The £204 service is an inspection, with no parts replaced (not even the oil and filter), and the GDi petrol engine has no cambelt to replace. Three-year service plans are available at £389 for EVs and £709 for hybrids.

Hybrid Niros sit in insurance groups 18-21, plug-in hybrids are rated 23-25 and EVs are in groups 28-30. All hybrid Niros cost less than £40k when new and all electric editions were less than £50k, so there’s no expensive car supplement to pay on the road tax, which means you’re liable only for the standard £200 charge each year.

Whereas the original Niro was recalled no fewer than seven times, its successor has yet to be the subject of any campaigns. Some of the problems that could affect the Niro Mk1 included clutch hydraulics, coolant leaks, driveshafts and differential failures.

So far, the Niro Mk2 hasn’t been affected by any of these, but across the Kia range various issues have cropped up. These include problematic digital instrument clusters in many of the models, suspension failures (PV5), brake servo glitches (several models) and oil leaks (Stinger). Other recalls have centred on faulty charging units (EV6), airbags (Soul Mk3) and fuel leaks (Sorento).

To see if a car is subject to a recall, put its VIN into tinyurl.com/36e6bxw6.

The Niro Mk2 made its Driver Power debut in 2022, in an unimpressive 60th out of 75, and didn’t appear again until this year, when it came 28th out of 50.

While that overall score isn’t so great, first places for economy and running costs are impressive, but that’s it for top-10 rankings.

Where the Niro really falls down is with the driving experience, where it comes 41st, but a 15th spot for quality and reliability suggests ownership can be reasonably painless.

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