10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 40,152 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
I was driving with my child in the car out of town, when they wheels locked up and the engine made a horrible sound and died. I had to walk to a car rental place to rent. Car. I had my car towed to a local repair shop. I got home and the next day the mechanic called and said I would need a new engine that it blew a head gasket valve. He recommended contacting Kia as there have been recalls on this car for this problem. I immediately contacted Kia and they said there was a recall on my car and they would pay to have it towed to a local Kia dealership. It is still a good two hours from where I live. But they assured me if would be covered as the issue it with head gaskets. It is recal number 2002B. The dealership contacted me and said it isn't covered. I asked why and the service advisor, justin stated the recall had nothing to do with it. No told him what Kia headquarters told me. He stated he would print off the recall and speak with his manager and get back with me. The car has 124,000 miles on it. I have done strick maintenance. As a matter of fact I just had the oil changed. My biggest concern is the safety of myself and my daughter when the wheels locked up. Had I need on the interstate I don't know how we would have avoided an accident. Luckily I had taken back roads home and was entering a small town of winder and was only doing 25 miles an hour at the time. No warning lights were on at all. After the engine failed the oil pan light came on and was intermittently going on and off.
- Warner Robins, GA, USA
After reaching the 80000 mile mark I noticed a slight vibration in the car that varied with the speed of the vehicle. I eventually had the tires replaced and balanced but the vibration didn't go away. After elevating the car on it's jack stand I hand turned the rear wheels and looked carefully. I noticed there was a slight wobble. I replaced both rear wheel hubs and the problem was resolved. The fact the hubs didn't even last until 100K miles was bothersome though. Especially considered almost all the mileage was from highway travel.
- Fayetteville, NC, USA
On May 29th 2018 I went back to holly Kia with a problem with my tires. I spoke to the service department supervisor again about the cataly converter. He stated to repair the catalytic converter would cost me about $1100. I was truly upset because my car is only 4years old. Once I picked up my car I contacted the Kia corporate office and spoke to another young lady explaining to her the situation and she was very rude unprofessional because she told me that it Kia only manufactures the car but they are not responsible for when a part such as a catalytic converter may go bad in a car and there was nothing they could do for me. She then stated that the next time I purchase a car I should make sure I understand the warranty coverage before I purchase the vehicle. Needless to say my catalytic converter needs repairing. I also had problems with my tires and I explained to the young lady this as well. I told her I just didn't understand why they did not want to help me get these situations fix because my car was fairly new. Well I didn't get help from her. Far as my tires after getting the crank sensor fix I found myself back at holly Kia getting my tires looked at because the air kept going out. One morning going to work a young man stopped me on the highway to tell me my tire was flat I immediately but air in the tire and went to holly Kia and told the same parts service supervisor what the problem he took my car in and had the technician look at my tires I asked him could he have them look at all the tires because I am putting air in the tires every other day. Well in June my son had to purchase that same tire that they said was fix and told me all the other tires were good. In September 2018 I had to end up purchasing three other tires because I was still experiencing the same problem with having to put air in the other tires. Ever since I purchase the tires no problem
- Magnolia, DE, USA
At 37,000 miles the rack and pinion broke. This disabled the clock spring which disabled the air bags. Was traveling about 25 mph and steering failed. Thank god I was not on expressway going 55mph or when the rack and pinion broke my steering ability would have been lost and no air bags deployed in the event of a crash. Vehicle towed to Kia and rack and pinion replaced. I have another 2014 Kia Soul and I worry the same thing may happen to it. Kia told me that this is not a common problem and was a part failure.
- Rockland, MA, USA
Various suspension components, steering, and wheel areas emit clunking metal noises when turning and going over even small road imperfections. Dealer has "retorqued" some components, but noises worsening. Something(s) is (are) loose (loosening).
- Herndon, VA, USA
Wife was driving hit road debris and the wheel split into to pieces. The inner rim separated from the outer rim. Wheel immediately went flat, wife pulled over thinking that the tire had gone flat, but upon inspection it was discovered that the wheel has split in two.
- Antonito, CO, USA
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. While driving 15 mph, the vehicle started pulling to the left as the driver side tire made an abnormal noise. The contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree. The air bags failed to deploy. The vehicle was inoperable. The contact did not sustain any injuries and did not file a police report. The vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign numbers: 15V123000 (vehicle speed control) and 14V332000 (steering). The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 27,000.
- West Bloomfield , MI, USA
This was a rental car, the accident occurred resulting from driver error in a dark rural area, sharp S curve and ran off the road into a guardrail and over a slight ditch, then into a fence. Driver was taken to the hospital by ambulance, the front seat passenger hit head on windshield, cracked windshield, and no airbag deployment for either of the front seat passengers. Air bag light was on as noted in police report. Checked for any open recalls for this VIN, however, 2012 Kia Soul had recalls for faulty airbags. Interesting.
- Roswell, GA, USA
- Houston, TX, USA