On 10/25/2017 while driving on the highway, my 2014 Kia Soul caught on fire - spontaneously and without warning (no apparent issues in operating the car, warning lights on the dash, etc.). two fellow motorists honked their horns and flashed their lights in an effort to signal me. The back windshield began to 'fog up' due to the heat/fire, and we immediately pulled off the highway. In an effort to escape this emergency, I along with my son, who was driving, immediately got out of the vehicle and moved a safe distance away before calling 911. At this point flames were coming from both underneath the vehicle and from the engine compartment. The car was soon engulfed in flames. Multiple fire engines responded to the scene in extinguishing the fire and securing the scene. The car was a complete loss (see pictures attached in the report). It is important to note that my 2014 Kia Soul was taken to a local Kia dealership between 10/17/2017 - 10/19/2017 for diagnostics due to lights (internal and on the dash) flickering and an abnormal sound. The dealership's service department replaced the battery, performed a safety inspection, but were unable to identify the flickering lights issue, nor were they able to identify the source of the abnormal sound although they did acknowledge its presence. The service department released the vehicle to me and advised me to drive the vehicle to see what happened. My car was brought home, parked, and not driven until the incident on 10/25/2017.

- Dallas, TX, USA

Engine cut off without warning while car was moving in boulevard traffic, decelerating as I approached a turn into a shopping plaza. Oil light came on. Engine would not restart. Mechanic says there are loose little pieces of metal inside engine and that engine must be replaced. I have followed all manufacturer's recommendations for maintenance. This engine should not have self-destructed at 93,000 miles. I am filing this info with NHTSA because I suspect that previous Kia engine recall should have included this model also.

- Bryans Road, MD, USA

Car randomly start vibrating, misfiring, and it would not increase in speed. It would be difficult to turn on from a cold start. The the engine failed, sent it out to the dealer to work on it under warranty, and we've had an open case since. Then recently my son was driving the car while in motion on its own the engine shut down while driving, making is highly unsafe to drive.

- Glendale, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. While driving 75 mph, the vehicle's skid light illuminated and the vehicle stalled without warning immediately afterwards. The vehicle was towed to a dealer to be repaired, but the dealer could not find any failures. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 102,000.

- Desoto, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. While driving approximately 40 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was able to restart. The failure recurred four times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the failure was undetermined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 6,500.

- Margate, FL, USA

Soul+ has rotten egg/exhaust smell coming into the cabin as vehicle is driven. Cannot be driven with windows all the way up. Doesn't matter if ac/heat is on or off. Periodically, smell comes and goes as it is driven. Does not matter if it is surface streets or highway driving...although it is more prevalent at 70+mph. Irritates my asthma...lungs hurt after driving for a few minutes and coughing persists accompanied by a headache. Vehicle is driven to and from work under normal conditions. It was taken in to be serviced and the tech told me to use only top tier fuels. I have used them exclusively for several weeks and the problem persists...seems even worse. Appears to be a leak in the exhaust system before the catalytic converter and/or a blocked cat. I'm afraid to drive it with the windows down. I tried to drive it three hours away to visit family a month ago and had to keep the windows down or my daughter would complain of the smell. Since this has started, there is also a musty/damp smell when the car is first started. Vehicle is going back in tomorrow morning. Vehicle has app. 7500 miles on it...so relatively new.

- Waterford, MI, USA

Taking a day trip to the crayola factory, we were 10 miles from our destination when we first smelled smoke then saw it coming in through the vents and from the front passenger corner of the vehicle. I first checked the gauges to see if it was over heated, nothing. Popped the hood and that's when we realized it was on fire. We raced to get the 2 small kids out of the vehicle as the flames were starting to over take the front hood. We were able to secure the kids and get far enough away from the vehicle but 3 minutes later the car was gutted. Nothing but metal left on the inside. We had no warning that something was wrong while driving the car, no engine light, no overheating - just smelled and then saw smoke. We were lucky we had a place to pull off on a busy highway. I was told by the police officer that I'm lucky that I turned off the car and opened the doors before the locks malfunctioned as he has seen in other Kia cars. My hope is that Kia can find the source of the fire and do a recall before anyone else is faced with this nightmare. I reported it to Kia via social media, but they seemed more concerned on how to take my pictures off rather than fix the issue. Updated 11/02/2017

- New Cumberland, PA, USA

I was approaching a traffic light and the light was green and traffic in front of me was moving. I must have take my eyes off the car in front of me and the green light for just a few seconds and when I looked ahead the car in front of me had stopped at the turning light and I ran into the back of it. Never even had a chance to hit the brakes. My car had a lot of damage to the front half but the airbag never deployed.

- Raeford, NC, USA

We had been driving for about 20 minutes. We pulled off highway to look at a tourist attraction. No indication whatsoever that anything was wrong with the car. Parked, turned car off. Got out. Glanced back at the car and smoke was pouring out from under the hood. Soon there were flames dripping from underneath front end (looked like melting plastic). Called fire department. Within 1 minute flames were jumping up on interior (dash area) and exterior (under hood). Got fire extinguisher from nearby business, but with hood closed, did not help. Within 4 minutes entire front end and front interior were engulfed in enormous flames. Many popping noises (explosions). Fire department arrived after about 5 minutes and extinguished the fire. Entire front end of car melted to the ground. I should note that while we left the car unlocked when we got out, the doors locked themselves during the fire, and the key fob was inoperable (lock electronics in the car were fried). Had a person or pet been in the car, they would have been trapped. My husband cut his face during this, but did not seek a doctor. All personal items in the car are severely damaged by smoke.

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

Under normal and mild acceleration, there is noticeable hesitation and power loss when the automatic transmission shifts up; most noticeable when shifting occurs from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th gears.

- Herndon, VA, USA

I have had my car to the dealer 4 times for this same issue which still has not been fixed. The engine light comes on when it wants too and then there is very little power in 1, 2, and 3rd gears this is a manual trans. I almost got hit in the side because of pulling from a stop sigh and went to go and looked down light was on and car did not want to move. Its very hard to get a stick shift car to start out in 4th gear. Kia says they want me happy but will not replace the car instead offering free oil changes and other items but I want a safe car to drive not other items.

- Columbus, OH, USA