Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11550638

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2020 KIA TELLURIDE

Manufacturer

Kia America, Inc.

Components

ENGINE

Dates

Incident: 01/14/2023
Filed: 10/18/2023

Owner complaint summary

All of my oil changes have been done religiously at the same Kia dealer where I bought my 2020 Telluride but ever since my 1/14/23 oil change, I have experienced oil leaking from my car on and off. Was told by the dealer that the issue was faulty oem oil filters and that the o-rings weren't sitting properly. I have had a total of 8 oil changes between 1/14/23 & 10/9/23. I explained on 3/25/23, during one of my return trips to the dealer, that I didn't want my car back until they could guarantee it wasn't leaking. They had it up on the lift, ran it for a while, gave it back to me, no leaks finally! My car didn't leak between 3/25/23 & 6/10/23 when I had my next routine dealer oil change done. I also didn't experience any leaks between 6/10/23 & 9/5/23 when I had another routine oil change. However, shortly after the 9/5/23 oil change, we discovered the car was leaking oil again. Brought it back to the dealer on 9/25/23 where they said it was another bad filter, changed it and sent me on my way. The following week, I noticed oil leaking, yet again, so I brought the car back to the dealer where they then diagnosed it as a cracked oil filter housing. I am out of warranty so naturally they expect me to pay out of pocket. Either way. I don't see how this is a consumer issue considering I had 8 oil changes in 10 months when I should have only had 2 or 3. So if the oil filter housing is now indeed cracked, the additional wear & tear is not a result of normal wear & tear (consumer issue) but of excessive oil changes done by the dealer due to faulty oil filters. Or maybe it's been a crack in the plastic oil filter housing all along but then why didn't it leak between 3/25/23 & 9/5/23? Either way, the problem shouldn't fall back on the consumer. The internet is full of Kia owners experiencing oil leaks after oil changes and it needs to be addressed.

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11550638). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11550638. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.