2021 Kia Telluride
This year drew an ordinary 347 complaints for a Kia Telluride — the model's median is 209. What they were about is the unusual part: 8.9% of them mention stuck, against 2.4% across the model's other years.
Generation 1 of the Kia Telluride, which began in 2020. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 347 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 209 |
| Involving a crash | 7 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 22 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- stuck — 8.9% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the model's other years (3.7×).
- broken — 6.1% of this year's complaints, against 1% across the model's other years (6.1×).
- position — 7.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the model's other years (3×). Owners wrote it as: position, pushed.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
Tried opening my sunroof and when I pushed the button I l heard a loud “pop” and or quit working. My sunroof is now stuck in the open position.
Sunroof mechanism failure in May 2025. Had sunroof repaired and paid out of pocket at KIA dealership. The sunroof was off track therefore the roof was exposed to elements. March 2026 sunroof mechanism has broken again. Sunroof has not been operated since repai…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V164000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 22V626000 TRAILER HITCHES Fixed free of charge.
- 24V214000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 24V407000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 26V430000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Kia Telluride was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2021 Kia Telluride? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…