The 2023 Telluride Towing Saga - Adding some data and pictures, and it's not great news

[tdecurtins]

Agreed. I talked to my salesperson yesterday about my order which is due in on March 4. He already knows I won't take it because I have to have towing (7 pin) and I want the factory package for the leveling. They are as frustrated as customers said orders have really fallen off because towing issue. They are being honest and letting people know they have had 0 2023 tellys come in with towing and they do not have a factory package they can install.
He said another strange though unrelated thing is none of the models are coming in with the universal garage door opener on the rear view mirror. They have to install those at the dealer.

My 23 SX has a homelink mirror and works with my garage door, dealer never mentioned it had to be installed there. I think its only on SX and up.

 

[Tane]

My 23 SX has a homelink mirror and works with my garage door, dealer never mentioned it had to be installed there. I think its only on SX and up.

Whew I was going to say wait what!!

Agreed. I talked to my salesperson yesterday about my order which is due in on March 4. He already knows I won't take it because I have to have towing (7 pin) and I want the factory package for the leveling. They are as frustrated as customers said orders have really fallen off because towing issue. They are being honest and letting people know they have had 0 2023 tellys come in with towing and they do not have a factory package they can install.
He said another strange though unrelated thing is none of the models are coming in with the universal garage door opener on the rear view mirror. They have to install those at the dealer.

Can you verify the models affected? home link is standard on SX and up.

 

[Eunos90]

I am using the Curt 59236 harness and splicing into the tail light harness. (Like on the tail light itself)

It seems much easier and reversible to get the signal from there.

I soldered the connections and used waterproof heat shrink tubing because that area does see some water. I ran all of the wires down through the gap on the bottom of the tail light area, under the vehicle, and up through the grommet in the jack area.

I am doing the same as @choosethejuice and wiring it to run off the 12v plug back there. I am going to change the fuse in the plug out with a 10amp just in case. For now, the module will just hang out under the trunk floor area, and just drape the wire out of the hatch when needed.

When the OEM harness comes out I plan to replace the tail light harness, they are like ~$50 each.

Excuse the wiring. All I had laying around in that length was pink , red, and grey thick gxl wire. You could use much thinner wire as their should not be much current.

 

[dmc346]

Does anyone know what the blank wiring plugs inside the bumper cover are for, they have blank plugs inserted in them.

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[Class action]

I finally got a wiring harness installed!! Tropic Trailer of FT Myers was able to install both the hitch and now 3 months wiring! Aftermarket but it works. ETrailer shows "For Vehicles with tow package" but my 23 telly did not have tow package worked. They would not say whether they could do it until they actually had the vehicle and did an inspection.
Tropic Trailer is great to work with! Will only do things the right way! They installed hitch in December but at that time didn't have enough info on Telluride trailer wiring and previous Telluride towing issues.
KIA screwed us but aftermarket comes to the rescue. Purposeful deception on KIA's part!
Tropic Trailer of Ft Myers. Miss Kate will take great care of you. Installed for under $150!!!

 

[G-863056]

 Etrailer has a FAQ that lists a wiring harness for the 2023. It mentions that there is a wiring harness located behind the driver's-side interior trim panel in the rear cargo area. Can anyone confirm if this is accurate?

There is only a plug that is in there that is inline on a 2023, not the one that use to be there with a dust cover on it. I have no idea how I'm going to wire mine up either. This is a bunch of BS for sure. Why did they replace this with something that was working just fine???

 

[Bismark]

I finally got a wiring harness installed!! Tropic Trailer of FT Myers was able to install both the hitch and now 3 months wiring! Aftermarket but it works. ETrailer shows "For Vehicles with tow package" but my 23 telly did not have tow package worked. They would not say whether they could do it until they actually had the vehicle and did an inspection.
Tropic Trailer is great to work with! Will only do things the right way! They installed hitch in December but at that time didn't have enough info on Telluride trailer wiring and previous Telluride towing issues.
KIA screwed us but aftermarket comes to the rescue. Purposeful deception on KIA's part!
Tropic Trailer of Ft Myers. Miss Kate will take great care of you. Installed for under $150!!!

Pics?

 

[jrichard]

I've appreciated everyone sharing their experience and pictures in this forum.

Here's some more bad news on wiring harness options.

I was hopeful that the Tekonsha splice-less flat-4 harness (part #118881) would become available sooner than the factory option in the USA.

However, that does not appear to be the case. This is unavailable anywhere. I had multiple orders canceled. eTrailer provided this additional info when cancelling my order for their equivalent part number TK22VR

Thank you for your patience while we've worked toward an update in regard to the item that you've been waiting on.

I've spoken to the manufacturer directly and items such as these are taking an incredible amount of time to procure. With limitations to the materials needed, the small amount of material obtained has been focused on new product development. At this time, this product will now be no longer available and all pending orders have been cancelled. We do apologize for the extended wait and are sorry that we were not able to provide the part you needed and waited for.

Your current order has been cancelled and a separate email confirmation will be sent. Any pending charges have been voided.

We look forward to assisting you with any future needs.

Thank you,

Tiffany H.

I have a Canadian Hyundai Palisade wiring harness on order and was told that is 4-5 weeks out as they are awaiting shipment.

I'm going to install the 2022 factory hitch (thanks to others for all the pictures) and either wait out the Canadian harness or more likely solder the Curt 59236 as shown in post #163 by @Eunos90

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[2020Telly]

Not that this is any sort of fix for current 2023 owners who need a solution right now, but I just thought I would share. The original bumper design on the first Tellurides started arriving in dealerships in February 2019 and there was no OEM hitch option available for my S when I took delivery in March 2019. Other owners who needed to tow right away got creative and had some custom made in Canada. I was finally able to purchase the OEM parts (hitch, harness and the bumper cover) in late July 2019. Then after that plenty of aftermarket options came out (none for the bumper cover though). The aftermarket hitches mostly require some trimming which made me think they were originally designed for the Palisade. So that's less than 6 months before the issue was behind me (at least until this recall issue). I can't remember when the 2023 with the new bumpers started arriving but I feel like it was Fall 2022? So if history repeats itself you might be a month or two away from having everything you need. Of course times are different now that everyone blames the pandemic and supply chain for everything.

I can sympathize as I had a brand new Telluride in my garage with no hitch and aggravated that I had to spend money to rent a truck to tow with my trailer. Luckily, I had a misprint in the manual for a max tongue weight to distract me. Very grateful for this forum.

 

[Class action]

Pics?

Don't have useful pictures. But Etrailer shows 2-3 models of harness for 23 Telluride "with tow package". I don't have the tow package but it worked! Towed today with no issues.

 

[2020Telly]

Don't have useful pictures. But Etrailer shows 2-3 models of harness for 23 Telluride "with tow package". I don't have the tow package but it worked! Towed today with no issues.

Did you pay $150 to have them splice in a 4 flat or a 7 round? I think the plug and play 4 flat harness might work on a non-XLine or non XPro-2023. Splicing in is completely acceptable way but I think most people are hoping for the plug and play that was meant to work with the 2023 along with the bumper cover and hitch to fit the new style bumper.

 

[Class action]

Did you pay $150 to have them splice in a 4 flat or a 7 round? I think the plug and play 4 flat harness might work on a non-XLine or non XPro-2023. Splicing in is completely acceptable way but I think most people are hoping for the plug and play that was meant to work with the 2023 along with the bumper cover and hitch to fit the new style bumper.

4 flat. No, I repeat no plug and play will work on 23' Telluride at least ex. That is as per Kia and 3 installation facilities! A kia response to my outrage communication said "there is no plan for a retrofit plug and play wiring fix. It is not the direction they are looking in for a solution"!
Here is what mine looks like. I don't think the installation looks bad. Don't know about a new bumper cover or different style hitch. Hitch for 22' Telluride fit.

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[Counselor]

Just installed this Curt hitch and harness on my 21 Telluride. less than 1/2 the price of OEM through the stealership. View attachment 29678

New cover piece same vetch.

 

[Counselor]

New cover piece same vetch.View attachment 29856

View attachment 29857

 

[Tane]

New cover piece same vetch.View attachment 29856

Is that a 2023?

 

[G-210839]

Received a message from etrailer that harness TK22VR is for Hyundai palisade only, will not work for 2023 Kia Telluride

Well they also said that no hitch they have will fit a 23 Telluride but guess what it does. They are only looking at a computer screen. If you go to the Tekonsha website it states Telluride. But too late now it is on backorder.

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[joespara]

Installed a factory 2022 hitch and aftermarket universal 4 pin plug adapted to a 7 pin receiver on my 2023 AWD S. I still need to clean up my cuts on the cover plate but so far not too bad.

 

[Sharky]

Installed a factory 2022 hitch and aftermarket universal 4 pin plug adapted to a 7 pin receiver on my 2023 AWD S. I still need to clean up my cuts on the cover plate but so far not too bad.View attachment 29952View attachment 29953 View attachment 29951

Looks good. Did you splice into the tail light / brake light wires?

 

[joespara]

Looks good. Did you splice into the tail light / brake light wires?

yes, I was very careful so i can remove them easily if I need to

 

[John Jacobsen]

yes, I was very careful so i can remove them easily if I need to

Nice job - looks good - we might all be doing this if a wiring harness doesn't get released soon. I have the '22 factory hitch on mine and waiting on the Hyundai Canada Palisade 7-pin harness on backorder from 2 separate sources. When you did the conversion did you pick up a reverse feed and wire it in also? I'll need that for my boat trailer brake reverse solenoid. Boating season is only a month away here so I'll have to have something worked out by then.