2023 Kia Niro problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Power Train (5) · Electrical System (4) · Vehicle Speed Control (3)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Kia Niro model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (2)
Seats 2025-01-17 · campaign 25V024000 · 80,255 vehicles
Defect: Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Niro EV, Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV), and Hybrid vehicles. The floor wiring assembly beneath the front passenger seat may become damaged, which can prevent the front air bags and seat belts from deploying properly or cause an unintended side curtain air bag deployment.
Risk: Air bags and seat belts that deploy improperly or an air bag deploying unintentionally can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect, replace and reroute the floor wiring assembly, as necessary, free of charge. In addition, dealers will install wiring covers. Owner notification letters were mailed February 27, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC332.
Electrical System: Instrument Cluster/Panel 2023-04-26 · campaign 23V298000 · 108,936 vehicles
Defect: Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage Plug-in Hybrid, Niro Hybrid, Niro Plug-in Hybrid, Soul, and Telluride vehicles equipped with a digital instrument cluster containing a 4.2" LCD screen. The instrument cluster may fail to display any information when the vehicle is started. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 101, "Control and Displays," and 138, "Tire Pressure Monitorin
Risk: A blank instrument cluster display will not show critical information, such as tire pressure, warning messages, and warning lights, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will update the instrument cluster software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 26, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC270.
Service bulletins (52)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Visibility/Wiper 2026-08-28 · TSB_CLI049_R2 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: partial repair – electrical a/c compressor - this bulletin has been revised to include additional information. new/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. this bulletin provides information regarding the partial repair of the air
Electrical System 2026-08-19 · TSB_ELE426 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: avn gen 5.0 wide software update - this bulletin provides information on the audio video navigation (avn) system software update for certain vehicles equipped with avn5w and navigation system listed in the table below. affected vehicles may overestimate travel times durin
Electrical System 2026-05-28 · TSB_ELE422 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: infotainment system software update using update.kia.com - this bulletin provides information and service procedures for updating the infotainment systems on applicable kia vehicles using the kia navigation updater available at update.kia.com. the software update may impr
Electrical System 2026-03-26 · TSB_ELE394 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: avn5.0w dtc p17a000 daignostic procedure - this bulletin provides information regarding a potential illuminated malfunction indicator lamp (mil) accompanied by dtc p17a000 on some 2022-2025my hybrid electric vehicles (hev) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (phev) equip
Engine 2026-02-20 · SC325_TSB_R1 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: voluntary emissions service campaign: aewp inspection and replacement (sc325) - this bulletin has been revised to include additional information. new/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. this bulletin provides information to i
Wheels 2025-10-22 · TSB_GEN099_R3 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: service action: tire mobility kit inspection & replacement/ repair (sa556) - this bulletin has been revised to include additional information. new/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. this bulletin provides information to insp
Showing the 6 most recent of 52 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-09-05 · Service Brakes“my 2023 kia niro hybrid has a recurring intermittent electrical defect. warnings appear together: check hybrid system, check engine, forward collision, rear cross-traffic, lane keeping, driver attention, esc, brake, auto hold. they appear and persist while driving, during which stability control, automatic emergency braking, lane keeping, and relat…”
2026-09-03 · Unknown Or Other“when stopping for a traffic sign or light, the car announces that it is shifting into park and does so. the car then will not shift into drive or reverse and is essentially disabled. turning off the car completely and turning it back on will not return it to "ready to drive" mode. jump starting the car, provided it is jump started twice, will cl…”
2026-09-02 · Electrical System“after sitting 2 weeks at airport parking. 12 volt battery dead . unsafe to repeatedly have to take out emergency key and pull handle cover off and get in car hit 12v button to start. the dealer we took it to refuses to replace the 12 volt integrated battery. it has happened multiple times. they checked battery and said it was okay. repeated having …”
2026-07-26 · Power Train“my 2023 kia niro hybrid ex has experienced multiple warning messages and unresolved concerns after previous repairs. after the first recall repair, i began receiving intermittent warning messages while driving. the messages appeared briefly and disappeared before i could safely document them. after a second repair, the transmission was replaced. sh…”
2026-07-09 · Unknown Or Other“there's a problem with the horn in my car. either the high or low. the problem is intermittent and the horn will fail and it is not available in emergency situations. i brought this to the dealership and made them aware but they refuse to take this seriously and two adequately evaluate the car. they blew the horn and said it was working. it was not…”
2026-07-06 · Wheels:hub · 71,000 mi“the contact owns a 2023 kia niro. the contact stated that while her husband was driving at 40 mph, the vehicle hydroplaned and pulled to the left unexpectedly. the contact initially contacted the dealer and was informed of the headlamp replacement and general inspection. additionally, while the contact's husband was driving, the driver-side front t…”
2026-05-22 · Chest Clip, Buckle, Harness“car seat lower hip straps frayed on both sides. had we been in an accident i have no doubt the strap would have ripped. i have 3 personal friends who checked their same evenflo revolve 350 car seat to find fraying in the exact same spots. and dozens of posts online with pictures showing the exact issues as well. the integrity of that straps in thes…”
2026-04-23 · Vehicle Speed Control · 11,000 mi“the contact owns a 2023 kia niro. the contact stated that while driving at 25 mph, the vehicle independently accelerated. the contact constantly depressed the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. the contact was able to coast the vehicle to the residence while depressing the brake pedal to prevent the unintended acceleration. neither a dealer nor an i…”
2026-02-07 · Suspension“i bought my niro hybrid ex touring new from the dealership in 2023. the first issue arose when the car shut off completely while driving and was towed to the dealership. later, i started hearing a squeaking/rubber rubbing sound. the car would make squeaking and creaking noises when turning or going over minor bumps. the "rubber rubbing sound" happe…”
2026-02-03 · Unknown Or Other“i am filing a complaint regarding my 2023 kia niro and safety recall sc332. the recall involves a damaged floor wiring assembly that may prevent proper airbag and seat belt deployment, creating a serious safety risk. i scheduled and brought my vehicle to cowboy kia, conroe on feb 2,2026 specifically to have this recall repaired, but the dealership…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.