POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:INTERNAL:CLUTCHES/BANDS:ACTUATORS/SOLENOIDS
Defect Description
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2022 Niro and 2018-2022 Niro Plug-in Hybrid vehicles. Fluid may leak into the printed circuit board inside the hydraulic clutch actuator, which can result in an engine compartment fire.
Consequence
A fire increases the risk of injury.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the hydraulic clutch actuator as necessary and install a new fuse, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 29, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC276.
121,411 vehicles affected
Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:INTERNAL:CLUTCHES/BANDS:ACTUATORS/SOLENOIDS
Defect Description
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2022 Niro and 2018-2022 Niro Plug-in Hybrid vehicles. Fluid may leak into the printed circuit board inside the hydraulic clutch actuator, which can result in an engine compartment fire.
Consequence
A fire increases the risk of injury.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the hydraulic clutch actuator as necessary and install a new fuse, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 29, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC276.
121,411 vehicles affected
Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:INTERNAL:CLUTCHES/BANDS:ACTUATORS/SOLENOIDS
Defect Description
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2022 Niro and 2018-2022 Niro Plug-in Hybrid vehicles. Fluid may leak into the printed circuit board inside the hydraulic clutch actuator, which can result in an engine compartment fire.
Consequence
A fire increases the risk of injury.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the hydraulic clutch actuator as necessary and install a new fuse, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 29, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC276.
121,411 vehicles affected
Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Complaint Statistics
16 total complaints
Top Reported Components
| Component | Complaints |
|---|
| POWER TRAIN | 6 |
| VISIBILITY/WIPER | 3 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 2 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 2 |
| SERVICE BRAKES | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM:CHARGING:PORT | 1 |
| ENGINE | 1 |
Incident date: Sep 26, 2025
Transmission overheat due to clutch inactivity
Incident date: Jul 20, 2025
When I got to work one day I turned off my vehicle and went about my regular day until I went to go home and my car was dead. The entire electrical system wasn’t working. No lights on the dashboard or in the vehicle when I opened the door. We went to jump it with the instructions from the owner’
... s manual. We finally got it jumped the next day and I drove home everything seemed okay I put gas in it and battery seemed charged from what my dashboard said. I moved my vehicle once again and it was fine but then the next day I went to turn it on and my car system was freaking out saying I needed to check my brakes and wouldn’t let me move or anything. I turned it back off to see if it was just a weird malfunction but it did the same exact thing then the car completely shut off everything dashboard everything. I called AAA. He jumped the car so he could drive it up on his truck to not do any other damage to it. I got them to tow it to my Kia dealership I bought my car from. They ran diagnostics on it and told me the wiring harness needed to be replaced and was internally shorting causing my battery to drain. They still have my vehicle in shop at the dealership. Thankfully both times I had had issues I was either at my work or my home (safe locations), but I couldn’t imagine not being able to get my car started out in an unknown area or having to jump it every time I were to drive it due to this issue. Cronin Kia dealership in Harrison, Ohio has information on the vehicle, the issue, and the fixes they were doing. If you would like to further inspect it you can as well. [xxx] was the first time it died and the [xxx] was the day it had alerted of a problem with the brakes and died then I called AAA. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Niro Plug-in Hybrid. 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 repai
... r. The dealer was made aware of the issue. 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.Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 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 dealer w
... as made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. 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.Read more
Incident date: Nov 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Niro. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there were exhaust fumes inside the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. After i
... nvestigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (Power Train). The VIN was included; however, parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. VIN tool confirms parts not available. The failure mileage was 10,500.Read more
Incident date: Nov 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Niro. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there were exhaust fumes inside the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. After i
... nvestigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (Power Train). The VIN was included; however, parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. VIN tool confirms parts not available. The failure mileage was 10,500.Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Niro PHEV. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the HEV warning light illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, who informed her to bring the vehicle in for service. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and informed her that the failure was due to th
... e port component. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. While unplugging the vehicle, it failed to disengage from the port. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (Power Train). The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 17,500.Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Niro PHEV. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the HEV warning light illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, who informed her to bring the vehicle in for service. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and informed her that the failure was due to th
... e port component. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. While unplugging the vehicle, it failed to disengage from the port. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V534000 (Power Train). The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 17,500.Read more
Incident date: Sep 30, 2023
Hi, We made an appointment for lube oil and filter change for Oct. 12 in Redding. We made the call because the dock to recharge the phone was getting very hot and the phone shut down and said it needed to cool down. Two different phones and several times. We do not use it. During the call to two
... different dealers. Harper Motors and Redding Kia the said there was another issues with no remedy but we should receive a recall by mail. This leading to yesterday morning. Sept. 30, 2023 at 08:30. I put my foot on the brake and pushed the start button. Nothing happened except the dash read Check regenerative braking system and some other things then everything shut down and screen went black. The dash made a winding down sound. Everything shut down and locked. No response with the FOB. Hatch will not open. No lights anywhere. I can not move the gear shift to move the gear shift. It recommends moving the car away from structures and other cars. Because of fire danger. 2022 Kia Niro PHEV. As noted before we made contact with the dealers, They said to have it towed to them. It is a fire safety issue. How do I get it out of my garage with it locked down like this.Read more
Incident date: Sep 30, 2023
Hi, We made an appointment for lube oil and filter change for Oct. 12 in Redding. We made the call because the dock to recharge the phone was getting very hot and the phone shut down and said it needed to cool down. Two different phones and several times. We do not use it. During the call to two
... different dealers. Harper Motors and Redding Kia the said there was another issues with no remedy but we should receive a recall by mail. This leading to yesterday morning. Sept. 30, 2023 at 08:30. I put my foot on the brake and pushed the start button. Nothing happened except the dash read Check regenerative braking system and some other things then everything shut down and screen went black. The dash made a winding down sound. Everything shut down and locked. No response with the FOB. Hatch will not open. No lights anywhere. I can not move the gear shift to move the gear shift. It recommends moving the car away from structures and other cars. Because of fire danger. 2022 Kia Niro PHEV. As noted before we made contact with the dealers, They said to have it towed to them. It is a fire safety issue. How do I get it out of my garage with it locked down like this.Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
The silver strip on the dash reflects the sun and it blinds you while you're trying to drive
Incident date: Jul 25, 2022
The dash chrome trim running across the dashboard reflects the sun and blinds the driver. It is so reflective it makes driving almost impossible. This needs to be addressed by Kia as it blinds the driver bad enough that it's only a matter of time till this will cause an accident that will cause harm
... or death of the cars occupants.Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2022
The car is equipped with an excessively loud and obnoxious backup alert that deploys whenever the car is shifted into reverse gear, whether or not the vehicle is moving. The dealer tells me this is a "safety" feature and that therefore the alert cannot be disconnected and the volume cannot be adjust
... ed. My complaint is that this feature is not only not necessary, especially for a PHEV, but also in fact is itself a safety hazard. It is so loud and distracting it prevents the driver and those around the car from paying full attention to other circumstances. Is NHTSA requiring this or is this Kia's invention? I don't hear it from other EVs, let alone PHEVs.Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2022
On four separate occasion I shifted it the car into park and a car computer did not register it in the correct mode. Video of lst event upload to Google photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ty4AYfnUiF9EX6oE6
Incident date: Mar 6, 2022
I have tried to contact several dealerships to have it inspected, but they have as of yet (4 days later) not contacted me to get anything set up. We have collectively called 15 times, and they continue to tell us that a "service advisor" will call us back. Because of this, it has not been inspected
... yet, though we have tried. We plan to just show up and demand it be inspected, without appointment. The concern is that the crack continues to grow, and we are worried if there is a collision that it would cause our safety to be in jeopardy. According to the dealership, this issue has not been seen elsewhere, although several different models in different years have reportedly had a TSB put out for this issue (according to customer service at Corporate Kia on the first day of the issue). There were no other issues indicating that this would happen prior to my seeing the crack. Two weeks after the purchase of the vehicle, the windshield developed a crack coming from the drive side corner. When it was first noticed, it was only 3 inches long. It wasn't noticed at first because it began below the black portion of the windshield near the base. It wasn't until it extended up into the visible portion that I noticed it. But it has continued to grow over time just sitting in garage. Four days later, it is 15+ inches long. There was no collision to cause it (no rock, bug, hail, etc). A small chip has also begun to form at an area where the crack took a turn, I suspect because that's a focal point for the pressure.Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2022
I have tried to contact several dealerships to have it inspected, but they have as of yet (4 days later) not contacted me to get anything set up. We have collectively called 15 times, and they continue to tell us that a "service advisor" will call us back. Because of this, it has not been inspected
... yet, though we have tried. We plan to just show up and demand it be inspected, without appointment. The concern is that the crack continues to grow, and we are worried if there is a collision that it would cause our safety to be in jeopardy. According to the dealership, this issue has not been seen elsewhere, although several different models in different years have reportedly had a TSB put out for this issue (according to customer service at Corporate Kia on the first day of the issue). There were no other issues indicating that this would happen prior to my seeing the crack. Two weeks after the purchase of the vehicle, the windshield developed a crack coming from the drive side corner. When it was first noticed, it was only 3 inches long. It wasn't noticed at first because it began below the black portion of the windshield near the base. It wasn't until it extended up into the visible portion that I noticed it. But it has continued to grow over time just sitting in garage. Four days later, it is 15+ inches long. There was no collision to cause it (no rock, bug, hail, etc). A small chip has also begun to form at an area where the crack took a turn, I suspect because that's a focal point for the pressure.Read more