KIA Telluride Reliability by YearBest & worst years, problems & recalls — NHTSA data

My 2025 Kia Telluride has experienced seven engine overheating events across three separate incidents, all under identical conditions: air conditioning on while climbing in altitude on Colorado mountain highways. Incident 1 (XXX: Driving from [XXX] to [XXX]. Engine temperature gauge reached H and the "Engine Overheated" warning displayed. Pulled over and allowed engine to cool. Vehicle taken to Kia dealership; diagnostics found no fault. Incident 2 (XXX): Driving to [XXX]. Vehicle overheated twice on the same trip. Dealership kept vehicle for multiple days; reported no issues found. Incident 3 (XXX): Driving to [XXX]. Vehicle overheated FOUR times during the trip, including in an area with no cellular reception. Occupants included an infant and a [XXX]. Had the engine failed completely, we would have been stranded with no ability to call for emergency assistance. The failure is consistent and reproducible in real-world conditions (sustained grade + AC load) but has not been reproduced by dealership diagnostics performed at the shop. No fault codes were reportedly stored. The pattern is consistent with a cooling system deficiency under high load (cooling fan circuit, condenser airflow, or thermostat), and similar complaints from other Telluride owners describe the same scenario with dealers unable to replicate. Safety concern: repeated loss of propulsion capability on steep mountain grades, risk of engine failure and stranding in remote areas without cell coverage, with young children aboard. Two dealer service visits have not resolved the defect. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

In the past 2 days, my vehicle engine has shut off 11 times while driving. This is happening while I am moving so it is a huge safety issue for myself and other drivers. Over the course of 3 months, the vehicle has done this over 20 times. It happens when coasting, slowing down at a stop light and people in the other lane start moving, going through roundabouts, turning when there is oncoming traffic, and moving through congestion. The engine kills, lights flash and beeping starts. It says to put the engine in P or N and restart the engine. I have no power so I try to do this quickly or have the ability to pull over but most times that is not the case. This is a severe safety issue. The dealership says they cannot find anything wrong with the vehicle.

My 2025 Kia Telluride is suddenly shutting off in traffic. It first happened 6/24/26 I was pulling away from a stop light when my vehicle shut off. I received a red dash as you would for collision warning and a message to shift into park or neutral to restart the vehicle, I tried to restart it started but without RPM's then would not restart my husband had to push the vehicle off of the roadway. I then tried to restart it again it started and shut off in less than 20 feet. I had it towed to the dealership after keeping it 1 week they say they can not recreate the problem. I picked up my vehicle yesterday and it again shut off before I made it 2 miles down the road, I had stopped at a stop light to make a left turn accelerated to make to my turn and the vehicle again shut off I coasted into a parking lot was able to restart it and drove it back to the dealership. The vehicle is currently with them. The vehicle had no warning lights prior to this happening everything was fine in fact when the vehicle shuts off the radio and Air Conditioner stay running like nothing happened. I have searched the internet and found many others having this issue with their dealerships also saying they can't recreate the problem.

While driving, alarm bells go off and the display reads “engine is off. Pull over and put in p/n”. Car maintains radio but engine is off until able to be restarted. Has happened twice and been brought to dealership twice. They say there is no code showing and send us home without repairs. Extreme safety concerns for car to turn off mid driving.

The contact owns a 2025 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a loud sound coming from the sunroof glass before the glass shattered. There was no impact on the sunroof glass to cause the failure. Small glass fragments fell into the second and third row seats. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 22,000.

While driving the car the engine lost all rpm, as in it went to zero rpms. The electrical system did not lose power. The console flashed a red warning light and had a message that I should shift to park or neutral, and restart the engine. You must apply the brake to restart the engine. When you shift to park/neutral and restart the engine, everything works fine. There was absolutely no warning that this was going to happen. No noises, no console warning lights, nothing. I believe it is a matter of time before this causes an accident. The engine just quits without warning. It has happened mostly at lower speeds while decelerating or braking, but has occurred once on a highway. Should this issue happen in high traffic, or high speed, it could absolutely cause an accident. The car has been at a dealership since 21MAY over this issue. They have driven it, but have not found anything wrong. They found no stored error codes. We have had a loaner vehicle since then. I'm fearful they will force us to take the car back.

I purchased a 2025 Kia Telluride on 6/23/2025. In February 2026 I started having issues with the windshield wiper system. When I spray the front windshield, it would leak fluid on the back windshield. Brought the car in for service at the end of February and they said I needed a new motor, but never called me back to replace it. On 5/7/2026, I brought the car in and they couldn’t replicate the issue. On 5/28/2026 I brought it back, they again told me they couldn’t duplicate the issue. The service coordinator repeatedly told me this was a “feature”. When I picked it up, I replicated the issue immediately and they said I had some weird setting on which is why it happened. The issue continued so I brought it back 6/3. They claimed to have opened a tech line case with Kia so they replaced the motor and switch. I went to pick it up on 6/18 and the issue was still there. Again I have the service manager telling me it’s a “feature” and all Tellurides do this. Except the loaner I had for 3 weeks was the same year and model and did NOT do it. Also my car didn’t do this for the first 8 months I owned it. They swapped a piece from the loaner I had and put it on my car because the loaner wasn’t leaking. Swapping this piece did not fix the issue. They have no idea how to fix it and they never actually opened a tech line case with Kia. Confirmed this with Kia Consumer Affairs.

My vehicle was purchased XXX - VIN #[XXX] - on 6 or more occasions, the while driving on the highway with cruise control on at 70 mph, the cruise control feature suddenly applied the brakes bringing the vehicle sometimes down to 48 mph for a few seconds and then re-engages the cruise control to 70 mph. This happens with no obsticals, vehicles, or other interference in front, however, there have been vehicles behind and this is a huge safety issue as it could cause a rear-end collision. My vehicle had been returned to the dealer, the first time for a week, they could not duplicate the issue, the vehicle was returned to me. On XXX I brought my vehicle again to the dealership for the same reason as the cruise control continues to disengages for no reason. The dealership has finally been able to duplicate the issue. The dealership still has my vehicle, not for 34 consecutive days. Kia tech line has been involved and now reports that it is not Kia's issue and they have denied fixing the vehicle and indicate that it a 3rd party issue referring to satellite and internet issues. The dealership has now disabled the satellite connection feature and wants me to try the car out to see if the issue continues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On June 3, 2026, my 2025 Kia Telluride was struck by a minor piece of road debris. Rather than cracking, spiderwebbing, or chipping as federally regulated safety glass is engineered to do under FMVSS No. 205, the laminated windshield suffered a catastrophic structural and material failure. The minor piece of road debris fully pierced and put a hole entirely through the laminated safety glass, penetrating directly into the passenger cabin. This failure put my safety and the safety of my passengers at immediate, life-threatening risk. Had the projectile been slightly larger, it could have struck the driver or front-seat passenger at highway speeds, causing severe injury or death due to the safety glass failing to prevent cabin penetration. The vehicle is currently grounded and undrivable. The component has been inspected and confirmed by an authorized Kia dealership service department, where the Service Manager formally inspected the damage and stated he had "never seen anything like this before where something went through the glass." The vehicle is currently available for inspection upon request. There were no warning lamps, symptoms, or messages prior to the catastrophic failure of the glass.

While braking in slow traffic at about 11-15 mph, the vehicle hit a pothole/road irregularity and the ABS appeared to activate. The brake pedal vibrated, but the steering wheel also began shaking rapidly left and right. Braking effectiveness was greatly reduced. Even with firm brake pressure, the vehicle did not slow as expected and continued toward stopped traffic ahead. The brake pedal pushed back against my foot. I tried to steer around the vehicle in front of me, but the steering wheel vibration interfered with my steering input and made the vehicle difficult to control. A rear-end collision was avoided only after I shifted the transmission into Park, which brought the vehicle to a stop. All driver assistance systems were off, including adaptive cruise, lane keeping, highway driving assist, and steering assist. This occurred during normal low-speed braking, not aggressive or high-speed driving. I have had similar but less severe ABS behavior before when braking over potholes, bridge joints, or rough pavement, with excessive ABS activation and reduced braking performance. Dashcam footage is available showing the pothole/road irregularity, vehicle speed, steering/hand vibration, my avoidance attempt, and the near-collision. This appears to involve unexpected ABS activation, reduced braking effectiveness, and steering interference during routine low-speed braking, creating a serious safety hazard.

I am the owner of a 2025 KIA Telluride. The engine shuts completely off with a Warming stating "Engine OFF! Shift to P or N, then restart engine". Car has no power and creates a dangerous situation in traffic. You are on a highway and you have to stop the car to restart. The traffic flow is dangerously interrupted. This issue happens randomly on it's own time and the reason is still unknown. The dealership usually cannot duplicate this Warning and several 2025 Tellurides are experiencing this dangerous condition.

A week after purchasing a New 2025 Telliride with less than 8 miles on it the Transmission stopped shifting into gear. I would have to move manuel mode and shift into each gear to keep SUV moving. Never got a check engine light and nothing showed when codes were ran on car from dealership. The first dealership where I purchased from replace throttle body thinking that would fix it but it did not. After driving a few hours back to work the same issue happened again and I had to bring to closer dealership near job for repair. They said you transmission is completely not working and needs to be replaced. They opened a case with KIA, unlike previous dealership and repaired the Transmission. Since I have had the transmission completely repair it is starting again, but seems it has something to due with the engine nothing throttling down and up and make a little jump when taking off or slowing down.

Purchased vehicle 1/18/2025; first and only owner. Occurrence = Engine Shut off, alarm sounded and warning lights flashed; Error: "Engine off, shift to N or P, Then start engine." Had to shift to Neutral and Push Start to restart engine. -During March: occurred 2 times, both times worked after shifting to Neutral. -4/1-4/3: occurred 1 time, worked after shifting to Neutral. -4/16: occurred 1 time, had to stop and shift to Park to restart engine! -Kia of LaGrange 4/23/26: could not replicate issue; no error codes found -Kia of Newnan 4/29/26: left vehicle for 2-4 days and they didn’t have time to check it, so we picked it up because we needed a vehicle. -May 5: occurred 3 times on same road; only got pics. Then occurred 1 time after stopping and different trip, got video. All occurrences worked after shifting to neutral. -May 11: occurred 1 time and got picture only, worked after shifting to neutral. -Kia of LaGrange 5/15/26: replaced low pressure fuel pump and provided 2026 Sorrento for vehicle. -May 19: occurred 1 time and got video, worked after shifting to neutral. -Kia of LaGrange 5/21-6/3: could not replicate after driving 100 miles and provided 2026 Sorrento for vehicle I have video from May 5 & May 19, but could only upload pictures.

The contact owns a 2025 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that the windshield had significantly cracked without impact. The contact stated that the crack appeared to have started from underneath the seal at the bottom of the driver's side of the windshield. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where the contact was was informed that the vehicle could be repaired a a price lower than the insurance company estimate. The contact was awaiting a response from the dealer's finance department. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 35,000.