General Discussion

Last edited Thu Dec 4, 2025, 03:54 PM - Edit history (1)

Very practical, comfy, and spacious for a hatchback only 174" long. MPG is upper 40's; not the EPA rated 53, but still quite good. Excellent warranty.

I bought it partly because fuel economy was high on my list, and anything much longer than 174" becomes a constant squeeze to pass behind going from kitchen to garage. My previous cars were a 2016 VW Golf and a 2007 Honda Fit. All my cars since 1980 had 4 cylinders with 5 speed manual transmissions. I always preferred rowing my own gears, so this has been quite a change for me.

I considered getting an EV but my wife was against it, and EV is not ideal for my long road trips to hiking destinations -- longer and more frequent now that I'm retired.

Another reason I decided on the Niro:
There is room for a full size spare under the hatch floor. So many cars these days (especially hybrids & EVs) don't even have a temporary service spare -- just a can of pressurized goop that may or may not repair tire damage long enough to reach a service station.

Some trailheads I drive to are on gravel roads, remote from any large town. So I bought a full size rim & tire same as the other four, and get a 5-tire rotation every 4k miles. This is a good insurance policy against being stranded, and eliminates the necessity of buying at least two tires if one is destroyed and the others have more than 20k miles on them. With today's sensor tech, you shouldn't have a wide disparity in tread wear. On AWD vehicles, you might have to replace all four.