Driving down highway with family in car, when the car begins to decelerate, even when pushing the gas it never accelerated, had to put blinkers on and coast to the next exit. Once off exit, had to coast to the nearest gas station, it stopped and had to have others help me push the car into the gas station. The car was smoking under the hood. It wouldn't start and check engine light was on.
There was a recall for the catalytic converter which they first updated but didn't fix. They ended up replacing it entirely and shortly after the car began ticking bad in the engine. Engine had complete failure. (They blamed it on the piston rings, and determined it wasn't covered under warranty. They do that to most people, because they refuse to take responsibility.) So it's sitting in the yard with a blown engine and a 4000 dollar loan on it. Would never buy a Kia ever again.
Kia doesn't live up to their reputation. I have 2013 Soul that the engine seized up on - actually, the #4 piston disintegrated and just because the manufacture wasn't updated on the address which has been the same since it was bought new, they denied the replacement under the product improvement that they said they sent to the same address which I never received. Although I love the car and have owned several now, I will not after this lease is up. I'm through with Kias. I even found out that the 1.6 and the 2.0 engines are unreliable which I have firsthand knowledge of now. This car had 137,000 on it and after the recall was done for the catalytic converter (which was completed before 100.000 miles), it started ticking, but never gave me an indication anything was wrong. My point is Kia does not honor their commitment to the customers and will find any and all ways to deny a claim.
I bought a used Kia from Beaverton Kia in July of 2021. After a few weeks noticed large engine oil consumption. I called Beaverton Kia and they said I had to pay for any repairs. I continue to change an add oil as needed. Around Dec. 15th of 2021 my engine started knocking. I find it more than unbelievable that Kia of Beaverton would sell me a Soul that was clearly burning oil. I traded in enough cars to know these dealership miss nothing. They can check oil consumption with a sensor. I feel beyond cheated by Beaverton Kia.
I took car in to Thorton Road Kia at 97,000 miles because of engine noise - they said it was normal. After a couple of months, the engine began banging and I stopped driving it. Found a recall online that states that engine failure is caused by faulty programing and catalytic converter, so I had the car towed to dealer. The dealer looked at it and said the catalytic converter had failed and they will replace it, but they will not do anything about the failed motor!
After it sitting at dealer for 3 weeks, i now have a underivable car with a new catalytic converter! I will have to have the car towed out of dealership! I was once a strong advocate for KIA. We have owned a New Sedona, Optima, and Forte (whose motor is now tapping at 55k miles) and was just about to purchase a Soul for my parents, but now I will dump all the Kia's we own and move back to Toyota!
Anyone riding this should beware, the price and looks are nice on the Kias but it won't last. '14 Kia Forte started tapping at 45K miles, Kia Soul is dead at 110k miles. Very sad indeed.
Update from Nov 7, 2021: After going back and forth with Kia for a few more weeks, they decided to fix engine for me. Im not sure if it was Kia or the Dealership but in the end they rebuilt the motor fixed catalytic converter and the car is running perfect. I was a chore but they did the right thing by fixing the engine and I am happy.
- timelk,
Suwanee, US
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Despite regular recommended maintenance and oil changes, the engine died on my 2013 Kia Soul at 101483 km. Kia at first accused me of not changing oil - until I showed them all the receipts. They then blamed me for buying a used vehicle instead of buying new. I phoned Kia customer support, and after waiting on hold for well over an hour, I was basically told - too bad, so sad and just go away. They showed no sympathy. I feel really cheated because, despite the age of the Soul, the KM's are minimal and add to that the cost of "recommended' service requirements,
As well, under warranty, the radio, front door, and heated front seat had to replaced.
February 28 went in for routine oil change, I was informed of the catalyst converter recall, all my problems start now. Car through code that Kia had never seen. California technician call for help. Car in Kia dealership repair from March 4th 2020 until Sept 4th, 2020 it was supposed to be fixed.? Week of thanksgiving I was having problems starting car, husband thought starter was going bad, scheduled appointment with Nalley Kia Stonecrest for Dec 1. Took car in, troubles start again, they say engine need replacing. Kia says this is not related to recall repair, however I say different, I had no problems with my car until they did the recall repair, which took them 6 months, I get car back have it for 3 months and the engine goes bad. No way. Now I have an extended warranty MEPCO, guess what they are declining to pay. This is a mess. Still trying to get car repaired.
Purchased a 5-year old Kia Soul with approx. 105,000 km on it. As the vehicle was over 5-years old, the only 'legal warranty' was 3 months (as set by consumer protection by the provincial government). I elected not to purchase any extended warranty. After having the vehicle for approx. 7.5 months, experienced a total engine failure - without any warning indications (eg. low oil warning lights).
This was diagnosed by mechanics at a local garage - apparently there was less than 1/4 the volume of oil in the engine, as opposed to 'normal requirements'. The mechanics also informed that the engine oil level sensor was defective or inoperable; at present, I am out-of-town in an isolated location and cannot provide the VIN; however will revert with this in the future sometime.
Are there any other owners that have experienced similar problems? Any potential class-action suits being formulated? As per an earlier Kia owner that had related his/her experiences - I have also had previous vehicles as: Toyota & Chevrolet, and have never had any issues with these. My Toyota Echo was over 15 years old with almost 200,000 km and was mechanically 'A-1', same with a Pontiac Wave - no issues.
Am considering Small Claims Court action, where no lawyers are even allowed in the court (max. amount allowed, in the Province of Quebec is approx. $7000).
Kia Soul still under powertrain warranty at 82,000 miles. Complete engine failure with no compression. Car won't start. Had to tow it to Kia Dealership. First contact by service department tried to blame possibly bad gas. They still haven't given me a reason why the engine failed. No engine light, no oil warning lights...just failed to start up. Still waiting for service department to tell me what the problem is and if they will honor the warranty.
My Kia Soul engine has melted. The water pump belt fell off so the engine is fried. The temp. gauge never reached the red zone, although for about 5 min, the temp ran hotter than usual but then would drop to normal.
I had a bit of overheating smell but not much. And when the car stopped completely - there was no overheating smell at all. NO STEAM AT ANY TIME. Kia wants $5000 to fix it. I have owned Fords, Chevys, Dodges, Nissans, and a Mercedes. They all had or have high mileage. The ford had 250,000 when it was sold, and still runs. The Chevy had 190,000 when traded in. The Dodge had 250,000+ hard commuting miles on it when sold and is still running. The Nissan has 92000 and runs fine. The Mercedes has 68000 and runs fine.
The KIA - bought used with 56000 miles. Three months later, it is junk. How can KIA explain a water pump belt failure at 64000 miles? Do yourself a favor and run if you are thinking about buying one.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Driving down highway with family in car, when the car begins to decelerate, even when pushing the gas it never accelerated, had to put blinkers on and coast to the next exit. Once off exit, had to coast to the nearest gas station, it stopped and had to have others help me push the car into the gas station. The car was smoking under the hood. It wouldn't start and check engine light was on.
- Shatonjia F., Conroe, US