Kia America has announced a new recall affecting close to 463,000 of its Telluride SUVs, asking owners to keep their vehicles parked outside and away from any structures after a number of customers reported fires even after a previous repair was performed.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the recall this week, noting it replaces an earlier recall Kia put in place in 2024. The affected vehicles include certain Telluride models from the 2020 through 2024 model years. According to the NHTSA, the front power seat motor in these SUVs can overheat when the seat’s slide knob becomes stuck.
That overheating creates a risk of fire whether the vehicle is parked or in motion. Although Kia introduced a fix in 2024, recall documents show that multiple customers later filed complaints about fires breaking out beneath the passenger seat. After investigating vehicles that had already received the earlier repair, the automaker found what it described as “sporadic dealer workmanship issues” — and ultimately decided a new recall was necessary.
From October 2024 through April 2026, Kia North America’s safety office documented 18 incidents involving either localized fires in the seat area or melting of the seat motor, according to recall documents. No injuries or crashes have been linked to the defect.
The solution under the new recall will involve dealers installing an electronic fuse assembly at no cost to the owner. This component is designed to cut power to the seat motor if its switch becomes dislodged or damaged, preventing the overheating issue from occurring. A dealer notice published by the NHTSA indicates the repair will be available beginning in early August, and letters notifying owners are scheduled to be sent out starting August 13.
Until that repair is available, the NHTSA is advising owners to “park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete.”
Representatives for Kia America, which is headquartered in Irvine, California and operates as a subsidiary of the larger South Korean automaker, did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
The recall covers 462,869 Tellurides from model years 2020 to 2024 that were built between January 9, 2019 and May 29, 2024. Kia America estimates that roughly 1% of those vehicles actually have the defect. Owners can check whether their specific vehicle is included by visiting the NHTSA website or Kia’s own recall lookup tool.
