2021 Kia Telluride

Headlight on passenger side is no longer working causing unsafe visibility issues. While under warranty, the car was taken in for service at a Kia dealership twice for the same problem but during this time frame, the headlight issue was only occurring intermittently. Both times no repair or replacement was made and I was told the headlight was fine. The headlight ended up experiencing complete failure shortly after my warranty expired. I have pictures of my dash mileage when it happened. Researching online, I have discovered other Kia Telluride owners with similar complaints about their headlights failing in this way. Furthermore, Kia Dealerships either fail to make the repair properly by not correcting the known defect(which results in failure again) or have been charging thousands of dollars for a new complete headlight assembly replacement. Normally, when a headlight fails, it is just a matter of swapping out the headlight bulb with a new one. Unfortunately, because of the defect and failure with the design, it is not that cheap/simple to fix. A class action lawsuit has begun because of Kia's inaction. Kia should do the right thing and issue a recall the fix this unsafe problem of headlight failure.

The contact owns a 2021 Kia Telluride. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, other drivers were flashing their headlights, attempting to notify the contact that the front headlights were not functioning as intended. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the high beam headlights were replaced. The contact stated that on another occasion, while driving at various speeds, the driver’s side front high beam headlight failed to illuminate as intended. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no cause for the failure was found. The high beam headlights were replaced. The contact tested the lights, and the front driver’s side high beam headlight failed to operate. Upon further inspection, the dealer stated that there was a burning odor coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that the headlight assembly kit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V148000 (EXTERIOR LIGHTING); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,688.

While at a red light after exiting the highway, the vehicle lost all power and functionality. The car was in drive, and the brake was pressed in. No buttons had been pressed to shut down the vehicle. I had no power and no ability to restart the vehicle. I placed the vehicle into park and attempted to turn on my hazard lights. Unfortunately, there was no response from the vehicle, and though I was interrupting traffic, I could not provide any visual indicators to oncoming traffic. After moving the vehicle into park, I was unable to move the car into neutral. After approximately five minutes, without the brake being pressed or any button is pressed, the vehicle turned on its own. I was able to move the car into drive and continue to function as expected. Prior to this, I had used the vehicle to drop off my kids at daycare (which required turning on the vehicle, driving, and turning off the vehicle). This event occurred roughly 40 minutes after a mix of highway and city driving. From a safety perspective, this was very concerning as I had no way to indicate to other drivers that my car was not driveable. Fortunately my children were no longer in the car. I was very concerned that not only the car lost all power and functionality, but was more concerned that the car started on its own. I was also concerned that if I had not moved the car to park and somehow it turned back on if left in drive what potential damage could have been done to me, another vehicle and potential injury 30K service and all recalls had been satisfied prior to this by an authorized Kia dealership.

Optional LED headlight buckets fog up and will not dry out. Kia has a service bulletin out regarding this issue, it was performed and the situation has not improved. Recently, in minus 20-30 degree F weather, the condensation inside the housing frosted up the entire inside of the housing. The LED headlights do not generate enough heat to adequately melt the frost creating decreased headlight performance. The vehicle has been into the dealer multiple times and the service bulletin was performed once and the desiccant packs were replaced the second time. The frost issue occurred after both had been done. Kia states that this is normal operation for their LED headlight bucket and the dealership, claiming to be under orders from Kia will not dedicate any more time to the investigation of my issue.

Kia has been on notice of the Telluride's deficient headlights with the ES model since at least 2019 and have done nothing. The highest end model has LED lights so Kia is more than capable of fixing this problem. I know that dozens of consumers like myself have filed complaints with the NHTSA and other organizations and nothing has been done. I have called Kia headquarters at least 3 times to complain. The headlights do not provide enough light to safely drive at night. I'm not an engineer (I'm a lawyer) but I know that the design is faulty. Now that it's wintertime and dark at 5:00, I am unable to drive the car at night for fear of killing myself, my family, a pedestrian, or pet. Why hasn't NHTSA done anything to investigate these numerous complaints? Why have years gone on with resolution or recall? Is Kia (or the NHSTA) waiting for someone to actually die before they do something? (It seems so based on the below questions). I guess it's not enough that consumers like myself can't use our cars at night. I CAN'T BE ANY CLEARER: SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED. YOU ARE ON NOTICE. Please let me know the results of your investigation into this matter because this has gone on long enough. Conduct an investigation and get to the bottom on this please.

This car is very dangerous to drive at night particularly when making turns. There is a total blackout when turning on darker roads. Obviously test drives are done during the day so you wouldn't notice this problem. After reviewing a Telluride Forum this was apparently a problem on the 2020 vehicles that has not been addressed by Kia. Some members of forum have suggested switching front headlights out to LED but that is not a good option as I live in an area where visibility can be made worse with LED when snowing. Had I been aware of this problem never would have purchased this car. Very scary to drive at night.

I RECENTLY DROVE MY NEW 2021 TELLURIDE SX TO MY CABIN IN GA. AND FOUND A MAJOR ISSUE WITH THE HEADLIGHTS WHILE DRIVING THROUGH THE BACKWOODS. THE VISIBILITY USING THE LED HEADLIGHTS AND HIGH BEAMS ARE TERRIBLE AND POSE A DANGER. IF YOU ARE DRIVING DOWNHILL AND THE ROAD GOES UP OR TURNS YOU HAVE ZERO VISIBILITY, IT ACTUALLY CREATES A LINE AS IN MY PICTURE. I BROUGHT IT INTO MY KIA DEALER AND THEY SAID CORPORATE IS AWARE OF IT BUT THERE IS NO FIX AS OF YET SO THEY ADJUSTED THEM AS BEST THEY COULD. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND PEOPLE WILL DIE IF THEY DO NOT GET A A FIX FOR THIS ISSUE.