NHTSA complaint #11567514

Owner complaint summary

The issue concerns my 2023 Telluride SX X-line (AWD) when driving in the "snow mode" setting. The issue has occurred on several occasions, approximately 2-3 times last winter when I was driving the vehicle and at least one time this winter when my wife was driving in snowy conditions. The issue is that the vehicle accelerator basically becomes unresponsive when driving in snow mode under a set of conditions that are not easily defined. The issue seems to occur fairly randomly. When this issue has occurred, the vehicle either will not accelerate at all when the accelerator is depressed or the power will severely be limited and the vehicle will slow down if moving. This has happened to me in parking lots (thankfully) but did happen to my wife on the road, which could cause a huge safety risk when trying to maneuver with traffic or making a left turn against oncoming traffic. The ways in which I have found to resolve the issue are to either switch the drive mode to another setting using the selector or turning the vehicle off and on again. Shifting from park back to drive does not resolve if snow mode remains engaged. I have not taken the vehicle to a dealership to look into this issue as I have found information on forums that have indicated Kia dealerships do not acknowledge the issue. It is also not easily reproducible. There are no warning indicators on the instrument cluster to notify the driver that anything is wrong. As I said before, the issue arose immediately after the purchase of the vehicle in Dec. 2022 and within the first few thousand miles of the vehicle life. Also, true Michelin snow tires have been equipped on the vehicle when this issue has occurred. I switch between all season tires and the snow tires in between the summer and winter months.