porky
Member
Good point. I did weigh this in as well - that the Niro has three entirely separate versions - ICE, Hybrid and EV. So, compromises would've been made to accommodate all three versions.
Would you buy Niro EV again?
- Thread starter MaineEV
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Good point. I did weigh this in as well - that the Niro has three entirely separate versions - ICE, Hybrid and EV. So, compromises would've been made to accommodate all three versions.
Warranty is great in theory but the hassle involved may not be worth it for some. In my case it took 1 week without a car before they approved a loaner. Had to pay for a rental myself. Then another 6 weeks for actual repair while driving their loaner. Some other Niro or Kona owners waited even longer. Never had to deal with anything like this on my last ICE Toyota.
If newly produced cars continue to develop the issue, then there's no guarantee they will continue to offer expensive motor swaps indefinitely. They may eventually just call the noise issue "within spec" if it doesn't cause complete failure of the motor. That has already happened to some Kona owners who complained about this problem on that car (link). If that owner had been past the lemon-law buyback period, he likely would have been stuck with a noisy car (or selling at a loss like this owner) despite having a warranty.
Just throwing some worse-case-scenario perspective on the situation. Hopefully only a small number of cars were affected and this won't become a widespread problem as these cars age in the future.
If newly produced cars continue to develop the issue, then there's no guarantee they will continue to offer expensive motor swaps indefinitely. They may eventually just call the noise issue "within spec" if it doesn't cause complete failure of the motor. That has already happened to some Kona owners who complained about this problem on that car (link). If that owner had been past the lemon-law buyback period, he likely would have been stuck with a noisy car (or selling at a loss like this owner) despite having a warranty.
Just throwing some worse-case-scenario perspective on the situation. Hopefully only a small number of cars were affected and this won't become a widespread problem as these cars age in the future.
David T in Silicon Valley
Active Member
I am sorry I was not paying close attention. No 2020s have sold in North America, AFAIK, and since part changes don't have to roll out with the model year this could still change, though I imagine the inevitable COVID-19 production slowage could delay that.
Speculation time. The apparent inconsistency in the presence of the defect makes me wonder if this has something to do with an assembly failure, either at the vehicle or at the part level. Maybe some motors or reduction gears have FOD (foreign object debris, like metal shavings or a screw that works loose) in them that wears or chips some part prematurely leading to a larger failure. Maybe some tolerance requirement is inconsistently met on the assembly line . All these could lead to some vehicles being impact and others not, which seems to be the case or we would see a lot more complaints (of course, no one is at 50k miles yet either!).
The last still might be thought of as a design defect; a more robust design might not be so sensitive to some robot's torque setting drifting...or maybe someone on the factory floor is not calibrating as much as they are supposed to and things start to get put together badly a day or two before the once a week adjustment.
The only 2020 eNiro owner I know of who has checked his motor revision is from the UK. He says it's the same 710 motor revision shipped on 2019 eNiro. Since the fault/fix has been linked to faulty motors, I don't see how it could be considered solved at this point. Owners in Canada just started receiving the 2020 model as well so maybe they will add their findings soon.
David T in Silicon Valley
Active Member
United States 2019 Niro EV incentive. Does not seem to apply to the 2020s. 
I'm in Socal and was one of the first owners in the US. It has been exactly a year since my wife and I bought it. We had the motor noise back in October/November, and it was in the dealer for 30 days. They replaced the transmission which didn't fix it and then the motor which did fix it and it has been perfect ever since. I'm not sure I would buy again, not because of the car but because of the dreadful dealer experience when purchasing it. The car has been and still is a blast to drive, and I like the looks of it. Particularly like the fact that it doesn't stand out as an electric car. I personally love the conventional cockpit layout compared to the Tesla. We got the premium model and the equipment level is first class. Audio system is awesome. One of our loaners when it was in the shop was the Niro hybrid, and it was a slug, horrible to drive. It has no power and a really noisy engine. There is absolutely no comparison at all to the EV apart from looks. If you own a hybrid Niro and are thinking of trading up don't even think twice.
Calvin Dinh
New Member
I wouldn't. stupid car has been at the dealership to be fixed since April 1st.
2-Dog Niro
New Member
I would definitely, this car is just great. Here is a blog I wrote after returning from a 2-month cross-country camping trip, with 2 adults and 2 dogs, camping gear, food, and on the way back from the desert southwest, about 300 lbs of rocks. Glen
https://blog.greenenergyconsumers.org/blog/across-the-us-and-back-in-a-fully-electric-vehicle
https://blog.greenenergyconsumers.org/blog/across-the-us-and-back-in-a-fully-electric-vehicle
David T in Silicon Valley
Active Member
Axle and Calvin, it sounds like you both had the bad luck of the motor problem. I still don't have a read on how often this affects people. some have well over 10k miles and haven to had it. Others develop it on the drive home. As for what happens at 20k miles, who knows?
I think we are paying the price for being early adopters. I was startled (horrified?) when, after purchasing mine, saw data saying only a couple hundred had been sold in the entire United States as of a couple of months prior to my purchase. We will see how they hold up over the long haul. If not for the 100k power train warranty, I would be sweating bullets.
Axle, I also had a less than stellar dealer experience. I tried to resolve it by replying to their "how is it going" emails multiple times and they never responded. I tried calling the person who sent the email but they were busy. I left a message and nada. By the time I gave up on trying to resolve it the dealer experience survey had expired. Oh well....
I love my Niro EV. Just at the one year mark but only 7,000 miles on it. Fun to drive, roomy for people and cargo, 250-300 miles of range depending on the ambient temperature, comfortable drivers seat for me (which is saying a lot because I've had comfort issues with many car seats due to lower back issues), very easy to use controls (I prefer and appreciate the redundant dash and steering wheel buttons for ease of use and less distraction from driving), comfortable fairly complaint ride, good audio system, and styling which is cute but does't draw attention from EV haters or car thieves (which I appreciate more and more these days), and very good adaptive cruise control with pretty goos lane keep helping to make long highway journeys loads more relaxing and less tiring.
So far, no issues, mechanical or otherwise. It has yet to be in for service, and I'll be waiting for that for some time until I feel safer going to the dealership. It's size is ideal, making parking and maneuvering easy, and making washing relatively quick. This is my first Kia and my first EV. I have owned many sports and luxury vehicles (and still own a few), but the Niro EV is always a delight to use for any drive, and often my go to. The cargo capability with the rear seats down is abundant.
I don't like traveling without a spare tire; the thought of a sidewall tear and waiting for a flatbed tow isn't at all appealing either locally or, especially, farther away from home (not a good event to suffer on a holiday journey). I love that the Niro EV will hold a compact spare in the space below the boot. Although a flat tire is rare, that gives me more peace of mind, knowing that I can have the flat changed and I can limp along, but at least continue on.
My only complaint is more high speed road noise than I am used to in some of my other vehicles, but that's not a deal breaker for me. It has no more road noise than the Teslas I drove in comparison. Wind noise is fairly well controlled.
To sum up, two thumbs up on the Niro EV. As one reviewer put it so well, it is "relentlessly sensible". I would add it's a fantastic and fun vehicle in general, and a brilliantly sorted EV, especially considering it wasn't built as a ground up dedicated EV.
I was going to write pretty much the exact same message - I'll just second basically everything you said. Only thing I wish it did better was to deaden a bit more of the road noise. It could be loads better in so many ways, but we bought it knowing full well it wasn't a Tesla (and in some ways this was deliberate) and that it had its limits, but it has and does everything we ask it to quite well and we just basically love it. Oh and I guess it could be cheaper... That's always a nice feature to hope for
Greg Elmassian
Active Member
I have a 2020 EV, no tapping sound
Definately YES, I made the decision to purchase this car when it was unvealed in CES January 2018 (E-for-electric, youtube video). And franckly there has been much hype in the EV market since then but I still dont see a better EV readily avaliable (in the UK). The Kona is similar but smaller and more expensive ; the Model 3 is more "gadgety", but also more expensive and I dont like the boot. That said getting the cheaper Tesla (Model 3 or y) in UK (right hand drive) is also a major blow/delay. MG ZS EV is a great value, cheaper, lower range alternative, assuming chinese cars can be sold in the US!
Being pragmatic, im not interested in luxuary cars, sorry if that offends anyone...
I have driven my eNiro over 15k mi and agree generally with ITOWN's long pro/cons... to add my biggest issue is the paintwork chips very easily compaired to my old Toyota.
Being pragmatic, im not interested in luxuary cars, sorry if that offends anyone...
I have driven my eNiro over 15k mi and agree generally with ITOWN's long pro/cons... to add my biggest issue is the paintwork chips very easily compaired to my old Toyota.