‘The seats were catching on fire’: Driver ignores warning, gets 2024 Kia Telluride. She can’t believe what happens only 2 months in

A woman recently went viral on TikTok after warning her audience against purchasing a Kia Telluride. 

In her clip which has gained 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 guys told me, don’t get a Kia,” she begins. “What did I do? I got a Kia, I got the 2024 Kia Telluride.”

Desmarais admits that she went for the purchase because she liked the way it looked, and she knew friends who owned the model. However, things quickly went downhill.

“I’ve had the car maybe two months,” she explains. “Month one, the passenger door handle falls off…sorry, it doesn’t fall off. It was hanging by a wire.” 

Desmarais says she chalked up the issue as a “random defect” and fixed it quickly, but more problems soon emerged.

 “A week later, I’m driving, my entire dash lights up. The speedometer stops working… the lights on my shift don’t work,” she states. “So I don’t know if I’m in park or drive… I lose power steering. The car becomes very heavy and then it’ll fix itself—sometimes after five minutes, sometimes after two hours.”

Frustrated, she made an appointment to have it fixed but had to postpone. The next morning, while driving to a prenatal appointment, the situation worsened.

“My car just stops,” she recalls. “It’s still on, but again the dash lights up, and now my car is locked in drive, but it’s actually in park. So I can’t go anywhere.”

Forced to put on her hazards and direct traffic around her during rush hour, she describes how she had to cancel her prenatal appointment and pay $140 for a tow to the dealership—which was only five minutes away.

Her Kia Telluride is under recall

Desmarais also shares another alarming issue. 

“When I was getting this car, everyone [was] telling me, ‘Be careful, the driver seats are catching on fire,’” she says. “400,000 Tellurides were being recalled because the seats were catching on fire.”

She asked the dealership if her car was part of the recall and was allegedly told, “No, ma’am… We’re legally not allowed to give you a car that is part of the recall.”

But only 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 you hopefully won’t die,” she says, frustrated.

Desmarais is now asking for advice from car experts. “What are my options here?” she asks. “Sure, it’s under warranty… but I don’t want a car that you sold me that was broken… I don’t want your good-as-new car. I want a different car.”

Even more frustratingly, Desmarais says that the loaner car provided by the dealership while they figure out the issue is the same Nissan Rogue she traded in for the Kia. 

“Can you believe I’m back in my car?” she exclaims, sharing how she never had issues with the Rogue during 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 issues common with Kia Tellurides?

According to Kelly Blue Book, there are currently three active safety recalls for the 2024 Kia Telluride.

One recall involves the risk of the vehicle rolling away while in park, another concerns a loss of drive power that increases the risk of a crash or fire, and the third, which Desmarais mentioned, involves seats that could catch on 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​. Right now, the model has a 3.5 out of 5 stars on Edmunds consumer reviews. 

@melissadesm Don’t get a Kia Telluride, they said. It’ll be non-stop problems, they said. THEY WERE RIGHT. I know they didn’t knowingly sell me a lemon but now that I have a lemon, what do I do? ☠️🚙. #newcar #kiatelluride #carsalesmen #storytime ♬ original sound – Melissa Desm

In the comments, some users suggest how the TikToker should proceed, while others disagree with her assessment of Kia Tellurides. 

“Lemon law,” advised one user. “Call their customer service line and saw you want to enact the lemon law. I did it for my Kia sportage because it died a bunch. I hope you get something safer!”

“Two words. Toyota Highlander(or the Grand Highlander if you want a bit more space,” suggested a second.

“I love my Kia telluride,” stated a third. 

The Daily Dot has reached out to Melissa Desmarais (@lovesss_youu24) via email and Instagram direct message. We’ve also contacted Kia via email for further information. 

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