2027 Kia Telluride Seat belts Problems

There is no way I can connect my childs forward facing car seat through the manufacturers required lap belt without the seat belt bunching up. The buckle does not go up enough. Other complaints online have not found a car seat that does not bunch up. It is starting to wear the seat belt after only a week, and my wife and I are worried for the safety of my daughter. I am afraid the seat belt will be comprised and not work to its full capacity in the event of an accident.

NHTSA ID

11776366

Incident

Nov 1, 2026

The passenger side second row seat belt has been malfunctioning since I purchased the vehicle new. It doesn’t retract properly. I told this to my dealership at my first oil change but they said there was no recall. It had not been much of an issue with the seat only being used by my son who is of small frame and doesn’t need a lot of slack extended. However, a larger adult recently used it and got out of the car at night in the dark. Due to the defect, the seatbelt did not retract and the vehicle door was closed with most of the belt and buckle outside the vehicle. Upon driving, it became lodged in the wheel well resulting in rips in the belt, grinding of the buckle and forcefully extending the entire seatbelt.

NHTSA ID

11772263

Incident

Oct 17, 2026

When all occupants in the vehicle have their safety belts on the safety belt warning alarm still sounds. I noticed it in August 2026 that it still ring . It had not been reported until today . It happens often.

NHTSA ID

11763907

Incident

Sep 13, 2026

"While driving, my KIA Telluride 2027 hybrid sx prestige, the vehicle intermittently detects an occupant in an empty second-row passenger captain's chair and activates the rear seat-belt warning and audible chime. There is no person or object on the seat. I have video documenting the instrument cluster showing the affected seat during the event. The vehicle was inspected by the Kia dealership; no diagnostic trouble code was found and the dealership was unable to reproduce the problem. The problem remains unresolved."

NHTSA ID

11759984

Incident

Aug 27, 2026

I am reporting multiple intermittent safety and electrical issues with my 2027 Kia Telluride. The rear passenger seat on the driver’s side repeatedly detects or indicates that a person is occupying the seat when the seat is completely empty with no objects on it. When this occurs, the rear seat belt warning activates and the alarm/chime repeatedly sounds as though an unbelted passenger is present. The issue is unpredictable. Sometimes it begins shortly after starting the vehicle and driving away. Other times, the vehicle operates normally and the warning suddenly activates while I am already driving. I have also experienced an Auto Hold system error/malfunction as well as other intermittent electrical/dashboard errors affecting vehicle functions and warning indicators. I am a member of a Facebook group for owners of this vehicle, and numerous owners have reported experiencing similar rear-seat detection/seat belt warning problems. I have also seen multiple reports from owners describing other electrical issues with their vehicles. This raises concern that these problems may not be isolated to my vehicle. I contacted my Kia dealership regarding these concerns and was advised that there is currently nothing they can do because there is no recall for the vehicle addressing these issues. I am concerned that an electrical, software, sensor, wiring, or control-module defect may be affecting multiple systems. The false occupant warning is especially concerning because I cannot determine whether the vehicle’s occupant and safety systems will function properly when an actual passenger is present. I am requesting that NHTSA document and investigate these issues to determine whether they represent a broader safety defect affecting the 2027 Kia Telluride.

NHTSA ID

11758881

Incident

Jul 19, 2026

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

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

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