2020 Kia Telluride VISIBILITY/WIPER
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
1. What component or system failed or malfunctioned? The windshield wiper system failed. The design of the cowl area (under the hood) allows snow and sleet to accumulate and become compacted. This creates a physical obstruction that prevents the wiper linkage from moving, leading to total wiper failure. • Availability: The system is available for inspection upon request. 2. How was safety put at risk? Safety was compromised due to a sudden loss of visibility during inclement weather. The inability to clear snow and sleet from the windshield while driving created a blind operating environment, significantly increasing the risk of a crash or striking an unseen hazard. 3. Has the problem been confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? No. The problem has not yet been reproduced or confirmed by a dealership or independent service center. 4. Has the vehicle been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance? No. The vehicle and its components have not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives at this time. 5. Were there any warning lamps or symptoms prior to the failure? No. There were no warning lamps, error messages, or symptoms prior to the failure. The wipers stopped functioning only once the snow had compacted sufficiently under the hood to block the mechanism.
Windshield suddenly has crack along mid passenger side.
One morning when I went to get into my car I noticed a large crack approximately 12in in length across my windshield. There had been no noticeable chips in the windshield prior and there was no sign of being hit of any kind. I took the car to be looked at by a family member in glass and he said the issue is a manufacturing issue and the glass is thin and unsafe. The dealer said they won’t replace because it isn’t in the date range involved in the class action lawsuit. Since this I have had several more chips and the crack now runs all the way across the glass and extends up and down
When trying to open the sunroof, the wind deflector broke and knocked the sunroof off its track. I had to remove the sunroof and get it back on the tracks to get it to close and prevent water from entering the vehicle from rain.
The side mirrors don’t fully retract, when the doors are locked or unlocked via the key fob nor depressing the lock/unlock button on the driver door. The side mirrors also stopped working as the driver walks near the vehicle with the key fob. This is a safety issue because when the side mirrors don’t fully release outwards, the driver cannot see vehicles approaching or passing.
Driving vehicle at 45 mph on secondary road. Small object impacted near the top of the windshield driver side - presumably from passing car. Within 5-10 minutes a small (4") crack appeared. Within 1 hour the crack was about 6". Within 2.5 hours the crack had extended to about 18". Forty eight hours afterwards the crack has extended to ~24" horizontally at mid-windshield on the driver's side. Weather conditions were sunny, clear with temperatures in the low 70s.
Tried to open sunroof and it tore itself apart and tore itself off of the tracks and now I can not close the sunroof
Driving down the highway and notice a small chip in the windshield.We heard no impact noise while driving. It went from a micro chip to the attached picture in approx an hour. We are outraged because we just repaired our windshield last week from an unknown chip/crack that we came outside to one morning. It spread from the rear view mirror area to the passenger edge of the windshield in 2 days.
We came outside to a "L" shaped crack in the windshield starting in the blackened portion where the rear view mirror sits, coming down and turning toward the passenger side.
windshield cracked from camera mount outwards for no reason, no impact
In the fall of 2022 my highbeams quit working. There’s no indication that anything is wrong, however, they just don’t turn on anymore. I’m left with only low beams. Changing the lightbulbs didn’t fix the problem.
Sunroof malfunction while opening. Loud snap sound then wouldn’t shut.
While driving the speed limit on I-285 near Atlanta, GA, something hit my windshield. It made a high pitched, popping sound and immediately made a small, star shaped chip on my windshield in my driver field of view. Within 1-2 minutes of the chip, it started spreading long lines throughout the windshield, all coming off the original star shaped chip.
Windshield was repaired September 2020 after a rock chip spread immediately after impact. The recall covered the expense of that replacement. However, the new windshield has the same defect and another rock chip spread immediately and was quite large on impact March 2022. I was driving in a parking lot when it happened, so not a high enough speed to have the rock have much velocity to it. Kia needs to fix the issue when they have a recall, not replace it with the same issue.
We have repaired the windshield several times and replaced it, and even the new windshield is cracked with the smallest of pebbles. We have never had problems like this on our other vehicles. We have gone 15+ years without a windshield claim on insurance, and now we have ½ dozen on one car that is less than 2 years old.
I noticed a small crack in the windshield one day. The next day it grew longer. Then it split out on two sides. It appears to be growing rapidly and I need the windshield repaired. There is a Kia Telluride Good Faith repairs I would like to utilize for the repair/replacement.
We were driving down a road on San Juan Island on May 1, 2022 when a small pattern of radio cracks appeared in the middle of the front windshield. No collision of any kind occurred, and there was no evidence of road gravel damage. We did not hear any impact. There were no other vehicles in front of our vehicle when the cracks appeared. The weather was partly cloudy and the temperature was moderate. We are at a loss to explain the cracks. They interfere seriously with driver visibility and will definitely require the windshield to be replaced.
Got a small ding in the bottom right hand corner of the windshield which was barely visible when it happened. Although I heard the slight sound of something hitting the windshield there was no obvious damage like a smashed glass appearance. However parked the car in the garage and next day when I went out to the car there was a crack that went up the right side of the windshield and then went 1/2 way across vertically to stop just under the mirror. I have no choice but to replace the windshield. I've never seen a window crack like this from such minor damage. It clearly has to be defective.
WINDSHIELD: Vehicle sustained small rock chip to windshield while driving approx 25mph. Chip was on lower corner of passenger side. Small chip quickly turned into a crack and rapidly shot up and across to driver’s side of vehicle. Claim filed with insurance and sent to Safelite Auto Glass for repair. Been having issues after repair with both HU display and rain senors.
Windshield keep getting chipped unnecessarily, I repaired it 3 times already and its being chipped 4th time. Called Kia and they told me to bring the car in to dealership for inspection and none of the dealership has any openings till 3 weeks later, and when i tell them to book appointment the call is dropped , all others are not picking up calls. called Kia Cerritos CA , Riverside CA.
My wife and I purchased a 2020 KIA Telluride in November of 2019. A few weeks after we took delivery we received the attached letter dated 12-9-2019 from KIA stating there may be an issue with the windshield cracking and that they would replace the windshield if this happened. This did happen and KIA replaced the windshield on 03-26-2020 at no charge as they had stated in the letter we received. On the morning of 6-5-2021 I moved the Telluride out of the garage to the driveway, when I went to move it back in a couple of hours later the windshield was cracked across the drivers field of vision. We called the dealership (Moritz) and made an appointment for 6-22-2021 (we were on vacation from 6-9-2021 until 6-19-2021) to have the windshield replaced. After the windshield was replaced we were told it would be $868.31 (invoice attached), the MORITZ KIA service manager (Joby Spradley) told the service advisor (Trai Chavez) to inform us that he had checked with a ‘KIA representative’ and KIA would not pay for replacing the cracked windshield even though the windshield cracked while the vehicle was sitting in our driveway. The letter we received did not state that KIA would only replace the windshield one time. We shouldn’t have had to pay a for manufacturing / quality issue.
This is the 2nd chip and 2nd crack in my windshield. My vehicle had 16500 miles on it. and is my 11th Kia. I have never had an issue with windshields before this car.
I HAVE HAD THE WINDSHIELD CRACKED THREE TIMES SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS DELIVERED 14 MONTHS AGO. KIA ACKNOWLEDGES THE ISSUE BUT HAS NOT PROVIDED A TRUE "FIX" FOR THE PROBLEM AND NOW HAS INDICATED THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REPLACEMENTS BUT TO CONTACT MY INSURANCE CARRIER. THE CRACKS COME IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING AN IMPACT WITH A ROCK OR DEBRIS AND SPREAD IMMEDIATELY AFTER IMPACT SO THE REPAIRS CANNOT BE MADE. I HAD MY FIRST ONE REPLACED USING INSURANCE AND KIA REPLACED THE SECOND ONE BUT NOW REFUSES RESPONSIBILITY. IT IS ODD THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THE ISSUE INITIALLY AND SAY THEY WILL PROVIDE A REMEDY ONE TIME BUT DO NOT HAVE ANY RESOLUTION TO CURE THE ORIGINAL PROBLEM THAT THE WINDSHIELDS HAVE EITHER A QUALITY OR AN ENGINEERING DEFECT.
SHORTLY AFTER PURCHASING OUR TELLURIDE A SMALL ROCK WAS THROWN UP BY A VEHICLE IN FRONT OF US ON THE HIGHWAY AND IT CHIPPED OUR WINDSHIELD. I HAVE NEVER HAD A CHIP IN A WINDSHIELD BEFORE.
Since purchasing the vehicle new in May 2020 we have had to replace the windshield three times. On three separate occasions while driving down the interstate a small pebble hit the windshield, pitted it and the windshield immediately started to spider. In parking the vehicle in the garage out of the sun the crack continue to grow. In the short time we have had this car we have had Three new windshield that came from KIA. It has gotten to the point where I am scared to drive down the interstate- afraid that if I get close to any car that something will end up breaking the windshield. Once the windshield is cracked the car is basically not drivable because the crack just continues to grow.
Trend Over Time
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Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2020 Kia Telluride has 120 VISIBILITY/WIPER complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.