10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 24
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
41,249 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 19 of 22)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #80

Jun 272020

Soul

  • 76,000 miles

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

Car burns oil and today lost all power to engineand makes a horrible sound while in motion on town street.

- Sparta, NJ, USA

problem #79

Jun 012020

Soul 4-cyl

  • 80,419 miles
Was driving on the freeway and just lost engine pressure and the light came on and engine died. Popped the hood and saw oil all on the passenger side of the motor. Towed it to the dealer and they said it was the engine and its not covered. Saw the recall god them about it and they did nothing but tell me the cost.

- Detroit, MI, USA

problem #78

Jun 062020

Soul

  • 112,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while his wife was in a parking lot with the vehicle idling, the vehicle stalled without warning. An independent mechanic inspected the vehicle and informed the contact that the battery and starter functioned as designed. The local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The failure mileage was 112,000.

- Locust Grove, GA, USA

problem #77

May 292020

Soul 4-cyl

  • 85,607 miles

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

2016 Kia engine died while on cruise control on the highway at 70 mph. Prior to the straight away the route was a winding road with water on one side and a mountain wall on the other. Had this happened prior to the straight away people could have been killed. Kia needs to be compelled to fix their product before it hurts some innocent person (s).

- Redwood Valley, CA, USA

problem #76

Nov 012019

Soul

  • 31,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that at start-up the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to rodeo Kia located at 10685 papago fwy, avondale, AZ 85323, (623) 298-1200) who were unable to identify the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The approximate failure mileage was 31,000.

- Avondale, AZ, USA

problem #75

Jan 152020

Soul 4-cyl

  • 50 miles
I was driving and everything seemed fine. I parked and turned off the vehicle to pick up my kid from daycare and as I was driving back home the vehicle started to stall and run high rpms. I was going about 20mph but was at 4,000 rpms. I was able to make it home and parked the car and called the dealership to have it looked at. After checking the car they found it had a bad catalytic converter and faulty battery. The converter was covered on warranty thankfully but ended up paying $600 for a battery and labor. Vehicle was purchased from the dealership with one previous owner and approximately 40K miles on it.

- Tacoma, WA, USA

problem #74

Mar 312020

Soul

  • 59,000 miles

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

The vehicle has 59,000 miles and is consuming oil at a high rate. A fault light came on putting the car in limp mode where it refuses to accelerate. The dealership has had the vehicle with no resolution for nearly a month. There are reports of fires and other fatalities with this model and the recall needs to be expanded in order to force Kia motors to buy-back these cars.

- Perry, GA, USA

problem #73

Jan 152020

Soul

  • 79,000 miles
I will start this report with saying how utterly appalled I am with the "service" that Kia has provied regarding this safety issue. I was driving my 2.0 liter 2016 Kia Soul at 70mph on a highway with my child in the backseat when my engine seized and started knocking. It slowed down to 40mph within seconds and it is only by the grace of god that I was able to pull the car over and turn onto a country backroad before it just shut off completely. We immediately had it towed to a bodyshop optimistic that it was just a minor issue. Turns out we couldnt have been more wrong. Low and behold the engine had a piston rod that fell out of place causing the knocking and the engine to start leaking oil at an accelerated rated through the catalytic converter. The bodyshop was nice enough to check for recalls for us and found one that fits our issues exactly. But what do you know its only for the 1.6 liter engine and ours wont be covered because its a 2.0...even though its the same problem. So we then go on to filing a claim with Kia customer service and paid to have to car towed to a Kia dealership so they could diagnose what we already knew. Again hopeful that they would see the issue and offer to pay for it under goodwill since it is so common a problem throughout most all of their cars. I was beside myself when they came back and said that it wasnt the same problem at all, even though this mirrors the recall issues to a T. well we escalated the claim through Consumer Affairs they came back and still denied that this was an issue with their car. We are now having to look at taking legal actions to get this taken care of because us being a young couple with children we do not have the $8,000-$12,000 it will take to replace an engine that should have never blown. We kept up with oil, it was under 80,000 miles, and had not had any issues prior to this incident. Please recall this.

- Cooper, TX, USA

problem #72

Apr 032020

Soul

  • 88,244 miles
Knocking sound coming from engine while vehicle stationary. Diagnosis points to damaged piston rod. Oil level checked found low despite appropriate levels when checked 1500 miles prior. Possible cause due to overheating emissions similar if not directly related to that of recall #SC176.

- Renton, WA, USA

problem #71

Mar 312020

Soul

  • 193,000 miles
I was driving vehichle when I started to lose power and all the dash lights came on. I pulled over and the car stalled. I tried to restart it and it suddenly started smoking. I had the car towed to independent mechanic who diagosed the car and said that the engine had seized up and that I would need a new engine.

- Rensselaer, NY, USA

problem #70

Mar 162020

Soul

  • 57,568 miles

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

Driving to work from lunch my car stalled and then completely stopped in the middle of the road. The engine light started flashing and then my car started to move again but it was sluggish and slow. It wont go past 45 miles before slowing all the way down. I had got my car recalled three days before, they said nothing was wrong with the engine/transmission at the time of the recall. Now three day later my cars stuck in limp mode showing a P0326 code.

- Grand Terrace, CA, USA

problem #69

Feb 272020

Soul

  • 57,000 miles
When my car sits for hours and you crank it and drive it and come to your first complete stop while still in drive my car will surge like its going to take off. I have taken it to Kia 5 times and they never find anything wrong with it. I took it to have another shop look at it and said my converter was stopped up and had to take it back to Kia for warranty work. Got to Kia and they found nothing wrong again but my car is still doing this! it even has smoke come out of the tail pipe when passing someone every now and then! another problem I am having is with my sunroof, it will open but not close all the way and they are refusing to replace anything on it til the motor goes all they way out but I am having to manually close it so I am basically paying more for a car that I can not use the features on!

- Gordon, AL, USA

problem #68

Oct 032019

Soul

  • 59,650 miles
November 2019 when the car almost got into 60,000 the engine light come up and took it the dealership and they say it a mistake from the computer. The only thing we can do is wait for Kia give up an update. However, my light still on since that day and sometime it loses power. Today is 02/25/2020

- Burlington, NC, USA

problem #67

Feb 202020

Soul

  • 80,000 miles
Oil light flickers while stopped. When accelerating, car knocks, rattles, and loses power. Took to mechanic to check oil. Mechanic said there was less than quart of oil left in my car and it was not time for oil change. Checked tail pipe, which was black like oil had been burnt. Researched online and there are recalls for 1.6 engines but mine is 2.0 engine and is doing the exact same thing as 1.6 engines that have been recalled. Burning oil through the exhaust due to a loose cam rod on exhaust piston like the other recalled vehicles. Kia needs to issue a recall for the 2.0 engines as well. There are several other complaints I have seen for 2.0 engines in Kia's; therefore, a recall seems to be substantiated. With this car possibly stalling and locking up in regular traffic or the interstate, I am in danger of a possible wreck or causing others to wreck, injuring me or someone else needlessly.

- Hattieville, AR, USA

problem #66

Feb 082020

Soul

  • 70,000 miles
Check engine light came on while driving took it to kalidy Kia checked codes did an up grade of cataylic software upgrade found faulty cataylic converter the dealership kept my car no I have no transportation

- Enid, OK, USA

problem #65

Feb 022020

Soul

  • 70,234 miles
Vehicle lost power while driving engine light came on steering wheel got hot

- Enid, OK, USA

problem #64

Jan 012020

Soul

  • 73,567 miles
While driving my 2016 Kia Soul going approx 60mph my car sort jerked like it was gonna stall but didn't stall instead flashed the oil light symbol several times and then the check engine light came on. I pulled over just in time for the car to stall on the side of the hwy and the car was making a rattle sound under the engine when cranked so I left it off. The next day I towed it to a Kia dealership and was advised that the engine needed to be replaced due to a rod coming loose in the engine which would cost upwards of $6500-$7000. Which is half of what I owe the bank on the car upon doing some online research I see that well over 616,000 other cars like mines have reported the same issue and Kia has recalled the 1.6 liter engine but not the 2.0 liter engine in my car. With all their cars having the same exact issue Kia needs to recall all of these faulty engines and fix them free of charge. Further research stated that the manufacturer of these engines has had recalls of their engines in Kia's and Hyundai's since 2012 and there are several class action lawsuits from angry customers. Please issue a recall.

- Nolanville, TX, USA

problem #63

Jan 022020

Soul

  • 85,000 miles
85K miles 2016 Kia Soul. Turning from a stop into slow oncoming side street traffic, loss of acceleration power. Rpms to 4, slight rev, but no power. Could not go over 20 or so mph. Slight low rattle when pulled over (within 2 blocks of issue). Oil light flicker. Ran 'fix'd' diagnostic. Nothing. Drive slowly 4 or so more miles to destination. Oil light flickered upon arrival. Ran diagnostic again after parking. Camshaft position timing sensor pulls up. Checked oil. Low. Filled oil. Next morning drive 1 more mile to aaa approved shop. They do not mention camshaft sensor. They say oil pressure low even with oil, engine about to seize up. Knocking sound loud after their assessment and however long they drove it. I looked online and saw several mentions of Kia Souls with less mileage and same problem - loss power. Engine quitting. No check engine light ever came on. Oil light only flickered when parking, and car was topped with oil within 4 or so miles of this. No oil leaks evident. Car was up to date on maintenance and oil changes at recommended schedule.

- Stafford, VA, USA

problem #62

Oct 012019

Soul 4-cyl

  • 107,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. While driving, the vehicle began to hesitate and would not accelerate past 30 mph. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side the road. The vehicle was not able to be driven and was towed to lev Kia of framingham (located at 510 cochituate rd, framingham, MA 01701, (508) 879-5555) where it was diagnosed that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA campaign number: 19V120000 (engine, engine and engine cooling). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 107,000.

- Framingham, MA, USA

problem #61

Dec 132019

Soul

  • 50,000 miles
The car was being driven on a city street. The car began to make knocking noise coming from the engine. As I accelerated, the knocking noise would increase. The noise would continue even if the car was doing a turn. Also being stationary, the vehicle would be with that knocking noise.

- Berwyn, IL, USA

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