The engine threw a rod. The car is up to date on all service. Kia does not want to honor the powertrain warranty due to two missing oil changes that I cannot find the paperwork for, all the others are listed on the Carfax. One of the missing oil changes was at the Kia dealership where I bought the car. There was never a check engine light, or low oil light. I check the oil monthly-the oil level was fine. The car went from working with no issues to the engine throwing a rod and almost catching fire. I see that there is a recall on the 2016 model. My car was manufactured in 2016, but was a 2017 model. I was told there are currently 5 other 2017 Kia in the dealers shop, all with thrown rods. I was told this by a member of the service department. She says that they see at least 2-3 per week.

Hey guys, I need to share my absolutely horrendous experience with my 2017 Kia Soul and the Kia motor company. I’ve had the single worst time with any vehicle I’ve ever owned and any car company I’ve dealt with, and these guys need to be put on blast for their absolutely horrible quality vehicles, which are designed to last 100,000 miles and then implode, and the company’s absolutely callous and aloof attitude towards their buyers. NEVER BUY A KIA. They’re low cost because they’re designed to fail the moment the warranty expires. This is planned obsolescence at its extreme.

TLDR. Bought a brand new Kia Soul in September of ’17 for over $17,000. Serviced it carefully and properly. The car recently experienced total engine failure at 106k miles and 4 years of age due to a known defect, with early symptoms starting at 83k miles, which is when I began bringing the car in for repeat repairs. At this time, I’ve been quoted $10,000 in repairs by the dealership, more than the value of the car, and Kia won’t cover a DIME. They DID keep my car in the shop for 5 months, starting after the issues appeared at 83k, and they WERE able to keep the car running long enough to expire the powertrain warranty. So, when the engine exploded on the highway, at 106k miles, being 4.5 years old, Kia claimed zero liability. Not ONLY has Kia has denied me any sort of coverage, but they have shown absolutely no concern as a car company, dragging their feet at every corner, with zero concern for the customer, and just generally trying to do the absolute minimum possible. This was my first ever brand new car, and I was left with a total brick after just over 4 years and 100k miles. Horrible, terrible, awful, disgusting treatment in every regard. Absolutely nothing positive to say about Kia Motors handling of this whatsoever, and I will never spend another penny with them.

Here’s the full story.

At about 83k miles and 4 years old, the engine started having severe issues, namely with losing huge amounts of oil, which apparently led to catastrophic failure in other parts of the car. The part that finally failed and destroyed the entire engine, the catalytic converter/intake manifold, is KNOWN to go bad, there’s a ton of info available about this, but it’s only covered up until 80k miles - right when it tends to start failing, and right when mine started failing. At this point, Kia serviced my vehicle for 5 months total, BUT NOT FOR THAT ISSUE! During this time, the car was in the shop getting “repairs”, which amounted to an oil consumption test and an “engine cleaning”, so I was without my vehicle during that period. After this 5 month long pointless repair, the issues were temporarily resolved- Kia had been able to put a band-aid on the issue, and I was able to drive my car another 23k miles without the oil light coming on.

Fast forward to 106k miles. Everything has been more or less fine. I’m driving my normal route home from work at 8pm. While doing 75mph on the highway, passing a large truck, the car experienced total failure with no warning. There was a loud bang from the motor (I later learned that there was a huge hole blown in the engine block), and power was compromised, as the car started to jerk back and forth. I fully turned off the car and coasted to a stop. I put on my hazards and called Kia’s towing hotline. The tow truck took about 3 hours to arrive due to a mistake on Kia’s end, they couldn’t tow me to the dealership I requested, and Kia charged me $250. I left my 4.5 year old car completely disabled at a Kia dealership I’d never been to, at about one in the morning.

The Kia dealership wasn’t able to look at my car for about 5 days. When they finally did, on 6/14/22, they told me that the car was totally compromised, quoting me $10,000 in repairs. They said there was no coverage on the issues, and that I could try to run the problem up the corporate chain, but they seemed pretty negative about getting coverage. But not having ten grand to repair my 4 year old car, I elected to try and plead reason with the company, and opened up a case with corporate.

When a week or two went by without Kia doing anything fast, I purchased a beater 2007 Volkswagen with 131k miles, cheap as dirt. I figured I’d ride it into the ground while I wait for Kia to get back to me. No way they’d leave me with a brick, when I was a loyal customer, just a hair beyond the warranty… right? Right? Yeah…

So at this point I’ve got a request in with Kia - they were supposed to get back to me within 24 hours. Two days goes by, and I call again. They once again tell me they’re putting in a request, and to wait 24 hours. Alright, I gave them the weekend this time - because let me add in here, these calls aren’t quick. They’re two hours on hold every single time, waiting for an answer. No one EVER calls back. So I call back a few days later, to find out that my service person has gone on vacation for two weeks. During this time, none of his co-workers or supervisors is able to so much as review his case, and just this first step took several weeks. After speaking to several absolutely frustrating and uncaring supervisors, I escalated the case to the second and final step. Can you guys guess what happened next?

If you guessed “no one cares”, you’d be right! This next process took weeks, during which time contact was AGAIN non-existent, and I once again wasted hours of my time on hold trying to stay in contact with this horrible company. I’ve spoken to a dozen representatives, including a number of managers, and every single one of them sounded like they couldn’t care less about the issue.

Well, today it’s 7/28/22, 1.5 months without my car, and this morning I’ve finally gotten a call back from my case manager! And… that’s it. They denied the case. There’s nowhere to escalate to, no one to talk to. I asked to appeal to a supervisor, but there were “none available for hours”, and they’ve promised a call back within a couple days. Yeah right…

So, that’s the story. I have no legal restitution, no good solution. I’m left with a car without an engine, that’s worth about $750. I’m lucky enough that I had the money to buy the VW, so I can continue to get to work every day. The only thing I can say is, if you’re reading this- never, ever buy a Kia! The company will take your money, sell you a vehicle that lasts a few years, then leave you stranded on the side of the road with a broken engine, while Kia does absolutely nothing about it. Thanks Kia, you’ve lost a customer for life.

Engine damage at 66,000 miles. Kia first said that it would probably not be covered under warranty since the Product Improvement for a software update was not completed. I never received notification. Since then they asked for maintenance records. I supplied years of records. but two gaps exist where I could not get the records. All of the existing records show that nothing, but synthetic oil was used. Now they are saying that I need to pay $340 to pull the oil pan and the valve cover to check for sludge. However, as I told them I have used nothing but synthetic oil. So if I get notice that they found sludge I will know they are scamming me.

I will update as I know more. Bottom line this should be covered under their famous warranty. After reading other forums, it seems they go out of their way to honor it. What is infuriating is that this is the same motor in the Hyundai's involved in the class action suit and the fire issues, but the 2017 Soul is not on the list! Makes no sense!

Was using cruise control on the highway and suddenly it was struggling to keep speed. I removed cruise control and still could not maintain speed. RPMs going up and down. Engine light flashed. I managed to drive it to the dealer. They reviewed and said I lost compression in the 3rd Cylinder. Under 90k miles - original owner to the vehicle, and was told the warranty will likely not be honored. Provided the last couple years worth of maintenance records, but they wanted every single record back to purchase. Not sure I'll be able to locate them all. Needs a new engine, and I should not have to pay for it since it is under warranty. Currently no resolution.

Had been driving under normal conditions. Then I pressed the gas and the car didn't do anything. I took my foot off and tried again - this time I heard a knocking in the engine. I stopped and turned the vehicle off. I opened the hood checked the oil and it was empty - despite having changed the oil early the same week. There was nothing dripping under the car, no burnt oil smell, etc.

I took the vehicle to the dealer. I was told I have to replace or rebuild the engine. After calling several mechanics, they've stated they can no longer repair the engine as Kia will not sell a new engine. Tried finding a used engine; however, none are available. Essentially the car is unrepairable. We've reached out to Kia twice. Both times Kia's representative stated there was nothing they could do. We are in contact with an attorney.

Update from Jun 29, 2022: To be clear: We checked the oil levels more than normal, and oil had to be added to the engine more frequently than even the owner's manuals recommended. This all led to engine failure.