2015 KIA SOUL Complaints

We kept or Kia well maintained. We was driving out of town doing 65MPH and suddenly the engine caused the car to suddenly drop to 10MPH. The engine light came on. Luckily there was no other vehicles on the road. We was able to pull off the road and have the car towed to a mechanic shop. The engine light reads for an emissions error but so far the mechanic has replaced air filter, Cadillac converters, plugs and a bunch of other stuff that we requested to be done hoping it wasn’t the engine even though the mechanic knew it was because of his past experience working on these Kias. Not only did I have to purchase a new vehicle but the Kia is still at the mechanic shop nearly a month of being there and costing us money. We was told that the engine to replace it has been discontinued and that if we found a used one in a junk yard that it would be unsafe and unwise to use. Not only did the engine failure put my family at risk physically if other vehicles would have been on the road at that time but had financially hurt us as well.

Car has an heavy gas smell like when the car is started ,has to crank up and car shakes when it’s started steering is off and etc.

The contact owns a 2015 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate and independently decelerated to 20 MPH. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the failure was due to metal shavings in the oil. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 62,000

For the past two years my 2015 Kia Soul has been rapidly burning through oil. I’m having to get full oil changes every 2 months with me also adding additional top offs every few weeks. I’ve been getting the run around from KIA about this issue. I brought it in two years ago for an engine recall. The dealership in EAST MEADOW LONG ISLAND was a complete joke. They charged me a few because my check engine light was on, the reason I was there! They said my engine was fine and nothing was related to the recall. Lately I have been noticing a stalling when going up a hill and the car has trouble accelerating over 40mph. It stalled the other day while I was trying to merge on the highway. I am so sick of this car and will likely sell it at a loss. Currently has 99,000 miles on it.

The contact owns a 2015 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V750000 (Engine). The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle began shaking. The contact stated that she observed a knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. The check engine and the low oil level warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,107.

I took my car to a Kia dealership after the engine recall in 2020, and again this year. In 2020, they told me there wasn't anything they could do without the code. It seems very much like Kia are manipulating these recall rules. My car is making the rod noises and squealing noises related to this recall. It often loses power around 65 miles an hour. They charged me $75 for a diagnostic, and attempted to charge me $2750 for a catalytic converter repair that they said was unrelated to my engine issues. They're wrong, it was absolutely related to my engine issues. Cat converters don't cause rod noises. I'm deeply upset and angry, because I feel like I've been chasing Kia for at least 2 of the 6 years that I've had this car, and I'm really tired of getting screwed by these big companies using our system against us. I have to pay the bank, the car dealership, and the government, but nobody has my back when KIA sells me a faulty engine? They're sponsoring every major sporting event with the value they're stealing from us. They lie about engine codes. They lie about their diagnostics. I've owned a bunch of cars. I know what an engine sounds like when it's dying. They told me "it's under warranty until 150k. Bring it back if it dies." THIS IS CRIMINAL. I've been forced to pay full value of this vehicle, for a vehicle with a faulty recalled engine. I can't resell it with this engine unless I take a massive loss. I already filed a complaint with the NHTSA about this in 2021. I am filing another complaint, because Kia hasn't resolved the issue yet. Someone is going to be responsible for this, and I'm never going to give up. I want my engine replaced, and I want criminal charges brought against the exes at this company. I'm deeply affecting my emotional state, and frankly, I'm saddened by the fact that I can get suckered into buying a 5 star vehicle (NHTSA rating) only to be met with this chaos.

Headlights flicker off and sometimes just for a second, sometimes stay off and will usually come back on if i turn them off and on again. But then it happens again. I took it to my mechanic who could not figure it out. Couldn't afford to do much so i have not been able to drive at night for a year as it's very dangerous. I called Kia and since my car is out of warranty and apparently no sort of recall for this (despite me seeing lots of complaints with the same issue) i can't afford to do anything. I'm beyond upset. I love the car otherwise. Date below is when it started, but it is ANYTIME it's driven.

I believe the recalls for the ‘Engine’ and the ‘Engine and engine cooling: Exhaust system: Emission control: Catalytic convertor’ apply to the continuouse issue I’ve been having with my car. I was told it’s not affected but I believe it is. I have an oil leak somehow but its not leaking outside the car, there are no oil stains in the driveway. When the oil starts to get just a little low the car starts wanting to stall and doesn’t resolve when oil is put in . Days of not driving seems to resolve it. There have been burning smells and white smoke. This has been happening frequently for years and we get regular oil changes at the Kia Dealership. I’m afraid if one of the recalls is actually the cause that we could be affected by it while we’re being told our VIN isn’t included in the recall

Currently on 2015 Kia Soul the A/C Heat Exchanger as well as radiator behind it have lost the heat exchanger fin materials between the fluid conducting pipes. This is causing an over pressure condition in the A/C for the car and causing car to run hot and also potentially damage radiator behind it. The radiator is also suffering same issue where exchanger materials between fluid pipes is falling out. I have video of A/C exchanger and if you look closely, you can also see the radiator is suffering similar heat fin materials loss. This is across the exchanger from one side to the other. This is what I would call a manufacturing defect/failure of the exchanger due to poor manufacturing processes. This is not limited to my 2015 Kia soul (96K miles) as my son has a 2016 Kia soul and is starting to see same issue happen with only 49K on car. I have video of his heat exchanger as well.

The catalytic converter on my 2015 KIA soul had spontaneously went out. There were really no warning signs of a problem, it just one day stopped in the middle of me driving on the road. I had to make it over to the side of the road to safety and the car had to be towed to my dealership; which is where they told me the catalytic converter was clogged and had to be replaced entirely. An over $2,000 job they were telling me. The warranty apparently did not cover this. But I did hear of there being a recall or safety issue having to do with this model cars engine. I have experienced this problem and it caused my car to stall out in traffic, multiple times. This was not due to my carelessness; as I had taken the car for regular maintenance and oil changes. This caused me to be at a complete loss of the car, as I'm not able to pay for the repair right now, and the dealership has told me selling the vehicle back wont work because it isnt worth anything to them. Now I've been in a catch 22 as the car isnt paid off and I still owe more than the car is even worth at this point. With the repairs costing as much as they have and do now.