSA recall number 24V407. Vehicles already repaired under the previous recall will need to have the new remedy completed. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning July 17, 2026.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 462,869 vehicles across all model years covered

STRUCTURE:EXTERIOR TRIM

25V494000 · July 28, 2025

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Telluride vehicles. The door belt molding trim can delaminate and detach from the vehicle.
The risk
A detached trim piece can become a road hazard for other vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the belt molding trim assemblies as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 19, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC347.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 201,149 vehicles across all model years covered

SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:POWER ADJUST

24V407000 · June 5, 2024

Park outside until repaired

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2020-2024 Telluride vehicles. The front power seat motor may overheat due to a stuck power seat slide knob, which can result in a fire while parked or driving.
The risk
A fire increases the risk of injury.
The remedy
Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will install a bracket for the power seat switch back covers and replace the seat slide knobs, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 30, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC316.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 462,869 vehicles across all model years covered

POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT

24V214000 · March 20, 2024

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2020-2024 Telluride vehicles. The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged, which can result in vehicle roll away while in PARK.
The risk
A vehicle roll away increases the risk of a crash or injury.
The remedy
Owners are advised to manually engage the emergency parking brake prior to exiting the vehicle until the recall remedy is performed. Dealers will update the electronic parking brake software and replace any damaged intermediate shafts as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 15, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC303.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 427,407 vehicles across all model years covered

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL

23V298000 · April 26, 2023

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage Plug-in Hybrid, Niro Hybrid, Niro Plug-in Hybrid, Soul, and Telluride vehicles equipped with a digital instrument cluster containing a 4.2" LCD screen.  The instrument cluster may fail to display any information when the vehicle is started.  As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 101, "Control and Displays," and 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."
The risk
A blank instrument cluster display will not show critical information, such as tire pressure, warning messages, and warning lights, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will update the instrument cluster software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 26, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC270.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 108,936 vehicles across all model years covered

AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW

23V035000 · January 29, 2023

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Telluride vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error, the wire harnesses for the second row seat side air bags may become damaged, causing them not to deploy in the event of a crash.
The risk
Air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace, or secure the air bag wire harnesses, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 28, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC262.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 31,943 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 201.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER 57 28%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 49 24%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 28 14%
ENGINE 23 11%
POWER TRAIN 23 11%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 14 7%
STRUCTURE 14 7%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 14 7%
VISIBILITY 12 6%
STEERING 10 5%
LANE DEPARTURE 9 4%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 8 4%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2023 at 59.

2022 2023 2026
2022 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed

I was hit on driver side and no side airbags deployed. The collision cause over $16k in damage to my vehicle. There is no reason side airbags should not have delivered and if my child was in the car on the passenger side he would have slammed his head on glass.

NHTSA complaint 11609410. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE

1 injured · 6,001 miles

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Telluride. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormal sound. The contact stated that the lane recognition sensor located on the rearview mirror had exploded. The contact sustained injuries to his face. No medical attention was received. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who stated that the windshield would be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 6,001.

NHTSA complaint 11523185. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 injured

Standard vehicle component- shattered window. I was driving on highway I 275 and heard a loud sound, when I investigated I realized that the window in the second row to the right simply just shattered, glass flying everywhere.

NHTSA complaint 11735747. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE

fire · towed · 20,000 miles

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Telluride. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, she was flagged down by another driver who informed her that there was a fire near the rear exterior of the vehicle. The contact merged to the shoulder of the road and discovered that the fire had extinguished on its own. No warning lights were illuminated. A fire and police report was not filed. No injuries were reported. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the inspection was being performed. The was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA complaint 11630349. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
This is an update to my original NHTSA complaint (ID 11755209) regarding an intermittent no-start/no-crank defect on my 2023 Kia Telluride (VIN [XXX]). Since my original filing, the identical defect has recurred twice more, on XXX — once at approximately 1:01–1:30 PM EST and again at approximately 5:03–5:17 PM EST, the same day. In both incidents, the dashboard and infotainment system powered up normally, but the vehicle would not crank, consistent with all prior occurrences dating back to XXX. This brings the total documented occurrences to six between XXX and August 8, 2026, including two in a single day. In both August 8 incidents, my wife was stranded and had to be picked up because the

NHTSA complaint 11755922, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
CLEAR COAT PEELING OFF IN SHEETS ON A 2023 KIA TELLURIDE. IT'S A KNOWN PROBLEM AMOUNG KIA OWNERS HOWEVER KIA IS NOT ACCEPTING RESPONSIBLITY FOR A MANUFACTURER DEFECT.

NHTSA complaint 11755510. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
My 2023 Kia Telluride (VIN [XXX]) has an intermittent no-start/no-crank defect that has occurred on four separate occasions between [XXX] and [XXX] (mileage range 49,850–51,180). In each occurrence, the dashboard and infotainment system power on normally, but the engine will not crank when the start button is pressed, with both key fobs. The fault clears itself with no consistent trigger, making it undetectable by standard diagnostic scans after the fact. The vehicle was taken to Kia of Cleveland (2492 South Lee Highway, Cleveland, TN 37311) three times. On the first two visits (6/18/26 and 7/1/26) the dealer could not duplicate the fault and returned the vehicle unrepaired. On the third

NHTSA complaint 11755209, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN
A P0741 warning light comes on and off leading driver to believe the problem is intermittent when in fact it is a torque converter failed. The intermittent nature of the warning light could lead drivers to believe the problem is not a safety issue, particularly on a SUV with only 105,000 miles. However, when a converter fails it is definitely a safety issue.

NHTSA complaint 11754967. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Driver Assistance Warning (DAW) warning bells and dash sign "Driver Needs a Break" with Coffee Pot showing goes off constantly. Even with safest driving possible, on purpose safest driving, the warning and sounds goes off every few miles and few minutes. KIA dealer has kept car for 2 weeks and say they can not duplicate and I drive it (Perfectly) and it goes off. this is a 2023 Kia telluride , previous year models and later models you could turn off or turn down sensitivity of this warning. KIA eliminated the owner the opportunity to disable or turn down this warning. It is a safety hazard because it is always going off, causing the driver to take his attention from the road to the dash

NHTSA complaint 11750985, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
The Kia Driver Assistance Warning, Showing a Coffee Pot, and Warning "Driver needs to Take Break" goes off constantly. Sometimes starts within 5 minutes of driving and goes off constantly for every 3 minutes . Dealer says it is a KIA problem and can not do anything. This constant warning is a Safety Hazard because it takes the Drivers Attention off his Driving with the constant Bells going off. It is a 2023 Kia Telluride and previous models you could turn off this Warning but NOT in 2023 according to dealer and KIA will not repair or turn off. This is a Safety Hazard.

NHTSA complaint 11749908. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Kia Telluride

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2027 16 2 —
2025 93 3 —
2024 210 5 —
2022 315 7 —
2021 349 5 —
2020 744 7 1

Other 2023 Kia models

Sportage 185 EV6 133 Sorento 114 K5 104 Sportage Hybrid 95 Forte 59 Carnival 50 Soul 48

Every Kia on this site — 176 vehicles, 208 recall campaigns and 1 open investigation .

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst