10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
47,754 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2014 Kia Soul engine problems

engine problem

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2014 Kia Soul Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #28

Oct 012021

Soul

  • 116,119 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at low speeds, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to respond. The brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard. The vehicle was slow to respond and failed to move. After the vehicle responded, the vehicle failed to exceed 35 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the heat sensor and protector shield needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was contacted but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 116,119.

- Kansas City, MO, USA

problem #27

Mar 062021

Soul

  • 41,000 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 30-40 MPH and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. The contact immediately shifted into neutral (N). There was no warning light illuminated. The contact then shifted into drive (D) and the vehicle responded as needed. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times. The dealer diagnosed that no issues were found; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 41,000.

- Pacific Palisades, CA, USA

problem #26

Jan 202023

Soul

  • miles
I own a Kia Soul. The catylitic converters went out. The car won't accelerate and the car got extremely hot. When I looked up Kia Soul recalls it showed that there was a recall on the converters also that some Kia Souls had gotten hot an caught on fire. I called Parkway Family Kia. They told me that it wasn't an active recall and that they couldn't do anything. I then called Demontrond Kia and got the same answer. I talked with the service manager Brian. What can I do to resolve this?

- Humble, TX, USA

problem #25

Dec 112022

Soul

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The engine is the system that is malfunctioned and yes it is available for inspection upon request. The vehicle accelerates at a slower pace than actual acceleration pressure put on pedal and then it lurches/jerks forward at a fast pace and then slows down and repeats that process over and over. Yes the problem has been confirmed. It has been inspected by the dealership. Yes the warning lamps that often illuminate are the check engine light and the oil light. They first appeared to my knowledge on 01/2020. I have been told numerous times by the Kia dealership where I get the vehicle serviced as well as Kia America Inc. Corporate Headquarters, that the engine has a malfunction and needs to be replaced. I attempted to have this problem fixed and I have missed work and spent thousands of dollars for this vehicle to work correctly.

- East Orange, NJ, USA

problem #24

Oct 112022

Soul

  • miles
On or about 10/11/22 while driving I completely lost control of the vehicle suddenly. I was unable to break or use my steering wheel. The vehicle rolled over twice and the front airbags failed to deploy.

- Houston , TX, USA

problem #23

Jan 162021

Soul

  • miles
Car has issues when starting up. When turning on, occasionally it will take time to completely turn on, its as if it-??s not receiving enough power from battery, but then it will turn on with the traction control and engine light being on. I would have to turn it off and turn it back off for those light to turn off. I-??ve also driven the car and it will turn off, but the light is still on, the engine just turned off. This will also happen when I-??m idle and waiting to run the car. When driving, I feel something being moved and the traction light & engine light will turn on. Especially when I try to get more speed on the car. I-??ve taken the car numerous times for this issue but each time they-??ve told me nothing was wrong with it. I-??ve replaced battery since this was what we thought the issue was initially. On the 3rd time I-??ve taken the car to get fixed, i was told that the ECM is the issue. Took a month to get the piece and car fixed. Same day receiving it back, it was doing the same thing where it would not turn on properly and the traction control light is on. And now when driving the engine and traction light are both on more often.

- Spring, TX, USA

problem #22

Jul 152021

Soul

  • 125,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed however, the vehicle failed to exceed 40 mph. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and told the contact that the Vin was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 125,000.

- Moline, IL, USA

problem #21

Apr 152021

Soul

  • 90,000 miles
Recall SC200 engine compartment fire safety hazard. While driving after I got off the interstate and got off on my exit, I heard a knocking noise in engine, then oil light and engine light came on, I get my oil changed on the regular, smelled really hot had to turn off the car it scared me because it also started to deaccelerate would not go over like 30 40 mph. The noise was terrible I was so scared the engine was going to explode I had to have it towed. Now after the Kia consumer told me multiple times they approved the engine replacement the dealership had some issue due to an ECU ksds update that I was not notified of and it was never preformed. So she apologized by telling me the information that was previously provided mutiple times was incorrect and I would need to pay out of pocket. I read over the SC200 engine inspection test recall letter. It actually states they will preform the ksds ECU software update in addition to this recall. Not the other way around. Sent another escalation because this is not fault of my own the car is broke down and also not my fault they gave me the wrong information (so they say.) regardless they should replace it because they already told me it was approved to be fixed and for a rental. I have still not gotten any thing. I am completely

- Plant City, FL, USA

problem #20

Nov 262020

Soul

  • 134,000 miles
The cruise control was on my car started to excelerate and rev to high RPM without the engine shifting gears.. then my service engine light and oil light came on the car making this horrible noise, I pulled over and the engine was barreling black smoke. I have been on the phone with Kia reporting this, but they wanted $800 to tow it to the closest dealership, and it's Kia recall fault that this happened. So my car which was still on the side of the road last week, is probably picked up and impounded by now....Kia should take ownership, tow my car and fix it, or I will be more than happy to let my car go buy, file bankruptcy and never buy another Kia. I have never been notified of but only one recall which I had my car serviced at that time in 2019 for that. This is total unresponsive responsibility by Kia

- Bixby, OK, USA

problem #19

Nov 052019

Soul

  • 113,000 miles
Check inline light is on and it keeps reading catholic converter and it won't go off I switched my gas from 87 to 93 and did a fuel treatment and at times it won't go over 35 miles per hour and the check engine light keeps flashing and my gas runs out fast I've gotten a tune up done and a oil change

- Saint Petersburg, FL, USA

problem #18

Nov 012019

Soul

  • 76,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

As I was driving down the highway, "55 mph" speed limit was 60 mph my acceleration went out on my car and I couldn't go any faster then 20/25mph. My car started to sound like a weed eater and I never got a single light for something being wrong. As I pulled over to the side of the road my cars engine started to make a knocking sound. I had it towed to a shop close to were I live and they told me that the engine had pieces of metal flakes in it and that it was locked. They also said that it was 3.5 quarts low of oil but I just had the oil change and had about 3,500 miles left before I needed my next oil change. I'm writing on here because I called Kia and they told me that my 2.0 engine didn't have a recall on it, but as I research I continue to find many people who have a 2.0 engine having the same issue of the recall on the 1.6 engines.

- Warrenton, VA, USA

problem #17

Feb 012020

Soul

  • 111,000 miles
Thursday I had a check engine light come on and called Kia service and they said as long as engine light is not flashing I will be ok to drive it so they scheduled my appt. For the following Monday. Saturday I was driving 45mph on a busy road and my car starting making ticking noise & lost power and steering. I smelled a chemical smell similar to gasoline. I had my oil changed every 3000 miles for the life of this car. Connecting rod cap to piston rod came out of my engine. My Kia is @ dealership waiting for Consumer Affairs process. Dist.mgr has already declined repair. Now waiting for escalation dept to contact me. Its now been 19 days. My Kia is a 2014 with the 2.0 engine. My son has a photo of the cap sticking out of the engine.(I will try to upload once I get it.) why does the recall for the engine not pertain to all engines when the same problems are happening" and why has Kia not sent everyone letters notifying of the recall especially when a crash or engine fire is possible? is this safe and acceptable when human life is at risk? or do we wait for the first person to die"

- Terrebonne, OR, USA

problem #16

Sep 252019

Soul 4-cyl

  • 48,000 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. When the vehicle was in use, the rpms accelerated to 4 without warning up 48.897 miles. The contact also noticed an abnormal fuel odor coming from the ventilation inside the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to bill doraty Kia (2925 medina rd, medina, oh 44256, (888) 628-4559), but was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure recurred multiple times. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 15V123000 (vehicle speed control). The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.

- Akron, OH, USA

problem #15

Aug 302019

Soul

  • 104,656 miles
I took the car into Kia dealership in cape coral, fl. Engine light on. The car kept stalling and would lose all power while driving. I wanted service done on it and all recalls fixed. They fixed recalls and put a new catalytic converter in it to solve the engine from stalling and lose power. They told me the car was fixed. I picked it up and drove it on the hwy and it stalled at 75mph and totally had nothing and had to maneuver the car off the hwy with my grand kids in the car. I managed to get it started to get it home and it stalled again at all the stop signs and was almost T-boned from the side. It happens when the converter heats up and the fuel is not feed into engine right. It was towed back to Kia and they told me the engine has metal shavings in the oil from the convert getting hot. I cant believe they let me drive this car off the lot knowing that there is a recall # SC176... I almost got killed with my family in the car. I spoke with corporate and they refuse to help me even though the recall exists!! I was hung up on during the conversation with a Consumer Affairs mgr. Named kayla... she told me the car is out of warranty and I would have to pay for a new engine! recall# SC176!! I need help! the car is still at the dealership since my family was in the car when it kept dying on the road and we almost was killed or in a very serious accident. Kia is not honoring SC176 even though it states on my invoice that the car needs a new engine because of the converter failure. Its printed on the invoice with the work that was done on it. Engine light is still active and the car sits. I took the car into Kia to service it and all they did was the oil change w metal....and converter recall. But it was to late the damage has been done from the recalls overheating. They say its not throwing the right code for a new engine so they wont fix it. I talked to 3 people.

- Cape Coral, FL, USA

problem #14

Aug 262019

Soul

  • miles
No despega mas de 50 millas por hora Y no rebuluciona muy vien SE siente muy forsado. Tengo 3 dias que no lo muebo ya me al diler Y ellos dice que la garantia ya SE acabo con ellos. Que tamara ala compania que los ase por que ES defector de fabrica

- Aurora, IL, USA

problem #13

May 062019

Soul

  • 104,000 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. While driving, the vehicle failed to accelerate. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to grieco Kia of delray beach (located at 2255 federal hwy, delray beach, fl 33483) to be diagnosed, but a failure code could not be found. The contact stated that the technician upgraded the ECU module. The vehicle was not repaired for the acceleration failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided case number: 13175036. The approximate failure mileage was 104,000.

- Boca Raton, FL, USA

problem #12

Apr 052019

Soul

  • 141,000 miles
Engine loses power at times for a split second. Acceleration sometimes causes a lunging motion. Also has difficulty maintaining speed while climbing small hills. Oil runs dry within a week of refill.

- Trabuco Canyon, CA, USA

problem #11

Dec 282018

Soul

  • 36,600 miles
On two separate occasions while in reverse after letting off (removing foot from) the accelerator and moving to the brake pedal the vehicle has significantly sped up as if the accelerator is still being depressed. The first occasion was the middle of the afternoon on an uneventful fair weather day while backing out of a driveway and entering a residential street. The second time was in a costco parking lot, again on a clear and uneventful weather day. No rain or ice on either day here in sacramento ca. This second time, the car accelerated with such speed that I was unable to stop my vehicle from continuing to reverse and the only thing that stopped my vehicle was running into a parked truck.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

problem #10

Mar 032018

Soul

  • 78,500 miles
My Kia Soul 2014 just blew up and caught fire. The engine was a 4 cylinder gdi. The car went up in flames. The engine blew loud and as I came to a halt the entire car was on fire. Then the gas tank exploded. I was in cruise control going up a hip noticed the engine riveting hard and then the car engine made that loud bang and then in 12 minutes car was engulfed and gas tank blew as the fire department arrived.

- Winston-Salem, NC, USA

problem #9

May 012015

Soul

  • 4,000 miles
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. While driving between 15-25 mph, the brake pedal was depressed but failed to stop the vehicle. The contact stated that the brake pedal was very difficult to depress and required extreme pressure. The contact stated that the vehicle also accelerated independently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed, but the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure was intermittent. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 4,000.

- Fair Lawn, NJ, USA

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