Владелец нового Kia Telluride повторно столкнулся с внезапной потерей мощности и эвакуацией автомобиля

The new Kia Tellurides are great vehicles, and a new vehicle does not have to be completely trouble-free to earn an owner’s trust, as a strange warning light can sometimes be forgiven depending on the scale of issues. But when you lose power while driving, you know there's a real problem on your hands. That is the situation facing Connie Melion and her 2025 Kia Telluride SX X-Line, which she purchased brand-new in February 2025 and has since then gone roughly 30,000 miles. I recently came across Connie’s latest update where her short message made it clear that this was not her first frustrating encounter with the SUV. “Well...this car finally quit on me AGAIN! Had to be towed AGAIN!” On its own, that would be another story about a relatively new vehicle unexpectedly requiring a tow. If we look further back into Connie’s experience, however, it reveals something more concerning: months before this latest breakdown, she had already been discussing problems with the same Telluride. “Again” Carries a Lot of Weight Back in December 2025, Connie posted in the same group about issues she was experiencing with her then-new Telluride. She reported that the SUV had lost power and shut down while driving on three separate occasions, including in major intersections. It was also mentioned that an intermittent check engine light and a KiaConnect software update problem came up that remained unresolved. That earlier post gives important context to her newest complaint, as this isn't simply a 30,000-mile Telluride experiencing its first unexpected breakdown. Now we don't know what caused Connie’s latest breakdown, nor should the previous power-loss incidents automatically be assumed to have the same underlying cause, but from an owner’s perspective, those distinctions do not necessarily restore confidence. If your relatively new SUV has already stopped running while you were driving and later ends up on a tow truck again, knowing that two failures could technically have different causes is not comforting in any way. Telluride Problems Can Look Very Different from One Owner to Another Connie’s experience also arrives as I have been following several very different Telluride ownership complaints right here on Torque News. I reported on a 2025 Kia Telluride owner whose panoramic sunroof shattered twice as other drivers described similar failures. That case had nothing to do with an engine shutting down, but it demonstrated that repeated problems can matter just as much as the individual component that failed. I have also covered a 2024 Kia Telluride owner dealing with repeated seat failures and water leaking into the SUV. Again, these are all completely different problems, and they should not be grouped together as evidence of one underlying Telluride defect, but the theme of repeated issues leading to frustration is the same in a lot of these stories. That matters for the Telluride because this SUV has played an important role in changing how many American buyers view Kia. Rather than competing primarily on price, Kia built a three-row SUV that families could realistically cross-shop against established alternatives from Toyota, Honda, Ford, and others. That success also creates higher expectations. Buyers spending money on a well-equipped Telluride SX X-Line expect the vehicle to deliver more than an impressive interior and plenty of technology. Dependability remains one of the most basic expectations of any family SUV. One Telluride Has 98K Trouble-Free Miles, Another Is Already at the Dealer One response beneath Connie’s post illustrates precisely why we should avoid using her experience to characterize every Telluride. DK Mason wrote: “I have a '22 with no issues at 98k miles. I'm beginning to see that the issues are more prevalent in the newer models.” The first half of that comment is arguably more important than the second. One owner reaching nearly 100,000 miles without issues is a useful reminder that complaint groups naturally concentrate on negative experiences. DK’s observation about newer models is interesting, but that alone cannot establish that newer Tellurides are statistically less reliable. Sandra Blackman then offered an experience from the opposite end of the mileage spectrum: “My daughter has a 2023 Sol with no issues, so we got the 2027 Telluride. It has 5,250 miles and is currently in the Kia dealership getting a new pump for the transmission.” Her experience shows how complicated brand loyalty can become. A positive experience with one vehicle helped influence the purchase of another, yet the newer vehicle is already receiving a transmission-related repair at very low mileage. Harley White was much more decisive: “I had one for less than 2 years. Never again.” There's obviously not enough information in Harley’s comment to know exactly what went wrong, but those two words show what manufacturers risk when problems begin affecting an owner’s confidence. A warranty can pay for a repair but it cannot guarantee that customers will return for another vehicle after dealing with a headache. Reliability Is More Complicated Than a Repair Bill I have previously explored that erosion of trust in my reporting on a Kia Telluride owner whose oil-consumption and reliability concerns eventually left him refusing to buy another Kia too. It's a similar story to how Harley feels about never buying one again. His situation occurred at much higher mileage than Connie’s, but both stories highlight why reliability is not simply a scoreboard where a vehicle either broke or it did not. Frequency, severity, and predictability all matter. A frozen infotainment screen is frustrating, but unexpectedly losing power in an intersection is an entirely different ownership concern. These intermittent problems can also be particularly difficult because they may disappear before a technician gets an opportunity to reproduce them. That's why documenting dates, mileage, dashboard warnings, service invoices, diagnostic codes, and clear descriptions of the conditions surrounding a failure can help establish a history if the same symptom returns. At the same time, Telluride ownership is not defined solely by complaints. I previously reported on a 2020 Kia Telluride owner who had complaints about the SUV but credited its safety features after two serious crashes. His experience offered a much more complicated assessment of the vehicle that recognized its shortcomings while appreciating an area where it performed when it mattered. That's why individual ownership stories are most useful when viewed together rather than used to declare an entire model “reliable” or “unreliable.” A 30K-Mile Vehicle Should Still Feel Young From my perspective, this is where modern vehicle ownership gets particularly interesting. Automakers spend enormous amounts of time selling technology, screens, connectivity, premium materials, and increasingly sophisticated features, yet one of the most valuable things a vehicle can offer remains incredibly old-fashioned, and that is confidence that it will get you where you are going. At 30,000 miles, a vehicle should still feel like it is near the beginning of its useful life. Connie’s story stands out not because her experience proves the Telluride is an unreliable SUV, but because repeated unpredictable failures can make mileage almost irrelevant to an owner’s confidence. A vehicle can show only 30,000 miles on its odometer and still feel troublesome if every warning light leaves its driver wondering whether another tow truck is coming. That challenge is not unique to Kia these days either. As vehicles become more technologically complicated, manufacturers have to make sure greater sophistication does not come at the expense of the fundamental expectation that brought people to cars in the first place. What Telluride Owners Can Learn from Connie’s Experience - Keep a timeline when problems repeat. Connie’s December post adds context to her latest breakdown. Owners should save repair orders, mileage, warning lights, and dealer visits. - Do not ignore intermittent problems because they disappear. A warning light or temporary fix doesn’t erase the issue. Details can matter if it returns. - Separate symptoms from assumptions. Connie had software and drivability issues around the same time, but that doesn’t prove a link. Record what happened before guessing causes. Join the Conversation If you own a Kia Telluride, has your experience been closer to Connie’s repeated trouble or DK’s nearly 100,000 trouble-free miles? And if your Telluride has ever lost power or left you stranded, did the dealer eventually figure out what was wrong, or are you still waiting for an answer? I'd love to hear what you have to say in the comments below. About The Author Aram Krajekian is a young automotive journalist bringing a fresh and analytical perspective to the evolving automotive landscape by reporting on real-world ownership experiences and providing industry analysis. Based in North Carolina, he covers electric vehicles, trucks, and broader automotive trends with a focus on contributing a balanced evaluation. His reporting cuts through brand bias to provide readers with grounded insight into how vehicles perform for everyday drivers beyond marketing narratives. Aram can be reached on X and LinkedIn for ongoing automotive coverage. Image Credits: Connie Melion and Kia’s gallery, respectively. Set Torque News as Preferred Source on Google