[Roadkill401]

I have had myKia Niro for just shy of 2 weeks now. I was loving it but over the past few days it started to drive me nuts. I developed a rattle that just got worse and worse. I had a very hard time to figure it out. It sounded like it was coming from the pasenger side rear, but if you drove around sitting in that spot the noise just didn't occur. As soon as you sat in the front with the rear seats empty the rattle noise came back.



I thought it might have been the seat belts but I figured out there was a small slot that you can put them into so they wouldn't bang. Yet the sound continuded until I reaized that the actual seat top that you sit on was sort of a bit loose. You can lift it up about 1-2mm. If I put something heavy on the seat the noise goes away. Now I have to see if my dealership will take on fixing the problem. You can easily see that seat is loose, but no idea if this is something that will be easy to fix. I assume that the top is removable as isn't that where the batteries are located?

 

[FlNiro]

Don't stress over it. Just take it to the dealer and let them worry about it. That's what the warranty is for. They should give you a loaner if it takes them awhile.

 

[Roadkill401]

sadly is it in my nature and mental state that I just agonize worry about things. I have had a weeks worth of sleepless nights just pondering back and forth about snow tires. I never had them with my old cars up until the last one (my Ford Edge) and seemed to survive, but was convinced that I should have them. I have mainly used Michelin LTX M+S tires that are sort of designed for winter driving but not to the same standard as a snow tire. We have had some bad weather over the past few years. Not so much the snow part of things, but more the warming up and swapping between the +2C to -5C where you tend to get roads with lots of the black ice. Now last year I almost got into a really bad accident even with Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 that the ABS was firing away but the car just kept on going. Luckily for me, the car in front of me kept going even more and We just slid together through the red light intersection.



Now I know this is a totally different car, with almost 2,000lbs less curb weight, so it should drive totally different in snow but my inside voice is still screaming with how it will be on the roads with ice? And if I should go for a year or two to wear down the current Michelin Energy Saver tires and replace them with a far better Nokian WRG3 that is really designed for snow and winter but is also quite energy efficient.

 

[yticolev]

Pull the top of the seat all the way out and back in again. That might fix the rattle. Have a look while it is off to see if there is something else obvious.

Mine cannot rattle because I took it out and built a new load floor. Lightened it up and created a lot more room.

 

[brandent]

My plan is to buy a full second set of rims and mount snow tires on them. Then all you need to do is swap them out spring/fall. Thus you will have great traction in winter AND have the high efficiency tires in summer and the total cost of tires is exactly the same as if you wore out the tires then put a new set on and wore those out. The only thing you're out is the price of a set of rims which are
A) reusable (obvious)
B) can be sold if you ever get rid of the car.

So your long term net out of pocket cost is negligible. The tire store should do the seasonal swap for free if you buy the rims/tires from them. Oh and snow tires aren't just for snow. They are also superior on ice. This particular article gives a very thorough review of several brands.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/winter-tire-test-six-top-brands-tested-compared-feature

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/winter-tire-test-six-top-brands-tested-compared-feature-cold-war-page-2

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/winter-tire-test-six-top-brands-tested-compared-feature-final-scoring-and-performance-data-page-3

 

[FiddlingNiro]

Just bought a set of snow tires for my PHEV. Since we're leasing I chose not to buy the rims since I doubt I will need them at the end of the lease. The fall/spring swap will cost me, however, so I'm still not sure I made the right decision.

 

[yticolev]

I'd ask a couple of tire stores about their policy of swapping tires seasonally. It is possible that if you buy your tires from them, they will have some sort of policy, perhaps extra cost or free to lower your cost. I'm too far south to "have" to have winter tires but they would be nice just to work better in the cold. I asked my tire store but they would charge their normal mount/dismount charge. Tires mounted on an extra set of rims would fit into their lifetime balance and rotation. I don't want the hassle and cost of extra rims so neither option makes financial sense. Although if it prevented one accident...

I added a separate policy for my OEM tires at $80 for road hazard (also included lifetime rotation/balance). Good thing too because I keep whacking the tires on curbs, still not used to the extra width of the car.

 

[Roadkill401]

Back to the original topic. The dealer did replace the plastic clips on the rear seat. Now it fits significantly tighter than it did before. As well, I had told him about the door seeming to rattle as well, and so they took that apart and said that the electric motor assembly for the window was not tightened down completely and that it has movement in it. They fixed that and now the car sounds more normal when driving. I understand that there will be some road noise as you go over bumps and undulations on the road, but the lingering rattle part has now gone.

 

[FlNiro]

I'm glad you got things taken care of. Thanks a lot for the update on the outcome. It stinks when somebody gets us all involved in their problem and then leaves us all hanging and doesn't share the final outcome.

 

[FiddlingNiro]

Yes, glad you got your rattle fixed. Back to your second topic: the seasonal snow tire swap at Costco is $40. At Tires Plus it's $50. Over the life of the tires that adds up. Would've been nice to find a place that does that for free.

 

[yticolev]

Second set of rims, especially used ones, beat the finances on tire remounts.

 

[Roadkill401]

But you also need to ask the question of right now the car shipped with an A/S Michelin X-Green energy saver tire. The tire does have a pretty low rolling resistance, but in turn gives up summer traction, and the "all season" doesn't mean seasons that you'd get any major snow in, rather all the seasons you get in North Carolina, where the summers are not TOO hot, but you really don't get a winter either.


So, you can say that the Michelin X-Green summer energy saver tire is perfect for Florida and Southern California, but what about us who live much further north? We have temps on average below the 35F for about half the year. Yes in the summer it will get above 80 on days, but average is not. So are you far better off to have a different tire that is designed for colder weather? Then I can look to where exactly I live. Yes we do get snow, but the amount we get is generraly not that much and within a day it's cleared off the roads so we at most we are dealing with slush or maybe 1" on the ground. This does not really justify a dedicated snow tire. Actually an M+S rated tire is more than enough for the amounts we are getting.



The cost of an extra set of rims + cost of changing tires twice a year (as for some reason, KIA will rotate from front to back, but charge extra if you are rotating one set of tires off the car, and putting a different set of tires on, even though it amounts to the exact same thing). What about using a different class of tire, the All Weather tire? Something like the Nokian WRG3 or Toyo Celcius

 

[yticolev]

The cost of an extra set of rims + cost of changing tires twice a year (as for some reason, KIA will rotate from front to back, but charge extra if you are rotating one set of tires off the car, and putting a different set of tires on, even though it amounts to the exact same thing).

Rotating tires front and back takes about five minutes. Dismounting tires, mounting tires, balancing is better part of an hour.

If I lived in GTA, I would definitely have a second set of wheels for winter tires. Some 300 miles south where I live, pretty hard to justify winter tires. Another 300 miles south (far north of Florida), you would have to be nuts to consider winter tires.

 

[Roadkill401]

Rotating tires front and back takes about five minutes. Dismounting tires, mounting tires, balancing is better part of an hour..

To take off a set of tires, and replace them with another set of tires that are already on rims, and balanced should not take any longer than simply rotating the tires. Sure, if you were using a single set of rims and swapping the tires that would require you to mount and balance, that is a totally different thing. My point was that Kia will under my service plan will rotate tires for free, but I asked the dealer, even if I purchased a new set of snow tires mounted on rims from you, do you swap them out for the summer tires and back again in winter for free as it's on the same schedule as the free rotation. I was told that as they are different tires then there is a $50 fee each time. That is why I called it BS!

 

[yticolev]

Your terminology is ambiguous. Did you tell your dealer you were interested in swapping wheels, or tires?