What 329 owners told NHTSA about the 2021 Kia Telluride

Windshield cracked while driving starting at drivers side edge under trim propagating left to right across half the windshield. There was no impact from an object; simply stress crack. This has been shown to dealer and confirmed by the glass shop they use as “no impact” crack. It affects safety because it is directly in drivers vision and is blinding when the sun reflects and refracts through the crack. No action taken by dealer to replace the windshield. Seems clear that this is a defect.

NHTSA ODI 11435493

While driving at speed no more than 55mph a small pebble hit my windshield by the mirror and created a small chip that within minutes changed into full blown crack on my windows. It’s a SAFETY issue. There is no option of fixing the windshield it needs to be replaced.

NHTSA ODI 11433571

On my wished a small object hit my windshield on the passenger side and within an hour it spread more by the best day it was almost on the driver side of the windshield. Second, the forward collision and lane departure lights came on. I took the SUV to Kia they said it was an issue with the camera and they where going to order the part and replace it for me. It seem I was not the only one with this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11432933

The contact owns a 2021 Kia Telluride. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, he heard an abnormal popping sound coming from the vehicle. The contact was able to drive the vehicle home and upon inspection, he discovered that the sunroof glass had exploded without incident or impact. The contact called the dealer and reported the failure. The contact was informed that a representative would call him back with more information. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 8,137.

NHTSA ODI 11432349

The windshield cracked spontaneously on its own. There is no chip in the windshield and no object hit it. The crack is over twenty inches long and curved. I fear for my safety driving the car now.

NHTSA ODI 11431157

A small foreign object hit our windshield and created a small chip on our brand new 2021 Kia Telluride (bought in April). When the repair company (that was sent out by insurance) came out repair the small chip the windshield cracked even further when the technician put pressure on the chip to repair which is now resulting in a full replacement.

NHTSA ODI 11429698

Car was parked in the driveway as usual. Next day, went out for evening supermarket run. Foot long crack appears. Check cameras, no one came by and nothing hit it. Awesome.

NHTSA ODI 11429063

WINDSHIELD GLASS ISSUEs Purchases Telluride 5/23/21 First chip on drivers side (lower area) repaired 5/25. Slightly visible. Second chips (2) on passenger side (lower area)-medium chips with some spidering: repaired 6/23 but still visible. Third chips (2) center windshield below the rear view mirror-large and spidering. Very visible and right near sight lines. To big for repair. Requesting replacement 7/24. Waiting for confirmation to replace. Safelite Auto Glass has been very responsive and do a nice job on all repairs. Did mention to Mark Kia in general conversation about glass issues. I was told not covered under warranty. I will be back to Mark Kia this week for oil change and will mention to them again. The safety concern is that this has all happened within 2 1/2 months of owning the brand new vehicle. The constant repairs and concern about driver and passenger safety is disheartening. My request it so see if this is ‘normal’ or an ongoing issue with Tellurides? The expensive replacement and interruption to driving is also a concern. I have replaced 1 windshield in my many decades of driving and find these windshields may be defective in design, angle and thickness. Please check into this safety concern. Thank you.

NHTSA ODI 11426298

Located a crack on my windshield. The crack is below the windshield wipers towards the bottom and below the line of the hood. No bullseye nor a stone chip mark. Crack is about an inch long. Saw on Kia's website there were similar problems with the 2020 models. We've only owned the vehicle for about 4 months and have just over 6000 miles on it. No other signs of rock damage on entire vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11420390

Very rare for me to have an issue with the windshield, but appears to have a rock chip while no indication of impact was heard. Others with same make/model also reflect this issue. Rock chip was repaired and this resolved the issue for now. Insurance covered all expenses of repair.

NHTSA ODI 11420233

after 3 months the windshield has cracked by itself. No rocks signs, crack went from the top frame. We reported it to our Dealer and scheduled an appointment for them to take a look.

NHTSA ODI 11418722

Component: Windshield Safety risk: Driver visibility Problem reproduced: No Inspected by others: No Symptoms prior to failure: very small rock chip, size of a pencil eraser. I had a glass company come out to repair a rock chip on our 2021 SX, production date 03/21/2021. When the technician applied the suction or pressure to remove condensation from the chip the windshield cracked. The repairman is professional and experienced so I don't think this was malpractice. He had done hundreds of windshield repairs and never ran into something like this.

NHTSA ODI 11418674

The car is less than a year old and the windshield has cracked. A small rock pebble bounced against the top of the windshield and minutes later a foot long crack was going down and across the windshield. The windshield is very poor quality. I’ve never had this issue with any vehicles in the past and they were much more durable. Im concerned that this front windshield will shatter before I’m able to have it replaced.

NHTSA ODI 11418118

Went to pick up our new car from the dealer on Saturday 4/17 and noticed the windshield had a chip. Waited a couple of hours for the dealer to fill the chip. On Sunday 4/18 I noticed a second windshield chip, so I called Safelite and scheduled an appointment to have it filled Tuesday 4/20 which was their first available date. However, the chip turned into a crack on Monday 4/19 even though it was parked in the garage overnight. The initial crack was about 4 inches long and since then it has traveled across the windshield. The cracked windshield impacts visibility, and I'm also concerned about the integrity of the windshield and the possibility of glass shards breaking away and becoming a hazard for the driver and occupants.

NHTSA ODI 11417595

THE WINDSHIELD HAS A CHIP AND 12-INCH CRACK AFTER 2000 MILES OF HIGHWAY DRIVING. THERE WAS A MINOR ROCK HIT BUT NOTHING THAT SHOULD HAVE CAUSED THIS SORT OF ISSUE.

NHTSA ODI 11406425

BOUGHT KIA TELLURIDE 2021 IN DEC 2020, ITS WINDSHIELD BROKE IT SELF WHICH APPEARS TO BE FRAME STRESS RELATED ISSUE, DEALERSHIP ENGINEERS CAME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION. I RESEARCHED MORE AND FOUND THE SAME REPORTED ISSUES ON YEAR 2019 AND 2020 TELLURIDE. LOOKS LIKE KIA HAS NOT FIXED THIS CRITICAL DEFECT AND REFUSING TO ACCEPT THAT THERE ARE SERIOUS DESIGN ISSUES WITH KIA TELLURIDE. I REPORTING THIS AS I BELIEVE THIS DEFECT IF NOT CORRECTED WILL RESULT IN INNOCENT DEATHS. THIS IS SHAMEFUL THAT A MULTIBILLION DOLLAR COMPANY DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE LIVES OF THEIR PAYING CUSTOMERS.

NHTSA ODI 11406093

WINDSHIELD CRACKED, UNSURE OF WHEN OR WHERE, BUT WENT FROM 2 INCHES LONG TO WHOLE WINDSHIELD IN A MATTER OF A DAY OR TWO. CAN'T FOR THE LIFE OF ME FIGURE OUT HOW IT HAPPENED, NOTICED IT IN THE DRIVEWAY. MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 8K MILES.

NHTSA ODI 11405125

WE JUST TOOK OUR FIRST TRIP IN OUR KIA TELLURIDE - 1,700 TOTAL MILES. THE VEHICLE HAD 1,200 MILES BEFORE THE TRIP. BY THE TIME WE RETURNED HOME, THERE IS ONE MAJOR CHIP, ONE MINOR CHIP AND OVER 20 MICRO-CHIPS/POCK MARKS IN THE WINDSHIELD. THE WINDSHIELD ALREADY LOOKS WORSE THAN THE SEVEN-YEAR OLD, 115,000-MILE HONDA ODYSSEY'S WE CAME FROM (WHICH TRAVERSED THE EXACT SAME ROUTE AT LEAST 10 TIMES). YOU WOULD THINK THE FRONT OF THE TELLURIDE WOULD BE A MESS IF THE WINDSHIELD IS THAT BAD, BUT WE CAN FIND ONLY ONE SMALL NICK IN THE PAINT ON THE HOOD. THERE WAS ONE, AUDIBLE ROCK HIT ON THE TRIP - WE ASSUME THAT IS THE BIG CHIP. THE AFOREMENTIONED ODYSSEY TOOK SEVERAL SIMILAR OR BIGGER HITS THAN THAT WITH NO DAMAGE WHATSOEVER. AS FOR ALL THE POCK MARKS, IT SEEMS THOSE WERE CAUSED BY SIMPLY DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE. THEY ARE NOT CONCENTRATED IN A PARTICULAR AREA OF THE WINDSHIELD - THEY ARE ALL OVER. WE LOVE EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT THE VEHICLE BUT NOW HAVE TO LOOK THROUGH WHAT SEEMS LIKE A 10-YEAR OLD WINDSHIELD AFTER SIX WEEKS OF OWNERSHIP, AND ARE LEFT TO WONDER IF ANY OF THE MICRO-CHIPS WILL LEAD TO FURTHER DAMAGE. THE TELLURIDE WINDSHIELD IS CLEARLY NOT UP TO PAR. WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN REPLACING IT WITH NEW KIA GLASS UNTIL THEY RECTIFY THE PROBLEM. THE ATTACHED PHOTO IS OF THE BIG CHIP. ABOVE THE BIG CHIP (ABOVE THE BLACK DOTS), YOU CAN SEE A FEW OF THE POCK MARKS/MICRO-CHIPS MENTIONED.

NHTSA ODI 11404247

MY KIA TELLURIDE WINDSHIELD CHIPPED TWO MONTHS AFTER PURCHASED AND THE CHIP SPREAD INTO A SIX INCH CRACK IMMEDIATELY. NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO REPAIR THE CHIP. I WAS ON A REGULAR NYC STREET WHEN THE CHIP AND CRACKED OCCURRED. I DROVE LESS THAN 1000 FEET AFTER NOTICING THE CHIL WHEN THE SMALL CHIP TURNED INTO A LARGE CRACK.

NHTSA ODI 11399967

THE KIA TELLURIDE HAS A SERIOUS ISSUE WITH AIR FLOW BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD ROWS AND ON LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE OUTPUT FLOWS. IT MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO KEEP AIR FLOW EVEN IN THE CAR AND WITH CHILDREN IN THE CAR IT REQUIRES FREQUENT STOPS ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD TO ADDRESS THE TEMPERATURE ISSUES OR ME TRYING TO CHANGE IT WHILE DRIVING WITH KIDS WHO ARE TOO HOT OR COLD AND HOPING I DON'T CRASH. IT'S A DANGEROUS SITUATION AND VERY INCONVENIENT. SECOND ISSUE IS THAT I WAS DRIVING ON HIGHWAY NOT CLOSE TO ANY OTHER CARS AND I HEARD A FAINT NOISE AND IT LOOKED LIKE BIRD POOP BUT WHEN I LOOKED CLOSER I SAW A CRACK IN THE WINDSHIELD. I HAVE DRIVEN FOR 22 YEARS AND HAD MUCH HARDER THINGS HIT A WINDOW WITHOUT BREAKING IT - WHATEVER DID HIT THE WINDOW WHICH WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO HEAR SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CAUSE DAMAGE. THIS CAR HAS FAULTY WINDSHIELD AND FAULTY VENTILATION SYSTEM IN LAST TWO ROWS.

NHTSA ODI 11390583

WE WERE DRIVING AT ABOUT 45-50MPH ON A STRAIGHT, SMOOTH, ROAD WHEN WE HEARD A LOUD POP OR THUD AND THEN GLASS FELL IN ON THE DRIVER AND FRONT PASSENGER PLUS SOME ON THE SECOND ROW, WHERE MY 2 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WAS SEATED. THE FRONT SUNROOF PANEL HAD EXPLODED OR SHATTERED SOMEHOW. WE WERE ON A SECTION OF ROAD WITH NOTHING OVERHEAD. OUR TELLURIDE ONLY HAD 190 MILES ON THE ODOMETER WHEN THIS HAPPENED.

NHTSA ODI 11388701

HAVE NOT EVEN MADE MY FIRST PAYMENT ON MY NE 2021 TELLURIDE AND HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE WINDSHIELD TWICE. BOTH TIMES THE DAMAGE WAS CAUSE BY ROAD DEBRIS HITTING THE WINDSHIELD, BUT THE CRACK QUICKLY SPREADS ACROSS THE WINDSHIELD. IT JUST SEEMS A LITTLE QUESTIONABLE WHETHER OR NOT THE WINDSHIELDS ARE DEFECTIVE SOMEHOW. THE TIME BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND OCCURRENCE IS APPROXIMATELY 5 WEEKS (TWO WEEKS BETWEEN THE FIRST REPLACEMENT AND SECOND CRACK.) I RESEARCHED ONLINE AND FOUND FORUMS WHERE OTHER TELLURIDE OWNERS HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCES. NOT SURE WHAT THE CAUSE IS, THIS IS MY FIRST TIME EVER HAVING A WINDSHIELD REPLACED MUCH LESS TWICE ALMOST IN THE SAME MONTH.

NHTSA ODI 11386171

WINDSHIELD WAS FOUND WITH A 4 FOOT CRACK. IN IT .NOTHING HIT THE WINDSHIELD

NHTSA ODI 11384014

TL* THE CONTACT OWN A 2021 KIA TELLURIDE. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED DUE TO A SNOW STORM HOWEVER, THE NEXT DAY THE CONTACT WENT TO CLEAN OFF THE VEHICLE AND NOTICED A CRACK IN THE FRONT WINDSHIELD. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO ROUTE 23 KIA (1 WINDBEAM RD, RIVERDALE, NJ 07457) AND WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WOULD BE A FEE ASSESSED FOR THE REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 3,500.

NHTSA ODI 11384060

WE PURCHASED OUR 2021 TELLURIDE NOVEMBER 14TH AND LESS THAN 24 HOURS LATER A CHIP APPEARED OR WAS MINOR BEYOND SOMETHING WE RECOGNIZED WHEN WE PURCHASED IT SINCE IT WAS DARK WHEN WE LEFT THE DEALERSHIP ON THE FRONT WINDSHIELD AND WITHIN SECONDS ESCALATED TO A FULL BLOWN CRACK GREATER THAN 6 INCHES WHEN WE WERE TURNING DOWN A ROAD WHERE THERE WERE NO OTHER VEHICLES OR OUTSIDE INFLUENCES AROUND. THEY SAID BECAUSE IT APPEARS AS THOUGH IMPACT DAMAGE CAUSED IT THAT THEY REFUSE TO REPLACE THE WINDSHIELD EVEN THOUGH KIA ALREADY HAS A WELL KNOWN ISSUE ON THE 2020 MODELS WHERE A CHIP QUICKLY BECOMES UNREPAIRABLE BECAUSE OF A DEFECT IN THE WINDOW. WE DIDN'T EVEN GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET THE CHIP FILLED BECAUSE IT HAPPENED WITHIN SECONDS. I'VE OWNED MANY OTHER VEHICLES THAT HAVE BEEN HIT BY ROCKS AND OTHER DEBRIS ON THE THE ROAD OF FROM SIMPLY BEING OUTSIDE AND HAVE NEVER SEEN A CRACK APPEAR SO QUICKLY AND ESCALATE BEYOND MINOR REPAIRS IN SECONDS.

NHTSA ODI 11383133