Model Year Index

Which Kia Telluride years to avoid

Across 2 scored model years, the 2020 model year carries the highest severity-weighted complaint rates.

Ownership label · Kia Telluride Full report
D
Grade 2020–2021
2020 vs model median 1.2×
Model median3× median
Lights & Visibility 293
Engine 28
Electrical 28
Avoid

2020

Best

2021

What the record shows

Written from this model’s own complaint and recall history.

Only two Telluride model years have completed the 60-month window, so this page compares one year against one other. Read the grades accordingly.

One category dominates both. Lights and visibility accounts for 293 of the 2020 car’s 535 complaints — 55 percent — and leads the 2021 car as well at 87. The accounts are overwhelmingly about the windshield: cracks spreading from a small chip, or appearing with no impact the owner can identify, frequently within the first months. It is the same complaint that leads the Hyundai Palisade, which shares this vehicle’s platform, and the two files read almost identically.

Beneath it the 2020 car shows small groups under engine and electrical, the latter mostly blind-spot and camera systems behaving inconsistently in rain.

Both years attract their complaints early: median odometer readings of 7,000 and 3,100 miles.

The 2021 car is the better of the two on every measure — 316 complaints against 535, and 0.79 times the model’s median against 1.21 — and it is the only year here not flagged.

Later model years will be scored as they complete their windows, and with two years of evidence this file should be read as provisional in spirit.

Reviewed Claude, 11 August 2026, against the model's own record and NHTSA campaign filings

Year by year

Severity-weighted complaints filed in each model year’s first 60 months on the road, so every year is measured over an identical window.

Year Complaint volume vs median Reports Grade
2020
1.21× 535 D
2021
0.79× 316 C
2022 P
0.97× 394 C
2023 P
0.74× 307 C
2024 P
0.72× 306 C
2025 P
0.42× 134 B

P — provisional. These years have not completed 60 months on the road, so their totals are incomplete and they are excluded from the verdict.

What owners report

The component groups most often named, with one representative report. These are unverified — allegations, not findings.

2020 D 535 reports · median 7,000 mi

  1. Lights & Visibility 293

    I purchased the 2020 kia telluride on 04102019. On 050319 a small rock hit my windshield in the middle of the drivers view. I was on an interstate traveling 65 MPH. owner complaint filed with NHTSA

  2. Engine 28

    The dash showed that my engine was over heating. The temperature gaughe went all the way to hot owner complaint filed with NHTSA

  3. Electrical 28

    Blind spot collision warning system is malfunctions whenever it rains. Vehicle has 3000 miles on it and for the 5th time in 2 months the blind spot system alarm system goes off while driving in the rain. owner complaint filed with NHTSA

8 crash · 3 fire · 14 injuries

2021 C 316 reports · median 3,100 mi

  1. Lights & Visibility 87

    Brand new with only 772 miles on vehicle and the first rock to hit windshield caused quarter size crack on windshield. An I literally mean first time a pebble hit windshield since I drove it off the lot. owner complaint filed with NHTSA

  2. Driver Assist 29

    09/26/2020, 2:30pm cst, while vehicle was in stationary 'auto hold' position, stepped on accelerator, causing vehicle to lurch forward violently, resulting in a rear-end collision with another vehicle in front of… owner complaint filed with NHTSA

  3. Electrical 27

    Last week the front collision warning and lane departure warning illuminated on the dash and today the windshield has a crack in it, nothing has hit the windshield it was parked in the driveway. owner complaint filed with NHTSA

13 crash · 2 fire · 13 injuries

The best year for the Telluride

Ranked by overall score among years with a full 60 months on the road.

2021 is the best-scoring Telluride model year with a full 60 months on the road, at 65.3 out of 100 — a score that combines complaint rate, recall campaigns and open investigations.

Yearvs medianReportsGrade
2021 0.79× 316 C
2020 1.21× 535 D

Recalls

17 campaigns on record, 3 carrying a Park It or Park Outside warning.

Campaign Component Model years Units affected
24V407000 Park it SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:POWER ADJUST 2020–2024 462,869
26V430000 Park it SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:POWER ADJUST 2020–2024 462,869
24V214000 POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT 2020–2024 427,407
25V494000 STRUCTURE:EXTERIOR TRIM 2023–2025 201,149
23V298000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL 2023 108,936
20V436000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING 2020 86,921
26V105000 SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:RECLINER 2025 85,515
22V626000 Park it TRAILER HITCHES 2020–2022 36,417
24V148000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS 2020 35,031
23V035000 AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW 2023 31,943
19V594000 SEAT BELTS:REAR/OTHER 2020 30,168
21V577000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL 2022 5,143

+ 5 further campaigns

How long do they last?

Complaint records show when problems get reported, not how long a car survives. Where owners gave an odometer reading, faults on the 2020 were reported at a median of 7,000 miles. Treat that as the point problems start being noticed, not a lifespan.

Common questions

Answered directly from this model’s record.

Which Kia Telluride years should you avoid?
2020 carry the highest severity-weighted complaint rates of any Kia Telluride model year measured over an identical 60-month window.
What is the best year for the Kia Telluride?
2021 is the best-scoring Kia Telluride model year with a full 60 months on the road, at 65.3 out of 100. The score combines complaint rate, recall campaigns and open investigations.
How many recalls does the Kia Telluride have?
17 distinct recall campaigns are on record across all scored Kia Telluride model years. A recall is a matter of record: the manufacturer filed a defect report with NHTSA.

How this was calculated

Every model year is scored over an identical window: complaints filed with NHTSA during the first 60 months after that model year went on sale. Without this, older cars look worse purely because they have had longer to accumulate reports.

Limitations. Complaints are unverified reports submitted voluntarily by owners; they are allegations, not findings, and reporting rates vary between models. Model years with fewer than 60 months on the road are marked provisional and excluded from verdicts. Cross-model comparison is withheld pending production-volume data.

Full methodology · Sources · Data vintage August 9, 2026

Working 2020 Telluride
Complaints in window
535
Severity-weighted
639
Model median (weighted)
528
vs model median
1.21×
Recall campaigns (weighted)
13
Open investigations
0
Score 54.7 D