KIA Complaints

While driving, the vehicle suddenly lost power and stalled. I was able to safely pull to the side of the road. The engine would not restart. Upon inspection, the engine was found to be completely out of oil despite being maintained according to recommended oil change intervals and not being overdue for service. There were no visible oil leaks under the vehicle and no prior low oil warning light or oil pressure warning light was observed before the failure. The vehicle had previously been serviced by a Kia dealership for turbocharger-related concerns, including turbocharger boost control and wastegate actuator issues. The dealership later diagnosed the vehicle with a burnt valve in cylinder #1 and recommended complete engine replacement. I am concerned because this vehicle experienced excessive oil consumption without sufficient warning to prevent engine failure. The vehicle stalled while being driven, creating a potential safety hazard due to sudden loss of power in traffic. The vehicle is available for inspection. The failure has been confirmed by a Kia dealership service department.

We would like to file a complaint and request a recall so that Kia Corporation is responsible to pay for a new paint job on our vehicle, 2016 Kia Soul. With Kia Corp, paint is covered under warranty for 3 years, however a customer would not know there is a paint adhesion problem within the first 3 years. The problem - Our paint is peeling off of the vehicle and started out of nowhere, no rock chip...nothing. It started as a bubble on the side of our vehicle and that bubble broke open and began peeling. We also have areas SEPARATE from the original area that just randomly flaked off with no bubble...just started peeling from the edges of the window, especially on top of the roof. No matter where it starts (and it continues to do so), it peels on its own. We have a white Kia and white (amongst a few other colors) seems to be an issue from KIA's manufacturer. Kia knows it. It seems the mfg used the incorrect paint adhesion product from the beginning, therefore it is peeling off. We've never seen anything like it. We currently have 77K miles on the car, but this started a year ago. We just had no idea this first, tiny area would turn into the entire car's paint peeling off. This is a manufacturing issue. The vehicle peels to the gray level first and then to a mustard color, so we are down to the original metal. This is all without us touching it at all. It peels ON ITS OWN. I have called Kia customer care to see what is wrong with the Kia Soul. The first time, KIA's customer care rep did not log it as a case number, so there is no record of my call. The 2nd time, calling on 6/15/26, I had to request to file a complaint so that a case number was created. I am now filing a complaint with NHTSA. Please see photos. Thank you for your consideration, [XXX] and [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Around XXX the car was suddenly unable to accelerate properly. When pushing the accelerator, the engine would rev only after a long lag, would rev significantly higher than normal without shifting, and the acceleration response was dramatically less than usual. It felt as if the engine simply had no power, or at times almost as if something were resisting the engine. It made it nearly impossible to accelerate past roughly 40mph and the response in acceleration from the pedal was very unpredictable. A mechanic was able to replicate the issue and it was initially attributed to the high pressure fuel pump. Roughly a week after the pump was replaced in early August 2024, the issue occurred again and was again replicated by the dealer and attributed to the fuel sensor, which was replaced. The issue then re-occurred on June 14, 2026. The car is currently in the shop awaiting diagnosis and repair. At no point during any of these instances did any warning appear on the dashboard or anywhere else in the car. The parts are not available for inspection, it is unclear to me who from Kia or any other organization has examined them beyond the dealership (Kia of Riverdale in Riverdale, NJ). The safety of the car’s occupants and potentially other motorists was put at risk by acceleration performing radically differently than would be anticipated from a properly functioning car. The issue was noted several times, including while pulling out of a parking lot onto a busy road and while attempting to keep up with traffic on a busy divided highway.

I was stopped at a red light. The light turned green, the vehicle in front of me was easily 4 car lengths ahead at this point into the intersection, I then slowly began to accelerate, my car gave me a false collision warning even though there was no car or hazard in front of me, then I brake checked me (initiated my brakes and slammed on them). This could’ve easily caused the car behind me to hit me and fortunately it didn’t. It did however cause me whiplash, very dangerous. I’ve since turned collision warning off all together

The car is jerking while driving. It's caused the car to overheat. It's hard to start up and usually stalls out. It has stalled out while driving almost causing a accident. The engine light came on. I took it for a diagnostic and it was code P0172 for high pressure fuel pump. Before the incident date it was already hard to start prior to the engine light coming on. It sometimes causes smoke to come out of the exhaust. There was also smoke from under the hood in the engine compartment and as soon as I put gas in the car it runs out very quickly. This issue could have caused and accident or even a fire. It's unsafe to drive and from other reviews I've seen several other Kia drivers have experienced issues with this same faulty part, which is expensive to fix.

hello nhtsa i have a problem with my car. which kia soul plus with 83000 miles on it. It have check engine light blinks with code p1326 which is knock sensor recall. i went to kia dealer at federico kia at wood river illinois they replaced the knock sensor. it show up back in 6 miles. i took it back to the dealer.they hold the car for one week. they said you got denied of engine replacement due to lack of maintenence. it have sevice records on carfax.

On XXX, my 2012 Kia Sportage experienced a catastrophic engine failure while traveling on the interstate. The connecting rod failed, breaking through the engine block, causing sudden and sever oil leak and heavy smoke. The safety of the occupants was put at risk due to the sudden powefr loss in high-speed traffic. This vehicle has two active federal safety recalls, SC200 snd SC 284, which are unrepaired. After the vehicle was towed to Auffenberg Kia in Cape Girardeau, MO I experienced an unreasonable delay of atr a mininum of 2 weeks or more before they could assess the damage, and they refused to provide a loaner vehicle while I was left without transport. Futhermore, they have stated they will not assist with anything until the inspection is complete and the exact cause of failure is determined.

I was travelling on a road today and was in the right hand lane with adaptive cruise control on. I then switched lanes to the left hand lane (it's only 2 lanes) and the adaptive cruise control was still on. I noticed the car travelling faster than it should be for there being a stopped vehicle ahead. I was prepared to stop on the brakes and luckily I was! The collision warning came on and I immediately applied the brakes. How is it that the collision warning came on before adaptive cruise control came on? This is at least the 3rd time something like this has happened.

Check electric vehicle system warning light indicator illuminates and car stops driving on highway! A/C and defrost won't work properly and when turned on causes the above warning light and malfunction. Car will not charge at "fast" charging stations and will leave you stranded on highway. I live in [XXX] and the vehicle only does it when humidity is high outside. Issue also causes problems with the 12V battery. SEVERE SAFETY ISSUE WHEN CAR SHUTS DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY DRIVING AT ANY SPEED. It is the system ICCU (Integrate Charge Control Unit) that KIA has a limited warranty coverage on and should be reviewed for recall. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On start up (date 6/10/26) the dash warned "Check Driver Assistance System," but the car started. Turned off the car, restarted, and this warning was replaced by a yellow "check engine" light, and a remark that the hybrid controller had a fault; the Kia app on my phone indicated the trouble as well. Called for roadside assistance; just before the tow truck operator arrived the faults cleared. Dealer found the stored error code C186387 (CAN BUS time out to navigation error). The error did not cause any safety issues as the car was parked. Another similar error occurred on 6/15/26, this time with check engine lights; the car would not go into drive. Restarting seemed to fix the issue, and my OBD scanner showed no faults in the ECUs.