2023 Kia Niro Phev Recalls & Complaints

Incident: December 23, 2023 · Filed: September 4, 2025

Unknown which component exactly as it does not throw a fault. I believe it to be transmission related as the behavior seems like a clutch to me, but dealership has not been able to confirm. Vehicle rolls freely in directions other than what is selected and does not respond to throttle input. Described the issue to dealer numerous times and they claim to have seen it. I do not believe they actually have. It is currently at the dealer for the fourth time about the issue. Currently claiming engine issues but the engine isnt even on when it experiences the problem. (PHEV) Has been occurring since purchase but very intermittent. Could not reproduce until enough trial and error when it did occur that I could reliably reproduce it. During my own testing and diagnostic is how I found it can roll freely in the wrong directions and is much more dangerous than just shaking was. Description: Within the first few minutes of the vehicle being turned on it can shudder against the brakes when stopped. It can stop responding to throttle inputs and roll freely in directions other than the selected gear while throttle input is ignored. It will start responding again after some time, I dont know what makes it start responding again. Does not show errors or messages. Reproduce: Plug in car, let it charge all the way to 100%. Unplug and immediately start car, move forward or backward a few feet at a time. Shaking against brakes will start, and at that time if you let off brakes and attempt to move car it can shake loose of clutch and roll freely. It does happen outside of this specific scenario and I have recording of such, but most of my recordings are in this scenario as it is difficult to catch such an intermittent issue Some recordings at: [XXX] More detailed here: [XXX] And many more stored locally because they're very large, available if desired. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Incident: June 27, 2025 · Filed: June 27, 2025

2023 Kia Niro electronic dash went blank, no speed indication, no adaptive cruise, no lane departure warning, no forward collision warning capabilities.

Incident: October 20, 2023 · Filed: November 8, 2023

The engine oil levels are dropping rapidly. This percentage number is displayed, making the driver think that an oil change is needed or that there is a leak. There seems to be a miscommunication from a sensor to the computer system. The mechanics at the dealer keep saying that nothing is wrong with the car. Because of the rapid decline of the engine oil levels shown on screen, one cannot know with certainty when and if there is a real oil consumption or not. The vehicle was inspected by a KIA dealer who so far, has not been able to diagnose nor fix the issue.

Incident: April 29, 2023 · Filed: June 20, 2023

While approaching an intersection light, that was turning red, I suddenly heard the car beeping rapidly and all the red warning lights on the dashboard behind the wheel went off and the vehicle stalled. Luckily the intersection light was red, so everyone was coming to a halt. I do remember the dash board becoming blank, like there was no power. I had to turn the car's power ON button several times before I could shift into Drive. In the meantime, the traffic light turned green and I was still trying to switch the car to Drive mode. Finally it did and we drove the next 4 hours without issues. When the car stalled we were already running in hybrid mode as we had driven 250 miles prior to that and there wasn't much charge in the battery other than what the car maintains when it switches from EV to Hybrid mode. If this would have happened where we were at higher speeds, like on a highway, then we were at very high risk of being in an accident and someone could have gotten hurt for sure. We were very lucky that the car in front of us and behind us were all slowing down, because we were approaching an intersection where the light was turning red. So fortunately the car stalling didn't cause an accident even though it was in the middle of the road. We did take the car in to KIA service and they scanned all systems and found a history code MFC (C183186) which I was told, means the car lost communication with navigation. They recorded the code and cleared it since then. They could not repeat the incident and have no idea why it happened.

Incident: January 15, 2023 · Filed: June 13, 2023

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Niro. The contact stated that while attempting to shift into drive (D), the transmission failed to shift to the intended gear. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,300.

Incident: May 18, 2023 · Filed: May 19, 2023

Main screen goes blank randomly and also randomly switches between android auto and normal. This disrupts navigation and other functions and is both distracting and disruptive to driving which is dangerous. Dealership said there is no fix from Kia at this point so advised to file a complaint.