by A woman recently went viral on TikTok after warning her audience against purchasing a Kia Telluride.
In her clip, which has 1.2 million views at the time of writing, TikTok user Melissa Desmarais (@lovesss_youu24) shares her struggles with her brand new 2024 Kia Telluride.
“You told me: don’t take a Kia,” she begins. “What have I done? I have a Kia, I have the 2024 Kia Telluride.
Desmarais admits she bought it because she liked the way it looked, and she knew friends who owned the model. However, things went downhill quickly.
“I’ve had the car for maybe two months,” she explains. “Month one, the passenger door handle is falling off…sorry, it’s not falling off. It was hanging by a thread.”
Desmarais says she labeled the problem a “random defect” and quickly resolved it, but more problems soon emerged.
“A week later, when I’m driving, my entire dashboard lights up. The speedometer stopped working… the lights on my shift don’t work,” she says. “So I don’t know if I’m in park or drive mode… I’m losing power steering. The car becomes very heavy and then recovers itself, sometimes after five minutes, sometimes after two hours.”
Frustrated, she made an appointment to have it repaired, but had to postpone it. The next morning, as we drove to a prenatal appointment, the situation worsened.
“My car just stops,” she remembers. “It’s still on, but the dashboard lights up again, and now my car is locked, but it’s actually in park. So I can’t go anywhere.”
Forced to take risks during rush hour and direct traffic around her, she describes how she had to cancel her prenatal appointment and pay $140 for a tow to the dealership — which was just five minutes away.
Her Kia Telluride is being recalled
Desmarais also shares another alarming problem.
“When I got this car, everyone [was] and said to me, ‘Be careful, the driver’s seats are on fire,'” she says. “400,000 Tellurides were recalled because the seats caught fire.”
She asked the dealer if her car was part of the recall and was reportedly told, “No, ma’am… We are not legally allowed to give you a car that is part of the recall.”
But just a month after purchasing the car, she received a recall notice in the mail.
“Your car is part of a recall… please bring it in so we can fix it and hopefully you won’t die,” she says in frustration.
Desmarais is now seeking advice from car experts. “What are my options here?” she asks. “Sure, it’s under warranty…but I don’t want a car you sold me that was broken…I don’t want your car that’s like new. I want another car.”
Even more frustrating, Desmarais says the loaner car provided by the dealer while they figure out the problem is the same Nissan Rogue she traded in for the Kia.
“Can you believe I’m back in my car?” she exclaims, saying she never had any problems with the Rogue in the eight years she owned it.
“If I didn’t need something bigger with a second baby on the way, I’d say just keep that car, give me the difference of the money back and give me my car back,” Desmarais concludes.
Are these problems common on Kia Tellurides?
According to Kelly Blue bookthere are currently three active recalls for the 2024 Kia Telluride.
One recall concerns the risk of the vehicle rolling away while in park, another concerns a loss of motive power increasing the chance of an accident or fire, and the third, which Desmarais mentioned , these are chairs that could catch fire.
While the 2024 Telluride has received positive reviews for its design and features, these recalls and mechanical issues have raised concerns about the model’s reliability. Currently, the model has 3.5 out of 5 stars in Edmunds consumer reviews.
@melissadesm Don’t buy a Kia Telluride, they said. It will be non-stop trouble, they said. They were right. I know they didn’t knowingly sell me a lemon, but what do I do now that I have a lemon? ☠️🚙. #newcar #kiatelluride #carsalesmen #storytime ♬ original sound – Melissa Desm
In the comments, some users suggest how the TikToker should move forward, while others disagree with her assessment of Kia Tellurides.
“Lemon law,” one user advised. “Call their customer service and saw that you wanted to implement the lemon law. I did it for my Kia sportage because it died a few times. I hope you get something safer!”
‘Two words. Toyota Highlander (or the Grand Highlander if you want a bit more space,” a second suggested.
“I love my Kia telluride,” said a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to Melissa Desmarais (@lovesss_youu24) via email and direct message on Instagram. We also contacted Kia via email for more information.
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