2019 Kia Niro Powertrain & Transmission Problems

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Niro. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked. The check engine warning light and the hybrid battery warning light were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the clutch actuator was leaking, and the dual clutch and slave cylinder needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but denied assistance in covering the cost of the repair. The contact stated that the engine and dual clutch were replaced two years ago. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (POWER TRAIN); however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

2019 Kia Niro DCT engaged REVERSE during manual 1→2 upshift attempt in Sport Mode, causing violent reversal. Resets with ignition cycle. Smell of burnt clutch present. Happend at 41,000mi, then 73,000mi then again today at 154,584. Believe it may be a faulty range selector, corrupted tcu logic, or both. **Canadian Recall R238 (May 2022)** for DCT clutch actuators

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Niro PHEV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer informed the contact to ship the vehicle to the United States for the repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

When accelerating from a dead stop, sometimes the car makes a very loud 'clunk' noise and lurches forward. Similar to the feeling when someone drives a manual transmission and takes the clutch out too fast. The car eventually finds the first gear and keeps driving, but this problem happens daily. Maybe around 5-10% of the time after every stop. There are multiple similar complaints on the NHTSA website and on online forums. It is a well-documented issue.

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Niro. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power with the message "Stop Engine". The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed failures with the hydraulic clutch actuator and catalytic converter. The catalytic converter was replaced, but the hydraulic clutch actuator was not repaired due to lack of part availability. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (Power Train); the VIN was included, but parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and confirmed that the part was on backorder. The failure mileage was 87,000.

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Niro. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at the dealer for the scheduled recall repair, the vehicle was inspected. The contact's wife was informed that the hydraulic clutch actuator (HCA) was faulty and needed to be replaced. The contact's wife was informed that the parts were unavailable, and the repair needed to be rescheduled. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was made aware of the failure but confirmed that parts were not yet available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 61,473. Parts distribution disconnect.

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Niro. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Niro. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Niro. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Kia has a recall on this model for the power train automatic internal clutch under NHTSA Campaign ID 23V534000 Kia Recall number is SC276. My vehicle had the HEV light come on so it is currently at the Dealership for service. They have told me the Hydraulic clutch fluid has leaked into the fuse panel and needs replaced. According to Kia my VIN number is not included in the recall, but the issue is the exact issue being explained by this national recall. It seems they need to expand the recall to include more Niro's than in this recall to include my VIN.

From a stop, I step on the gas quickly and it feels like the transmission has just broken. It causes my pulse to increase and scares and distracts me so much I've almost had an accident a several times. I have scheduled an appointment with Kia to assess the problem. I will provide an update once they have concluded their assessment.

My car sometimes lurches when I am moving from a stopped position. This is dangerous as it causes the car to hesitate when I am sometimes pulling out across traffic for a left turn. It is especially frequent when I am on a slight incline. It feels like it might have something to do with the transmission shifting from the EV mode. I have read about other people having the same problem with this car on online forums but there have been no recalls and they have the same trouble getting their dealerships to fix it. I took my car to the dealership multiple times, and they were able to reproduce the issue and thought it was initially something to do with calibrating the computers. It seemed to temporarily "fix" it so I picked it back up, just to have the same problem a week later. Since it happens sporadically, it has been difficult to get the dealership to fix the issue as sometimes they are unable to reproduce the issue.

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Niro. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the message "Pull Over and Shut off Engine" was displayed and a burning odor was coming from the engine compartment. After restarting the vehicle, the failure was self-corrected. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who determined that fluid had leaked into the clutch actuator and the clutch actuator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact was informed that the VIN was previously inspected as part of the NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (POWER TRAIN). The contact stated that the vehicle experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 35,000.

SINCE NOVEMBER OF 2020, OUR NIRO HAS BEEN AT A KIA SERVICE CENTER 12 TIMES AT 4 DIFFERENT DEALERSHIPS IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO GET OUR NIRO TO REPLICATE, WHAT I THINK IS ANOTHER TRANSMISSION ISSUE, DURING THE MILE OR TWO THE TECH TEST-DRIVES THE VEHICLE FOR DIAGNOSIS. WHEN I AM COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP, ONCE IN A WHILE I HEAR A VERY LOUD BANG OR A MOMENTARY LOUD SCRAPING NOISE AS IF A METAL SPATULA IS BEING SWIFTLY DRAGGED ACROSS A SLAB OF CONCRETE. WHEN THIS OCCURS, THE CAR ALSO SEEMS TO LUNGE FORWARD AS IF I AM SLIPPING ON ICE OR WET LEAVES. AT A FEW DEALERSHIPS, I HAVE DESCRIBED IT LIKE ALMOST COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP AND THEN GETTING HIT FROM THE REAR. THIS, TO ME MEANS GEARS ARE GRABBING WHAT GEARS GRAB (I ASSUME OTHER GEARS) AND CAUSING THE DRIVE SHAFT TO TURN AND THUS CAUSING THE WHEELS TO ROTATE WITHOUT REASON TO DO SO. SINCE MY FOOT IS NOT COMPLETELY PRESSING DOWN ON THE BRAKE PEDAL AS I AM STILL SLOWING DOWN APPROACHING A RED LIGHT (OR A STOP SIGN, SPEED BUMP, DRIVEWAY, PEDESTRIAN, ETC), THE CAR MAKES THAT NOTORIOUS LOUD BANG OR SCRAPE SOUND AND THEN JOLTS FORWARD A BIT, ENOUGH TO SCARE THE DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME. NOTHING ALERTS ME WHEN THIS WILL HAPPEN, IT JUST HAPPENED AND WHEN IT DOES, THE CAR GETS AWAY FROM ME UNTIL I CAN FULLY BRAKE OR UNTIL THE GEARS DISENGAGE (OR STOP DOING WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO CAUSE THIS ISSUE).

I don't know what components are involved. When attempting to move forward from a stop the car does not respond immediately. Then there is clunk noise and a lurch forward. Sometimes when this happens it feels like the car has been hit from behind. The problem began about a year ago and has been into the dealer's service center several times. I believe during one of those service visits a reset of something was done that seemed to resolve the issue for several months. The problem is intermittent. Dealer has been unable to reproduce the issue, but stated the last time the car was in for service that another customer with the same year and make was having the same symptoms and a tech that had been allowed to use the car for over a week did not experience the issue. No warning lights or codes are associated with the issue. A car that fails to move forward on a green light is in danger of being rear-ended placing the people in the vehicle and surrounding vehicles at risk of bodily injury. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone other than service staff at the FOlsom Lake Kia dealership. On February 18, 2022, the vehicle had no power (automatic doorlocks didn't work, etc) could not be started and was towed to the dealership where it is now.

I BOUGHT MY 2019 CAR ON DECEMBER 2020. WHEN THE CAR IS STOPPED, AND I START FORWARD, THE CAR JERKS AND MAKE A LOUD NOISE. THIS HAPPENS TO ME RANDOMLY, BUT ONCE VERY 15 STOPS IN AVERAGE, ABOUT ONCE EVERY 2 DAYS. I WENT TO AN ONLINE FORUM OF KIA OWNERS AND IT SEEMS THAT THE PROBLEM COMES FROM THE WRONG TRANSMISSION FLUID BEING PUT INTO THE CAR DURING PRODUCTION. THERE IS A KIA TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN THAT DEALS WITH CHANGING THE TRANSMISSION FLUID AT HTTPS://STATIC.NHTSA.GOV/ODI/TSBS/2020/MC-10174520-0001.PDF BUT WHEN I CALLED KIA USA, THEY TOLD ME THAT IT IS NOT ASSOCIATED TO MY VIN. I HAVE BEEN 5 TIMES TO 2 DIFFERENT KIA DEALERSHIP AND IT'S STILL NOT FIXED BECAUSE THEY HAD DIFFICULTY REPRODUCING AND DIAGNOSING THE PROBLEM. BUT THE SECOND DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THAT HE WAS ABLE TO REPRODUCE THE ISSUE ONCE. I TOOK 2 VIDEOS (INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CAR) OF THE PROBLEM, WHERE ONE CAN HEAR THE LOUD NOISE.

WHEN I WAS GOING TO LA USING 110 EXPRESS LANE. CAR STOP UNPREDICTABLY TOTALLY AND I PARKED THE CAR LEFT SIDE 110 EXPRESS LANE. I WAS STAYED 3 HOURS UNTIL TOW COMING.

Within the first 6 months of owning our 2019 Kia Plugin Hybrid, we started experiencing a clunk with a lurch when accelerating from a stopped position. The issue became progressively worse over time - increasing in frequency and severity. The car has been to the Kia Lupient dealership in Brooklyn Park, MN multiple times for this issue. At our most recent visit on November 7th, 2022, the service advisor acknowledged that the issue may be due to shipping the vehicle with the wrong transmission fluid. The transmission fluid was replaced with the correct fluid. However, we experienced the issue again on December 2, 2022. Could the wrong fluid have caused permanent damage to the transmission? This Technical Service Bulletin (https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10174520-0001.pdf) indicates that could be true. We are pursing arbitration with the dealership.

THE VEHICLE WILL SOMETIMES GO FORWARD EVENTHOUGH THE GEAR SHIFT IS IN THE R POSITION FOR REVERSE. AND THE OPPOSITE HAPPENS. I MAY GO IN REVERSE EVENTHOUGH THE GEAR IS IN THE D POSITION FOR DRIVE. -- I BELIEVE THE ABOVE HAPPENS IF I SHIFT GEARS TOO QUICKLY BEFORE THE CAR FINISHES ITS SYSTEM CHECK. -- THAT IS MY OWN TROUBLESHOOTING EFFORT/OPINION. THE WRONG MOTION HAPPENS WHEN STARTING FROM A STATIONARY POSITION. FOR EXAMPLE STARTING THE CAR AND WANTING TO DRIVE FORWARD OUT OF A PARKING SPOT OR WANTING TO GO REVERSE TO BACK OUT OF A GARAGE. ---- IT'S HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES. I NOTIFIED THE DEAL SALES REP BACK IN OCT. WHEN IT FIRST HAPPENED. IT'S HAPPEND A COUPLE OTHER TIMES AND FINALLY I FOUND THIS WEBSITE AFTER IT HAPPENED AGAIN THIS WEEK.

ONGOING ISSUE: RANDOMLY FROM A COMPLETE STOP, UPON ACCELERATION THERE IS A LOUD CLUNKING NOISE. AS IF I AM BEING REAR-ENDED. POSSIBLY THE TRANSMISSION. HAPPENS MORE OFTEN IN COLD WEATHER WHEN THE GAS ENGINE IS IN USE MORE.