9.4
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 1,265 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
2018 Kia Niro plug-in hybrid, 16,235mi. Vehicle has been in 5 times in last several months for a total of over 30 days in shop. Transmission will do a very hard downshift intermittently when stopping. Makes vehicle dip hard..noticeable on dash cam video. On harder acceleration, power train has trouble deciding what to do and often there is a noticeable delay in acceleration. Feels sort of like it is slipping, but is a delay in powering the electric motor fully and starting the gas motor.this has caused a couple close calls when pulling into traffic expecting the car to react appropriately. Some online research shows this is not an uncommon occurrence. Dealer has replaced a hydraulic actuator, bled system and reprogrammed PCM. This fixed a squeak noise in power train but not the harsh/erratic operations. As for the brakes, recently, depressing the brake with more than light pressure causes a rubbery groan sound from under driver's dash. This happens more when the car is cold or sitting for some time, less after it has warmed up. During these episodes, the brake pedal take more effort to push and brake engagement is delayed. The noise will happen when you step on the brake to start car or when driving. Dealer has been dismissive about the issues. We were told we would get a 'flight recorder' to help them document the transmission issues and record vehicle data from the computers. Today we were told we will not be getting it and to come pick up the car. Kia corporate in irvine, ca has been notified and a case has been opened. We are waiting on a response now.
- Anaheim, CA, USA
I was driving on the freeway. After slowed down and stopped completely, suddenly it lose power to run. Trying to step deeper the gas pedal, but no reaction at all. After turn off and turn on engine few times, it can run again, but this time, the real problem occur. The engine sounds so loud..it's hybrid car supposed to so quiet (that's what sounds usually). Later on, I found out how to still can drove it, but with high risk suddenly lose power on the street. Later found out, when the car in motion, the hybrid system didn't worked completely, and the transmission sound very rough. Every time when come to brake or want to slow down, can feels obviously and heard the transmission is very rough making clutch loud sounds. The cruise control system also totally not function. When in stationary, very first when started the engine, made loud sounds on the engine, and can't reversed or move forward, just stayed in place. The dashboard display "check hybrid system". and on the middle screen displaying, "low voltage DC / DC converter".
- Covina, CA, USA
The transmission fails to engage immediately to the gear shifted to. When stationary and with the vehicle in reverse, if you proceed to press the accelerator and the vehicle starts to move backwards, the vehicle will continue to roll in the reverse direction even after switching the gear selector to drive and pressing the accelerator. This problem happens when switching from either drive to reverse or reverse to drive.
- Elk Grove, CA, USA
- Columbus, OH, USA