10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 7
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
28,618 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #36

Jan 292021

Soul

  • 80,000 miles
Car caught on fire. There was no accident involved. It started smoking and seconds later caught on fire. My son was driving on a city street, the car started smoking, he turned into a parking lot, got out of the car and the car caught on fire.

- Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

problem #35

Jan 082021

Soul

  • 95,000 miles
Catalytic overheating, burnt out the spark plugs and harness. Car lost all power and would not go faster than about 20mph which was very dangerous in traffic. Car had to be towed. All other 2016 Kia Soul with 1.6L I-4 DOHC gasoline direct injection (gdi) have been included in recall to fix this issue and this series of VIN should be included and covered as well. Can lead to total engine failure and replacement necessary. Dealership now wants $2000 to fix this issue that may have already done permanent damage to the engine. This would leave us footing the bill for replacement engine that is needed later because of damage done when motor was burning gas too hot. This Kia Soul needs to be added to the recall already in insistence.

- Bella Vista, AR, USA

problem #34

Nov 162020

Soul

  • 75,000 miles
When I called the dealership about the code that popped up when I used my reader to read the check engine light that popped up two days before thanksgiving. It said it was the catalytic converter. The Kia lady took my VIN and said there was no recalls but everyone with my car was calling in about it. And the part itself is 1200 dollars. How many others have to go through the exact same thing which also says it can result in loss of control. As a mother with a toddler who chose this car based on its affordability and safety features. This is unacceptable. There needs to be an issue recalled immediately. The car is a 2016 Kia. Theres should be no reason that I would have to pay 3000 dollars to replace a part that everyone's having to replace or your car will literally break down for good. The po50A code.

- Bryan, TX, USA

problem #33

Dec 082020

Soul

  • 81,000 miles
Stevens creek Kia is denying to fix my catalytic converter even though it's part of the recall. They want to charge me $250 for the diagnostic test and to fix the converter. The recall details states the damaged converter will be replaced at no cost to the customer but they are denying any service unless I pay. I notified Kia and nothing is being done. Stevens creek Kia lied to me that my recall was done on Tuesday 12-8-20 and when I showed up my car was still not running, they still gave me my keys and told me it was all good to go. They put my in danger, my car would've blown. They knew my car wasn't running and still didn't do anything about it and lied to me it was ready and when I told them they had to check the catalytic converter as a part of the recall because that's what the recall detail states they completely denied and said if I don't pay for everything they won't be checking or fixing anything. The manager at stevens creek Kia has no respect or regarding for customer safety he handed me my car not running past 10 miles with a bad catalytic converter even though that's what the recall says to replace. I need to speak to someone on the phone to further explain everything that happened and explain in much greater detail. I don't feel safe or comfortable stevens creek Kia handling my vehicle at this point. They don't care to fix my recalled car.

- Palo Alto, CA, USA

problem #32

Mar 312020

Soul

  • 108,076 miles
Upon parking my car I noticed the engine was on fire. Smoke and flames were coming from up under the hood. The car was declared a total loss by my insurance company and the fire was deemed electrical in nature.

- Halifax, VA, USA

problem #31

Oct 022020

Soul

  • 54,500 miles
I have not had a safety failure yet, just to clarify. I bought the car certified in October. It revs up to 2,500 - 3,000 upon startup, loud enough for a neighbor to come over and tell me to get it checked out. It hard-idles and shudders when it's stopped. I'm very concerned about it being unreliable, but more worried about it being unsafe with the revving. After three visits to the dealership for these issues, I'm told it's due to a bad software update from before I bought the car. They can't/won't tell me details on the update, but say that I'm lucky my car is still running because it put a lot of cars "out of commission". because it's still running, the dealership and manufacturer are refusing to help me (no fix is available, and they've refused a refund or replacement). I just need a safe and reliable car. I refuse to simply trade it in and pass the problem along to someone else. Kia did not disclose the software issue in advance and isn't backing their product. I wonder how many other people have been affected.

- Kingwood, WV, USA

problem #30

Oct 292020

Soul

  • 21,363 miles
Vehicle occasionally hesitates when accelerating, delaying forward motion for a couple seconds. This can be very dangerous when accelerating from stop or when turning either direction. This has ben reported to dealer since we bought it new and they are unable to duplicate it or find any problem. We had a 2015 Kia Soul & traded it because it did it even more often than this one. We thought it was just that one car, but this one does it too but not quite as often. It did it again 3 times yesterday, but may not do it for weeks at a time so very difficult to diagnose. I have read on several forums that other owners are having the same problem. It happens after stopping, like at a stop sign, or more often when turning either direction after we have been driving. I has almost caused us to have an accident several times, either rear-ended or broadsided while turning.

- Phelan, CA, USA

problem #29

Oct 202020

Soul

  • miles
August 28, 2020 I recieved a letter from Kia corporate headquarters stating a recall on a 2014 - 2016 Kia Soul conducting software update on engine to protect the engine. Got that completed and several weeks later went back to the Kia dealership for an oil change, was asked did I give a good review for Kia and the guy appeared upsset, anywho after that oil change my Kia started to run slow and would not accerate to the normal speed or seems to stop. Ask a mechanic and said it sounds likke the catalytic converter. I look up information on Kia and there is a recall for catalytic converter, however, the dealership is checking for other things. How do I protect my car?

- Corona, CA, USA

problem #28

Sep 072020

Soul

  • 55 miles
Had to replace catalytic converter at 80100 miles even after recall work had been satisfied

- New Albany, IN, USA

problem #27

Jul 022020

Soul

  • miles
Catilac converter. Kia refused to fix says not a recall. But 2017 Kia manufacturing says it's a recall and now my check engine light appears and that needs to be fixed

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #26

Aug 122020

Soul

  • 100,000 miles
While driving down the road the car loses power and the engine stalls out. No check engine lights come on and the engine stalls and then stops running. After further inspection, the catalytic converters has been clogged and is not functioning correctly.

- Pacific, MO, USA

problem #25

Jun 012020

Soul 4-cyl

  • 80,419 miles
Was driving on the freeway and just lost engine pressure and the light came on and engine died. Popped the hood and saw oil all on the passenger side of the motor. Towed it to the dealer and they said it was the engine and its not covered. Saw the recall god them about it and they did nothing but tell me the cost.

- Detroit, MI, USA

problem #24

Mar 062019

Soul

  • 70,000 miles
I lost control of my car last year and crashed into a tree. I ended up in the hospital with a broken sternum. My steering was weird right before I crashed.

- Lexington, KY, USA

problem #23

Feb 272020

Soul

  • 57,000 miles
When my car sits for hours and you crank it and drive it and come to your first complete stop while still in drive my car will surge like its going to take off. I have taken it to Kia 5 times and they never find anything wrong with it. I took it to have another shop look at it and said my converter was stopped up and had to take it back to Kia for warranty work. Got to Kia and they found nothing wrong again but my car is still doing this! it even has smoke come out of the tail pipe when passing someone every now and then! another problem I am having is with my sunroof, it will open but not close all the way and they are refusing to replace anything on it til the motor goes all they way out but I am having to manually close it so I am basically paying more for a car that I can not use the features on!

- Gordon, AL, USA

problem #22

Jan 202020

Soul

  • 70,000 miles
I have a 2016. Kia. Soul with constant problems I now have a catalog converter problems and want to know if its on recall because. I have had this vehicle less than 3 years and constant service checks. My service engine light is on and when. I took it to service they ran a check and. I was told it was a catalog converter and its expensive hi know people with. Kiss from 2015 and up and never had any trouble 91st all 18th their carbs. Is the. Kia I am driving a flooded out auto from a different city. I am on a fixed income and can't continue to afford to pay for service especially on a sort of new auto.

- Detroit, MI, USA

problem #21

Jan 042020

Soul

  • 30 miles
I have a Kia Soul ev because this is the battery that decreases the number of kilometers per day by day I think the battery has a problem

- Irbid, AZ, USA

problem #20

Jan 022020

Soul

  • 85,000 miles
85K miles 2016 Kia Soul. Turning from a stop into slow oncoming side street traffic, loss of acceleration power. Rpms to 4, slight rev, but no power. Could not go over 20 or so mph. Slight low rattle when pulled over (within 2 blocks of issue). Oil light flicker. Ran 'fix'd' diagnostic. Nothing. Drive slowly 4 or so more miles to destination. Oil light flickered upon arrival. Ran diagnostic again after parking. Camshaft position timing sensor pulls up. Checked oil. Low. Filled oil. Next morning drive 1 more mile to aaa approved shop. They do not mention camshaft sensor. They say oil pressure low even with oil, engine about to seize up. Knocking sound loud after their assessment and however long they drove it. I looked online and saw several mentions of Kia Souls with less mileage and same problem - loss power. Engine quitting. No check engine light ever came on. Oil light only flickered when parking, and car was topped with oil within 4 or so miles of this. No oil leaks evident. Car was up to date on maintenance and oil changes at recommended schedule.

- Stafford, VA, USA

problem #19

Nov 152019

Soul

  • 130,000 miles
I was getting dinner, and I admit that I pulled out rather swiftly and punched the gas, cause people in my area are very aggressive, however having the engine stall, should not have happened, or should I say my engine took a turn for the worst and stopped working for good.so here I was stalled in the middle of a busy hwy and people were honking and going around me.this was not a spot where I could just pull over.so I pushed the car to the next perking lot.I almost got hit initially and almost broke both my ankles trying to push this over sized toy vehicle.towed it to the shop and I got a $6000 bill for a clunked engine.now, prior to all this I didn't do many oil changes, however, how could I when the oil kept burning up.this always puzzled me as to why I kept having to put oil in it, with no visible oil leaks.I think that this engine also had a problem similar to the 192vwhatever engine.I think I had 130,000 miles on this vehicle, but I had no other problems with it.it may have had a lot of where and tear on it, but it should never have done this much damage.I think the, "NHTSA" should do some investigating on this and I will get to the bottom of this for everyone that had this problem.

- Lilburn, GA, USA

problem #18

Nov 012019

Soul

  • 235,000 miles
I had 2 recalls carried to university Kia, huntsville Alabama. Days later the car broke down had to have it towed back to said dealer to find out original service coordinator was fired told he was not performing recalls. My car has been back at dealer for 8 days now not fixed was told converter was stopped up and computer had not been upgraded. Leaving us with no transportation to get back and forth to work. Need help!! please

- Hayden, AL, USA

problem #17

Aug 052019

Soul

  • 135,000 miles
3/19/2019 vehicle was taken in for loss of power, was told catalytic convertor needed replacing, it was replaced and vehicle was fixed 8/5/2019 vehicle was taken in for loss of power and shifting, was told catalytic convertor needed replacing. There are recalls on 1.6 engine but not 2.0 engine, as I was told, so 4.5 months later I an having to replace the convertor again. Spoke w/Kia seems to be a run around, keep telling me it take 2 - 3 bus days, as of this its been 6 days

- Irving, TX, USA

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