Andrea Andersen has a pretty good grasp of the English language. After all, the California resident is an author. However, Andrea found herself repeatedly getting laughed at over one specific conversation about her Kia EV9. So, she took to Instagram and TikTok to see if there was any chance her perspective on the term “nice wheels” was correct.
“I don’t think I’m undiagnosed,” Andrea told her viewers in her post. “I think I’m just low-key being gaslit over the little things in my life, because there have been several times where I’m getting our daughter out of the car at school, and parents walking by will be like, ‘nice wheels.’ And then I’ll look at them and be like, ‘Thanks. That’s just what came with the car.’ And then they laugh and walk away.”
The situation became so frequent that she first went elsewhere for feedback. As she noted in her video, “That happened so many times that I had to go home and tell my husband about it. And then he laughed and was like, ‘Andrea, they’re not complimenting the wheel specifically. They’re complimenting the car itself.’” Andrea was unconvinced, so she pulled up a Google image, since her car was in the shop, showed it to her viewers, and told them to take a look for themselves.
A redesign for their Electric series
“Look at those wheels,” Andrea urged her viewers, pointing out the white and black futuristic hubcaps with no holes. “You’re telling me I’m the weird one for assuming that people are talking about the wheels when they say, nice wheels, and this is the car we’re all looking at? I refuse to believe that I’m the weird one in this situation.”
The image had done the trick. On Instagram, one viewer told Andrea, “Nice wheels usually means the actual car. But those wheels are interesting so who knows what they actually mean in this situation.” On TikTok, some were completely on her side. One noted, “I would absolutely assume the actual wheels,” and another agreed, “Oh they are talking about those wheels….” A third viewer was succinct in their support: “Girl you’re not wrong.”
Of course, there was the contingent who stuck to their guns. A viewer wrote, “I’m sorry, while they are nice wheels, the parents are in fact complimenting the car. Like when a teenager gets a car for the first time they’ll sometimes tell their friends they got a new set of wheels.” It’s a fair assumption, as some people do take their cars seriously enough to customize them heavily.
Others had fun with her comment about neurotypicality, pointing at her fixation on the conversation. A user told her, “I’m sorry from one autism mom to another….I’m going to hold your hand.” Another person asked, “Why do neurotypical people say one thing but mean another???” To be fair to all the viewers, sometimes a car sticks out for other reasons too, like sharing a license plate with a legendary car.
Andrea isn’t wrong for noticing the wheels, as they were an intentional design choice by Kia. Per Car Buzz, Teck-Koun Kim, the Vice President and Head of Kia Next Design Group, explained that creating wheels for electric vehicles comes with unique challenges. Because of the need for aerodynamic efficiency, designers often have to limit the number of holes found in a traditional spoke-oriented design.
“The more closed, the better the aerodynamics. That was one challenge,” Kim explained. “But we wanted to use that challenge as an opportunity to create something completely different to traditional wheel design.” The team reportedly ended up creating a dedicated wheel design group to come up with geometric shapes that meet these aerodynamic requirements while still offering unique visual appeal.
According to the outlet, the EV9 has been widely recognized for its standout design, earning accolades like the 2024 World Car of the Year and the 2024 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year. Whether people are complimenting the specific engineering of the wheels or the entire vehicle, it is clear that the Kia EV9 is turning heads in the school pickup line.
Andrea may feel like she is being gaslit, but at least she knows she is driving a vehicle that is designed to be noticed.
Published: Sep 7, 2026 03:45 am