This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2010 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at 45 MPH, a semi-truck entered her lane of traffic which forced her vehicle onto the shoulder of the highway. The contact stated that the truck did not hit her vehicle; however, the vehicle shut off with the check engine, ABS, and brake warning lights illuminated. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle but the vehicle failed to restart after multiple attempts. Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed to her residence and then to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with engine failure. The dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 280,000.
I was having problems with the electrical system in the Kia, after that was fixed the car was still not running right, it was sluggish and using a lot of gas. The head was cracked, and several of the valves were messed up and eventually the whole engine had to be replaced, the whole process took approximately 2 1/2 months.
The 2010 Soul had a major failure when it impacted a tree at 10 mph. There were no leaking fluids, signs of smoke or fire. The vehicle caught fire roughly 15 minutes later and burned totally up before fire crews could get there to put it out. The origin of the fire was between the engine and the fire wall. I feel as though the safety bumpers that are required by law to work bellow the 15 mph constraint are under designed.
Within a week of taking delivery on 7/24/09, the interior and most especially the door skins were already acquiring marks and scratches - a slight finger nail scratch required a special product to remove etc. There have been a few intermittent problems. 1. when releasing the clutch pedal there was a noise that sounded like a cable that has since become more consistent. On 8/3/09, I had an appointment with the dealer and was told it was the cable connected to the throw-out bearing which was said to be normal. However, this cable noise has not been normal with any of my other manual transmissions, nor is it present in all Kia Souls. 2. I began to notice a knocking sensation coming through the shifter handle when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear along with a grinding sound when downshifting into 2nd gear. There is also a slight jolt when shifting into 2nd gear - it is not a smooth transition like the other gears. 3. when at a traffic light with the car in neutral, there are times when the car will not go into 1st gear, and wants to go into 3rd gear which usually takes a couple of tries before it will go into 1st gear. 4. there has been excessive engine revving 2X now. The first occurred after I came out of reverse - the second was when I tried to go into 1st gear but ended up in 3rd gear and brought the car back to neutral. 5. the last issue concerns excessive water and dirt accumulating in the engine. After washing my car, I popped the hood and noticed the hood latch is already stripped down to the metal after only being opened and closed 4-5 times. The engine design seems to attract pools of water in certain areas, which also occurs when it rains, and there is concern of premature rust. Scheduled an appointment for 9/15 to have the oil changed at 1000 miles and to get these issues addressed but had to schedule a 3rd appointment because the dealer now needs to keep the car for 5 hours so the outcome is pending.
The contact owns a 2010 Kia Soul. The contact stated that the engine revs excessively whenever the accelerator pedal is released. The rpms will go from 1,500 to 3,000. The dealer stated that they would investigate the issue. A representative inspected the vehicle and stated that it was not a serious safety issue. The contact took the vehicle to a few different dealers, but they all stated that there were no failures. The vehicle is still experiencing the issue and the contact is concerned that a crash could occur. The failure mileage was 5 and current mileage was 6,000. Updated 09/01/09
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Orangeburg, SC, USA