[Bigmura]

I've had my Niro for about 6 mo. now and love it... Just drove today all the way from Atlanta to Cincinnati and just commented to my husband what a champ it is. And then, after dinner, going to where we're staying, on comes the "Check Hybrid System. Turn off Engine" light, flashing, with an alarm (a sweet little chime, but an alarm nonetheless). What the...? I'm 500 miles from home....!?

I've tried googling for info about how serious this warning is. Basically it just says, "something is wrong with the hybrid system...could be anything... get it checked out." My main question...could it be related to the ridiculously cold temps outside? (it's 16 degrees here and dropping...high tomorrow is supposed to be 12 and low of 1.)

Any advice? I'm gonna call the Kia dealer in the morning, but wondering if anyone has experience with this. THanks.

 

[hackenfort]

It was - 16 here this week, most of the last two weeks have been single digits my Niro had no issues. Hope the dealer can sort it out for you

 

[Bigmura]

Welp...good news and bad news.

First of all mad props to King Kia in Cincinnati for "squeezing me in" today as a result of my sob story (stuck 500 miles from home and need to get back tomorrow). They were slammed due to the polar freeze creating lots of problems...but they tried, and DID, get to my car eventually.

Good news: they didn't find anything wrong.
Bad news: they didn't find anything wrong...... and said the sensors generally don't go off if there's nothing wrong. But they can't find anything wrong so they said "hopefully" I should be good to go.
SOOOOoo, we are planning to leave in the morning and try to get back to Atlanta. I'm PRAYING that we make it without issue. And then I'll take it back to my own dealer in ATL.

I'll keep y'all posted!

 

[eddarrah]

Welp...good news and bad news.

First of all mad props to King Kia in Cincinnati for "squeezing me in" today as a result of my sob story (stuck 500 miles from home and need to get back tomorrow). They were slammed due to the polar freeze creating lots of problems...but they tried, and DID, get to my car eventually.

Good news: they didn't find anything wrong.
Bad news: they didn't find anything wrong...... and said the sensors generally don't go off if there's nothing wrong. But they can't find anything wrong so they said "hopefully" I should be good to go.
SOOOOoo, we are planning to leave in the morning and try to get back to Atlanta. I'm PRAYING that we make it without issue. And then I'll take it back to my own dealer in ATL.

I'll keep y'all posted!

I've heard of this happening on Kia hybrids, Toyotas, Hyundais, and every time, after turning the car off and next start up, problem/error code went away. It likely sensed a glitch ONCE, and it was just a "glitch"............. 99.999% likely everything is fine now.

 

[Ovenproofcorgi]

Hey! Not sure if they checked this at your dealership, but on www.reddit.com/r/kianiro someone had this issue as well and said it was a short with the electrical system. Once that was fixed the issue went away.

 

[Griswald]

That same kind of message showed up on my Ford Fusion Hybrid. It was a glitch also.

Were not alone...

 

[caphilibosian]

Welp...good news and bad news.

First of all mad props to King Kia in Cincinnati for "squeezing me in" today as a result of my sob story (stuck 500 miles from home and need to get back tomorrow). They were slammed due to the polar freeze creating lots of problems...but they tried, and DID, get to my car eventually.

Good news: they didn't find anything wrong.
Bad news: they didn't find anything wrong...... and said the sensors generally don't go off if there's nothing wrong. But they can't find anything wrong so they said "hopefully" I should be good to go.
SOOOOoo, we are planning to leave in the morning and try to get back to Atlanta. I'm PRAYING that we make it without issue. And then I'll take it back to my own dealer in ATL.

I'll keep y'all posted!

Got the same problem.
They don't find any problem.. that's they always say. I've been a lot on dealership with the same result.
I've bee escalated this issue to KIA USA, but unfortunately, im still waiting for them until now.

 

[Thosbryan]

Same problem. Vehicle got the alarm and would not start. Towed to dealer. Was told that I must have left a door open all night in the bitter cold and discharged the battery. I guess they charged it up and got the car back the next day. One day later, same problem. They had the car for a week. Supposedly a connector had bad pins and the cold caused the metal to contract so bad connection. They worked on the connector and sent me on my way. Another alarm. Vehicle will go back tomorrow. Getting ready to file for lemon law fix to the problem. My guess is electrical short or component failure caused by extreme weather.

 

[Thosbryan]

Update on hybrid system alarm

Just got my Niro back after third attempt to correct the hybrid system alert message. They ended up replacing the battery control module. Will see what happens if the weather stays cold. I think somehow it is a cold weather related issue. Contacted the State of Md consumer protection division re. Lemon law. Did as they suggested and sent registered letter to kia in Irvine, ca describing the problem. They got back to me immediately and told me that they would be working with my local dealer to try to resolve the problem. Upper level Kia has been very impressive with constant updates to me as to what is going on. Will update again if this latest fix solves the problem.

 

[yticolev]

Nice response from Kia. I tried to call them a few days ago about a technical question local Kia service could not answer, and couldn't find an appropriate number or option to reach customer service. If I really need help if I'm so unfortunate to end up with a lemon, I'll contact them that way too. I actually looked up Ohio's lemon law before I purchased it. I'm hopeful that the 2018s have exorcised all the known bugs from the 2017 model year.

This won't make you feel any better to be the outlier, but Consumer Reports ranked the Niro as the most reliable car sold. I take that with a huge grain of salt as they rely on reports from their members. Seems to me in October 2017, they would have to have had a very small and thus unreliable sample size. Perhaps they should have leveraged that ranking off of the Hyundai Ioniq with the same powertrain. I certainly read about lots of issues with the Ioniq powertrain on the forums.
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability/10-most-reliable-cars/

 

[Chis2k]

Interested in seeing how these issues are handled! Yes Consumer Reports rated it high but really, it hasn't been out that long enough to get a concise report. Keep us all posted on these issues...that's why we are all part of this forum!

 

[overboostin]

had the same issue back in december of last year. after a few days they found that the harness under the steering colum was rubbing and shorted out the comunitcation line causing the errors.
According to kia corp they where going to correct the issues on future cars by rerouting the harness. Kia usa tech was involved in the diagnosis and repair.

 

[Cranium79]

Had the same issue, and the conclusion was that the gas cap was not properly fitted. In NJ the gas attendants are not always careful in screwing the gas caps in all the way. That what caused my issue and when I first saw the check engine light I freaked out. Good to always check the gas cap first with these check engine light since its the easy one to cross out.

 

[abradacabra]

Cold start at -10degC or colder; I noticed that the car tried to start the engine several times in short bursts and then gave an error message. Something about 'check hybrid system and restart'. A restart resulted in successful engine startup and everything was fine after that. This has happened twice to me in a short period of time. Today we had -20degC in the morning and I was expecting same issues but everything was fine.

I will bring the car to the first voluntary, cold climate related, service next week. Let's see if they can find anything.

 

[abradacabra]

I was at the voluntary/optional service at 1000 miles. They changed the oil and checked the codes. The start problem was logged by the system, so they could see what had happened.
We discussed the issue and the service guy said that they changed the oil to 'something more suitable to our climate' which makes me wonder what the original oil was. They mentioned a software update from last year that should have fixed this issue but I already had the latest software version.

The issue has not returned since but obviously I have not been able to drive that much since then.

 

[Deep Cerulean]

March 11, 2018
Day 1 - Test Drove the Deep Cerulean EX. Liked it other than two dash lights came on. Was told at the dealership that is was an environmental sensor and that the gas cap wasn't screwed on correctly. Oregon, like NJ - can't pump your own gas, common engine light issue.
Decided to lease the vehicle. Driving off the lot, no service lights on. Thought all was well. Until mile 58. Lights came on again. Immediately called the dealer. They said not to worry. Keep driving. If the light isn't blinking and no chimes, I would not need to stop driving the vehicle. Great. I just have 400 miles to go until my destination.
I average 40MPG. Filled up with about 11 gallons. I go to start the vehicle, and another message pops up. Battery Management System error. I register the issue on my UVO app and contact the nearest Kia Dealer first thing in the morning.
March 12, 2018
Day 2 - The certified Niro Technician who checks me in has a horrified look when I tell him the issue. He just got done with a similar problem that required all new wiring harnesses. That customer was out a month before it could all be completed.
He scans the code, good news, not the same issue as the previous customer. Bad news, he doesn't know for sure the problem without Kia Support. Won't know until tomorrow what the issue is. I get a loaner car. Subaru Outback. Not bad, but I like the Niro better.
March 13, 2018
Day 3 - Kia gets back to the servicing dealer. Looks like a bad BMS Module. Unit is on back order in the US. Technician will request emergency request.
March 14th, 2018
Day 4 - No News....Waiting Patiently.
March 15th, 2018
Day 5 - No News .... Patience is starting to wane. The dealer who sold me the Niro was wanting to do something for me. So far, their favor seems to be taking more of my money "discounting" accessories for the Kia Sorento that we had bought on the same day.

 

[yticolev]

You can pump your own gas in NJ now! Oregon is all alone.

 

[fredct]

You can pump your own gas in NJ now! Oregon is all alone.

Other way around. NJ is all alone.

 

[Deep Cerulean]

Day 6 - Tomorrow I get my Niro back. The new BMS module came in quicker than expected. Hopefully no problems.

 

[yticolev]

Other way around. NJ is all alone.

Oops!