Less than half the 2020's complaint volume, the same engine story, and a sunroof bill that can reach $6,441.

Report the oil loss and the dealer runs a consumption test: back every 1,000 miles, usually four times, level checked each visit. The threshold is what matters. Two independent owner accounts of this exact procedure — one on a Telluride, one on the mechanically identical Palisade — report being told that anything from zero to one quart per 1,000 miles is not considered oil consumption at all. Run that against the car: the sump holds about six quarts and the factory service interval is far longer than 6,000 miles, so a car sitting exactly at the acceptable limit arrives at its next oil change close to dry. A 2021 owner in the federal file lives that: "This car keeps burning excessive oil. I am on my 3rd oil consumption test, each time it burns 0.75q in 1000 miles. The dealer states that that is not enough oil." An independent reliability review of this engine family calls the tests "nothing more than a bad joke" and recommends changing the oil at least every 5,000 miles and checking the dipstick between services, noting that owners of earlier G6DN engines who did so "have surpassed 200,000 mi without major oil consumption issues". Run the test anyway for the paper trail. Do not read a pass as a clean bill of health.

There is exactly one piece of free engine coverage on this car, and its edges matter. Kia's warranty extension campaign WTY045 extends the new-vehicle warranty, in Kia's words, "to all owners" for repairs related to "an engine oil leak from the oil filter housing gasket" on 2020 to 2025 Tellurides built between 9 January 2019 and 12 June 2025, going "from 5 years / 60,000 miles to 15 years / 180,000 miles". Kia mailed a reimbursement form with the owner letter for people who had already paid. The oil filter housing is the plastic assembly the filter screws into; when the gasket fails, oil leaves onto the road rather than through the exhaust, and a 2021 owner describes exactly that: "A known Kia Telluride issue arose with the oil filter housing gasket. I came out to find a huge oil leak on my driveway." Two more report being billed for it before the extension existed — "$450" and a "$220 bill" with "$20 off". The line to hold on to: WTY045 pays for the leak. It does not pay for oil consumption, and it does not pay for an engine that has already failed.

This is the 2021's second big-ticket item and it is not one failure but two. The mechanism fails — the wind deflector at the front of the opening snaps off and jams or destroys the track. And the glass itself shatters. Federal quotes for a full assembly on a car out of warranty: "they want to charge $6k to have it replaced"; "the full sunroof assembly needs to be replaced at a total expense of $6,441.56 since the vehicle is out of the 5-year warranty period"; "the entire frame would need replacing at about $3,400.00"; "$1,450 for a used one, $5,000 for new"; "this would be a $7,000 fix"; "it is $3,000+ and a complete replacing of the track/cassette". The lever against those numbers is Kia's own bulletin. It covers 2019 to 2022 Tellurides built between 15 February 2019 and 19 January 2022, and it instructs dealers to perform "a partial replacement of the sunroof wind deflector and mechanism arms" on cars where "the sunroof open/close operation [is] inoperative and/or the sunroof wind deflector function [is] inoperative". That is a parts repair, not an assembly. Ask for it by description before accepting a quote with a comma in it.

This is the 2021-only campaign and it is the one to close first if the car carries children. Recall 21V164, Kia code SC207, covers 2021 Telluride, K5 and Forte models whose Occupant Classification and Detection System — the sensor pad in the front passenger seat that decides whether the airbag should fire and how hard — "may not detect the presence of a child restraint system in the front passenger seat". These vehicles fail the federal occupant-protection standard, FMVSS 208. NHTSA's stated consequence is direct: with a child in that seat, deployment of the front passenger airbag "can increase the risk of injury to the child". Dealers replace the sensor unit free of charge, and the recall began 18 March 2021. There is no interim workaround beyond not putting a child restraint in the front seat, which you should not be doing anyway.

Two campaigns on this car carry a park-outside advisory. Recall 22V626, Kia code SC247, covers 2020 to 2022 Tellurides fitted with a Genuine Kia 4-pin tow hitch harness, whether factory-fitted or bought as an accessory: debris and moisture on the harness module circuit board "may cause an electrical short, which can result in a fire". Recall 24V407, Kia code SC316, covers 2020 to 2024 cars whose front power seat motor "may overheat due to a stuck power seat slide knob, which can result in a fire while parked or driving". Then in July 2026 NHTSA opened 26V430, Kia code SC374, on the same seat: it now names "a stuck power seat slide knob or an improper recall 24V407 repair", the remedy changes to an electronic fuse assembly, 462,869 vehicles are affected, and Kia states that "vehicles already repaired under the previous recall will need to have the new remedy completed". Owner letters are expected 13 August 2026. A seller who tells you the seat recall was done in 2024 is describing a repair that has since been superseded.

Recall 24V214, Kia code SC303, covers 2020 to 2024 Tellurides. The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft "may not be fully engaged, which can result in vehicle roll away while in PARK". Until it is repaired, Kia's instruction is to set the electric parking brake manually every single time before getting out. Dealers update the parking brake software and replace damaged intermediate shafts free, and letters went out 15 May 2024; a news clip covering the campaign put the fleet at "more than 427,000" vehicles. There is a second step people miss: Kia issued a subsequent repair action, SC303Z, to inspect and if necessary replace the right front driveshaft on 2020 to 2024 cars built through 19 October 2023 "that previously had the campaign SC303 completed". A completed status on 24V214 is where the question starts.

The 2021 suspension cluster is small but consistent, and one half of it is free. Drive-shaft boots split early: "The CV axle is bad and needs replaced. I am only at 72,000 miles"; "It cost $777.61 to repair. It should not need to be repaired at 72k miles." A CV boot is the rubber concertina that keeps grease in and grit out of a driveshaft joint; once it splits, the joint is on a clock. That one is on you. The rear shocks are the opposite. Kia's warranty extension WTY040 covers the self-levelling rear shock absorbers on 2020 to 2024 Tellurides built between 10 January 2019 and 14 September 2023, with shocks produced through 4 June 2023, raising coverage "from 5 years / 60,000 miles to 15 years / 180,000 miles" for cars that "may exhibit a noise from the rear suspension while traveling over bumps and/or a firm/stiff ride quality". Kia adds that the concern "does not impact the drivability or safety of the vehicle". Self-levelling shocks were fitted with the towing package, so this only applies if the car has them — an independent review of the model identifies them as Nivomat units and notes a clunk can also be the upper insulator sitting on top of the shock, which Kia has a separate bulletin to replace under warranty.

Telluride windshields crack. "Windshield developed a multipronged crack that does not resemble a normal road hazard crack. After having tried a mobile windshield repair, the results are not successful as the cracks seem [to keep running]." "Windshield chipped and cracked. Causes a safety issue due to temperamental glass and vision impairment." The useful fact is that Kia said so first. On 1 November 2019 Kia launched a Customer Satisfaction Initiative for all Telluride customers, telling dealers it had identified that "customers have reported windshield chipping followed by extensive cracking within a short period of time, preventing repair of the chip". It acknowledged that glass damage from outside influence is normally excluded from warranty, then asked dealers to "replace an affected Telluride customer's windshield under goodwill" after inspection, and said Kia would "reimburse customers for out-of-pocket expense previously incurred". Goodwill is a conversation, not an entitlement, and there is no stated expiry in the notice — but it is a conversation Kia opened itself, and quoting it by date is more effective than describing the crack.

A small electrical cluster in the 2021 file has a clear mechanism attached. "Cooling fans running continuously after the car is turned off, which drains the battery. The dealership has identified that this is due to a faulty fan relay that will need to be completely [replaced]." It matters more than a dead battery sounds, because of what a flat battery does on this car. A Telluride owner describing his own ownership says the electrical system does not fail gracefully: "on the way [to the dealership], we lost all electronics and power steering. Fortunately, we were just a quarter mile from the dealership and not on the highway." A review channel covering the model describes the same loop: "the battery would randomly die and then you jump the car and then the power steering wouldn't work and then the battery would die again." If a car you are looking at has had more than one battery, ask what was draining it rather than accepting that the battery was simply old — and note that one owner reports being charged $540 for a replacement battery that had been killed by the fault.

Shudder, judder or chatter when turning at walking pace is the classic Telluride misdiagnosis: owners assume gearbox, and it is usually the all-wheel-drive coupler. Kia has two bulletins. One, superseded by campaign code CHA129, updates the four-wheel-drive system software on 2020 to 2022 Tellurides built 9 January 2019 to 1 September 2022, for cars that "may exhibit a noise and/or a vibration, shudder, jerking, binding, or chattering while turning at low speeds (10MPH-15MPH) located from the 4WD coupling", caused by degraded oil friction in the coupling after hard use. The other has dealers inspect for knocking or clicking under 25 mph from excessive play in the 4WD coupling snap ring. An independent review of the model makes the same point: owners "initially blame the transmission… In reality, these issues are more commonly related to all-wheel drive system components." A 2021 owner reports the harder version of it: "AWD coupler assembly failed twice and company will not repair." Confirm the software campaign before anyone quotes you for a transmission.

The gearbox behind this V6 is an eight-speed automatic, designated A8LF1 and also known as the A8A36, rated to 266 pound-feet of torque. It is not a problem child in the federal file and a car reviewer covering the model is happy to say so — "this 3.8 L V6 with the 8-speed has proven to be pretty darn reliable. People just don't really have issues with the engine for the most part." What it does have is a documented sensitivity. An independent reliability review of the transmission family notes it is "highly sensitive to even minor overheating" and drops into limp mode quickly if the wheels slip or the car is loaded hard off-road, which it frames as a protective feature the older six-speed lacked; its most common failure is in the low-reverse brake clutches. The practical instruction is a service interval: the owner's manual asks for fluid every 56,000 miles, the review recommends 40,000. On a used 2021 approaching 100,000 miles, a fluid history is cheap reassurance, and a car that has been towing hard without one is worth less than one that has not.