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Kia · NHTSA safety record

2023 Kia Niro

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

41

Complaints

8

Crashes

0

Fires

6

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2023 Kia Niro have filed 41 safety complaints with NHTSA between March 2023 and July 2026. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 11 of them (27%). The typical failure was reported at 600 miles, the median across the 5 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 2 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (2)

SEATS

25V024000 · January 17, 2025

The 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.
The risk
Air bags and seat belts that deploy improperly or an air bag deploying unintentionally can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
The remedy
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.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 80,255 vehicles across all model years covered

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL

23V298000 · April 26, 2023

The 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 Monitoring Systems."
The 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.
The remedy
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.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 108,936 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 41.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER 14 34%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 27%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 7 17%
AIR BAGS 6 15%
POWER TRAIN 6 15%
ENGINE 4 10%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 4 10%
SERVICE BRAKES 3 7%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 7%
STEERING 2 5%
WHEELS 2 5%
Chest Clip, Buckle, Harness 1 2%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2023 at 12.

2023 2026
2023 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

2 injured · crash · towed

I was driving when another vehicle hit my driver side tire area. Car was totaled but no airbags deployed. It is not available since it has been towed to the salvage yard. I have back pain, however we were fortunate not to have more injuries. It was inspected but not sure if they found anything wrong with the airbags.

NHTSA complaint 11577403. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed

I was in a very light two-car collision on 08-09-2023. Both cars had little to no damages, just very minute scratches that are very hard to see. But two of the airbags on my KIA Niro (front and knee) deployed suddenly, causing me to black out for a couple of minutes and later have a concussion, and the bottom airbag caused a bruise and consistent knee pain to this day. My car is at a Kia Service facility and has been for the past 3 weeks and we haven’t gotten any information from them as to what the problem was. I visited this facility to get some answers and I stated that I think this car has a problem with the airbags, a Kia employee responded with “do not tell that to your insurance”. I

NHTSA complaint 11543321, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed · 200 miles

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Niro. The contact stated that while making a left turn a second vehicle crashed into the front driver's side of the vehicle. The contact stated that during the crash the front driver side air bag, the driver's side curtain airbag and driver's side lower leg air bags all deployed as intended but the she sustained severe flesh wounds to both lower legs due to the airbags deploying. The contact was transported to the local trauma center and required multiple surgeries and skin grafts due to the injuries sustained from the airbag deployment. A police report was taken at the scene. During the crash the vehicle was destroyed and was later towed away. The cause of the

NHTSA complaint 11543355, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 injured · crash · towed

My wife was in an accident on [XXX] around [XXX] at the intersection of [XXX] . She had exchanged safety information with the person whose vehicle had stalled. She went to shut off the car upon exchanging the information and after pressing the ignition button the vehicle began to roll. She was outside of the vehicle when she had pressed the ignition button. She tried physically to stop the vehicle, trippped and was dragged until the vehicle came to a stop after running over her leg and hitting a tree. The vehicle had recall items addressed on October 2 or 3rd. She was trying to stop the vehicle from rolling as she knew that school was letting out and a school bus would be coming on the road

NHTSA complaint 11626489, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

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. Shortly afterward, the vehicle displayed an overheating warning. I returned to the dealership, but they stated they could not find a problem. While traveling out of state, on July 6, 2026, the vehicle displayed warnings indicating that the 12V battery needed to be charged. On July 8, 2026, the vehicle would turn on, but the engine would not start or

NHTSA complaint 11752872, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

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 working and I said it was intermittent and they said well we could not find any problem. There were no warning lights. Nothing else. The horn is just intermittently failing.

NHTSA complaint 11749268. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING:LINKAGES:TIE ROD ASSEMBLY

towed · 71,000 miles

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 tire experienced a blowout near a service station; the technician advised that the tire exhibited steel tread. An independent mechanic attempted a wheel alignment but discovered a rusted, bent tie rod, preventing the service. Following dealer instructions, the vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the wheels, both hub bearings, tie rods, and brake

NHTSA complaint 11748554, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

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 these seats are obviously compromised for so many people to be having them fray in the exact location. Evenflo is telling us all it's due to "external factors such as a mouse" but it would not all be the same car seat it happens to, in the exact same place on the seat, to people who drive their vehicles daily and have no other wings of rodents in

NHTSA complaint 11739436, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

11,000 miles

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 independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 11,000.

NHTSA complaint 11733425. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
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" happened when I was at a full stop, right after removing my foot from the brake, as the car began to move forward. These issues were both reported to the dealership, and they did an inspection. The dealership service center has been able to hear the sounds. Since then, the calliper boots have been replaced multiple times and the full calliper kit once.

NHTSA complaint 11716423, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Kia Niro

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 16 1 —
2024 9 1 —
2022 29 1 —
2021 9 1 —
2020 37 1 —
2019 54 1 1
2018 56 3 —
2017 78 4 —

Other 2023 Kia models

Telluride 201 Sportage 185 EV6 133 Sorento 114 K5 104 Sportage Hybrid 95 Forte 59 Carnival 50

Every Kia on this site — 176 vehicles, 208 recall campaigns and 1 open investigation .

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst