[Rita&Ben]

not sure where to begin on this post.
we purchased our NIRO 12-31-18, loved the car, great gas mileage, plenty of bells and whistles for the price..
within two weeks started hearing a noise, sort of a grinding noise (sounded like we had a tree limb hung up under the car) that would come and go, ignored for a couple of days hoped it was an anomaly. Took car to dealer they said it was buildup on rotors “hit the brakes hard and it will clean it off”, ok, tried that no change, took car back said that it was part of the “regen” system normal sound. Ok, noise started being steady and very annoying. Finally after two more complaints they said leave the car and we will drive it and see what’s going on. One of the techs drove the car and said he had no idea what the problem was and that they were going to call in a KIA engineer to diagnose the problem, this was after the car had been at dealer for two weeks, he finally shows up and said replace the transmission, this is a new car with less than 20K miles. It was the end of October when we took the car to dealer they called December 17 and said car was ready. (BTW, we did have a loaner car all this time) long story short the car is now a mess, you can be driving at speed and the car will start slowing down and it finally stops. we are in contact with a lawyer. Terribly disappointed

 

[jmurphEV]

That sucks. Sounds like you're looking at a lemon. Hopefully you can get sorted out without too much additional aggravation.

 

[charlesH]

Just take it to the dealer.

 

[TheSilverFlash]

Well that sucks. Sorry to hear about the troubles. That has probably soured you on the Niro. If it helps, by and large it has been very reliable for most of us. There’s several reports of folks with over 150k and even 200k miles and still going strong. The chances of getting another are very slim.

 

[gjlost]

Please keep us posted on the outcome. This sounds more like a dealer problem than a car problem. Unbolt and remove bad part; insert and bolt-in new part; shouldn't take weeks or months.

 

[jmurphEV]

Please keep us posted on the outcome. This sounds more like a dealer problem than a car problem. Unbolt and remove bad part; insert and bolt-in new part; shouldn't take weeks or months.

10 years ago I would have agreed with you. Unfortunately replacing the transmission in a modern car is a lot more involved than remove and replace. In the Niro for example, all of the hybrid control bits including the on-board charger are mounted on top of the transmission. It's pretty likely that all has to be removed prior to the tranny, meaning pretty much every high voltage cable has to be disconnected. Lest we forget, these are not intended to be serviced over the life of the car. Alright, now we can disconnect the connectors to the transmission itself. Is there an external cooler? Might have to unhook that too. Now, you have to remove all of the driveshaft bits which in a front wheel drive car usually involves disassembling the front hubs. Also, the steering rack is usually in the way so that has to at least be unbolted and set aside. Ok, now, assuming there is enough room to remove the transmission without unbolting the front subframe you're good to go. Except, it's still connected to the electric traction motor. Now that's unhooked and we can finally remove the tranny. Installation is the reverse of removal. Job done. By a dealer shop mechanic. On a car he rarely sees. Performing a procedure well outside the norm. Good luck. Even with a well trained mechanic the chances of something going sideways is pretty high due to the complexity and the number of systems impacted.

For a car under warranty I would push for a replacement for a problem like this. Too many ways for something else to get broken or otherwise messed up that would cause problems down the road.

 

[Niro.Master.007]

Do the Lemon Law... Then buy a 2020 , and all will be Well

 

[Hazel0017]

OMG this just happened to me! Bought my 2019 Niro Dec 2018 I have 25k on my car. Took in for oil change told the dealer I had a weird scraping noise only when I apply the brakes. They ran tests and called Kia. Kia said replace transmission. Has been at dealership since Thurs 1/2/2020 I guess we will see what happens.

 

[Rita&Ben]

OMG this just happened to me! Bought my 2019 Niro Dec 2018 I have 25k on my car. Took in for oil change told the dealer I had a weird scraping noise only when I apply the brakes. They ran tests and called Kia. Kia said replace transmission. Has been at dealership since Thurs 1/2/2020 I guess we will see what happens.

The reason for my post was to vent my frustrations and to let others on the forum to be aware of this issue. I had been reading the posts about strange noises and trying to diagnose the issue. Turned out to be much more serious than expected.
I am sorry to hear that you are having the same issues and wish you the best of luck in resolving the issue, I will be posting whatever I find out and keep us informed.
‘The dealership we have been dealing with has been understanding and trying to help as much as they can. The only thing that I can find fault with is that they tried to blow us off at our first visits. Biggest problem is that the technicians do not have enough hands on experience working on a NIRO, they have basically thrown there hands up and said they don’t know what to do. I am afraid that once you start doing major repairs on this model you are opening a can of worms.
We are working with a lawyer to get our money refunded and then decide what we want to buy. The dealership would not consider swapping this car for another and encouraged us to contact a lawyer and go with the lemon law KIA will have the final say.
I have never encountered this problem before so it’s all new to me.

 

[gjlost]

Is there a dealership in your town that only sells KIAs? Their technicians should be KIA Certified and very capable of following the step-by-step replacement process provided in the factory service procedure manual. That said, I don't blame you for being nervous about the extensive work involved, especially on a new car ;(

 

[yticolev]

Hyundai dealers are also qualified to work on the Niro. Their Ioniq has an identical drivetrain.

 

[Rita&Ben]

Is there a dealership in your town that only sells KIAs? Their technicians should be KIA Certified and very capable of following the step-by-step replacement process provided in the factory service procedure manual. That said, I don't blame you for being nervous about the extensive work involved, especially on a new car ;(

It is at the KIA dealership where I purchased it.

 

[Ssimm0nds]

We are in Kansas and have a 2019 Kia Niro PHEV EX Premium. It has this random clunk sound and feel while stopped in traffic. It has 2200 miles on it so after the weekend I am going to call the dealer and get started on the find the problem slippery slope. Wish me luck. We have 2 Kia dealerships within a short drive, one here in town and another 25 miles away and Hyandai dealerships as well. I have had a long and really good relationship with our local Kia service department, going back to 2011 when we purchased our first Kia and I send all my family and friends there, so hoping my history with them helps. I am going to suggest the things I read in this forum so I will certainly let you all know what happens. Happy New Year!

 

[yticolev]

Clunk sound while completely stopped? Or when you start moving? Happens only in traffic, not your driveway?

 

[Ssimm0nds]

When stopped while driving, in traffic, at a stoplight or stop sign, yes, not while sitting in the garage or in the driveway , not while in "park", at least not yet.

 

[yticolev]

Bizarre. My best guess are rear brakes. Perhaps hill hold releasing.

 

[Ssimm0nds]

The sound is coming from the front or mid section beneath the floor. I’m going to call them Monday.

 

[Jztbeth]

not sure where to begin on this post.
we purchased our NIRO 12-31-18, loved the car, great gas mileage, plenty of bells and whistles for the price..
within two weeks started hearing a noise, sort of a grinding noise (sounded like we had a tree limb hung up under the car) that would come and go, ignored for a couple of days hoped it was an anomaly. Took car to dealer they said it was buildup on rotors “hit the brakes hard and it will clean it off”, ok, tried that no change, took car back said that it was part of the “regen” system normal sound. Ok, noise started being steady and very annoying. Finally after two more complaints they said leave the car and we will drive it and see what’s going on. One of the techs drove the car and said he had no idea what the problem was and that they were going to call in a KIA engineer to diagnose the problem, this was after the car had been at dealer for two weeks, he finally shows up and said replace the transmission, this is a new car with less than 20K miles. It was the end of October when we took the car to dealer they called December 17 and said car was ready. (BTW, we did have a loaner car all this time) long story short the car is now a mess, you can be driving at speed and the car will start slowing down and it finally stops. we are in contact with a lawyer. Terribly disappointed

That sucks. Sounds like you're looking at a lemon. Hopefully you can get sorted out without too much additional aggravation.

Well, I'm not sure whether to say I'm glad someone else had the same issue!! It took the dealership a YEAR to finally diagnose the issue. They couldn't duplicate the grinding noise. I would drive around with the recorder on my phone to try to get it to play for them. It finally got so bad that the last time I took it in, they finally heard it and within 6 hours figured out what was causing it. They replaced the transmission in the vehicle at 25 k miles. The problem started at less than 10k, They had already replaced the rotors and front brakes etc. Kia is going to buy the vehicle back and I will get a new car. Not sure what I will get. I do love Kia and hope that I only got a lemon.

Any advice or comments appreciated.

 

[FlNiro]

Rita&Ben, did you ever get your money back? Any updates?

 

[Derrick yip]

Jerking noise from full stop. Dealer also said it might from the rush disc. But noise in first year😂