Kia Soul Complaints

5,626 consumer complaints on file.

#11471802June 30, 2022
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V259000 (Engine) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11471600June 29, 2022
ENGINE
Oil is leaking somewhere as none left in engine at normal mileage oil change.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11471615June 29, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On May 15, 2022 my house burned and all my belongings and the home were a total loss. The fire origination specialist brought in by my homeowners Insurance Company reported the back left of the garage was the origination spot and that my 2021 Kia Soul was parked face in on the left side of the garage. The car was charred and the Chrysler 300 parked next to it was also damaged but recognizable. The Kia had been unused for 24 hours plus. Both the auto and home owners insurance companies are investigating the Kia as the source at a salvage company in Lumberton, NC.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11471278June 28, 2022
VISIBILITY/WIPER, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On a rainy night, I lost all external visibility due to excessive condensation on the front windshield and the other windows on the car seemingly made worse by utilizing the de-fogger on my car. Of the result of this, I ended up in opposing lanes of traffic and narrowly avoided head on collisions with several vehicles. I am a professional driver with thousands of hours behind the wheel and I know how to react in nearly every emergency situation due to advanced experience and quality training. Upon further research, I discovered that this issue is amongst the more commonly reported complaints on the soul forums most commonly attributed to a design flaw in the Air conditioner drain where the drain line is built too small and tends to become clogged. Component failure: AC Drain Line. Safety risk: complete loss of external visibility resulting in high potential for a head on collision with opposing traffic. Reproduction: Unknown. Inspected: no MILs Illuminated: none.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11471371June 28, 2022
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. The contact stated while at a traffic light, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle however while driving, the engine was knocking. The contact continued driving to her residence. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine had failed and needed to be replaced. The contact became aware that the VIN was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V750000 (Engine). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted and informed the contact that they would not complete the recall repair as the previous owner of the vehicle failed to complete an unknown service campaign. The contact notified the manufacturer who confirmed what the dealer had stated. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 77,523.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11471161June 27, 2022
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING, ENGINE
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Soul. The contact stated the vehicle was being driven to the dealer for an oil change when the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The contact stated that the oil level warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed and the contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the dealer stated that the recall under NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V120000 (Engine, Engine and Engine Cooling) needed to be completed before the engine would be replaced. The contact stated that she also received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number 19V101000 (Engine) however, the dealer and manufacturer declined repairs for both recalls. The contact stated that she received the recall notifications in April of 2022. The contact stated that the dealer was notified of the recall and stated that if there were no issues with the vehicle that there was no reason to take the vehicle to the dealer for the recall repair. A case was opened with the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 103,629.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11471208June 27, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My 2018 Kia burns through oil before 3000 miles. I have been told that this is not normal at all. I have been having this issue for some time now. The most recent time was this week. It’s been and issue for at least a year or close to it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11471073June 26, 2022
ENGINE
A couple months ago had an oil sensor go bad and leaked oil everywhere. Engine after that kept burning oil and was seen by multiple mechanics. Then the other day my engine light came on the fault was the ocv. Changed that out and when it was taken out metal shaving came out with it. So now I have a car that has a blown engine due to underlying mechanical issues.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11470885June 24, 2022
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING, ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds, the engine seized without warning. The contact initially had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with engine failure. The contact then discovered that his vehicle was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V120000 (Engine, Engine and Engine Cooling). The vehicle was then towed to the dealer where he was informed that the vehicle was out of warranty. The contact contested that the vehicle should be repaired under the recall; the dealer then referred him to the manufacturer. The contact filed a claim with the manufacturer who later also informed him that the vehicle would not be covered under warranty. The vehicle remained in the possession of the dealer unrepaired. The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11470926June 24, 2022
AIR BAGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The airbag light is on, and the passenger airbag light is off. Kia dealership performed the electronic scan, and is obtaining message with defect in OCS sensor defect and electrical voltage. Kia said needs Kia part #95910-2K000 that Kia has discontinued. There is no way to fix the air bag issue as Kia has discontinued the part, and no dealer has the part in the United States. The vehicle is available for inspection. Dealer has confirmed the problem, but can't repair because the Kia part has been DISCONTINUED. The part that has been discontinued is the Control Module, Module Assembly Air Bag.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11470607June 23, 2022
ENGINE
The contact owned a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, an abnormal, knocking noise would emit from the engine without warning. The contact notified the dealer and they informed him that the knocking noise was normal vehicle operation. The contact then stated that while driving at 60 MPH as the knocking noise persisted, the noise grew increasing louder without warning. The contact looked out of his rearview mirror and saw a cloud of white smoke coming from underneath the vehicle. As he pulled over, he inspected the hood and saw flames encroaching towards the front driver's seat. The contact instructed his girlfriend to exit the vehicle, as he went back to retrieve a cell phone, he burned the hairs off both arms, and his right leg, as well as some hair on his head and face. The contact called the authorities while the vehicle became engulfed in flames as his children's safety seat and strollers were inside the vehicle. The children were not in the vehicle at the time of the failure. The contact also stated that part of a highway sign was burned due to the fire. The fire was extinguished by the fire department and a police report was filed. The contact sought medical treatment at the scene where paramedics checked his vital signs and the burns to his body. The contact stated that both he and his girlfriend have suffered severe mental anguish as a result of the fire. The contact has suffered from traumatic dreams and hallucinations since the failure. The vehicle was towed to an independent tow yard and deemed a total loss. The dealer was notified of the failure and offered no assistance. The contact then filed a complaint with the manufacturer. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
2
Deaths:
0
#11470552June 22, 2022
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
My cars check engine light has come on at 87,659 miles with a p0420 code. My dealer has determined that this is a defective catalytic converter and because of the mileage it is not warrantied. In doing research the 2012-2016 Kia Soul with the 1.6 gdi engine. My car is a 2017 experiencing the same symptoms as the cars a year older. The recall campaign is 19v120000 with the NHTSA and SC 176 with KIA dating back to 04/17/2019. My cars model year being a 2017 had not been determined at that time to be effected as the mileage had not yet accumulated to the mileage of the previous years. Now that my 2017 car had reached the mileage in which previous cars where effected , it too is experiencing this defect. The safety issue lies in that when the car is driven it could overheat without any warning lights indicating that and overheating a cylinder, piston damage will occur leading to catastrophic failure that could launch a connecting rod out the side of the engine block and allow oil to spray onto hot exhaust manifold leading to a fire.I would like to see that the recall to cover added years (2017-2019) to this recall as this is a continuing safety issue. The dealership is not wanting to acknowledge and help in this matter so I am filing this complaint to document continuing failures to aid in extending model years covered.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11470361June 22, 2022
ENGINE
As per Kia's recall on the catalytic converters on some models, our Kia is also giving the CEL obd code of p0420, but on nhtsa our specific car isn't listed as being a part of the recall. It fits in the engine being a 1.6l and the correct year for the recall, and is having the same issues as the recalled models, but for some reason our's isn't shown as having that recall on this site, even tho it does show up as having that recall on other vin checking sites.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11470375June 22, 2022
STEERING
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, he heard an abnormal sound while turning the steering wheel in either direction. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact continued driving to his destination. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where the vehicle was diagnosed with needing an unknown steering component replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V608000 (Steering). The contact took the vehicle back to local dealer and had the recall repair completed. The contact stated that on another occasion while driving at a slow speed, he heard an abnormal noise coming from the steering wheel. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing an unknown steering component replaced for a second time. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11470291June 21, 2022
ENGINE
We were driving down the highway and the engine started making sounds like something was breaking. I pulled over and then couldn’t start it again. We had to have it towed to the dealership where we were told we needed a new engine without them explaining what happened or why. There were no symptoms of failure prior to the failure itself. Engine failure while driving down the interstate is dangerous and we are lucky nothing bad happened to us.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11470315June 21, 2022
AIR BAGS, SEAT BELTS
The contact owned a 2010 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 15 MPH when she crashed into the rear passenger side of another vehicle due to an illegal turn damaging both vehicles. The contact stated the air bags did not deploy nor did the seatbelt retract. The contact stated when the paramedics helped out the vehicle the air bag fell out of the steering wheel. The contact was taken to the hospital for back pain. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed and deemed totaled. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11470013June 20, 2022
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
I got a recall letter in the mail too late! (October 2021) I received recall letter and called my local dealership 5 minutes after reading it & was told to put the letter in my glove box until my car completely broke down December 8th 2021. It was towed and was told it needed spark plugs & an oil chance which I knew wasn't the case. It sat at that dealership for two months with every service advisor giving me the run around and come to find out I'm not the first person. Had it towed to a different location where it sat for another two months where I had to fight to get a "goodwill" engine which we still paid almost $4,000 when it should of been for free! I got my car back March 31st 2022 and now my car had failed again! Am being told it's something different now & the STEALERSHIP wants another $1,500 from me! My child has had to miss dr appointments due to this and I've jad enough! Kia customer service is incompetent and Kia dealership service departments are as well! Due to the fact my engine should of been replaced for free like everyone else but someone decided to send me the recall letter LATE!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11470016June 20, 2022
ENGINE
While driving down the interstate, my car started sputtering, decelerating, and then cut off. I was able to get it back on long enough to get off the interstate. When I stopped, my car cut off. Turn it back on, sputter down the road, then engine knocking, turn off. For about 15 miles. I finally got it towed to my Kia dealer and I explicitly told them about the recall. They had no idea what I was talking about so I called Kia. According to Kia, even though my car is on the recall list, I'm out of luck because I wasn't informed that it had to be done during a certain time. I'm not the original owner and never got notice and now I'm out of a car I am STILL paying on!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11470026June 20, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The dash had a electrical burn smell then smoke started coming out. There were children in the car. Unsure if the dash was on fire we stopped and started removing the area the smoke was coming from. The knob that controls the fan speed for the heat/ac had burnt and melted the plug the sensor to the knob as well as inside the back of the knob. We immediately unplugged it to prevent further damage or fire. After checking the internet I saw many forums stating the fan would only blow if they fiddle with the knob between setting 3 & 4 which is how mine started. Also on this panel is the plug to the light for the passenger airbag. This is my main source of transportation and a very dangerous situation. I took it back to the dealership where I bought it brand new in 2019 and was informed it’s my problem and my responsibility to pay for this electrical issue. Giving other people are having the same problem I believe it should be looked into before someone’s car catches on fire. This is a manufacturing problem as it’s obviously something I could not have done and too many other complaints. I mentioned to the service man perhaps maybe it should be reported and looked into as a recall issue and was informed there’s no way because he’s never heard of anyone else having this problem or seen this before. I explained perhaps they just haven’t brought theirs in or reported it yet or they simple don’t know that’s the problem and this is the result. This is very dangerous please look into it. I am unsure if there was ever a small fire or it just became so hot it melted and we happened to smell and see the smoke.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11470057June 20, 2022
ENGINE
A loud thumping noise accompanied by a large amount of smoke in exhaust along with sudden loss of engine power while traveling at highway speeds. Oil was spewing from a hole that was blown through engine block.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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