2021 Kia Telluride UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
My sunroof hinges cracked and my sunroof will not close
Sunroof Deflecter broke. The small side arms plastic snapped on both sides. Sunroof won’t close flush.
The sunroof will not close. Kia published a technical service bulletin (#319) in July 2023 related to this issue. The plastic wind deflector and track appear to have broken. We are unable to drive the vehicle due to inability to close (electronically or mechanically) the sunroof during any inclement weather.
The barely used sunroof made a clicking noise, and now will not open or close. It looks askew and now cannot drive in inclement weather. There seem to be many people with this issue when you google it online and deserves a recall. Thanks.
I closed the sunroof and heard a noise. The sunroof would not close and looks to have came out of the track. Now it is stuck partially open. I am not able to drive in the rain. I have tried to self diagnose and it looks like the bug deflector broke and caused the sunroof to misalign.
The sunroof wind deflector broke while closing the sunroof while parked. This dislodged the sunroof mechanism from its tracks and prevents the sunroof from closing.
Sunroof exploded while driving on the highway.
I don’t ever use my sunroof but noticed it was slightly open bc I saw light coming through. I tried to close it and it came off it’s track on one side. Given that the vehicle has had several recalls having to do with electronic features causing fires, I worry about this issue causing a fire. Also, it’s unsafe to drive during a storm.
We were driving down Hwy 321 going approximately 65 mph and the sunroof just exploded. There were no other vehicles close for it to be hit my a rock. It sounded like a gunshot and glass went everywhere. Very dangerous and scary!
Sunroof jammed open and was unable to be closed. There were no warning lights associated with this issue. I took the sunroof apart and found the bug deflector springs wedged themselves in the sunroof track, causing it to overload itself and break its mechanism.
The pearl white paint on my vehicle started to delaminate (confirmed by Wallace Kia Collision center). It started at approximately 24,000 miles, approximately 9 months past Kia's 3 year paint warranty. This is a known issue with the paint - pearl white, with many manufacturers affected. Kia, thus far, has refused to cover the repair.
I am concerned with the solution to the vehicle recall. After taking care of the recall . You now have to disengage the parking break before driving the vehicle. What damage is happening if you do not do this or what potentially could happen if you do not disengage in the long run. Why was the engine not replaced?
Sunroof will not close. Arm malfunctioned. Taken to local dealer and awaiting instructions on further steps.
Windshield cracked sitting in driveway for no reason, nothing that impacted it.
On Saturday, [XXX], while driving my 2021 Kia Telluride [XXX} from Laredo to San Antonio, Texas, my husband (passenger) and I (driver) heard a loud, explosion-like sound. This made me swerve onto the other traveling lane. Thank God there were no vehicle near us or next to us because it would have been catastrophic. We quickly realized that our sunroof had exploded/shattered as we could hear all the shattered glass being blown away. Luckily, the sliding sunroof panel was closed and no glass went inside our vehicle. These must definitely get investigated since it is a public safety issue. Upon doing research, we learned that there are several other people that have experience this same issue with Kia Tellurides and it’s windshield/sunroof quality. I note that there was no vehicles near us and we were traveling 75 mph. Kia needs to recall this ASAP before there is a fatality! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Sunroof on Kia Telluride will not close completely. Will begin closing and then will not set down into the closed position.
The sunroof is stuck opened because the wind deflector brackets have broken.
We were driving on the highway and the sunroof was partially open in the angle as a wind deflector. When the sunroof made a pop noise and started flapping in the wind, we were so concerned that the sunroof is gonna come flying off and hit a car behind us. We end up taping it down and taking it to Kia of Daytona or they told us it was $5000 to repair, they had said the mechanism that holds the window up a plastic finger broke. Apparently they do not manufacture a quality product for something so crucial as such a sunroof, we were so fearful that the sunroof glass part was gonna fly out. We had to drive from Jacksonville, all the way to Daytona, with a flapping in the wind.
The clips for the Sun Roof Wind Deflector broke. As a result the sun roof will not close completely.
Sunroof is stuck open. Some plastic has broken off inside the track while simply opening the sunroof. It cannot be closed. The dealer said 'sorry we can't close it. For $4,000 we can replace the entire sunroof". This is a safety issue. I have seen on other forums this happening a lot with this model. The glass can shatter, it can fly off the tracks. This is clearly a mfg issue and not an user issue. It should be recalled or at the very least warrantied.
Sunroof glass panel stuck when opening, broke from track and became unattached from vehicle. Safety risk if I had been driving at high speeds as the sunroof could have flown off of the vehicle and hit another vehicle. There were no warnings or prior issues to indicate the risk of problem encountered.
Moonroof exploded while driving down freeway. No external sources caused this. Sunny, safe conditions.
Three windshields in a row have cracked seemingly without cause. My windshields never chip, they have only cracked or shattered.
Safety and security bypass via USB port in steering column making vulnerable to theft with only a USB cord
I was driving over the Harbor Bridge in Corpus Christi, Texas with my kids and nephew when suddenly my front sunroof exploded. It blew from inside out based on the way the glass is pointing outward. Luckily I didn’t wreck into another car, or even have my sunroof headliner open. Kia said theirs no recall under my vin, but there are several other people I’ve found online with the same car and issue.
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Quick Summary
The 2021 Kia Telluride has 59 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.