Kia Telluride Years to Avoid: No Year Stands Out
- Years to avoid
- No year stands out Every ranked year drew 140 to 246 complaints, under twice the 190 complaints of a typical Telluride year.
- Best years
- No year stands out Only the 2021 drew under three quarters of the 190 complaints of a typical Telluride year, but it has a recall telling owners not to drive or to park outside until it is repaired.
Based on owner complaints filed with NHTSA in each model year's first three years, not adjusted for sales. The 2024 to 2025 models are too new to judge. See every year ranked
Every model year since 2020 in one place: EPA fuel economy, NHTSA recalls, owner complaints and crash test ratings. The best fuel economy rating, 23 mpg combined, arrived in 2020.
Telluride problems by year, ranked by owner complaints
How the years are ranked
Model years ranked by owner complaints filed with NHTSA in their first three years (model year Y: filed by the end of Y+2), so every year is measured over the same time on the road. Years without three full years of data, and launch or final years with very few sold, are left out. Counts are not adjusted for how many were sold.
A typical Telluride year drew 190 complaints in its first three years: the median of its ranked years. Years to avoid drew at least twice that, and at least 50. Best years are up to three years with the fewest complaints, each under three quarters of a typical year (190), with no open NHTSA investigation and no do-not-drive or park-outside recall that covers all versions; the 2020 is never picked, as its first three years fell in the pandemic. How the verdict works.
| Model year | First 3 years | All complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
Most described: a cracked or shattered windshield |
246 | 781 | 7 |
Most described: a cracked or shattered windshield |
222 | 333 | 7 |
Most described: a cracked or shattered windshield |
158 | 214 | 6 |
Most described: a cracked or shattered windshield |
140 | 378 | 5 |
Compare other models' worst years in the worst model years guide.
Year by year
| Model year | Best rating | Recalls | Complaints | Crash test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2025 |
22 mpg Gas |
3 | 126 | |
2024 |
22 mpg Gas |
5 | 229 | |
2023 |
23 mpg Gas |
6 | 214 | |
2022 |
23 mpg Gas |
7 | 333 | |
2021 |
23 mpg Gas |
5 | 378 | |
2020 |
23 mpg Gas |
7 | 781 |
Owner complaints by model year
All complaints filed so far. Counts rise with sales volume and with time on the road, so recent years look better than they may turn out. The highlighted bar is the model year with the most complaints in its first three years.
2020: 781 complaintsTap or drag across the chart for other years.
Show as a table
| Model year | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 781 |
| 2021 | 378 |
| 2022 | 333 |
| 2023 | 214 |
| 2024 | 229 |
| 2025 | 126 |
Best combined rating by model year
The best-rated version in each model year. Gas: 22 to 23 mpg (every year from 2020 to 2025); highest in 2020.
2025: gas 22 mpgTap or drag across the chart for other years.
Show as a table
| Model year | Best gas version |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 23 |
| 2021 | 23 |
| 2022 | 23 |
| 2023 | 23 |
| 2024 | 22 |
| 2025 | 22 |
Every Telluride year's ratings in one table
Comparisons
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- Mazda CX-90 vs Kia TellurideMPG, fuel cost, recalls and crash tests
- Volkswagen Atlas vs Kia TellurideMPG, fuel cost, recalls and crash tests
Questions
Which Kia Telluride years should you avoid?
No Kia Telluride year stands out enough to avoid: none drew twice the 190 owner complaints of a typical Telluride year or more in its first three years. Counts ranged from 140 to 246. Complaints can't tell you whether a particular car is sound, so whatever the year, check its open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before you buy. Safety recall repairs are free at Kia dealers.
What are the best Kia Telluride years?
No year stands out as best. Only the 2021 drew under three quarters of the 190 complaints of a typical Telluride year, but it has a recall telling owners not to drive or to park outside until it is repaired. If you are shopping for one, check by VIN that the repair was done. The 2024 and 2025 are not ranked yet: they have had fewer than three full years on the road.
Which Kia Telluride years have the most problems?
Counting owner complaints filed with NHTSA in each model year's first three years, the 2020 (246) and 2022 (222) drew the most.
Which Kia Telluride years have the most recalls?
The 2020 and 2022 have the most safety recalls in NHTSA's file (7 each). A recall can cover a problem that affects only a few cars, so open a year's page to see what each one covers. Three recalls tell owners not to drive the car or to park it outside until it is repaired: NHTSA 22V-626 (2020 to 2022 models), NHTSA 24V-407 (2020 to 2024 models), and NHTSA 26V-430 (2020 to 2024 models).
What are the most common Kia Telluride problems?
In the 2,061 owner complaints NHTSA lists for 2020 to 2025 models, owners most often describe a cracked or shattered windshield (350 complaints, most of them for the 2020 and 2022); excessive oil consumption (111 complaints, most of them for the 2020); and stalling or shutting off (105 complaints, most of them for the 2020 and 2025). One complaint can describe several problems. Each year's recalls and problems page lists what owners describe for that year.
Which Kia Telluride year has the best MPG?
The best EPA fuel economy is 23 mpg combined, first reached by the 2020 gas version.
Sources and method
- US EPA fuel economy data (fueleconomy.gov), file dated Nov 4, 2026.
- NHTSA recall file dated Nov 12, 2026 and owner complaint file dated Nov 11, 2026; NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings.
Complaint counts are unverified owner reports and are not adjusted for sales volume. How we build these pages. Spotted an error? Tell us.