Kia Telluride Years to Avoid — and the Years to Buy
Every Kia Telluride model year from 2020 to 2027, benchmarked against each other with 2,583 federal complaints, 19 recall campaigns, and the odometer readings owners put in their reports.
Avoid: 2020. These years top the Telluride's complaint rankings by volume and severity.
The method in one line: every NHTSA complaint for this model is counted, weighted for crashes, fires, injuries, and deaths, and each year is measured against the Telluride's own worst year — full methodology.
The trouble strip
One cell per model year. The whole answer in one glance — click any year for the full report.
The defining problem
Electrical tops the Kia Telluride file with 492 complaints, concentrated in the 2020 model years, most often reported around 35,600 miles. The year pages break down what fails and when.
Every year, ranked
| Year | Verdict | Complaints | Recalls | Top problem | Trouble index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | Few reports | 23 | 2 | — | 3 |
| 2025 | Too early to call | 140 | 3 | Engine | 17 |
| 2024 | Too early to call | 315 | 5 | Other | 36 |
| 2023 | Typical | 310 | 6 | Other | 34 |
| 2022 | Below average | 417 | 7 | Visibility & wipers | 49 |
| 2021 | Below average | 453 | 5 | Other | 52 |
| 2020 | Avoid | 925 | 7 | Electrical | 100 |
Technical service bulletins
Beyond complaints and recalls, 485 manufacturer communications — service bulletins, service campaigns, warranty extensions — are on file for the Kia Telluride. A TSB is factory repair guidance, not a recall — the repair is not automatically free.
Browse the Kia Telluride TSB list by year →
Questions buyers ask
What Kia Telluride years should I avoid?
Federal complaint records point to 2020 as the Kia Telluride years to avoid — they drew the highest volume of serious complaints relative to the model's other years.
What is the most common Kia Telluride problem?
Electrical tops the Kia Telluride file with 492 complaints, concentrated in the 2020 model years, most often reported around 35,600 miles.
Every number on this page is a count of records in the federal complaint, recall, and investigation files published by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. Counts cover the Kia Telluride only, scored against this model's own worst year — not against other models. Check any specific vehicle's open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.