Several Kia Telluride customers report the headlights on their SUVs being too dim, leading to them being unable to sufficiently illuminate the road and safely navigate in dark and inclement conditions. Specifically, drivers report very poor peripheral visibility when using the normal headlights. 

The issue appears to affect both the 2020 and 2021 Telluride, and only the lower-end models within each line (the ES, LX, and S models) as the higher-end (SX) models are equipped with brighter, LED lights. However, on the 2022 Telluride model, even the highest tier experiences the dim-ness problem. 

Indeed, the IIHS, a vehicle safety rating organization, rated the 2020 Kia Telluride’s headlights poorly in the lower-end Telluride models, and limited its safety award only to the Kia models without the dim headlights. Kia has not acknowledged any issue and does not appear to be replacing headlights under warranty. 

Combined with the known defect causing the vehicle’s high-beam headlights to cease working, some drivers are left with very dim normal headlights, and no option to increase visibility in dark conditions with broken high-beams.  

Kia’s warranty manual includes an arbitration provision that requires consumers to exhaust Kia’s arbitration procedures before pursuing claims elsewhere, and no class action waiver.

Nissan settled a similar lawsuit in 2021 over allegations that Nissan’s 2013-2018 Altima headlights are defectively dim.