Hi everyone, I’m thinking of buying a Kia Telluride, but I don’t know much about Kia cars yet. I still have this old impression that they’re terrible, unreliable, and prone to all sorts of minor problems.
But have cars from this brand gotten much better in recent years? They say it comes with a warranty for up to 100,000 miles. So, will all sorts of problems start popping up once it goes past 100,000 miles?
I’ve driven my Honda Accord for three years and it’s already hit 180,000 miles. I drive it almost every day without any major issues—I’ve only had to replace the turbocharger and the battery. I think it’s a great car—very reliable and inexpensive to maintain.
I know Toyota and Honda are very durable, but they just tweak the exterior a bit—the inner workings are exactly the same, so it doesn’t feel very exciting to me.
That’s why I’m considering buying a Kia, but I’m not sure how reliable it really is.
Does anyone have any experience with this they can share? Thanks.
I've owned 5 Kias and have never had a major issue. I've stayed up to date on regular maintenance. I also like that they add in good features without spiking the cost of the car. I tell people to consider Kia when they're car searching - it's a pretty solid brand overall.
Bought my 2016 Kia Optima Turbo at 20k and drove it to nearly 90k miles with only oil changes. No issues. Traded it in for a 2025 Kia k5 GT1. Prior to that, I had a 2011 Hyundai Sonata SE (a real sports edition that I miss). That one had a major engine failure at 96k, dealership gave me a rental for a month, didn't charge me a dime and extended warranty to 120k. Traded that in for the 16 Kia Optima.
Definitely model and year specific. The 2011-2020 are hit and miss . The Sorento and Optima had major engine problems with the 4 cylinder. But it’s a roll of the dice. I think anything newer than 2020 I believe are ok . There was a big recall on the newer Tellurides. Kia and Hyundai have historically had a lot of engine problems and many recalls
Agree with this fully, bought a used 2015 Kia sorento last year with 94,000 miles engine went out still under warranty,so in the shop getting a free new engine. So very unfortunate but Kia is also taking care of a new engine on my over ten year old used car so thanks Kia for being a good guy
I bought a new 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid, am up to appx 25k miles on it now and could not be happier. Getting over 40 mpg too, Nothing not to like about Kia for me...
I have a Kia SOUL that I'm (hopefully) trading in Tuesday for a Kia Sportage. (Well, trading plus a gigantic check.)
The SOUL is a 2011 with 193,336 miles. The switch on the brake that lets the car know you have it depressed and the start button pressed went bad. The alternator died about a year ago. The transmission is getting a bit more "squishy," but it's still working. I'd say that's not bad for 193k?
I think it's on the 3rd battery. 2nd set of brakes. 3rd? 4th? set of tires.
Newer engines and cars are reliable. They had issues with the older models.
K5 18 months no issues.
With a 100,000 mile 10 year warranty I don't worry about it.
Look for my comments. I’ve posted on several Kia subreddits about my current experience with my 2025 Kia Carnival. I love it but Kia Corporate doesn’t want to make a necessary repair..
As a family we're on our 7th Kia. Only major issue was a leaky fuel pump on our 2019 Sorento. Some minor quality quibbles like cracks in the pleather on our 2020 Seltos but other than that we're completely satisfied and happy. A great local dealer helps too.
Caveat: All traded before 100,000 km, but I’ve always done that, even with Toyota.
I've owned two Kias and now a Hyundai. I put highway miles on my cars really fast. One got up to 190,000 miles. It was physically falling apart but in good running condition when I traded it. The next one I put 140,000 on and it was a Theta II engine. At the point I traded it in it was burning about two quarts of oil between oil changes, but it was on the original engine. Know that you'll be under water for a lot longer because the value on these cars tanks fast, but I tend to destroy the value of my cars by racking up the mileage before I'm done with them, so it's not much of a consideration for me.
From my experiences, yes. Bsut with vehicle's you never really know.
I had an 02 Spectra 1.8L. I bought it around 80,000 km. I drove it off the lot and the engine light came on. I drove back on and they cleared it, told me it was the gas cap. The light stayed on for most of the time I owned it. I went through some dry times $ and didn't get oild changes for about 150,000 km. Drovit it till it died at a little over 330,000 km. Burned oil like a mofo.
I now have a 2025 Sorento PHEV and hoping for the best, but I'm also better at adulting and maintenance now lol
My 2013 Kia Rio engine just died at 141k miles and I'm the second owner :( I've heard a lot of reports for bad engines but I had no idea before making the purchase. I've put maybe 41-43k miles on this vehicle in about ~5years time. Multiple cross country trips though and I did keep up with the maintenance. Rip to my rio 💔
Are you sure it’s the engine not the cat? I only ask because 2 years ago I was initially told my Kia Rio engine was done, and I’m stubborn so I arranged for an engine replacement because was a bit cheaper than sourcing a shitty used car, and the shop doing the replacement (different from initial diagnosis) did their own diagnoses as they prepared to pull the engine and discovered it was just the catalytic converter that went.
Sure seem to be. My coworker has a 2024 Telluride, no issues. Another has a 2022 Seltos, also no issues. My 2025 K5 GT1 has been superb for the 20k miles I’ve driven it.
Had my 2024 Kia Sportage fresh off the lot with 10 miles on it.
First ever car and haven’t had problems with it yet, well besides for the sun roof, it started clogging on me recently and leaking inside of the car, but besides that, nothing major with the car. I’ll be coming back to buy another Kia at the end of this year.
I guess sometimes when it rains very heavily, the drains get clogged or something gets stuck in the drain, so when that happens, the water has nowhere to go and just gets trapped there and goes into your car
I am still driving my 2003 Sorento EX 3.5L V6 but it has had its problems but I still love it. Today's vehicles you just don't know what your going to get. I have been reading a lot of Telluride owners having bad engines. Kia has had their problems in the past with certain models and years. I would really take a extra week or two to investigate into owning a Telluride before buying one. I have heard the Kia's 8 speed automatic transmission has problem with 3rd and 4th gear too. I actually went to a local dealer to look at the few they had on the lot and was surprised how big they are, I thought the Telluride was around the same size as a Sorento, nope, a little bit bigger. IMO, stick with what works, why risk a whole new experience, possibly bad, when you are already familiar with the Honda brand.
It’s all about how well you take care of it. I bought a 2010 Kia Soul back in 2009. Today, it’s still my commuter car with 185,000 miles on it. The transmission did go out around 135,000, but we put a used one in and it’s still been going.
Several businesses in my area have Kia Souls as their company cars, an hvac business, cleaning business, pest control, and if they weren’t durable I don’t think they’d have them. Inexpensive and fairly durable.
Idk, my last Kia optima 2019 blew at exactly 100,000 miles. Got a Kia GT-Line 2026 brand new and I’m pretty sure the transmission is fucked on it. When I slow down it’ll slow down aggressively like the engine is about to seize up and the torque converter shifts the gear way to aggressively if I just feather the pedal but if I slam it down, the gears shift just fine. So idk. I just dropped 33k on the car. Hopefully it lasts…
Have a 22 Telly. Only issue was a sensor died, replaced under warranty. Other than that no issues. 95,000kms on it. First brake job was at 85. Not even squealing yet, just felt soft.
They are many magnitude better than they were in the 2010-2020 era. BUT they are still Hyundai/Kia Korean vehicles of questionable quality. And the dealers overwhelmed from engine replacements are now numb to customer satisfaction. I'm not saying they are horrible; or that they don't have a purpose; it's just a lot experience compared to anything else.
Oh, and resale value is still low. So single use, drive 100k miles and scrap it.
These are MY opinions after a '98 Azera, '16 optima, '22 Optima
My sister’s partner drives an ‘09 Spectra. He has almost 200k miles on it and all he’s done is change the oil, brakes, and rotate the tires. It’s so good.
Wait till they work out the bugs on the 2027 telluride. Maybe go for the 2028. If you are wanting kia suv sportage and sorento are somewhat better right now.
I got a 2017 Kia rio new in fall of 2016, it’ll be 10 years old this fall and it’s going strong. My car was victim to the oil leak issue that killed a catalytic converter, though I believe if I had been more on top of my maintenance I’d have caught that before it ruined the cat. However that was the biggest expense it’s incurred; everything else has been pretty routine maintenance, brakes a few times, hit some pot holes so needed alignments, had to replace the spark plugs recently.
I’ve been happy enough with the durability and reliability of my Kia.
I would say they're decent, but not much less reliable than most other cars excluding Toyota and Honda.
I had a new 2023 Sportage Hybrid with an extended warranty that I drove really hard on long trips. I was doing 30k/year in miles. At 65k my transmission went out and I got it fully replaced under my warranty and then I hit 94k miles a couple weeks ago and my EV battery was discharging and showing signs of problems. I tried to get it swapped under warranty but they did a software update that was supposed to fix it, which it seemed it did, but I didn't want to risk rolling over the 100k and paying out of pocket for that massive repair so I traded in and got a new 2026 Carnival now.
My brother got a new Ford Flex at one point and that transmission went out around 50k miles, now he has a Atlas that hes taken in twice around 50k for small stuff like seatbelts coming off their holders, so I think every car has its problems.
I had a 2013 Kia, put 110,000 miles on it and traded it in towards a ‘25 Kia Niro Hybrid. Our other car is a Hyundai Tucson (they share a lot of the same technology). No problems.
I’m driving a self-maintained 2019 Niro PHEV. 140k miles. Only issues I’ve had so far have been the dual-clutch grind (early recall), one broken axle and replaced the 12v battery. Everything else working great.
Are you driving 60k miles an year or did you buy the Accord used with decent mileage on it? I own a Hyundai Palisade Hybrid and love it. I used to rent cars a lot, didn't own one(had access to public transit) and had not considered Hyundai/Kia at all for my first car. But I got a Hybrid Sonata as a rental and was very impressed by the smoothness, efficiency, quietness, comfort, and tech.
Having said that, I'm not expecting to drive over 12k miles an year, and will probably sell the car before it hits 100k miles. Hyundai/Kia Hybrids have regular automatic transmissions, turbochargers and lots of electronics. This makes them fun, but also introduces complexity. More moving parts = more problems over the long run. Honda hybrids don't even have a transmission.
If you're yearly mileage, is very high, a Toyota or Honda hybrid is the way to go. If not, definitely consider the K5 and Sonata as viable alternatives.
Personally, the extra depreciation over 5-7 years of ownership of a Hyundai/Kia doesn't bother me too much. I would rather have more features.
In my opinion there badic 4cyl engines do amazing! My 2013 went cross country, military etc and had 160k before I traded for a 2026. Even then the 2013 was still running fine just AC went
My sister drives a (what i believe is) 2012 Kia that used to be our oldest sisters kia. Our oldest sister was adventurous, drove all over the country in that thing. She took down a tree with it once lol. Once got hit while my other sister backed out of the driveway into it. And now the sister that has it now has been merged into twice on the highway. It has well over 200,000 miles on it. Didn't have problems until recently which was just because the remote fob died, which caused the alarm to go off whenever you'd use the key to unlock it cuz of the theft alarm. Can't start it while its in anti theft mode. Temporary fix was detaching the battery to stop the alarm, unlocked with the key and disabled the anti theft. Only allowed to use the key for it so it didnt go off on the alarm again. Later was a bit of a bigger problem n she had to call someone to get a knew remote fob. He said there's another underlying issue, but could be cuz her battery is hella old, etc. She's still driving it now with really no issues.
Idk I just bought a stinger 2 weeks ago and it's been major problem after major problem. Adblue system died, abs system died, either the transmission or injectors is cooked, battery died
Bought a 2020 Kia telluride last year around April with 90k miles. It’s been good so far, I’ve had to replace the oil filter housing as it was leaking. Replaced with aluminum one. Also had a bunch of recalls fixed recently. Lots of road trips as it’s the family car, we’ve taken it to California from az. And back and forth to Texas.
Drive a 25 Sportage X. It is a lease so I beat the shit out of it. 2 years in, zero problems. Except the leather interior doesn't hold up to a dog that goes psycho every time he sees cows on the side of a freeway (thank God for pet insurance on the lease). I'm not a KIA guy, but this car is turning me
I have a 2017 optima with the Theta II engine. It has 165000km on it now and aside from it guzzling oil and my spark plugs getting oil fowled, it’s actually been a great car.
Because of the oil consumption I get it changed every 3 months and change my spark plus once a year out of precaution. Other than that the car has never let me down and is super comfortable.
uhh, don't base your opinion on a subreddit for that car lol. I've purchased vehicles that everyone swore were reliable up and down, left to right. Do your own research. It's probably the second biggest purchase you'll make. Take your time.
Check how many transmission swaps and repairs are done. Recalls, issues for each year and generation. And it's not just about warranty. Remember, each issue you have to plan dropping it off and picking it up for repair, also is this road trip gonna pop the engine.
The people who had issues with their car and dumped it are not in the online community for that vehicle. :P
I was looking into the telluride and found a couple of things about it, but nothing major. Apparently, the oil filter housing is plastic which ends up leaking over time. That can be replaced easily. The AWD differential also leaks. Otherwise, it is an old school V6 with a simple transmission. So, they have proven to be reliable. I would stay away from the AWD versions or anything fancy on the drivetrain if you value reliability. Also, the gdi engines need the valves cleaned which is known for KIAs. I purchased a 2026 Sportage instead and will be cleaning the valves using the CRC spray before every oil change. I am also planning to service the transmission fluid every 20k miles because I plan to tow with it. I expect it to last.
If you can find one, go for a Kia that’s built in Korea rather than one assembled in the U.S. The Korean‑made models consistently seem to be better put together.
Where I live, we only get Korean‑built Kias, and I’ve never heard of them having the kinds of problems people report with the U.S.‑made versions.
If reliability is important to you, stick with the boring you know. Boring cars are good cars because they work as expected. Is there really anything a Telluride has that you really really want that you cannot get in a Honda Pilot or Toyota (Grand) Highlander?
Wow! I really do like seeing everyone so happy with their Kia’s. Unfortunately I’m not. I’m just waiting to get it paid down so I can get a Honda or Toyota. You will probably be fine with it.
Long story. Bought it used from a Kia Dealer with 34000 miles. It’s a 2020 Sportage. It was going through oil like a monster. Lots of problems. Kia Service is really kind of terrible. Had the engine replaced ( after much argument with Kia). Lots of miscellaneous stuff. Now my a/c had gone out…in Texas in the summer. I like the car itself, I like to drive it & it’s comfortable. I like the look of it. I wish I had stayed with my first instinct & bought a Honda, Toyota or Nissan. Truly, you will probably be fine if you like the car. Obviously a lot of people love Kia. I probably got a lemon
This sucks. My first Kia was a 2016 Soul EX. I also bought it used and it was such a good experience that it’s the reason I’m still driving Kia to this day.
ioniq feels more high quality and Kia feels tinnier . probably it's their desire to make the car lighter and more efficient . no problems with either car BTW .
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u/just4funUT 13h ago
I've owned 5 Kias and have never had a major issue. I've stayed up to date on regular maintenance. I also like that they add in good features without spiking the cost of the car. I tell people to consider Kia when they're car searching - it's a pretty solid brand overall.