2025 Kia Telluride

2025 Kia Telluride, rental vehicle, 29,450 miles at failure. Driving XXX W toward the [XXX] exit with my wife and two children (ages [XXX] and [XXX]), the cluster lit with simultaneous failures: electric power steering, electronic parking brake, ABS, stability control disabled, tire pressure monitoring, forward collision-avoidance, lane keeping, master warning. I photographed it. Nothing about how the vehicle drove had changed. At highway speed traveling straight, steering effort felt normal. There was no progressive degradation and no warning I could feel. I noticed a slight difference changing lanes for the exit. On the ramp itself, a banked turn taken at speed, the wheel required extreme force to turn. The loss of assist was undetectable until significant steering input was actually required, which happened mid-maneuver on an interstate ramp. I am a large, physically strong adult and forced the wheel through the turn. I do not believe a smaller, older, or weaker driver could have completed it, and a crash at that interchange seems a likely outcome for many drivers. Stopping on an interstate shoulder with two young children seemed more dangerous than continuing two miles to the airport exit, so I continued, with ABS and stability control also inoperative. The vehicle developed harsh, jerky shifting and audible clunking. In the rental return lot the wheel would not turn far enough to complete a tight turn. I shifted to reverse; the vehicle did not move, then shut down completely and would not restart. With the vehicle dead the front doors opened, but the rear doors and liftgate would not, and the windows were inoperable. My children were confined inside roughly 10-15 minutes at 86F until an employee climbed in from the front and released the rear doors from inside. The inability to open rear doors or the liftgate from outside after a total power loss is a serious defect in its own right. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On four different occasions the car starts flashing red saying to immediately put in park. We lose all control of the car, have to slowly coast to the side of the highway and turn the car off. When we turn it back on, drive again, it will happen shortly after. It has happened two different days about a month apart, two times each day. Our car has been at the dealership for two months and since they can’t duplicate it Kia consumer affairs says we have to go get the car and deal with it.

Twice I was making a right hand turn through a green light and an alarm sounded and the dash displayed an ”Engine Off” message. I was able to pull over and restart the car. I took it to the dealership but they were not able to replicate the incident. They told me that they tightened a few connections and sent me on my way. About three weeks later, I was driving straight at about 45mph and it shut off again. Fortunately I was again able to safely pull over and restart the car. This time I recorded it. I will return it to the dealership ASAP. I am afraid this will happen again while I am on the freeway or in heavy traffic and I won’t be as lucky as I have been.

About 3 months after I bought a brand new 2025 Telluride the vehicle started to randomly accelerate rapidly without increasing the gas while driving and stall when idling at lights, stop signs, or slowing down and would not turn back on for several minutes. When it does start back it misfires causing a rumbling before the check engine light comes on. It would show code P006800 and P017100 saying “critical engine error”. Despite bringing it into the dealership multiple times we were told they couldn’t replicate the problem and sent home with no solutions just to wait for it to happen again. This became a extremely dangerous situation when recently at a red light on a busy highway in the rain my telluride stalled leaving me and my young children trapped inside unable to restart the car while other vehicles flew past narrowly missing us. I’m extremely concerned for the safely of my children if we continue to drive this car. We went back to the dealership just to be told that Kia may not honor our warranty despite this being a documented problem with the 2025 Kia Telluride.

The vehicle had been throwing different Electrical Codes for several months around August through December 2025. The last code it through was an engine management system error. On December 22nd 2025 the car caught fire in the engine and exploded while parked in the driveway. Fire investigators are leaning towards in electrical issue in the engine. I currently have an additional 2025 Kia Telluride vehicle which is also starting to display some of the same electrical messages

System/Component Malfunction & Availability: The vehicle's electronic safety and engine control systems malfunctioned while driving at speed. This issue has occurred twice under identical thermal conditions, with the first instance occurring on 5/19/26. The vehicle is fully intact and available for inspection upon request. Safety Risk: During the first incident, a false dashboard warning triggered, but the physical engine remained running. However, during the most recent incident on 7/2/26, the defect escalated and the engine physically stalled while driving on the road in high 90-degree ambient temperatures. The stall caused an immediate loss of power and a complete loss of power steering assist, making the vehicle incredibly difficult to control and creating an imminent risk of a crash for my family and surrounding drivers. Dealer Confirmation & Inspection: Following the first incident, the vehicle was brought to a certified Kia dealership and left in their custody for 10 days for diagnostic troubleshooting. The service center stated they could not pull a hard diagnostic trouble code (DTC) and could not replicate the failure on a standard test drive. No other entities (police, insurance) have inspected the vehicle yet. Corporate Kia was notified (Case #26160914) but refused to authorize a specialized repair plan because the dealer could not replicate the issue. Warning Symptoms & Messages: There were no mechanical or performance warning symptoms prior to either failure. Both times, the issue began instantly with an audible cabin alarm and a prominent dashboard display message stating: "Engine Off! Shift to P or N, then start engine." During the first incident, the physical engine remained running despite the message, allowing us to safely pull over and reset the vehicle by cycling the ignition. During the second incident, under the same extreme outside heat (high 90s), the engine completely cut out mechanically, creating a severe stalling hazard.

My 2025 Kia Telluride has experienced seven engine overheating events across three separate incidents, all under identical conditions: air conditioning on while climbing in altitude on Colorado mountain highways. Incident 1 (XXX: Driving from [XXX] to [XXX]. Engine temperature gauge reached H and the "Engine Overheated" warning displayed. Pulled over and allowed engine to cool. Vehicle taken to Kia dealership; diagnostics found no fault. Incident 2 (XXX): Driving to [XXX]. Vehicle overheated twice on the same trip. Dealership kept vehicle for multiple days; reported no issues found. Incident 3 (XXX): Driving to [XXX]. Vehicle overheated FOUR times during the trip, including in an area with no cellular reception. Occupants included an infant and a [XXX]. Had the engine failed completely, we would have been stranded with no ability to call for emergency assistance. The failure is consistent and reproducible in real-world conditions (sustained grade + AC load) but has not been reproduced by dealership diagnostics performed at the shop. No fault codes were reportedly stored. The pattern is consistent with a cooling system deficiency under high load (cooling fan circuit, condenser airflow, or thermostat), and similar complaints from other Telluride owners describe the same scenario with dealers unable to replicate. Safety concern: repeated loss of propulsion capability on steep mountain grades, risk of engine failure and stranding in remote areas without cell coverage, with young children aboard. Two dealer service visits have not resolved the defect. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

In the past 2 days, my vehicle engine has shut off 11 times while driving. This is happening while I am moving so it is a huge safety issue for myself and other drivers. Over the course of 3 months, the vehicle has done this over 20 times. It happens when coasting, slowing down at a stop light and people in the other lane start moving, going through roundabouts, turning when there is oncoming traffic, and moving through congestion. The engine kills, lights flash and beeping starts. It says to put the engine in P or N and restart the engine. I have no power so I try to do this quickly or have the ability to pull over but most times that is not the case. This is a severe safety issue. The dealership says they cannot find anything wrong with the vehicle.

While driving, alarm bells go off and the display reads “engine is off. Pull over and put in p/n”. Car maintains radio but engine is off until able to be restarted. Has happened twice and been brought to dealership twice. They say there is no code showing and send us home without repairs. Extreme safety concerns for car to turn off mid driving.