The Kia Telluride is a cool new offering to the modern family SUV segment. It’s quickly risen in popularity and already we hear stories of dealers struggling to keep the SUV in stock. If you look at the Kia complaints on CarComplaints.com, there’s clearly a pattern. The worst and most complained about Kia models tend to deal with engine problems. Will the Kia Telluride have engine problems too?

Early in the game

For now, it’s early to predict how dependable the Kia Telluride’s actual reliability will prove. Often the first year or two of a new model needs to “work out kinks.” This is also true for Kia cars and SUVs. And often, the kinks cause engine problems.

In fact, the popular Kia Sorento’s worst three problems posted on CarComplaints.com all deal with engine issues. The worst problem for the Sorento crossover SUV is ‘catastrophic engine failure” for the 2012 model year. Other bad Kia SUV problems include a blown motor in the 2013 Kia Sorento and 2015 Sorento engine failure. All three of these issues cost over $5,000 to repair.

So what’s going to happen with the Telluride? Is it only a matter of tie before we start to see complaints rack up for this new Kia SUV? It looks like there’s a chance that we’ll see Kia Telluride engine problems, though only time will tell.

Kia and J.D. Power

Kia and J.D. Power are getting along quite well this year. For 2020, Kia won both performance and quality awards from the prominent publication. Additionally, Kia as a brand earned the title for the #1 brand in terms of initial quality. So, just because some models experience engine problems doesn’t mean we need to be wary of the brand altogether. This is more about wondering what problems the Kia Telluride will deal with most.

The Telluride on Consumer Reports

On Consumer Reports, the 2020 Kia Telluride earns a 5 out of 5 rating in all of the trouble spots except one. The interior electronics predicted reliability rating is 3 out of 5––still not bad. However, this new Kia SUV has already had 2 recalls.

According to Consumer Reports, though any talk of Kia Telluride engine problems is nowhere to be found, there are some recalls. There is one recall issued in July for improper operation of the emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. Then, in August, the 2020 Kia Telluride saw another recall for issues with seat belts.

Kia Telluride engine problems

So far, there are only 2 complaints about this three-row SUV on CarComplaints.com. However, an overheating engine is already posted as the worst problem for this model. Though we definitely hope this is purely speculation, it seems like the potential danger for Kia Telluride engine problems is worth consideration.

While this shouldn’t deter you from loving––or buying––the 2021 or 2020 Kia Telluride, it is food for thought. If so many past issues have arisen in Kia models for engine issues, should we worry about this rugged new SUV? Here’s hoping that we won’t see Kia Telluride engine problems.