Tapping or Creaking Noise when coasting at low speed

Matt Blatt Kia in Egg Harbor Township. Fantastic service.. The ev tech was really good and took care of me. It really is like a new car. It is so smooth. I didn't realize how bad it had become.

 

I should mention now that the chapter is over. Kia corporate was pretty straightforward to deal with. They communicated over email quickly once they got to the case and everything was handled well.

The dealer also followed up a couple of weeks after my post but they never got the part. Even when I signed the paper works (almost 3.5 months from original car turn in), they never received the new motor to replace!!

 

For those interested I did prevail at arbitration and was awarded full buyback with costs on my 2019 Niro EX EV originally with 710 motor. By the arbitrator's calculation my car was out for 95 days when only 30 were needed to trigger buyback. The last offer Kia made (with less than a week to go before the hearing!) was $15,000 cash and keep the car, but with confidentiality clause saying I'm not to discuss the situation or terms on social media. By the way, their first offer? Only $7,500. Based on this post, you can probably figure out I said no way to signing that. Kia didn't really even fight the ruling at all, and never officially lawyered up, either. It's really hard to follow their thinking/strategy on this.

 

Glad you were finally successful! I have had to lemon law my last 4 vehicles due to many service issues. My Niro, so far, isn't having too many problems. So, what are you going to look at for your next vehicle? I wouldn't look at the Mustang Mach-E yet -- it seems to be having a bunch of teething problems, particularly in the software department. Their interface, which all functions go through, seems laggy and slow from the reviews I have watched. Just curious what you'll be looking at next.

 

Great question! I'm really bummed the upcoming products like ID.4 and Mach-E doesn't have a heat pump. I'm still not interested in Tesla's products for now. Ioniq 5 looks stunning but isn't here yet and details still unknown. I currently am driving my brother's Fiat 500E, which I love but isn't ideal for family use. I might just drag my feet for a while...

 

Yeah, Engineering Explained was pretty down on the ID4. After watching that video, I was also turned off. I can't believe the Germans thought that having only two buttons to roll down 4 windows in a 4-door vehicle was a good idea. You switch the two buttons on the driver's door from front to rear by pressing this rear haptic feedback button that doesn't respond quickly. Terrible implementation. That's one thing Kia did correct IMHO -- I like buttons for things. They are much quicker to access functions than hunting through menus in the slow infotainment system. That's also one reason I will never own a Tesla. They basically removed all buttons and that's just dumb.

As for pure BEVs, the choices are still pretty slim.

 

Apparently what you do on an ID.4 is press the rear button until the light blinks (a second or two. I would guess). Then press down both window buttons simultaneously, and all 4 windows roll down.

 

So you don't have to make a handstand and dance on one hand while singing hallelujah?

 

And, my Niro had just started making the dreaded “sound”. 11K miles. Calling the dealer tomorrow. Ho boy.


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Ugh. Thanks to the pandemic my 16 month old only has 7500miles on it . Sad to learn the problem can start so late... smh

 

So,
When did Kia stop equipping the Niro EV with the faulty 710 (711?) motors? I am looking at a 2020 and aside from going back to the dealership and looking at motor. Looks like car was built in 2020 per the VIN. Thanks!

 

@Mookiebar I think I can help...

Hey Everyone. First time poster. So I just brought home a brand new Kia Niro EV yesterday (2020 EX) and I am loving the car. We also own the Hybrid version (2018 EX) so we are really familiar with the unit and thought it was going to be a great transition to Electric. Of course, last night, I wanted to get onboard the EV band wagon and join forums and such and that is when I learned about the dreaded clicking noise. While my car is new and does not have it (Yet) I was interested and I crawled under last night and I found that my new 2020 has the 36500-0E710. I was really surprised I had the 710, i thought maybe I would have the 711. The vehicle was built 06/2020 per the sticker. So now I am feeling pretty anxious about it. I LOVE the car.

What I plan to do is strap my Gopro inside and get a baseline "New" car sound now. Run it around a few miles. Then, if I ever hear the noise, I can strap it in the same place and drive the same drive and compare them. If anyone is interested in a "new" car sound, let me know and I will upload it.

Also. Are we seeing issues with pretty much all the 710's? Or just a portion. I am trying to gauge numbers based on post, just curious if anyone has already done that.

Thank you.

 

@EVDog What was your experience with the dealer?

 

Service says they have not heard (pun?) of the evil motor sound. I have appointment next week.


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Talked to my shop lead person about changing out my 711 motor that started making the noise. What I have come to think is they are going to use all the 710s they have, if a 710 starts with the noise they will go to a 711, then of the 711 starts making noise they will go to the 712.

This reasoning is because it seems that this doesn't happen to every 710, or 711. The ones that operate smoothly will get used and the ones that are faulty will get replaced, if the owner notices the sound. This is the financially best solution for Kia. Is it the best for owners, that's up for debate. If they honor the warranty until it is fixed inlay be a little peeved, but I should expect as much out of the first model year.

 

Did you happen to ask if they have these motors stockpiled somewhere in the US (assuming you are from the US)?

Also, did they mention how long it takes to replace the motor once they get one in house?

 

Hey everyone. As promised, here is a sound from a new 100 mile 2020 Kia Niro EV EX. (VESS is heard at first)
You can use this to compare to your own engine, I just put a Go Pro on inside. Hope if can help someone if needed.

 

He just mentioned that there was several of each in stock.

 

I was worried when I discovered this thread shortly after I purchased my 2019 . Sales estimates at that point only indicated several hundred eNiro's had sold in the US at that point and I figured I would just cross my fingers. Well, so far so good. Granted with the pandemic I have only just hit 7.5k miles on it but I notice most of the complaints in this thread and on the similar Kona thread tend to happen in the first k or two (though there are examples after 10k miles too).

What reassures me most is that this thread is not inundated with posters! While it is clear this is a too common problem, my assessment is it is still pretty rare...rare to the point it is cheaper for Kia to deal with it when it comes up in their 100k mile drivetrain warranty with some spotting on their reputation, rather than issue a bulk recall. Imagine if this happened even 10% of the time?

Total sales data is hard to find because Kia does not break out EV/PHEV/ICE . Car Gurus claims there are currently about 1000 Niro EVs for sale and generally there is a two month supply of inventory so that means Kia is selling about 6000 of these a year. Not everyone runs to the web when something weird happens and finds this place, but I bet a large fraction do. I don't see hundred of different buyers complaining here....

Given this problem is somewhat rare, I speculate the problem is due to an assembly problem (either in the motor or in how it mates to the car) rather than a problem with the motor design (though arguably a good design would not need finicky installation positioning!). As Wizziwig's post implies, the differences might not even have anything to do with moving parts! If I am right, it is not surprising that Kia did not switch motor types when the problem could have been addressed by changing a mechanical interface or even an assembly or quality check approach.

 

My 711 was in stock and shipped from NJ. These are made in Korea so this is super suspicious. EV motors and reduction gears shouldn't be failing. Period.