Towing Question on Telluride with Factory Harness

[Big Daddy]

I’m hoping to get some information here, because the dealer I’m working with appears to be clueless. I bought a 2023 Telluride SX X-Line in January of 2023. Hitches and harnesses weren’t available and still weren’t in June when I needed one to pull a travel trailer.

The Sales Manager gave me a local hitch installer to put on a Curt hitch and harness. The setup pulls great, but I have to disable parking and rear safety alarms every time I tow.
I spoke to a service manager, who is no longer with the dealer and he recommended that I get the factory harness installed. I have it in the shop, but they tell me the Kia harness won’t disable any safety systems.

Can anyone that tows with a factory harness confirm that they do or don’t have to do anything other than put the vehicle in tow mode when pulling a trailer?

 

[dtburgh]

i put on my own oem hitch and harness, and it indeed does disable the back up alarms.

dealers dont know shite..

 

[Big Daddy]

Thank you for confirming and I agree. Their latest call was to tell me Kia required a new latch assembly with harness install. When I responded that the service bulletin stated that Kia would incur the parts and labor, they replied that Kia would only pay if the hitch and harness were installed.

 

[dtburgh]

Thank you for confirming and I agree. Their latest call was to tell me Kia required a new latch assembly with harness install. When I responded that the service bulletin stated that Kia would incur the parts and labor, they replied that Kia would only pay if the hitch and harness were installed.

Ugh yes. The latch. I and others never changed that and its working as it should. Nobody could ever say why it needed to be changed but if it does, Kia should pay for it to be installed. I like these cars but im really tired of taking it in for repairs/recalls. Ridiculous

______________________________

 

[Big Daddy]

To wrap this up, I picked up my Telluride this afternoon and the service department had installed the OEM harness and connected my brake controller to it. I went directly to my travel trailer and made sure everything worked. It did, and as dtburgh mentions above, the OEM harness absolutely did disable the rear parking sensor, parking safety, and reverse safety systems when tow mode was activated. This will make my camping trips much easier in the future!

 

[Vincenzo]

I know for a fact. Your trailer harness has to be connected in order for the alarms to be disabled. I tried to move a neighbor’s boat. His harness was a four pin. The Telluride has a 7 pin. It would not back up without the harness connected.

 

[OldPilot]

I have the factory 7 pin harness and have no issues. I do not, though, have a brake controller connected.