2020 Kia Telluride
Complaints about this year name high far more often than the model's other years — 20% of them, about 6× the usual rate of 3.4%.
First year of a new generation. The Kia Telluride was redesigned for 2020. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 744 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 209 |
| Involving a crash | 8 |
| Involving a fire | 9 |
| Recalls | 7 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 22 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- high — 27% of this year's complaints, against 8.6% across the model's other years (3.1×). Owners wrote it as: high, working, beams, high beams.
- headlights — 16% of this year's complaints, against 5.4% across the model's other years (3×). Owners wrote it as: headlights, night, visibility, illuminate.
- low — 12.9% of this year's complaints, against 3.8% across the model's other years (3.4×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- high beams — 11% of complaints, 27× usual
- oil — 18% of complaints, 4× usual
- headlights — 10% of complaints, 12× usual
What owners wrote
My high beam headlights are not working. There is no change whether the high beams are on or off.
Both high beams suddenly went out and are no longer working. Regular headlights are working though. This is a safety concern.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V594000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V436000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 22V626000 TRAILER HITCHES Fixed free of charge.
- 24V148000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 24V214000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 24V407000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 26V430000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Kia Telluride was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2020 Kia Telluride? What happened to yours?
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