2027 Kia Telluride Owner Complaints

The vehicle randomly has seatbelt alerts for seats that are unoccupied and does not have anything on the seat.

NHTSA ID

11755774

Incident

Jul 26, 2026

Purchased brand new 2/26. 5/26 driver seat locked randomly and stayed locked in unsafe position. Took to dealership they held for over one week, saw the initial problem but it fixed itself and they held it for a Week to recreate it. It is an intermittent issue, randomly locks. I picked it up and dealership told me to video it if it happens again and bring it back. Happened again 6/26 brought it back in showed video. This time it was still locked. They ordered the part but didn’t know when it would come in so I took my vehicle home. Dealership dropped contact with me, I called and emailed for status on reordered part. They ordered wrong part, wrong color, waiting for replacement. No communication again I called manager he called back told me he was asking for it from assembly line. Never heard from dealership again. Contacted Kia Customer Care to get involved, they told me dealership ordered part three times, always wrong color, waiting on Korea to get resolution. No communication again, contacted and escalated with Kia Cusotmer Care, spoke with JoAnne, she was contacting the dealership, getting a part from the assembly line. Joanne dropped communication. I’ve left voicemail and emails. No one is responding. I have a service dog, disabled veteran and four children two special needs. This vehicle was chosen specifically to transport everyone safely. We travel a lot. The loaner vehicles from dealership were not what we have and the dealership gave me grief for my service dog as “no animals allowed in rentals” but they allowed me to do it reluctantly. I need my vehicle, this one is randomly locking, making it dangerous to drive consistently and reliably. I have precious cargo with me, I do not trust it and I am requiring a replacement of the same vehicle. The lack of communication and care to fix this issue has left a huge lack of confidence in Kia as a whole.

NHTSA ID

11754247

Incident

May 12, 2026

I bought my car in April, it is now July. My SUV has been in the shop twice for engine failures. My car will die while I’m driving, and will not restart. The check engine light, oil light and battery light come on. The brake locks up and I am unable to restart until after anywhere from 5-20 minutes. It has happened a total of 7 times, the first time being one week after purchase. I have been trapped in moving traffic unable to move, trapped and stop lights that turn green and stop signs. I have 5 kids who have been stuck in the car with me when this has happened. There are always people driving behind me honking, cussing and yelling because the car has died and they are unable to mov also. The auto stop has been replaced by a local Kia dealership and it continues to happen.

NHTSA ID

11753812

Incident

May 1, 2026

The contact owns a 2027 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that the front passenger’s seat unintendedly collapsed. The failure occurred spontaneously. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure and the failure ws not duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 3,600.

NHTSA ID

11752658

Incident

Jun 3, 2026

Mileage

3,600 mi

vehicles transmission gets stuck in 5th gear. when it happens the problem is fixed after restarting the vehicle. no warning that its stuck in 5th gear. When pulling out into traffic the car is very slow to move and my concern is that someone might get hit when pulling out into traffic not knowing the vehicle is stuck in 5th gear since there are no warning light on. after inspection with KIA, after the first incident they said nothing can be diagnosed since it wasn't throwing a code or check engine light. when the car once again got stuck in 5th gear on our last vacation i drove it for around 2 hours or 120 miles in 5th gear to try and get a check engine light to come, one never came on but i recorded videos of it stuck in 5th gear at highway speeds and at a stop in a drive through. it's happened on 3 different occasions all on longer road trip and has never had a warning light come on. you can shift into park or reverse and back to drive and it goes straight into 5th gear again. i have videos available but are too large or wrong format to upload currently the car is sitting at our local KIA dealership and im not picking it up until something is done to remedy the issue.

NHTSA ID

11752585

Incident

Jul 2, 2026

Apparently, they don't have a mesh screen protecting the radiator. They said a rock hit it but while driving I did not hear a rock hit it. They said the rock punctured the radiator causing it to leak radiator fluid and making vehicle undrivable. The vehicle left me stranded in the road. They took pictures of it but at a birthday party this weekend I have learned of several people having this same issue and the dealership claiming not their responsibility and we have to file insurance. Seems to me they need to put a mesh guard on the radiator to protect this from happening. Yes the Engine light came one.

NHTSA ID

11751513

Incident

Jul 17, 2026

While driving the vehicle, the automatic transmission stuck in 5th gear. The paddle shifters would not operate, shifting the vehicle into neutral or park had no effect. The vehicle was being operated on a busy highway with multiple intersections, which put all passengers and the vehicle itself in danger since accelerating in 5th gear was almost impossible. The vehicle had to be completely shut off and restarted to reset the transmission. This happened on several occasions. Additionally, the vehicle would stick in gear and lurch into a lower gear when accelerating from a complete stop. No warning lights or sounds occurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where it was purchased, and they were able to replicate the problem once. The vehicle problem was reported to KIA and they requested the dealer to replace the electric oil pump. The work was done and so far (3 days) the issue has not reoccurred.

NHTSA ID

11747032

Incident

Jun 1, 2026

This is not a safety issue, it is a XM radio that does not work because KIA decided to put a glass antenna that is weak and every time a tree exists the signal drops. They are minimizing the issue as it only occurs in certain spot, but I can tell you that if a tree exists and you go by close enough the signal will drop. I loose my signal 9 times around my neighborhood which is less than 1/4 mile. If they would have told me you have a fancy car with many features, but the XM is unusable I would have bought a different car.

NHTSA ID

11746988

Incident

Jun 16, 2026

This vehicle was sold to me on 4-6-2026 and the recall was never disclosed to me. The recall was not mentioned to me at all. I found out through another dealership in early June that the vehicle had a recall. The recall was put on the vehicle on 3-9-2026 which is almost a month before I purchased it. I was advised that this vehicle was a stop sale vehicle so it should have never been sold to me. I reached out to the dealership who refused to take responsibility for this issue and I also reached out to Kia who admitted on a recorded line that the vehicle was a stop sale vehicle and should have never been sold yet they failed to make this right and take the vehicle back. At this point I do not want the vehicle and I need someone to make it right.

NHTSA ID

11746328

Incident

Apr 6, 2026

Vehicle shifts into drive and reverse, but will not move freely. Feels as though brakes are locked up, but emergency brake is not on.

NHTSA ID

11743623

Incident

Jun 11, 2026

The satellite radio reception in my brand new Kia Telluride X Pro is terrible. It is constantly cutting out. This creates a significant distraction for the driver. Satellite radio reception problems are a well-documented and widely reported issue with the 2027 Kia Telluride. ## The Root Cause: Antenna Design The core issue appears to be a fundamental design change in the 2027 Telluride. Unlike previous models, the 2027 redesign **eliminated the traditional roof-mounted shark fin antenna**, replacing it with an antenna integrated into the rear window. Multiple owners have flagged this as the source of poor and inconsistent SiriusXM reception, calling the current signal reception method one that "just doesn't meet expectations". [facebook] [XXX] forums and owner groups: - Owners of the **2027 Hybrid SXP** report extremely inconsistent satellite reception after just four days of ownership, even on the same routes their previous 2024 Telluride handled without issue [reddit] [XXX] receptio [XXX] ) - **SX Prestige** owners describe the sig [XXX] gnal dro [XXX] pecially common on **overcast days, under tree canopy, and near overpasses** — conditions where prior Tellurides [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11741361

Incident

Jun 1, 2026

The third row seatbelt is folding which causes it to jam and be unusable. It has happened twice in 3 months without a solution from Kia.

NHTSA ID

11740837

Incident

May 21, 2026

The second row captain's chair seatbelt buckle stalks on the 2027 Kia Telluride are abnormally tall and rigid, with an angle causing the seatbelt webbing to kink and compress at a sharp angle around any forward-facing car seat base. This compromises the seatbelt's ability to lock and distribute crash forces correctly in the event of a collision. The third row seatbelts are too long to achieve the required less-than-one-inch installation tightness required for a safe car seat install. Three different forward-facing harnessed car seats were tested in all available seating positions with identical results. This is not a car seat compatibility issue — the problem is consistent across all tested seats and all positions. Children who have exceeded the federal 40 lb forward-facing LATCH limit are legally required to use seatbelt installation only. The vehicle's buckle stalk design makes a safe seatbelt install impossible in any seating position, leaving no safe option for transporting a forward-facing harnessed child in this vehicle. Photographic and video documentation of the compromised installs in every seating position is available upon request. No warning lamps or prior symptoms appeared — this is a design incompatibility discovered during car seat installation.

NHTSA ID

11740046

Incident

May 24, 2026

I have hit right below my right knee on several occasions while getting in the driver's seat to drive the vehicle. The seat is all the way back. I now have 2 knots below my knee with pain.

NHTSA ID

11735111

Incident

May 1, 2026

The latency of the parking sensors is so long that it is not safe. Even at the slowest crawl you hit something before the warning turns red/beep becomes constant. Even when you inch forward and stop you need to wait 1 second for the parking sensors to update. This is for front rear and side. The rear crossing alert is just as slow for the same reason. A software update is needed.

NHTSA ID

11734488

Incident

Apr 29, 2026

I am reporting a life-safety defect incident and an illegal vehicle delivery. I purchased a 2027 Kia Telluride HEV subject to Recall SC366 (NHTSA Campaign 26V173000). The dealership delivered the vehicle on April 22, 2026, explicitly stating that the recall service was complete and the vehicle was safe. This was a material misrepresentation. Shortly after delivery, I suffered a physical entrapment incident where the second-row power seat mechanism failed to detect my leg as an obstruction and continued to fold with force, pinning my leg. This is the exact failure described in the recall notice. Following this incident, the dealership called to admit that they never actually performed the required safety fix. By delivering this vehicle, the dealership violated 49 U.S.C. § 30112, which prohibits the delivery of a new vehicle with an open safety recall. The defect is active and dangerous. I am requesting a federal compliance investigation into the dealership’s actions

NHTSA ID

11733698

Incident

Apr 24, 2026