2019 KIA NIRO PHEV — Problems, Recalls & Safety Data

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.

My 2019 Kia Niro LX PHEV is or has recently been the subject of multiple including NHTSA Recall Number [XXX] and Service Action [XXX]. Despite coordinating repair of these defects with the University Kia dealership located at 5105 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd, Durham, NC 27707 (hereafter 'University Kia"), and taking my vehicle to University Kia for those repairs twice, University Kia has been unable or unwilling to repair the defects over a 4-month period. This delay has not been due to parts availability, as I have received multiple assurances that parts needed to repair the defects were available. After three separate service appointments, University Kia has been unable to address these defects, and my vehicle remains in an unsafe condition. P.S.: The numbers on the prior page of the form where I can nominally report these issues (888-327-4236 & 800-424-9153) don't seem to be working. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

12 volt battery will suddenly and without warning loose capacity to power the vehicle operating controls and displays including remote key access, start sequence using push button start, and traction battery charging through charging port. While parked and connected to a charging station vehicle ‘died’ in place. This occurred within 10 minutes of last use of remote key to unlock doors, open doors, place shopping bags, close doors, and use driver door push button feature to relock doors. Outside air temperature was mid 20’s Fahrenheit. Traction battery was fully depleted per dashboard miles available display as vehicle driven 20 plus miles using hybrid vehicle mode just prior to parking at charging station. Vehicle was removed from charging station connection and 1.5 hours later jump started using connection under hood. After start was driven just under 4 miles to home garage where plugged into 110 volt home charger. Multimeter on 12 volt system after recharge of traction battery read over 12 volts. Appears that control system for maintaining charge on 12 volt system using traction battery has a flaw that fails to detect 12 volt battery condition and react correctly. While this occurred this time while vehicle stopped and shutoff there is potential for such to occur while vehicle in a roadway at highway speeds causing vehicle to loose all power as 12 volt system powers all operating logic. As a practicing engineer over 50 years and college instructor of engineering for about 40 years it appears that there is a software error in assuring 12 volt system intact and a failure of the software to identify potential problem, notify operator, provide a manual reboot of operating system before 12 volt system reaches failure level if it ever did. Unlike alternator equipped vehicles that show failure of alternator no such given on hybrid.

This complaint references the open recall with the Kia reference SC276 and the NHTSA reference of 23V534. Kia has not been able to provide me with repair despite a notice from them stating a remedy is available, and appears Kia may be sending out faulty notices. I first received notice in July/August, 2023 that this recall was in process but remedy was not available. This week, I recieved a letter dated December 29, 2023 that explicitly states remedy is available (attachments will be added). However, the NHTSA website, the Kia recall website, and my local Kia dealer all as of today (01/04/24) say that remedy still is not available. I have attempted to call Kia customer care at the number on the letter, but every attempt has resulted in their system hanging up on me before I could reach anyone.