Mine was getting noisy at 20k, just before traded in with original supplying dealer for a new Niro-EV

 

That does seem very early.

 

What did it sound like? Or how was this diagnosed?

 

Of course it should be under warranty! How can it not be? Wheel bearings are not a consumable item like brake pads or tyres. There are many bearings inside the transmission, would anyone ever dare say they are not be a warranty item? Of course not. Why should wheel bearings be any different?

This Kia 7 year warranty seems to have more holes in it than a colander. Does it specifically say anywhere in the T&Cs that they are excluded from the warranty?

I’ve come from being a Toyota customer for 20+ years. Their warranty is not as long but they never quibble on stuff like this. Very disconcerting. The supposed 7 year thing is one of the major reasons I chose Kia! I would fight this very hard out of principle. Kia just don’t seem to look after their valued customers IMO. Peter

 

Of course it should be under warranty! How can it not be? Wheel bearings are not a consumable item like brake pads or tyres. There are many bearings inside the transmission, would anyone ever dare say they are not be a warranty item? Of course not. Why should wheel bearings be any different?

This Kia 7 year warranty seems to have more holes in it than a colander. Does it specifically say anywhere in the T&Cs that they are excluded from the warranty?

I’ve come from being a Toyota customer for 20+ years. Their warranty is not as long but they never quibble on stuff like this. Very disconcerting. The supposed 7 year thing is one of the major reasons I chose Kia! I would fight this very hard out of principle. Kia just don’t seem to look after their valued customers IMO. Peter

Got to agree with you fully here. My last car, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, I never had a problem calling off warranty with because over 3 years and 80k miles it never needed any work! So far with this Kia Niro in 1 year it's had 9 weeks in workshops with motor, gearbox, driveshafts and mount brackets under warranty (TSB fault) and that was a fight to get done. Hire cars not covered by warranty so that was also a fight to keep mobile. A rear door hinge has failed but they're calling it "alignment" so not covering it. Now this... I can safely say never buying another Kia, I'm going to BZ4X as soon as I can.

 

Wheel bearings should last about 85,000 to 100,000 miles.
I assume you mean 29k miles, (or is that km?).
According to the Kia warranty, gradual wearing of mechanical components in proportion to mileage are not covered, but either way (29k miles or 29k kms) I would think it should be covered by the warranty period.

Terms and Exclusions: Kia 7 Year Warranty | Kia UK

Learn more about the terms and exclusions of the Kia’s 7 Year Warranty for our current models.

www.kia.com

 

Thanks, very helpful. Yeah 29k miles, but agree that this is still way to early so I would say not in "proportion to mileage" at all.

 

My old KIA dealer replaced a wheel bearing after 3 years under warranty on my old Ceed (about 26k miles)

 

I think that is the clincher. OP's car is 1 year old with almost 30k miles. It doesn't matter what the use scenario is (probably some commercial use and/or taxi), but that kind of use will not be covered by the warranty.

 

I have a noise in my kia e niro ,i hoped it would just be a small fix ,wheel bearing etc. Turns out i actually have to replace the motor and gears. Thankfully under warranty. Noise started at 145000km car is late 2021

 

The motor/gear noise and failure is not unique to you. There is a very big thread discussing it here……

Braking/regen noise

Hi guys I noticed this yesterday and I'm not sure if it's new or if it's normal and I've only just noticed it, but whenever I brake our the regen kicks in the is a clicking noise. Which gets louder/faster as the car gets closer to stopping. Is this something I should be worried about our is...

www.speakev.com

It worryingly sometimes occurs even at quite low mileages. It would be even more worrying if/when it happens when outside the 7yr warranty! The cost of replacing these components will be many many thousands!

Peter

 

That's a fair old mileage for an 18 month old car!

 

Taxi driver

 

Our first rear bearing went at 18k miles, the second at 19k. Not covered by warranty, on a 2021 reg eNiro. Bought 2 genuine ones one began buzzing within 100 miles the other is hissing like a clutch release bearing. I won't be buying a lottery ticket that's for sure. Luckily, I used PayPal because the vendor wasn't interested until they stepped in. It's having a couple of pattern bearings on it now, hopefully, they last longer than genuine ones. Never thought I'd say that.

 

The technique used to replace wheel bearings can easily damage the new ones, if not done correctly.

The originals should have definitely been under warranty. If this happened to me, I would fight it to the death, with legal action if necessary. I don’t like confrontation, but sometimes it has to be so. The Kia warranty seems very weak in practice. I hope I never need to invoke it! Peter

 

A mate of mine recently had a rear bearing replaced on his 5 year old Sportage by a Kia main dealer under warranty...

 

It's the dealership lottery

 

OP is from April 2023.

I'm astonished that Kia consider a failed wheel bearing normal deteration. Wheel bearings should be lifetime parts. I would have complained to corporate, advertising standards, and small claims court.

Terms and Exclusions: Kia 7 Year Warranty | Kia UK

Learn more about the terms and exclusions of the Kia’s 7 Year Warranty for our current models.

www.kia.com