AutoUtility currently tracks 97 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2019 Kia Niro. Powertrain & Transmission issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 38 complaints (39.2% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 5 filings cite a crash, 2 cite a fire, 2 report one or more injuries, 1 reports one or more fatalities.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 97 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Powertrain & Transmission (38 reports • 39.2% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (21), Brakes & Traction Control (14)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 5 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 2 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 injury filings • 1 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2019 Kia Niro
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Powertrain & Transmission
NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #23V534000 POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:INTERNAL:CLUTCHES/BANDS:ACTUATORS/SOLENOIDS
Electrical System
Brakes & Traction Control
Engine & Cooling
Fuel & Propulsion System
Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2019 Kia Niro
Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis
AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.
Loss of Motive Power While Driving
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2019 Kia Niro
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"The contact owns a 2019 Kia Niro. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop as needed. The contact pulled over to the shoulder of the roadway and the parking brake was engaged to keep the vehicle from moving. The message "Stop..."
"My car is a 2019 KIA Niro Hybrid. It's only 7 years old, and my husband and I have been the only owners. It only has 61,000 miles on it, and it is serviced regularly and has to pass a state emissions test each year. As I was driving the other day, the dashboard lit up with critical alerts saying..."
"This complaint supplements a previously submitted report filed today, June 18, 2026, (Original is Complaint Number: 11845044) regarding the same vehicle and condition (TSB ELE234 drive unit rumble noise). The correct VIN for this vehicle is [XXX] — a 2019 Kia Niro EV EX Premium, 138,457 miles. I am..."
"Our 2019 Kia Niro EV (approximately 138,000 miles) exhibits an abnormal rumble/growling noise from the front drive unit while driving slowly in "D" range and when accelerating or decelerating between 0–25 mph. This symptom matches exactly the condition described in Kia Technical Service Bulletin..."
"The Hydraulic Clutch Actuator has caused functional driving issues and caused my vehicle to go into limp mode. I was never informed of the recall issue prior to purchase, and the recall was marked as complete, when it was not. The fix for KIA NIRO Recall SC276 was incomplete in January 2024, and I..."
Complaint History for Kia Niro
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2017–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Kia Niro | 98 | 4 | 5 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Kia Niro | 57 | 4 | 3 | View 2018 Problems → |
| 2019 Kia Niro Current Page | 97 | 5 | 1 | Current |
| 2020 Kia Niro | 60 | 3 | 3 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Kia Niro | 12 | 1 | 2 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 Kia Niro | 71 | 9 | 3 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Kia Niro | 62 | 10 | 4 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Kia Niro | 18 | 5 | 2 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Kia Niro | 19 | 2 | 1 | View 2025 Problems → |
| 2026 Kia Niro | 0 | 0 | 0 | View 2026 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2019 Kia Niro
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 39 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steering NHTSA category: STEERING | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,SEATS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE,EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,POWER TRAIN,WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tires NHTSA category: TIRES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight ra...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.