Issues relating to the windshield, sunroof, and instrument cluster are among the top complaints received by the NHTSA from vehicle owners
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Did your windshield crack unexpectedly? Find out if you are eligible for compensation.
As a three-row SUV, the 2022 Kia Telluride has a large following of enthusiasts. The automaker claims that there’s “no holding back,” but drivers are very unhappy about the electrical system that causes the instrument cluster screen to fail, windshields that crack spontaneously, and sunroofs that explode and shatter.
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Owners of the 2022 Kia Telluride lodged a total of 106 complaints to the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) between mid-July 2021 and October 3, 2022. Of these half (52) are problems relating to windshields cracking. This doesn’t surprise us, since Lemberg Law already has a class action investigation underway for 2020-2022 Kia Telluride defective windshields.
Another big area of concern for 2022 Kia Telluride owners is the faulty instrument cluster. As many as 21 consumers have complained to the NHTSA about this. We also have a class action investigation in place that is looking into these complaints.
What this indicates is that we have class action investigations into issues relating to 81 of the 106 complaints filed with the NHTSA. This doesn’t make the other 25 complaints any less important.
Overall, there are 18 components and systems that are affected by complaints, plus those that fall into the Unknown or Other category. Windshield complaints appear under Visibility, Visibility/Wiper, and Unknown or Other. Sunroof problems are all filed under either Visibility or Unknown or Other. And all the electrical system complaints are about the instrument cluster.
The other components that are named in the many NHTSA complaints about the 2022 Kia Telluride are airbags, backover prevention, engine and engine cooling, equipment, forward collision avoidance, lane departure, latches/locks/linkages, the powertrain, seat belts, seats, steering, structure, suspension, and vehicle speed control.
The one complaint filed under Seats reports 2 injuries. A nurse tried to retrieve something that fell between the console and the driver’s seat. She managed to call 911 with her cell phone using her left hand. They arrived, and, “it took 3 EMTs to extricate my arm from this terrible design. I currently sustain a bad contusion.”
The nurse’s husband also got his arm stuck during the emergency, and he ended up with “scrapes, bruising, and bleeding.” On another occasion, their daughter, a medical doctor, borrowed the car and also got her arm stuck.
“This console is too big and too dangerous,” she says.
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Visibility/wiper | |
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Electrical System | |
| Electrical System: Instrument Cluster/panel | |
| Visibility:windshield | |
| Power Train | |
| Engine | |
| Structure:body | |
| Service Brakes | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
As mentioned above, there are 52 complaints to the NHTSA that relate to windshields cracking. Some describe minimal impact, while many state there was no impact whatsoever. Many of the complaints relate to very new vehicles, just weeks or even days in the owners’ possession. Typically, complaints state that there is no indication of impact.
Here’s an example. An owner from Kansas states that when his 2022 Kia Telluride was parked in the garage the night before there were no cracks in the windshield. But the next day there was a hairline crack on the lower driver’s side that was about 12 inches long. There was no evidence of impact or any other abnormal stress to the windshield.
An owner from Virginia has a similar complaint. This windshield also developed a crack overnight, and within the first 30 days of ownership. It had been parked in the driveway. This complaint states that the crack is “right in the middle of the windshield so it is messing with my visibility and is unsafe.”
And an owner from Texas says: “The car is one week old and developed a crack in the windshield overnight in mild weather. The crack is over two feet long and growing.”
One of the complaints, from Georgia, states, “My 13-year-old son went to smack a bug off the windshield in the inside and it shattered.” That’s clearly a form of impact, but how strong was the boy to be able to shatter a windshield?
An owner from North Carolina heard a loud pop when stopped at a traffic light. “I noticed a curved crack in the upper center of the windshield that wrapped below the rearview mirror area. There was no impact to the glass at the time.”
When things go wrong, we often notice that the parts to fix them are not available. Kia Telluride windshields are no exception.
Another complaint states, “I just recently bought a 2022 Kia Telluride 7 days ago and while driving on the freeway the windshield shattered in the lower corner of (the) driver side. There was no car in front of me (not a close distance) or near me for that matter and there was no overpass for a rock to have fallen from. My windshield shattered and glass landed in my face, eyes, and mouth, and all over the inside of my car. Luckily, I was able to maintain some control as there were no other vehicles in close proximity. I’ve had rocks hit my windshield before but never to the point of causing this kind of damage. There have been recalls on previous Kia Telluride models and others with 2022 models have been experiencing this issue as well.
“This is ridiculous and of course, the windshield is on backorder and Kia expects me to continue driving around with my windshield like this because they don’t know when they’ll have a windshield available. At the dealership, they were adamant that a rock hit the windshield.” Needless to say, the owner vehemently disagrees.
“There is no way it is safe for me to continue driving like this, especially when Kia doesn’t even have an estimated date for me to get this repaired.”
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As a newer vehicle, there’s no reasonable explanation for having an electrical system issue, as all of the bugs should have been worked out at the factory. Yet, this is one of the top complaints of new Telluride SUVs. More specifically, all 21 of them relate to the instrument cluster, which has 2 recalls.
One of the problems is that some owners are complaining that the “fix” doesn’t work. Others complain that they have the problem but their VIN isn’t included in the recall.
The first recall, related to the LCD display, NHTSA Campaign Number 21V577000 dated July 28, 2021. It states that up to 5,143 affected vehicles have a blank LCD that can keep vital information hidden, such as the gear selection, odometer, and digital speedometer. This can increase the risk of a crash.
To resolve the problem, customers have to go to the dealership for a software update, which is a major inconvenience for busy lifestyles. But, as the recall states, if you don’t do this, the missing information may increase the risk of a crash. Nearly a year later, NHTSA Campaign Number 22V344000 issued on May 17, 202
2, states that as many as 3,596 2022 Tellurides may have an instrument cluster display screen issue. If yours does, it won’t show critical information, like the odometer, which can also increase the risk of a crash.
The reason for this, says Kia, is caused by too much adhesive in a circuit board that causes the instrument cluster display screen to be blank.
These varied issues are exactly what the 21 NHTSA complaints reflect.
Complaints about sunroofs exploding and/or shattering range from simple descriptions like “Sunroof exploded,” and “I was driving on the interstate and my sunroof just exploded, nothing hit it,” to quite involved descriptions of what happened.
For instance, a New Jersey owner’s sunroof exploding while on a highway with no other cars in sight. The complaint states that the sunshade was closed, so glass didn’t fall on those in the vehicle when it happened.
“The sound was extremely loud. We heard a loud pop and then the shattering of glass. We all jumped inside the vehicle but thankfully no cars were in sight around us as we did swerve. We were approx. 2 miles from the dealer’s exit so we drove directly to the dealer. The Manufacturer is not taking any responsibility as they say it was due to impact, but there was absolutely nothing that hit our car. No other vehicles around or debris (was) on (the) highway.”
An owner from Texas states that when the sunroof exploded, the noise was so loud that “someone else could have reacted differently and caused an accident.”
All the other sunroof complaints basically state the same scenario.
Think you have a lemon? Sit back and let the experts work out your lemon case at no cost to you. The law makes Kia pay legal fees. You may be able to get your lemon out of your life. Every year, auto manufacturers buy back, replace or pay cash settlements to thousands of ‘lemon’ owners like you.
Brian Jones spent more than 30 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
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