2014 Kia Soul !, purchased in Nov 2017 used, was a lease turn in from my local dealer, with less than 60,000 miles. Car mainly used by my wife to drive kids to school, or herself to the store or work. All trips generally under 5 miles. This was my 5th Kia/Hyundai vehicle, the first to experience an issue of this sort.

In April 2021, wife noticed the brake pedal was mushy, car was taking longer to slow down to a stop. Upon investigation, discovered the Left Rear brake line has rusted. If you are not familiar, Kia has a cover running from the front to the rear of the Soul which protects the area the brake lines are run. It wouldn't be possible for the lines to get wet short of being submerged.

Also, the line is coated with a protective coating which should prevent the line from ever rusting. Yet rust it did. My mechanic suspects the line was wet when the coating was put on, and the moisture trapped inside, slowly eating away at the line. Otherwise, there isn't a reasonably logical way for that section of line to damage the coating and rust.

Dealer wanted $1000+ to replace the brake line, a part you can buy from Kia Parts department for $54. That is an absurd charge to replace a $54 line. I called a mechanic I know, who came to my house and repaired the damaged line with 2 compression joints and a new piece of brake line for a couple hundred dollars. it was a very simple fix, yet there is no reason a brake line on the Soul should rust, let alone in under 100k miles.

My extended warranty wouldn't cover the work, and Kia didn't view it as their issue, which is why I had to seek an alternative repair to their outrageous cost. Sadly, that should have been deemed a defect. It just isn't reasonable that 1 line would rust, and the other lines under there would be in perfect condition. As I stated, that area is completed covered/protected from any road debris or water exposure, unless one drove the car thru at least 1 foot of water.

This is the 2nd of 3 complaints I have prior to reaching 100k miles with this vehicle.

I have had several problems for months. I took it to two dealers 4 different times and since a "code wasn't tripped" they refuse to check everything out. My brakes were done and now it is worse than before. I have had problems with acceleration, stalling, noises, vibration, hesitation, tires, extremely high RPMs on ignition and idle and it is running through gas like crazy! This doesn't even include the brake lights going out, the radio going out, the steering seems to have a mind of its own not to mention the strange smells as well as check engine light coming on (dealership says it just needed updating?) the gas gauge being faulty and the tire pressure lights always coming on for no reason. This is the worst vehicle and company I have ever dealt with.