Tapping or Creaking Noise when coasting at low speed

  • Thread starter Thread starter wizziwig
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 560
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Do you hear the same noise?

  • Yes, I hear the same noise

    Votes: 60 69.8%

  • No, I don't hear the noise

    Votes: 26 30.2%
  • Total voters
    86
bubzki said:
My speculation is that many Niro EV buyers are either 1. driving these very gently (and thus aren't stressing the components) and/or 2. aren't as familiar with BEVs and motor sounds as they might be a first EV foray and may not think it's an "issue" to hear the relatively subtle clicking sounds.
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My point is the amount of new incidents in this forum has dropped a lot since 2019 early 2020. Why has that changed? Why are there fewer reports per month now than there were a year ago? Maybe later adopters are a different population with different behaviors than the folks who purchased during the first 12 months they were available?

bubzki said:
I'm turning in my lemoned 2019 Niro EV today in Minnesota...It's all a shame because this really is a good car if not for this design flaw (and apocalyptically bad customer service from corporate).
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Sorry you had such a crappy experience. I get why you threw in the towel. You might want to try the eNiro Facebook group. Seems a fair number of people looking into getting one visit there.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/230965604253865
 
David T in Silicon Valley said:
My point is the amount of new incidents in this forum has dropped a lot since 2019 early 2020. Why has that changed? Why are there fewer reports per month now than there were a year ago? Maybe later adopters are a different population with different behaviors than the folks who purchased during the first 12 months they were available?



Sorry you had such a crappy experience. I get why you threw in the towel. You might want to try the eNiro Facebook group. Seems a fair number of people looking into getting one visit there.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/230965604253865
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Gee, I feel like I'm missing out...

I have a 2019. Maybe it's my tinnitus or advancing age, but I have no idea what this thread is talking about. I can hear the little warble at low speed and can hear a little noise if I hit brake at low speed, but the clicking/tapping escapes me. Would be interested in listening to a sound file if anyone has one to post. Is this mileage related (something to look forward to). Maybe I got lucky...I suppose that might happen sometime...
 
Thanks...listened to that one and the one in post 21. Don't hear anything like that at present. Keep my ears open. Good to have this thread as a record of the problem if needed.
 
I find that in colder weather the noise is more pronounced. At around +70° F it becomes increasingly hard to hear the noise in my vehicle.

There is a YouTube's in Finland and when he films in the Niro you can hear the noise as a loud hum at speed.
 
onthewater said:
I'm looking at buying a new 2020 Kia Niro EX EV. These have obviously been sitting on the lot awhile. Has this problem been solved in those models, or how can I tell if it has the right motor?
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You posed the question a couple months back, but I have a good answer now - my GF bought a 2020 with under 100 mi on it and she's been driving it for 5 weeks - it's dead silent, much quieter than my rattley 2019 with 26k miles on it.
 
I have a 2019 Kia Niro EV EX non premium and also have this issue. I have 43000 miles on it but I don't remember when thus started to happen. I just ignored it since it always happened around 15 mph.

What have others been telling the dealer to replace? I want to make sure they replace the correct updated parts.

I use this car for uber so definitely need it to work correctly. Other then that issue car has been great.

I live in Honolulu so hopefully they will be able to fix it here.
 
jbomb808 said:
I just ignored it since it always happened around 15 mph.
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Get it done. Someone, maybe in this thread, or maybe it was a Kona which has also had these problems, had a rather catastrophic failure after awhile. I don't recall the details, but do remember thinking "****, THAT could have been dangerous!"

jbobm808 said:
What have others been telling the dealer to replace? I want to make sure they replace the correct updated parts.
I use this car for uber so definitely need it to work correctly. Other then that issue car has been great.
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this issue has been around for a while. I would be surprised if dealer service centers don't have a notice from the factory about it..but then you are in Hawaii too (Aloha Friday, anyone?)

If your service center is puzzled, then maybe someone here who has had it fixed can offer up their service location for yours to call. I am not sure if we pinned it down to specifically the reduction gear or the motor. I know some people have had both replaced. Possibly wherever the problem originates it can damage the other.

Very cool you are using this for Uber.
 
If there was truly a design flaw a significant percentage of owners would be experiencing it.

It's a shame a small group of owners are experiencing this, but you can find similar issues with EVERY new car model that's be selling for a similar period of time.
 
I finally got my motor replaced after 17,000 miles with the issue (started at 4,000 and replaced at 21,000) on my 2019 model.
I can't tell if it's because I drove an ICE rental for a few weeks or because the E712 motor may be stronger or because my E710 was slowly dying but the car feels a lot more responsive than before. The regen feels stronger and instant.
 
Shawn X said:
I finally got my motor replaced after 17,000 miles with the issue (started at 4,000 and replaced at 21,000) on my 2019 model.
I can't tell if it's because I drove an ICE rental for a few weeks or because the E712 motor may be stronger or because my E710 was slowly dying but the car feels a lot more responsive than before. The regen feels stronger and instant.
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What was required in order to convince the dealer to agree to the replacement? How many trips to the dealer? Once they finally admitted the issue, how long did the replacement take?
 
scram69 said:
What was required in order to convince the dealer to agree to the replacement? How many trips to the dealer? Once they finally admitted the issue, how long did the replacement take?
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Fourth trip to the dealer did the trick.

First time, I dropped off my car to the dealer I bought my car from in California and they didn't hear the noise. I wasn't present so I couldn't show them what noise I meant. They told me to come back once the noise was more apparent when I picked up the car. This was at 4,000 miles.

Second time was to a different dealer back in Illinois (went back due to covid). They confirmed the noise but didn't know what it was. They wanted me to drop off the car. I was hesitant because they only have one EV certified tech, the tech was recently certified and never worked on an EV before, they had no rentals, and my parent's house was over 25 miles away.

Third time was to another dealer closer to my parent's house. They heard the noise and I dropped off my car there. The tech did his own diagnostic test, ignoring everything I told the service manager, and concluded it was a wheel bearing issue even though the sound goes away on neutral. They didn't open a tech line with Kia even though I was adamant it wasn't a wheel bearing issue. The car showed no signs of a wheel bearing issue other than cosmetic damage on the hubcap. They had my car for five days before I took it back. This was at 17,000 miles.

Fourth time, I brought it back to the dealer I bought my car from in California and showed them the issue. They heard it and opened a tech line with Kia. It took 19 days in total from when I dropped off the car to when I got my car back with the new motor. They confirmed there was no damage to the wheel bearing. They were very hush hush when I asked how many other customers encountered the same issue. This was at 21,000 miles.

The "muffler" noise at high speeds got louder (clicking noise at low speed remained the same) and regen felt weaker as time passed. I was worried the drivetrain could fail during the trip from Illinois back to California since we were climbing up the Rockies. I wanted it fixed beforehand but the Niro EV isn't officially sold in Illinois so can't expect much from the dealerships there. Thankfully we arrived back in California without any issues. This could've been resolved on the very first trip at 4,000 miles if Kia issued a TSB. Too bad we have to deal with the bs from inexperienced and greedy dealerships.
 
Shawn,
Wow - thanks very much for your detailed reply! I'm sure it will be of help to any number of folks with the issue who are coming across this thread.

I also noticed the tapping within the first few K miles, but only at low speed. Fortunately, I haven't noticed anything abnormal > about 25 mph.
But the tapping has persisted for over a year, the same noise as in the audio files found on several posts here, and I now also have around 15K on the car.

By any chance was the dealer that ended up recognizing the problem in the SF Bay Area?

Thanks again-
 
scram69 said:
Shawn,
Wow - thanks very much for your detailed reply! I'm sure it will be of help to any number of folks with the issue who are coming across this thread.

I also noticed the tapping within the first few K miles, but only at low speed. Fortunately, I haven't noticed anything abnormal > about 25 mph.
But the tapping has persisted for over a year, the same noise as in the audio files found on several posts here, and I now also have around 15K on the car.

By any chance was the dealer that ended up recognizing the problem in the SF Bay Area?

Thanks again-
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Capitol Kia in San Jose. One thing to note is they didn't give me a rental until they confirmed the issue with Kia so I spent four days without a car.
 
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