HEV & Check Engine Light- Quoted $3000 to repair. Is it worth it?
A few weeks ago we had a HEV and check engine light come on during a long drive in our 2019 Niro HEV with 185,000 KM. Up until this point we have had no major issues with the car. We took it to our mechanic and he took a look and said didn't see anything wrong with it. So he cleared the error and we used it for a few weeks without any issue. However during another long drive we had the same lights pop up again. I took a look at a few things and noticed the coolant for the battery was low. So I filled it up and the lights disappeared again for another week or so. Then the lights continued to come on when ever we drove it. The car seemed fine to drive, however it was a little jerky when shifting gears.
We took it in to Kia to have them run a diagnostics check. They came back with a quote to replace the engine clutch assembly and slave cylinder. It was roughly $1000 for parts and $2000 (CAD) for labor. The service agent that I spoke with mentioned that the car would be fine to drive short distances. But that the repair would need to be done at some point.
I brought that quote to our mechanic and he suggested we should trade the car in. Apparently the transmission needs to come out it is a rather large job.
My question is has anyone ever run in to this issue with their Niro? What was the outcome? I'm curious to know if it would be worth fixing or if we should just trade it in.