Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11642054

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: 02/06/2025
Filed: 02/11/2025

Owner complaint summary

On [XXX] , my wife heard a rattling noise while driving. I verified the rattling noise on [XXX]. On [XXX], I researched online and there are a lot of 2020 Telluride owners that experienced the same issue. They mentioned they had no oil in their cars. I checked the oil that morning and confirmed my wife's car had no oil. I reviewed the manual and checked the oil again according to the instructions in the manual. The car still registered no oil in the dip stick. The car did not report any warning lights. There was no engine light or oil pressure light that came on at any point in time to indicate there was no oil in the engine. Per the instructions in the manual, I drove the vehicle carefully to the auto part store. I purchased and added 6 quarts of synthetic blend 5W 30 oil. After that, the rattling in the engine seized. I sent a text message to Kia in Alpharetta, GA. I spoke with Izzy and explained the situation and requested an appointment to have an oil consumption test performed. She advised that the oil consumption test had a $440 cost and consisted of performing a series of oil changes over the course of a specified time to determine how much oil the vehicle was burning/consuming. She said I could call consumer affairs and I asked her if she was referring to Kia consumer affairs or the national/federal consumer affairs. She verified it was the national/federal consumer affairs and provided me with this number to call 1-888-327-4236 which actually belongs to Kia's consumer affairs hotline. Izzy advised that I had pending recalls in my car and asked why I have not brought the car in. I mentioned that I live in Ball Ground, GA and the nearest Kia dealership to me is the one in Woodstock, GA. However, I stopped taking my car there because I previously took the car there to get the oil changes done and each time I did the car would have a nail in one of the tires a couple days after the service. I lost confidence in the dealership. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11642054). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11642054. 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.