Anyone drive a Kia Niro? Car hunting w/ wife

cleanmycorolla

cleanmycorolla

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Hey! Wife and I are car shopping for something with some more room, for the littles, but we want a hybrid or plug in. So many incentives offered in CA if you buy one. We have it narrowed down to a few, Rav 4 Hybrid, Prius Prime, Chevy Volt and the Kia Niro. My life loves the Niro. She test drove it and I haven't but it's going to be hard to argue her out of this one. Any of you wonderful people have experience with this vehicle or Kia's in general? Really would appreciate thoughts...for the record i want the Rav 4 Hybrid.
 
I'm not driving one, but researched it quite a bit. I need something larger to handle four adults and four golf bags. The Niro has plenty of leg room in the back seat, but under the hatch it's too small for my needs. It has great visibility all around, something the Rav4 doesn't have--I found the way the widow line swoops up toward the rear blocks the drivers view.

One review I read said the Niro was underpowered, but I didn't find that at all with the DSG transmission.

Of course Kia's 5 year bumper to bumper and 10 year power train warranty is great and the batteries are covered by the 10 power train warranty. Anyone I've talked to driving a Kia has been very satisfied. I'm waiting on the new VW Tiguan that comes with a 6 year bumper to bumper warranty, but that might be a little too large for you wife's needs.

Have you looked at the Honda HR-V? It's not a hybrid, but seems like a great compact CUV (about the same size as the Niro) with plenty of room and trunk space -- gets 28city/34highway/31combined mpg. Has unique rear seat head rests that slide into the rear seat when not in use so the rear view is not obstructed.
 
ski2 said:
I'm not driving one, but researched it quite a bit. I need something larger to handle four adults and four golf bags. The Niro has plenty of leg room in the back seat, but under the hatch it's too small for my needs. It has great visibility all around, something the Rav4 doesn't have--I found the way the widow line swoops up toward the rear blocks the drivers view.

One review I read said the Niro was underpowered, but I didn't find that at all with the DSG transmission.

Of course Kia's 5 year bumper to bumper and 10 year power train warranty is great and the batteries are covered by the 10 power train warranty. Anyone I've talked to driving a Kia has been very satisfied. I'm waiting on the new VW Tiguan that comes with a 6 year bumper to bumper warranty, but that might be a little too large for you wife's needs.

Have you looked at the Honda HR-V? It's not a hybrid, but seems like a great compact CUV (about the same size as the Niro) with plenty of room and trunk space -- gets 28city/34highway/31combined mpg. Has unique rear seat head rests that slide into the rear seat when not in use so the rear view is not obstructed.
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Awesome reply, thanks!

the warranty is great and something my wife did like hearing. So funny you mention the window(s) my wife loved the visibility allowed when she test drove. She also said the drive was smooth and responsive. plus the price, its really attractive price wise.

We did look at Honda's, the new Civic, but we thought it looked really weird. And both the CRV and HRV my wife was so so when we walked the lot. She's tough to crack sometimes.
 
A lot of people are scared of Korean brands but I think they've come a long way and offer a lot for the price. Before I got my GTI a few months ago I drove a loaded Santa Fe Sport for over 4 years. Never had problems with it. Very nice car. The problem was I stopped at a VW dealer just to look at the GTI to see what the hype is all about, I had never driven one. I left the store with it, LOL.
 
Kia/Hyundai have been putting out Quality cars for many years now (old perception needs to go out the window). Their Quality has been pretty consistent and ranked within the Top 10 each year. We have a 17' Kia Sportage and when we were shopping we looked at the cr-v and rav4 and the Sportage offered more than those two (looked nicer as well). I can't wait to see the KIA Stinger in person which should be fairly soon as well as the newly redesigned KIA Rio Hatchback. One thing I can say is KIA owners are pretty loyal and I rarely hear anything negative about their cars from them and I've asked quite a few people whenever i'm out shopping or whatever if I see someone in a Soul, Optima, Sorento, etc,...

p.s. I saw the Niro when the dealership got one in and it's nice. It's like a slightly smaller Sportage. Kinda right in between that and a Soul. How many Hyundai and Kia's have you seen with clearcoat issues compared to a Japanese car? Hardly any if at all. That should be a good reason to buy it for the paint quality...
 
cleanmycorolla said:
Hey! Wife and I are car shopping for something with some more room, for the littles, but we want a hybrid or plug in. So many incentives offered in CA if you buy one. We have it narrowed down to a few, Rav 4 Hybrid, Prius Prime, Chevy Volt and the Kia Niro. My life loves the Niro. She test drove it and I haven't but it's going to be hard to argue her out of this one. Any of you wonderful people have experience with this vehicle or Kia's in general? Really would appreciate thoughts...for the record i want the Rav 4 Hybrid.
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Kia and Hyundai have indeed come a long, long way. I wouldn't be too concerned with reliability (especially with the batteries! I believe most batteries used in hybrids are made in Korea anyway). Every new Kia and Hyundai that I've road in/driven appear to be rock solid, comfortable, well-equipped vehicles.

My only concern buying Hyundai/Kia would be resale value. If you plan to keep the vehicle for 10 years, it's a moot point. But, if you're like the average American that wants a new car every couple years (gulp - guilty as charged!), then the Rav4 would definitely be the smarter choice of the two.

Happy shopping! :xyxthumbs:
 
I have had 5 Hyundai's and they are great cars. I have never owned a kia, but both of my genesis' had parts that said kia on them, and i know their customer service and warranty are great. I had an issue with the dealer and had to call hyundai customer service to get it resolved and they took care of it and called a week later to make sure i was still happy with their service. My neighbor bought a kia sorrento and praised their customer service as well.

I test drove the Kia Niro and thought it was great plus i read many reviews on them, and everyone seems to like them. The only negative i had was the acceleration on highway speeds, but everything else was top notch.

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Kia was named number 1 on JD Powers 2017 Initial Quality, Toyota dropped to 14th and Honda was in at 22nd just ahead of Dodge, Ouch.

Oh yeah and Genesis was second.
 
custmsprty said:
Kia was named number 1 on JD Powers 2017 Initial Quality, Toyota dropped to 14th and Honda was in at 22nd just ahead of Dodge, Ouch.
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when you are at the top (honda/toyota) for so long you need to keep being hungry and thrive because there is always someone right behind you that wants it more and eventually when you let your guard down that's when someone will surpass you and come out with a better product. we all know it as competition...

p.s. i love honda (family has owned nothing but toyota/honda) but their paint quality sucks and is one reason why i most likely will not buy another anytime soon or if at all. another thing is both their latest exterior designs (honda/toyota) look like they were designed here at this studio...
tumblr_n0zchxAlIn1r8tzamo1_1280.jpg
 
I think the Niro is cool for sure buy the Hyundai version is even better, atleast I think I've seen their version of it. Either way, can't beat the warranty and the "newness" of it for sure. Good luck to you, maybe a Fusion hybrid should be looked at as well, stunning cars!!
 
custmsprty said:
Kia was named number 1 on JD Powers 2017 Initial Quality, Toyota dropped to 14th and Honda was in at 22nd just ahead of Dodge, Ouch.

Oh yeah and Genesis was second.
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Hyundai Motor Co. models that rank highest in their respective segments are the Kia Cadenza; Kia Forte; Kia Niro; Kia Sorento; and Kia Soul.
 
Klasse Act said:
I think the Niro is cool for sure buy the Hyundai version is even better, atleast I think I've seen their version of it. Either way, can't beat the warranty and the "newness" of it for sure. Good luck to you, maybe a Fusion hybrid should be looked at as well, stunning cars!!
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There is no Hyundai version of the Niro.
 
ski2 said:
There is no Hyundai version of the Niro.
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Nope, no Hyundai version of it.

It's most likely comparable model size to the Tuscon which I don't think Kia had anything in the segment prior to the Niro.

Santa Fe Sport would be close to the Sportage and the Kia Sorrento would be the full size Hyundai Santa Fe with 3 row seating. I test drove all of these back when I bought my Rogue.

The Niro wasn't available when I bought my Rogue.

Gas mileage at the time was better on the Rogue. I average 28 city/hwy and have gotten as high as 34 on highway.

If I were shopping today, I'd still buy the Rogue. I just like the size, style and tech, the 360 forward and rear look down cameras are awesome.
 
ski2 said:
There is no Hyundai version of the Niro.
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What is the newest Hyundai that just came out that has a wild-looking rear end on it?

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Wow, thanks for all the feedback. To answer a bunch of Q's, this automobile is going to be with us for at least the next 6+ years, so resale isn't a big deal really. We tend to hand down or donate the cars. But we plan on having it for the long haul, so the 10 year battery warranty is nice to see. All the warranties are great. I have to go to downtown LA to my closest Kia so i plan on test driving it hopefully this weekend for myself.

i am mostly curious now in person to see how the cargo area and fold down seats work. It would be nice to fit one bike inside comfortably. plus we camp, we were thinking we could allow people to sleep if the seats were down sometimes its too chilly in spots we visit to camp outside at night. So ideally it may sound silly but thats a big point for me, hahaha. The MPG is awesome too, we haul up to San Fransisco 7x a year and Oregon 3x so having that might stretch a buck or two gas wise....we often would drive up the coast here in cali 6 times a year as well but since the landslide might be years before anyone can do that.
 
Klasse Act said:
What is the newest Hyundai that just came out that has a wild-looking rear end on it?

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I see nothing on their website that you're referring to in a cross over.
 
Klasse Act said:
What is the newest Hyundai that just came out that has a wild-looking rear end on it?

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk
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is it this hybrid? still looks better than the prius by a long shot...
2017-hyundai-ioniq_100543052_l.jpg

2017-Hyundai-Ioniq-Hybrid-rear-end-03.jpg

2017-Hyundai-Ioniq-Hybrid-626x382.jpeg
 
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