Featured 2023 Kia Niro Hybrid Starts Just under $28,000

AU Dollars -

 

I'm interested in the Niro. I like the older body style. Too many manufacturers are trying this what I call "tron"/futuristic look and it's too much for my tastes. I almost picked up an older one for $9k just before the used car market took off. I should have purchased it. I wonder how modern KIA reliability is though.

 

I have a 2019 Niro PHEV I bought new in May of 2019. I have driven it 47,000 miles with no issues - no recalls.

It still averages about 30 miles per electric charge and close to 50 mpg when running on the gas engine.

My only operating charges have been 6 oil changes, 6 cabin air filters and 1 engine air filters. KIA parts are inexpensive to purchase and Hyundai and KIA share parts so you can buy them from whichever Dealer has the lowest cost. I think I paid around $6 for my last KIA/Hyundai oil filter.

Fortunately,/Unfortunately people are discovering KIA/Hyundai vehicles and they are in high demand - the deals are not quite as good as they used to be on prices for their vehicles.

The Top 10 Most Reliable Cars for 2022 (autolist.com)

The Kia Niro Was Wildly Reliable on This 2018 Consumer Reports List (motorbiscuit.com)

2023 Kia Niro Hybrid costs $27,785, gets up to 53 mpg combined (greencarreports.com)

 

Glad to see your 2019 Niro PHEV is doing ok.

However, these things still have a dual clutch transmission...right? Not sure I trust that nearly as much as Toyota's/Ford's system ( i.e. - planetary gearset ).

With that said, we do have a 2012 Sonata Limited and a 2013 Elantra GT....with absolutely no issues thus far. They both have relatively low miles though.

 

You bettcha they have DCT- and probably will not change. The DCT transmissions are now spreading throughout their model lineups.

I am a fan of the dual clutch but realize this is a big world and others could have an exact opposite opinion/experience.

 

The Sportage and Sorento hybrids use a traditional automatic, but I expect the Niro to stick with DCT to maximize fuel economy.

 

Porsche has been using a dual clutch for at least 10 years and probably 80% of their sales are now what they call PDK. Many of the exotics too.

It is getting hard to sell anything but some form of automatic even in what have been considered sports cars. My DIL can drive a stick. Neither of my sons. Neither of the driving grandkids has ever driven one...not sure they have even ridden in one except in Europe in a rental.

 

List of Hyundai transmissions - Wikipedia

Click the above link - when it opens scroll to DCT Transmissions- click that link and see the current models with DCT's.

Did you know they now make an 8 speed wet clutch DCT

Smartstream Wet 8DCT’s Multidimensional Evolution – Hyundai Motor Group TECH

Spec for 2023 Niro (Irregardless of what someone might expect it will come with a DCT as stated in an earlier post)
2023 Kia Niro Specifications (kiamedia.com)

 

Sadly - DCTs make sense in a performance car (like PDK etc) - but are abysmal in stop-start traffic. And in smaller, small engined turbo engines. Particularly with engine stop/start. Last time I drove one seriously - I was glad to get back in my MANUAL car, I could drive much, much, much smoother than VW's DCT.

Also sadly - there doesn't seem to be a Manual transmission Hybrid car - but I can see the technological difficulties, so it's not going to happen.

 

I understand your experience and opinion.

Having driven a 2008 Prius we bought new for 12 years and over 150,000 miles and now a 2019 NIRO PHEV for 3years and 47,000 miles that has a DCT transmission - I pick the DCT as the clear winner. The direct coupled transmission minimizes the energy losses inherent in an automatic transmission and constant velocity transmissions

But that's neither here nor there- having driven manual, automatic, constant velocity and direct coupled the DCT is my clear favorite and preference. The Niro is designed for one thing - fuel economy - that is why the engineers chose the DCT option.

We live in a small community and drive exclusively in stop and go traffic every day - the cars electric range consistently beats its rating by 4 miles per full charge- for 30 miles per full charge. It consistently beats its EPA rated gas mileage by 4 miles per gallon for an average of 50 mpg. When my wife and I took our last long trip it was in the NIRO with its 600 mile range we didn't even need to buy gas on our 500 mile trip. It gave us a very comfortable trip experience

 

The design of most parallel hybrids with a DCT greatly lessens or eliminates the drawbacks in start and stop traffic. In the Hyundai/Kias, propulsion through the first gear is by the motor.

Early IMA Hondas had a manual. It was the only option for the Insight the first couple years. Unfortunately, the design would allow drivers to overdraw from the battery, which lead to early death.

 

Ahh, yes, forgot about those early Insights. As far as I recall, they didn't come here except for a few private imports, but I've never seen one. I suspect it was deemed to be a low sales target with "unusual" styling and only 2 seats.

 

Hmm...I did a lot of research a while back and thought the consensus was that Hyundai used DCT for some cost savings? This was all theory at the time though. With that at said, it certainly does get excellent MPGs. But again, the long term reliability of the DCT still remains to be seen. Personally, I don't even want to *think* about the potential of 'transmission problems' in a hybrid. That's why I like the simplicity of Toyota's HSD ( and Ford too ). As a Hyundai ICE owner, I'm rooting for Hyundai though...for sure.

 

With similar gear ratios, the DCT is more efficient than the traditional step automatic. For the same reason a similar manual is more efficient; no efficiency robbing torque converter. That's why DCTs started showing up in non-performance cars, and why the Ioniq/Niro, and Honda's parallel hybrid system use it. I think the old Jetta hybrid had one too. Can't speak about cost of a DCT, beyond that the step auto has had decades more development and investment behind it to find the cost savings in manufacturing. That is also why the step autos of today are more likely to have better reliability. Hyundai/Kia had their first parallel hybrids mated to a step auto; some models still do. If it were about cost, cheaper to stick with the proven system.

As for reliability in any automatics, how many cars do you know of having transmission issues? Going back to the '90s, I only know of three. Transmission reliability isn't really an issue anymore. Aamco had to branch out into general car repairs and maintenance years ago, because transmission work alone was no longer supporting them.

The fewer parts meaning less problems claim is misleading. Software problems will park a Prius as easily as a broken part in another car. Toyota had to recall a whole lot of Prii over stalling at speed because of software problems.

 

Don't agree...but believe what you want. I'd take a the Toyota HSD any day over pretty much anything else.

 

Yep - I've never heard of a HSD costing anything - seem to last the life of the vehicle, even in TAXIs with huge kilometres.

My brother has a VW Caddy - $1950 for a clutch pack - then $4300 for a motoronics unit. Done only 155,000km (less than 100,000 miles).

Good friend had to spend about $1700 on her Subaru Outback CVT with similar kilometres - for a Solenoid.

 

It's getting late, so I'm not going to do a detailed count now, but Toyota has recalled 2.4 million or more Prius, Prius v, and Auris hybrids over the stalling issue.
Toyota Recalls 752,000 Prius And Prius V Models That May Stall While Driving - The Fast Lane Car
Toyota recalls 2.4 million hybrids over stalling risk | Engadget

It looks like they haven't completely nixed the issue.
"Toyota (NYSE:TM) is recalling 8,411 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles over a concern that the hybrid system may shut down, causing a loss of power. This may cause cars to stall, increasing the risk of a crash."
The models are 2022 Prius and Prius Prime. The number is small, but Toyota has maybe only sold 30k 2022MY Prius and Primes in the US.
https://www.motorsafety.org/toyota-recalls-prius-hybrids-that-may-stall/

 

A poster here was quoted $4200 for an inverter that failed at 73k miles.
Inverter Replacement | PriusChat