— A Kia piston oil ring recall was announced in 2025 for 2021-2023 Kia Soul and 2021-2023 Kia Seltos vehicles, but a class action lawsuit filed about three weeks later claims the recall did nothing to repair the worthless vehicles.
Kia filed a motion to dismiss the piston ring lawsuit that was denied by the judge.
Kia Piston Oil Ring Recall
The Kia recall involved about 137,000 vehicles equipped with 2.0L Nu MPI engines supplied by Kia Autoland Hwaseong.
Hundreds of complaints said the Kia engines stalled because the piston oil rings were defective, with vehicle owners complaining about illuminated oil pressure warning lights and hearing abnormal noise from the engines.
Some of the engines completely failed and Kia knew of four engine fires when the recall was announced.
To repair the Kia Soul and Kia Seltos vehicles, dealerships installed piston oil ring noise sensing system software to warn drivers of potential engine damage. Kia replaced the engines if the piston ring system detected potential problems down the road.
But the engine was replaced if a Kia dealer discovered certain engine diagnostic trouble codes, and the replacement engine contained piston oil rings from a different supplier.
Additionally, all owners were offered reimbursements if they previously paid their own money for engine repairs caused by the piston oil rings.
Kia Piston Ring Lawsuit
The Kia class action lawsuit was filed by one 2021 Kia Soul vehicle owner who sued for more than $5 million even though he doesn't claim his vehicle had any engine problems. However, Florida plaintiff Eric Jasinski complains his Kia Soul is now "worthless" because of the engine recall.
Instead of Kia engine problems, the plaintiff sued because the free recall will take "hours of his time." And even though the replacement engines contain piston oil rings from a different supplier, the plaintiff complains the engines will fail again.
According to the engine class action, Kia's recall "is no more than a repeatedly ineffective waste of time."
The plaintiff further complains no Kia engine components should fail, and the recall and engine replacement "does not offer any foreseeable guarantee that the Oil Ring Defect will go away permanently."
The plaintiff also complains about the time it will take to repair the Kia Soul and Kia Seltos vehicles.
"Transitioning back to the repair itself, at a bare minimum, this 10 to 12 hour repair time means that it will take Defendant at a minimum of 1,300,000 hours to repair the Class Vehicles. In a more comprehensible term, 1,300,000 hours amounts to a little more than 148 years." — Kia piston oil ring recall lawsuit
Then the plaintiff complains about having to take "an eight-mile, 15-minute" trip to the dealership for the free recall repairs. And even though Kia never recommended or advised owners to tow their vehicles to dealerships, the plaintiff complains about the cost to tow his Kia.
"The average cost of towing, per mile, is $4.75 per mile. Given Plaintiff's roughly 8-mile commute, this cost amounts to $38 taken from Plaintiff for his own Class Vehicle to be safely repaired. Given the additional time it takes for a tow truck to arrive, roughly thirty minutes, Plaintiff's total time spent on his vehicle amounts to eleven to thirteen hours, unless of course one is to assume that Plaintiff drives his potentially unstoppable Class Vehicle to the dealership." — Plaintiff Eric Jasinski
According to the Kia piston ring lawsuit, the plaintiff and all customers have been injured by Kia's engine problems and recall.
Kia's Motion to Dismiss the Piston Ring Lawsuit
Kia's arguments are relatively simple as to why the piston ring lawsuit should be thrown into the dumpster.
Kia argues the plaintiff never claims his Kia Soul has "actually malfunctioned” and in over four years the plaintiff took his vehicle to a dealer for only routine maintenance. The automaker also asserts the plaintiff is making only hypothetical allegations by complaining the recall repairs and engine replacements won't repair the vehicles.
The plaintiff allegedly has not suffered an "injury-in-fact" and the plaintiff is still driving his Kia Soul which has not experienced any problems at all.
And while the engine recall lawsuit claims Kia knew the engines were defective before the vehicles were first sold, Kia argues there is no evidence for any such claim.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigated the Kia piston oil ring recall and concluded the recall and repairs were effective and appropriate.
Judge Allows Kia Piston Ring Lawsuit to Move Forward
All of Kia's arguments in its motion to dismiss fell on deaf ears as Judge John Milton Younge refused to dismiss the class action.
Most reasonable consumers believe to pay $405 to file a class action lawsuit for more than $5 million would require a plaintiff to supply evidence of vehicle problems. But that's not how U.S. lawsuits work.
According to the judge, the Kia piston oil ring recall lawsuit will move forward because he must accept the allegations as true.
The judge says at this stage, "all well-pled allegations in the complaint are accepted as true and viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. The standard is not whether a Plaintiff can prove their contentions, but whether allegations are plausibly pled."
The Kia piston oil ring recall lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Pennsylvania: Eric Jasinski v. Kia America, Inc.
The plaintiff is represented by Carpey Law, P.C.