10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 25
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
40,888 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.

2016 Kia Soul engine problems

engine problem

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2016 Kia Soul Owner Comments (Page 18 of 24)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #128

Feb 132021

Soul

  • 82,000 miles

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

Vehicle stopped having any power and began sputtering on interstate 79 North of pittsburgh. Driver managed to pull off onto an exit ramp and off the exit ramp (North) on the portersville/prospect exit before it shut off entirely and the engine would not roll over or start. No warning lights came on in the vehicle at all until it was stopped. Car was towed from it's location to acm motorsports in titusville pa. Mechanic determined that the starter was bad and when the engine was drained of oil, there was less than a quart of oil in it. Oil checked previously (within a week of incident) showed that 3 quarts of oil was in the vehicle. The engine had blown up and was not repairable and needed replaced. Vehicle was at approximately 82,000 miles.

- Titusville, PA, USA

problem #127

Feb 122021

Soul

  • 100,000 miles
Driving to work at 60 mph car felt like cat converter malfunctioned. Pulled over immediately and by the time I put my car in park smoke was billowing out of engine compartment with in 5 mins front of my car was fully engulfed

- Irmo, SC, USA

problem #126

Dec 092020

Soul

  • 99,000 miles
While driving sometime the car seem to lose speed and after a while it's picks back up.. my engine light come on sometime.. I took it to dealership it reads a code of 420 catalytic converter.. it's have decrease in speed..

- Covington, GA, USA

problem #125

Jan 292021

Soul

  • 105,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that the vehicle would not start. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer steve landers Kia (201 colonel glenn plaza loop, little rock, ar 72210, (501) 404-4268) where it was diagnosed with needing the engine to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that they would get in contact with the dealer, which was still pending. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.

- Mabelbale, AR, USA

problem #124

Feb 022021

Soul

  • 51,000 miles
Threw rod threw engine was driving pulled out of parking pop noise oil antifreeze everywhere

- Indianola, IA, USA

problem #123

Jan 282021

Soul

  • 62,690 miles
In August of 2020 car was not wanting to accelerate, when making a turn vehicle would start going and then lose momentum followed by a rapid take off in December took vehicle in for software update to trigger a limp mode per Kia, at this time advised them of the car burning 2-3 quarts of oil in between 3000 mile oil changes. January 28th 2021 while driving on freeway the vehicle lost all power and shut completely off. Vehicle came on after a few seconds and advised there was a possible engine condition and to contact Kia. Vehicle came back on and was towed to dealership. Dealership stated there were no codes and after reaching out to Kia the vehicle was released with no changes.

- Warren, MI, USA

problem #122

Jan 012021

Soul

  • 86,000 miles

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

Engine noise.uses 1 quart of oil every 1000 miles

- Bristol, IN, USA

problem #121

Feb 012021

Soul

  • 19,817 miles
As I was pulling out to go to work, I noticed the RPM indicator went up to 51000 RPM.I had not had this issue before.the car only had 18000 miles on it when I bought it. It has 19500 miles now.I was on the major highway in austin Texas and couldn't go after than 50 mph.I almost got hit driving.in the past, I had my Kia sportage repaired without issue. I am going to the Kia service center in the am. I will everyone know the outcome

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #120

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 #119

Jul 302019

Soul

  • 79,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 20V389000 (power train, electrical system). The contact received a courtesy service and software update. After leaving the dealer and while driving at 50 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact pulled over the side of the roadway and waited for approximately to restart the vehicle. The vehicle restarted however, while driving, the vehicle hesitated and failed to exceed 40 mph. The vehicle was taken to oakland Kia (2500 webster St, oakland, ca 94612, (888)871-7024) where the vehicle was diagnosed and it was determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and deemed the vehicle unsafe to drive. The manufacturer provided the contact with a case number. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000.

- Berkeley, CA, USA

problem #118

Jan 252021

Soul

  • 60,000 miles

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

First, a couple of weeks ago my check engine light comes on and my engine temperature gauge stops working properly. It starts taking about 15 minutes for my engine temperature gauge to show the engine is warmed up. After about two days the engine light goes off by itself. So I finally get an appointment at the Kia dealership today. They say they need to put an updated program into my Kia Soul's computer..that seemed to fix the issue according to the dealership. I drive away go to a store when I come out of the store and get back into my car and pull out of the parking spot my cars check engine light comes on again. I take it to auto zone to get the code read. This time the code is P0420. I call the dealership 800-995-4203 and the service associate marty tells me to bring my Kia Soul back to the dealership. When I get there he says they are now going to charge me $109.95 an hour to diagnose what is wrong with my car. At this time I am in the waiting room feeling like I'm being taken advantage of by these people but I have no other option and I don't have anyway of knowing what, if anything, is actually wrong with my car. Not to mention all this happens between 59000 and 60000 miles on my car and the warranty expired at 60000 miles.

- Danville, VA, USA

problem #117

Nov 012020

Soul

  • miles
When I accelerate my car makes a loud humming noise and will not shift - then when it finally does shift it fluctuates speed and doesn't maintain speed. It's not safe gettin on the expressway or when you change lanes and try to keep up with traffic around you. At first it would be sometimes. Now it is more constant

- Norton, OH, USA

problem #116

Jan 052021

Soul

  • 80,100 miles
While driving home on us highway. Speed of 55 mph posted speed limit. The engine started to knock loudly and it lost power. I almost got hit getting it to the shoulder of the highway. Oil light was on. Checked the oil and added 3 quarts. Started engine again and oil light went out and knocking was reduced. Drove another 4 miles and the engine started to knock loudly again and it lost of power again. Barley made it home by coasting downhill. Recent oil change and have maint records. No leakage, no smoke from tail pipe. Oil pressure light never came on until it was out of oil. I read many posts of others having the same exact thing as what happen to me.

- Annandale, VA, USA

problem #115

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 #114

Oct 102020

Soul

  • 103,000 miles
Was driving down the highway when my vehicle began rattling and stopped running. Pulled off the highway to assess the issue and it seemed as if there was no oil in the car. I purchased the vehicle a month and a half prior to this incident and the engine oil was fine as well as there was still 2,000 miles to go before the next oil change. Upon doing some research to see if there was a recall, it seems that there was a recall on 2016 Kia Souls for the 1.6L engine version of my vehicle. I have the 2.0L engine. More investigation shows that this is an issue across the board with both versions of the 2016 Kia Soul, but the 2.0L version has not been recalled. The Kia recall I am referring to is: 19V120000 in which "high exhaust gas temperatures may damage the catalytic converter, possibly resulting in abnormal engine combustion and damage to one or more of the engine's pistons and possible piston connecting rod failure. Piston damage may result in an engine stall, increasing the risk of a crash. A broken connecting rod may puncture the engine block allowing engine oil to escape. The leaking oil may contact the exhaust, increasing the risk of a fire." I do believe that this is the same issue that my vehicle experienced.

- Shorewood, WI, USA

problem #113

Dec 272020

Soul

  • 61,700 miles
Last month I took my car to the dealership for an ECU update which Kia is calling a 'product improvement campaign' for the cars computer system to put it into limp home mode, now a month later while on my way home from work when I turned onto a street 2 nights in a row the oil light was flashing but went off after I made it through the turn, and I checked the oil level the second night and the dipstick had little to no visible oil on it but the oil light still does not illuminate when driving or when idiling only when turning with momentum, but the 2.0 engines are known to destroy themselves due to rod bering damage and that update they did served to five and early alert as to when it detects knock but these engines are also known to burn oil and the 2014-2015 model years are recalled for engine fires but Kia should recall all these engines since they burn oil and are dangerous to drive because the oil light is not illuminating when the oil is critically low and now engine damage may already be present on top of the known defect in these engines.

- Port Saint Lucie, FL, USA

problem #112

Nov 272020

Soul

  • 37,000 miles
My 2016 Kia Soul has check engine light malfunction. No mechanic has determined what is the cause and how to correct this matter. The car has problems with idling, and performance. The car has only 37K miles. After spending over $300, I was told sorry we have no answer. Just ignore the problem. What happens if it causes a fire or breaks down on the highway" the internet is inundated with the same issue. Kia dealerships can't see my car, because they have too many recalled cars for engine fires. What if my car explodes??? catches fire" there is something wrong with this car. I want it recalled.

- Covington, LA, USA

problem #111

Dec 112020

Soul

  • 99,120 miles
2016 Kia Soul 2.0 engine loses power intermitting engine light intermitting oil light and possibly rods knocking the highway and turning

- Fort Worth, TX, USA

problem #110

Oct 202020

Soul

  • 81,268 miles
I had received my last an oil change on 8/3/2020 at 78,901 miles on 10/20/2020 my cars oil light turned on while idling, I turned down my music and heard the engine had a slight rattle. I drove less than 6 miles trying to get to the nearest service location and the engine stalled causing me to pull over on the side of the highway. Upon inspecting the dipstick it was determined that there was little oil on my dipstick and I was sitting at less than 81,500 miles. I filled the engine with oil in hopes to get it going and it did turn on but was making an even louder rattling noise. Checking the dipstick again, pieces of metal could be seen in the very black oil. This is a similar complaint to other engine recalls Kia has put out for similar engines produced during the same time frame. I took my vehicle to the local Kia dealership and neither them nor my service agreement provider agreed to cover repair costs.

- Wilmington, DE, USA

problem #109

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

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