klepZ OwnerReports
KIA / Telluride / 2020

2020 KIA Telluride problems

Owners have filed 964 complaints about the 2020 KIA Telluride with NHTSA. Exterior lighting accounts for 19.2% of them, narrowly the most common, ahead of engine at 15.8%. A further 15.1% were filed without a specific system named.

Complaints964
Crashes11
Fires15
Injuries15
Deaths1

What owners report breaking

Exterior lighting 19.2% · 185
Engine 15.8% · 152
Unknown or other 15.1% · 146
Visibility/wiper 14.1% · 136
Power train 7.3% · 70
Electrical system 6.2% · 60
Structure 5.8% · 56
Suspension 3.4% · 33
Severity

Of those complaints, 11 describe a crash, 15 describe a fire, 15 report an injury and 1 report a death.

Reading the numbers

Across the 6 model years of the KIA Telluride in this data, 2020 draws the most complaints of any of them.

Filings are rising, 511 in the last three years against 301 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.

The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 6,700 miles.

In owners' own words

The vehicle lost both high beams randomly together. Shows indicater on dash but you can see lights do not get brighter. This is a huge safety concern for my wife and children not being able to see well!!!! We went to dealer and they quoted us $1800 for both new headlights and said warranty will not cover this! I’ve read it’s an issue across the board with these cats and it’s time Kia does something to fix it! Exterior lighting
The headlights perform poorly when fully functional, one is out and when I replaced the light it still is not working and now that one is out I am scared to drive at night for fear of hitting a child or pet in my complex. And i will not allow my son to drive because he may get seriously hurt as well. This issue needs to be resolved as to why the headlights just go out and are not fixable with a bulb replacement. Exterior lighting
Started to notice the high beams where not working. The dash light shows the high beams were on but the lights never changed. I purchased 2 new low/high beams bulbs. That did not fix the issue. My telluride has over 60k miles on it. Doing teacher everyone who has a 2020 kia telluride has this issue just after vehicle hits just over 60k miles. Never noticed before as we never drove at night time before november. Exterior lighting

Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.

Safety recalls

Checking NHTSA for open recalls…

Other KIA Telluride years

2021 480 complaints · 14.0% engine 2022 433 complaints · 17.6% electrical system 2023 316 complaints · 16.1% electrical system 2024 331 complaints · 15.1% electrical system 2025 172 complaints · 26.2% engine

Compare all 6 model years →