Kia Telluride dashboard screens go blank while driving, new class action alleges

Thomas Bicek filed a class action lawsuit against Kia America Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on July 31, 2026. The suit alleges the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster in model year 2023-2025 Kia Tellurides can flicker, corrupt or go dark without warning, cutting drivers off from their speed, fuel level and safety alerts.

Screen failure allegedly affects multiple vehicle features

Bicek says he bought a used 2023 Telluride from an authorized Kia dealership in Willowbrook, Illinois, around March 2025. Shortly afterward, he claims the digital instrument display partially went out with no warning.

With no backup analog gauges, the failure allegedly left Bicek without ways to monitor speed, fuel level, turn-signal status, tire-pressure readings and malfunction warnings, as well as alerts from driver-assistance features, including forward collision-avoidance assist, lane-keeping assist and blind-spot collision warnings. The screen can reportedly cut out at startup or mid-drive. Some come back on their own while others need a software update or a new cluster assembly that does not always fix the problem, Bicek alleges.

The filing cites complaints Telluride owners across all three model years logged with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration describing black screens, missing speedometers and lack of driver-assistance alerts.

Kia's earlier recalls

Kia recalled Tellurides three times over blank cluster screens, but none of them affected the 12.3-inch display, the proposed class action claims.

The earlier campaigns include:

  • SC215, July 2021, about 5,143 2022 Tellurides with a 3.5-inch cluster, traced to a software error affecting display startup
  • SC237, 2022, about 3,596 more 2022 Tellurides, traced to excess adhesive on a circuit board
  • SC270, May 2023, several 2023 models, traced to a booting error that could hide federally required indicators, covering a specific 4.2-inch Telluride cluster part number

What the complaint says Kia knew

Kia identified the root cause before the class vehicles reached buyers through presale road and stress testing, internal reports, warranty repair data and its complaint databases, the lawsuit alleges. Federal early warning rules require automakers to flag emerging safety defects to regulators.

However, Kia did not issue a recall or reliable fix for the 12.3-inch cluster and continued selling the vehicles, the complaint claims.

The legal claims

The suit brings five counts against Kia America:

  • Breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, claiming a vehicle whose only gauge display can fail mid-drive is arguably unfit for ordinary use
  • Fraudulent omission, alleging the company hid a known safety defect from buyers who would have paid less or walked away
  • California Unfair Competition Law, barring unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices
  • Unjust enrichment, stating Kia profits on the vehicles and on the repairs owners allegedly pay for later
  • Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, covering Illinois buyers and lessees

What this means for Kia Telluride buyers

Bicek seeks to represent everyone who bought or leased a model year 2023 through 2025 Telluride along with a subclass of Illinois buyers and lessees. He asks for compensatory damages, restitution and disgorgement plus an order requiring Kia to disclose the defect and provide an effective fix.

As of this writing, there is no settlement, no claims process and no money available.