[achr]

As we all know, the Niro has an abundance of beeps, chimes, horns, etc.

The first time I accidentally hit the panic button, I went, oh no, the Niro has one of those crappy sounding obnoxious horns. Then one day I actually hit the horn and it is a lovely dual musical tone, similar to American cars of yore. Yeah!

My question is this. When locking the doors with the button on the outside of the door or with the Key Fob, there is a pretty wimpy sounding little Beep which is difficult to hear if you are any distance away from the Niro. That's not great if you are ever wondering whether you actually locked the car before departing and want reassurance without having to walk back close to the vehicle to check.

Does anyone know if the Niro can be reprogrammed to use the louder Panic Alarm Sound or better still, the Niro's Horn for a few millisecond blast when locking the doors? That's what sounds on my other vehicle and it can be heard from at least 50 to 100 feet away even though the tone burst is very short.

 

[Nouseformonkeys]

I sometimes use the lock notification to help me locate my car in a mall parking lot, but the Niro’s subtle beeps make it impossible to hear from the next aisle over. I end up noticing the flashing lights before I hear the chirps. It would be nice to switch it to the horn. In the other hand, the chirps are not as obnoxious as the horn when you’re standing right next to the car.

 

[lafe005]

Hi Achr, i do not think you can change the sound when locking doors with the remote. alot of recent kia's vehicule's has not the same sound when locking the doors.!

 

[yticolev]

Personally, I think there should be a law against horn chirping. I don't want to know from three blocks away that someone just locked or unlocked their car. If you cannot lock the car with the button, you can simply observe your headlight flash with the key fob. To locate your car, get a smart phone and use Google. Same beef with car alarms, flashing lights are good enough along with an internet notification. 99% plus of all car alarms are false alarms and just makes anyone listening to it wish they had a shotgun to put the car out of its misery. I've heard thousands of car alarms, never seen a theft attempt.

 

[Mal]

^Amen......

 

[judyn]

I agree that horn honking for locking and unlocking should be illegal! One day our Niro decided to set off its alarm in the garage with the garage door closed and we were inside. I really hate those alarms! I would prefer to turn them off. Maybe I can? So many settings -- I just love that!

 

[perk1329]

is it possible to lock the car and leave it running so nobody can drive off with it? i’ve always done this with other cars on cold days to warm up the interior but the niro won’t lock and i believe it displays something like “key not in car”. i thought of leaving my spare key in it but i’m not crazy about the idea.

 

[jmurphEV]

is it possible to lock the car and leave it running so nobody can drive off with it? i’ve always done this with other cars on cold days to warm up the interior but the niro won’t lock and i believe it displays something like “key not in car”. i thought of leaving my spare key in it but i’m not crazy about the idea.

There was a thread about this a while back (https://www.kianiroforum.com/forum/9-kia-niro-general-discussion/6837-anyway-lock-door-leave-nior-running.html), here's the deal:

You can do it by way of leaving the electronic part of the key in the car and locking the doors using the metal inside part of the key (inserting it into the handle), taking it with you to unlock the door later. Not ideal as someone looking to steal the car could just break a window and take the vehicle, pet and all. Maybe someone else has a better method?

Yup. But I was wrong. I just tried to confirm this and CoffeeNiro is right. The routine is that you have to be inside the car with the key fob and lock all the doors with the fob or the door button. Then exit via the driver's door (leaving the fob inside), and only the driver's door will be unlocked. You can now lock it with the physical key, and the door buttons will not work. Cool!

Mind you, I didn't try this yet with the car running, but it should work. Hopefully, this solves badyellowvette's problem with potential dognapping! Must have a small dog or a congenial labrador.

First time in 6 months of ownership I've tried the physical key. Took a while as I had two similar keys in my hand I tried first. Glad to know it works.

BTW, the Google search for this forum really works. I found that old thread on the first try. Nice!