NHTSA has complaint and recall records for the Kia Telluride going back to its first US model year, 2020, through the newest, 2027. Every complaint below is sorted the same way RideTruth sorts every vehicle's: by the part of the car the owner picked on the complaint form.
Is the 2027 Kia Telluride reliable?
I can't tell you that yet, and neither can NHTSA's own numbers. Owners have filed just 20 complaints on the 2027 Telluride as of September 16, 2026. That isn't a defect count, it's a sign of how new the car is. It has had less time on the road and far fewer copies sold than any older Telluride year, so of course it has fewer reports so far. A model year that looks clean this early usually just hasn't had the chance to look otherwise yet.
Which Kia Telluride model year has the most complaints?
The 2020, by a wide margin. Owners have filed 749 complaints on the 2020 Telluride as of September 16, 2026, more than double the next-highest year.
| Model year | NHTSA complaints |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 749 |
| 2021 | 358 |
| 2022 | 319 |
| 2023 | 205 |
| 2024 | 214 |
| 2025 | 107 |
| 2027 | 20 |
There's no 2026 row because there's no 2026 Telluride in RideTruth's catalog at all. Complaints mostly taper off after 2020, though not in a straight line: 2024 sits slightly above 2023. These are raw filing counts, not adjusted for how many of each year Kia sold or how many miles they've covered, so an older year has simply had more time to accumulate reports. RideTruth's about page covers why a complaint count isn't a failure rate.
What do 2020 Telluride owners complain about most?
Visibility & Lighting, and it isn't close. It's named in 326 of the 749 complaints filed on the 2020 Telluride, 43.5% of the total. RideTruth's Visibility & Lighting area groups three NHTSA categories: exterior lighting, wipers, and general visibility.
Engine is next at 144 complaints (19.2%), and Other, which is almost entirely NHTSA's own unknown-or-other category rather than a named system, is close behind at 141 (18.8%). Transmission & Drivetrain (69), Body, Seats & Latches (66) and Electrical (58) round out the next tier.
One of the 2020 Telluride's own recalls, filed in 2024, covers the headlights, which sits inside that same Visibility & Lighting area. The complaint count and the recall can't confirm each other. One counts owner reports, the other counts vehicles built.
Which recalls cover the 2020 Telluride?
Seven NHTSA campaigns, spanning from before the car went on sale through this past summer.
| Campaign | Filed | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 19V594000 | Aug 13, 2019 | Front seat belts |
| 20V436000 | Jul 28, 2020 | Electrical wiring |
| 22V626000 | Aug 15, 2022 | Trailer hitch |
| 24V148000 | Feb 26, 2024 | Headlights |
| 24V214000 | Mar 20, 2024 | Driveshaft |
| 24V407000 | Jun 5, 2024 | Front seats, power adjuster |
| 26V430000 | Jul 2, 2026 | Front seats, power adjuster |
The newest, 26V430000, was filed July 2, 2026, almost seven years after the Telluride's first recall. A 2020 Telluride that cleared every earlier campaign can still have this one open.
Even the barely-driven 2027 already has two of its own: 26V135000 for the rear seat belt anchorage, filed March 6, 2026, and 26V356000 for the front seat belts, filed June 2, 2026. A recall doesn't wait for complaint volume. It comes from Kia or NHTSA finding a problem, not from owners reporting one, which is one more reason 20 complaints can't tell you much about the 2027 yet.
What should a Telluride owner check next?
Start with your VIN, not the model year. NHTSA's recall lookup tells you in a minute whether a campaign applies to your specific car and whether the work is already done. After that, the 2020 Telluride page keeps this year's complaints, recalls and EPA figures in one place, and every other year is on the Kia Telluride hub. If you already own one, or you're watching how the newer years hold up, save it to your garage and any new recall campaign shows up automatically the next time you check.