10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
37,034 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 1 of 2)

problem #23

Jul 262024

Soul

  • miles

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

I have a 2016 Kia soul. Second owner. 144,000+ miles. For nearly a year my car has been consuming oil at an alarming rate. But I have no oil leaks anywhere. My dealership did an oil consumption test about 5-6 months ago and within 1000 miles, I was already below the half way line on my dipstick but the dealership told me I was still in range and sent me on my way. Fast forward a few months and I brought up my concerns again with my dealership and the oil consumption. I was told to drive it until the engine seizes and they would tow me. At which point, I told them that sounded dangerous but apparently Kia will not do anything for my vehicle if all it is doing is consuming oil. July 26, I-??m out of town about two hours + from home and out of nowhere my car starts idling high. Failing to shift gears. If I go to speed up past 60mph, the car forcibly bogs down to 45mph and struggles to get back up to speed. The vehicle was shaking, knocking, and struggling with performance. I drove the car to a small town and checked my oil. Bone dry. So I top it off with a couple quarts. I drove the car to a non Kia dealership where a mechanic told me my car was misfiring. He popped the hood and for the first time, my engine was knocking back and forth. It-??s never done that. He said that he felt confident there was rod damage and drove it around the block. When he returned he said it was not safe to drive and I had it towed to the closest dealership over an hour away. The dealership felt extremely confident that my car was going to qualify for the motor swap warranty that Kia offers up to 150,000 miles or 15 years. Keep in mind, my car NEVER once threw a check engine light during any of these occurrences, nor did a low oil light ever come on in the 4 years I owned the vehicle. My vehicle has been down 3 weeks and still has not been fixed from Kia.

- Davenport, IA, USA

problem #22

Jun 252024

Soul

  • miles
Turning off a highway onto a rural road & without warning my car would not accelerate. Turn off, let it cool, start up and only get about quarter mile until i lost power again. Had it towed to local garage & told its a blocked catalytic converter & very expensive. Kia says its not covered under warranty or recall so now its just been sitting at the garage for over a month while I pay storage fee until i save enough to repair

- Northampton, PA, USA

problem #21

Apr 152024

Soul

  • miles
The propulsion battery has so much degradation that when I drive on the freeway the "turtle" mode activated not allowing me to do freeway speeds with cars around me. It forced me to slow unsafely while cars were behind me, I had to react quickly to turn on my hazards and try to get the vehicle to speed up. If I was too slow or another driver was inattentive we would have been hit from behind by a vehicle going much faster.

- Benton City, WA, USA

problem #20

Mar 012021

Soul

  • 68,000 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 while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle shuddered and stalled while accelerating. The transmission also shifted hard, and the vehicle shook abnormally. The vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of oil. The vehicle was overheating. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the fuel filter, cooling system, and air cleaner needed to be serviced. The ECU update was completed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was determined that the vehicle was consuming an abnormal amount of engine oil. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who removed the muffler and catalytic converter, due to engine damage. The manufacturer was contacted, and the contact was informed there was no warranty or recall coverage for the vehicle. The manufacturer referred the contact to the local dealer for a goodwill repair. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.

- Baton Rouge, LA, USA

problem #19

Apr 012023

Soul

  • miles
Engine and brake lights have come on. Engine knocks bad. Vehicles stall when pressing gas. Dangerous driving soecialy going through stop sign. Low power while pressing gas.

- Maxton , NC, USA

problem #18

Jan 212023

Soul

  • miles
Car would not accelerate over 35 mph and started knocking had to pull over to let other vehicles pass. Turned around went back home a 1/2 mile checked alternator current, added 1/2 quart of oil. Started engine knocking continued oil was low again after running engine a few minutes. No smoking from exhaust, no oil in radiator, no dripping or leaking oil.

- Lacey , WA, USA

problem #17

Jan 012022

Soul

  • miles

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

The car lost power suddenly while I was on highway I had a semi truck almost hit me it's the second time it's happened and I had to replace catalytic converter twice and I just got it back from Kia dealership in hurst tx it's still making the ticking noise I heard after they replaced the catylic converter the first time they also didn't look into finding out why my Kia soul is using so much oil it burns up fast like in three days from an oil change I'm almost out completely I feel like I would like it if you guys could give me a more reliable car I have a child and I can't keep losing all power while on the highway

- Fortworth, TX, USA

problem #16

Aug 252021

Soul

  • 60,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle went into limp mode with reduced speed. The contact stated that while driving approximately 73 MPH the vehicle decelerated to 43 MPH. The vehicle lost power and shut off. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where an oil change was performed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to another local dealer; Kia Country of Charleston (2361 Savannah Hwy, Charleston, SC 29414, (843)573-2300) where the code was reset. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, no further assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

- Greensboro, NC, USA

problem #15

Jul 272021

Soul

  • miles
My newly permitted driver was driving when after crossing highway my car all of sudden was halted to an almost complete stop. the motor stalled in the middle of the highway, thankfully no oncoming traffic was coming. I took the vehicle to mechanic and they said i could have a recall on catalytic converter, called dealership and they state that my car was not in the recall. However my car did exactly what the recall states. now i'm looking at anywhere from 2000-3000 to fix my car is only 5 years old with 75,000 miles. I'm a very dissapointed customer as i was looking to purchase the new telluride however I think I will stay clear from all Kia Products. Concerned Customer

- Erath, LA, USA

problem #14

Mar 032021

Soul

  • 94,000 miles
While sitting in traffic my car began to shake and then stalled and turned off. It was able to restart and then later while driving down the interstate it began to stop accelerating when I pressed the gas. Fortunately I was able to make it to the shoulder from the left lane as car slowed to a stop and the break pedal locked up. The car would not turn on any more. After mechanic inspection, they reported that a piston had melted in the engine and because the oil had dried up, even though the car had its last oil change two months ago.

- Arlington, TX, USA

problem #13

Feb 152021

Soul

  • 85,000 miles

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

2016 Kia Soul /w 2.0 liter long block engine. Approximately 85K miles at the time of engine failure due to spontaneous oil loss. Vehicle had been well maintained with regular oil changes. Dealership and Kia corporate refuse to provide any consideration that the failure is due to mfg. Defect despite numerous reported incidents of this exact failure.

- Lawrenceville, GA, USA

problem #12

Feb 272021

Soul

  • 140,000 miles
I was driving on the freeway at night at about 75 miles an hour on cruise control. I was passing a semi when all the sudden my car down shifted and started losing power. I quickly had to figure out how to deal with this and get off the freeway. I consider myself an experienced driver, but if my kid was driving the car when that happened...

- Waverly, WA, USA

problem #11

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 #10

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 #9

Jun 272020

Soul

  • 76,000 miles
Car burns oil and today lost all power to engineand makes a horrible sound while in motion on town street.

- Sparta, NJ, USA

problem #8

Mar 162020

Soul

  • 57,568 miles
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 #7

Aug 052019

Soul

  • 135,000 miles
3/19/2019 vehicle was taken in for loss of power, was told catalytic convertor needed replacing, it was replaced and vehicle was fixed 8/5/2019 vehicle was taken in for loss of power and shifting, was told catalytic convertor needed replacing. There are recalls on 1.6 engine but not 2.0 engine, as I was told, so 4.5 months later I an having to replace the convertor again. Spoke w/Kia seems to be a run around, keep telling me it take 2 - 3 bus days, as of this its been 6 days

- Irving, TX, USA

problem #6

Dec 042018

Soul

  • miles
At first there was a gurgle that started when accelerating. Then the vehicle would stall out when put in drive. Following that, when parked if I turn on and off the A/C the car will accelerate itself, I've only let it reach 4rpm before I shut it off the ignition because it doesn't go down on it's own. I've had it looked at and I was told there was an extreme amount of oil inside my engine and it's just a matter of time till it dies. This problem was recently recalled for engines a year make before mine. But I am having the same issues.

- Rome, GA, USA

problem #5

May 262019

Soul

  • 63,000 miles
On Sunday, May 26th, 2019, our Kia Soul caught fire as we were driving on the interstate highway. My family was in the car when my husband felt the car lose power. We heard a knocking sound between us and under us, forward between our seats and the engine. My husband saw smoke as he pulled over on the side of the highway. A few seconds after we pulled over, we saw flames erupt from the hood of the car. We got our three kids out of the car as fast as we could and ran from the car. We called 911 and the fire department and police came to put out the fire and direct traffic, as at least one lane was closed. In the time it took for the first responders to arrive, our car exploded into a fire ball.

- Bellevue, WA, USA

problem #4

May 282019

Soul 4-cyl

  • 10,000 miles
When I press the gas the voltage is high and amplifier my heart feels as if its going to burst my kids nose bleed and they get sick when air is on the smell is bad in cruise control around certain vehicles is speeds up on its on...I've noticed altered parts and the insurance info is altered my boyfriend [xxx] bought car 11/2019 from Kia of greer only one owner the mileage on papers is wrong and so it is online...I hear someone in and out car at nights boyfriend said leave it alone missing id social birthcertifcates oit dash when running out to see who was at car door was left opened the center of my head burns when driving the vehicle became dizzy 1/2019 almost feel asleep the thing is the vehicle is in his name not mine but insurance has his disabled brother down as primary driver my drivers record is wrong my mother accidents or on mine her phone and breached old email was on the account me and kids are victims of foreign organized crimes... information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Clemson, SC, USA

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