CSR

Kia · NHTSA safety record

2027 Kia Telluride

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

16

Complaints

0

Crashes

0

Fires

1

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2027 Kia Telluride have filed 16 safety complaints with NHTSA between April 2026 and August 2026. The most complained-about system is the seat belts, named in 4 of them (25%). The typical failure was reported at 3,600 miles, the median across the 1 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 2 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (2)

SEAT BELTS:FRONT

26V356000 · June 2, 2026

The defect
Kia America, Inc (Kia) is recalling certain 2027 Telluride and Telluride Hybrid vehicles. The driver seat belt emergency locking retractor may lock, causing the seat belt strap not to extend. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 209, "Seat Belt Assemblies."
The risk
A seat belt strap that does not extend can fail to restrain an occupant in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the seat belt assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed July 31, 2026. Owners may contact Kia at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC372. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning June 16, 2026.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 6,264 vehicles across all model years covered

SEAT BELTS:REAR/OTHER:ANCHORAGE

26V135000 · March 6, 2026

The defect
Kia America, Inc (Kia) is recalling certain 2027 Kia Telluride and 2026 Kia K4 vehicles. The rear center seat belt anchor buckle in the 2026 K4 and the third-row center seat belt anchor buckle in the 2027 Telluride may not latch properly.
The risk
A seat belt buckle that is not latched properly can fail to restrain an occupant in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the anchor buckle assembly, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 5, 2026. Owners may contact Kia at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC364. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning March 20, 2026.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 14,870 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 16.

SEAT BELTS 4 25%
POWER TRAIN 3 19%
SEATS 3 19%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 19%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 13%
ENGINE 2 13%
SERVICE BRAKES 2 13%
BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 6%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 6%
STRUCTURE 1 6%

In owners' own words

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

SEATS

1 injured

I am reporting a life-safety defect incident and an illegal vehicle delivery. I purchased a 2027 Kia Telluride HEV subject to Recall SC366 (NHTSA Campaign 26V173000). The dealership delivered the vehicle on April 22, 2026, explicitly stating that the recall service was complete and the vehicle was safe. This was a material misrepresentation. Shortly after delivery, I suffered a physical entrapment incident where the second-row power seat mechanism failed to detect my leg as an obstruction and continued to fold with force, pinning my leg. This is the exact failure described in the recall notice. Following this incident, the dealership called to admit that they never actually performed the

NHTSA complaint 11733698, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SEATS
The vehicle randomly has seatbelt alerts for seats that are unoccupied and does not have anything on the seat.

NHTSA complaint 11755774. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SEATS
Purchased brand new 2/26. 5/26 driver seat locked randomly and stayed locked in unsafe position. Took to dealership they held for over one week, saw the initial problem but it fixed itself and they held it for a Week to recreate it. It is an intermittent issue, randomly locks. I picked it up and dealership told me to video it if it happens again and bring it back. Happened again 6/26 brought it back in showed video. This time it was still locked. They ordered the part but didn’t know when it would come in so I took my vehicle home. Dealership dropped contact with me, I called and emailed for status on reordered part. They ordered wrong part, wrong color, waiting for replacement. No

NHTSA complaint 11754247, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
I bought my car in April, it is now July. My SUV has been in the shop twice for engine failures. My car will die while I’m driving, and will not restart. The check engine light, oil light and battery light come on. The brake locks up and I am unable to restart until after anywhere from 5-20 minutes. It has happened a total of 7 times, the first time being one week after purchase. I have been trapped in moving traffic unable to move, trapped and stop lights that turn green and stop signs. I have 5 kids who have been stuck in the car with me when this has happened. There are always people driving behind me honking, cussing and yelling because the car has died and they are unable to mov also.

NHTSA complaint 11753812, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN
vehicles transmission gets stuck in 5th gear. when it happens the problem is fixed after restarting the vehicle. no warning that its stuck in 5th gear. When pulling out into traffic the car is very slow to move and my concern is that someone might get hit when pulling out into traffic not knowing the vehicle is stuck in 5th gear since there are no warning light on. after inspection with KIA, after the first incident they said nothing can be diagnosed since it wasn't throwing a code or check engine light. when the car once again got stuck in 5th gear on our last vacation i drove it for around 2 hours or 120 miles in 5th gear to try and get a check engine light to come, one never came on but

NHTSA complaint 11752585, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE

3,600 miles

The contact owns a 2027 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that the front passenger’s seat unintendedly collapsed. The failure occurred spontaneously. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure and the failure ws not duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 3,600.

NHTSA complaint 11752658. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
Apparently, they don't have a mesh screen protecting the radiator. They said a rock hit it but while driving I did not hear a rock hit it. They said the rock punctured the radiator causing it to leak radiator fluid and making vehicle undrivable. The vehicle left me stranded in the road. They took pictures of it but at a birthday party this weekend I have learned of several people having this same issue and the dealership claiming not their responsibility and we have to file insurance. Seems to me they need to put a mesh guard on the radiator to protect this from happening. Yes the Engine light came one.

NHTSA complaint 11751513. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Kia Telluride

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 93 3
2024 210 5
2023 201 6
2022 315 7
2021 349 5
2020 744 7 1

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.

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