Catalytic converters are plugged. Vehicle slowed down. Unable to keep speed up on highway.
2016 Kia Soul
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
More warning signs than most Soul years
Owner complaints for the 2016 Kia Soul are substantially higher than the model-year median of 225.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Soul years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
362 reports with mileage · 448 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Engine. Review the 555 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine And Engine Cooling. Review the 105 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Fuel/propulsion System. Review the 83 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
What owners actually said
810 reports2/1/22 Vehicle was taken in for a power issue or transmission issue. Manahawkin Kia, NJ service department determined it to be a Catalytic Convertor clog. with a estimated $2,230 to replace. Dealership allegedly did 360 service check. The vehicle was taken home for second opinions. Other certified independent mechanics agreed t…
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2/1/22 Vehicle was taken in for a power issue or transmission issue. Manahawkin Kia, NJ service department determined it to be a Catalytic Convertor clog. with a estimated $2,230 to replace. Dealership allegedly did 360 service check. The vehicle was taken home for second opinions. Other certified independent mechanics agreed that the CAT was clogged, but recommended a compression leak down check since there was no motor oil in the engine. It is important to note that the KIA service claim to have done a 360 check. However, there was no engine oil in the motor. Further, ever since KIA did the SC#176 RECALL the motor has burned oil somehow. WE believe that KIA is at fault and the SC#176 RECALL damaged the vehicle without doubt. KIA of America should be held accountable for our loss as well as anyone who has similar issues with the KIA motor.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while accelerating from a stop at 10 MPH, a rod bearing had blown through her engine without warning. The contact had the vehicle initially towed to her home. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that there were no recalls on her vehicle. Th…
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The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while accelerating from a stop at 10 MPH, a rod bearing had blown through her engine without warning. The contact had the vehicle initially towed to her home. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that there were no recalls on her vehicle. The contact then had the vehicle towed to the dealer where they confirmed the failure as another rod bearing had blown through the engine as the vehicle was being driven into the service garage. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered no assistance. The vehicle had yet to be repaired and remained in the possession of the dealer. The failure mileage was 89,912.
My vehicle is a 2016 Kia Soul+ 2.0L engine. It is experiencing oil pressure failure in cylinder #1. A certified mechanic has diagnosed this as oil ring failure. KIA has a recall on the same model with the 1.6L engine, but there have been many instances of the 2.0L experiencing the same failure, but not being recalled. My vehicle…
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My vehicle is a 2016 Kia Soul+ 2.0L engine. It is experiencing oil pressure failure in cylinder #1. A certified mechanic has diagnosed this as oil ring failure. KIA has a recall on the same model with the 1.6L engine, but there have been many instances of the 2.0L experiencing the same failure, but not being recalled. My vehicle has been well maintained, regularly serviced and not abused. My mechanic has had two other customers in less than a year experiencing this failure in the same engine. Vehicle has had loss of power along with oil pressure indicator light flashing. Car only remotely operates normal with in ECO mode. My local KIA dealership has not wanted to be helpful in any of these three cases. For the 1.6L that is recalled, owners who have this type of failure have had new engines installed. KIA America and my local dealership have not wanted to address this option. Said vehicle has sale value of $5,000 while this sort of repair would cost upwards of $9,000 if handled privately. As it stands, my repair bill is over $600 without actually fixing the problem that mechanic says will lead to complete engine failure. It would benefit myself and the other owners of Kia Soul+ 2.0L if the automaker would include these engines in the same recall as the KIA Soul+ 1.6L. As it stands, my vehicle cannot be sold in current condition and cannot be repaired due to very high cost. Any help from a government agency in encouraging KIA to include these KIA Soul+ 2.0L automobiles would be a great help to an untold number of US consumers experiencing this issue. It is simply too costly to repair on our own.
My wife is driving our car down the street, dropping my daughter off at daycare when all of a sudden, the car does not want to do over 15 miles per hour and she almost gets rear ended. We have the car towed home and i check it later on on the evening once I’m off work. I think the engine and catalytic converters is gone. It only…
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My wife is driving our car down the street, dropping my daughter off at daycare when all of a sudden, the car does not want to do over 15 miles per hour and she almost gets rear ended. We have the car towed home and i check it later on on the evening once I’m off work. I think the engine and catalytic converters is gone. It only has 81,169 miles.
Trouble is when i get speed with the car and press the brake the system fail and i dont have any acceleration. Ex. When i go about 50mph or more and press the brake. The electrical system fail and show on dashboard "check ev system" and after restart or shutdown the car and power on again the system works normal
when i first checked my oil before i went on vacation. The oil dip stick showed no oil at all. i called the dealership and told them about it. I was informed that the 1026 kia souls had a issue with burning oil and that my car would have to go through a oil consumption test. over the course of the test my car burned over 2 1/2 q…
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when i first checked my oil before i went on vacation. The oil dip stick showed no oil at all. i called the dealership and told them about it. I was informed that the 1026 kia souls had a issue with burning oil and that my car would have to go through a oil consumption test. over the course of the test my car burned over 2 1/2 quarts of oil and not counting how much the oil was down when i first brought it to them. the last time i brought it they said what kia sent out was that the oil is within the normal range of burning oil. my car had only 63,000 miles on it.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently decelerated to 20 MPH. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to exceed 20 MPH while driving uphill. Additionally, the vehicle was overheating. The check engine and oil level warning lights were illuminated. The…
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The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently decelerated to 20 MPH. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to exceed 20 MPH while driving uphill. Additionally, the vehicle was overheating. The check engine and oil level warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with the catalytic converter needing to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The independent mechanic informed the contact of an unknown recall and suggested that the vehicle be taken to an authorized dealer for repair. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who performed a multi-point inspection and software update however, no parts were replaced. The contact stated that the failure returned and that the vehicle was overheating with the check engine and oil warning lights illuminated. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 112,633.
Threw a piston through my engine block on the way to work dropped all the oil and lost all power and caused smoking from the exhaust pipe and engine bay on the freeway. Took it to a vehicle repair shop and thats what they diagnosed it as. I then took it to the dealer ship to have the same diagnoses.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power without warning. The contact stated that prior to losing power, the vehicle had started making a loud grinding sound coming from the engine. The vehicle rolled to stop and the contact placed the transmission int…
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The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power without warning. The contact stated that prior to losing power, the vehicle had started making a loud grinding sound coming from the engine. The vehicle rolled to stop and the contact placed the transmission into park. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle however, the vehicle failed to restart. The contact had the vehicle towed to his residence and then later had the vehicle towed to a local dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was referred to the manufacturer by the dealer. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure and the contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer also stated that the vehicle was not under warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 93,644.
Official recalls
219V120000 · Engine; Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System:emission Control:catalytic Convertor
Feb 22, 2019
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2012-2016 Kia Soul vehicles equipped with 1.6L Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines. 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.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: 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.
Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will upgrade the Catalytic Overheating Protection Engine Control Unit logic to prevent overheating of the catalytic converter. In addition, the catalytic converter will also be replaced if it has been damaged. Depending on the extent of any damage, the engine may also be replaced, free of charge. The recall began April 17, 2019. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC176.
Additional source detail variants (2)
Engine
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2012-2016 Kia Soul vehicles equipped with 1.6L Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines. 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.
Consequence: 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.
Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will upgrade the Catalytic Overheating Protection Engine Control Unit logic to prevent overheating of the catalytic converter. In addition, the catalytic converter will also be replaced if it has been damaged. Depending on the extent of any damage, the engine may also be replaced, free of charge. The recall began April 17, 2019. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC176.
Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System:emission Control:catalytic Convertor
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2012-2016 Kia Soul vehicles equipped with 1.6L Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines. 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.
Consequence: 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.
Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will upgrade the Catalytic Overheating Protection Engine Control Unit logic to prevent overheating of the catalytic converter. In addition, the catalytic converter will also be replaced if it has been damaged. Depending on the extent of any damage, the engine may also be replaced, free of charge. The recall began April 17, 2019. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC176.
17V608000 · Steering
Sep 29, 2017
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2014-2016 Soul and Soul EV vehicles. The pinion plug may allow the pinion gear to separate from the steering gear assembly.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: If the pinion gear separates, steering will be lost, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and secure the pinion plug or replace the steering gear assembly, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 16, 2017. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC155. Note: This recall supersedes campaigns 14V-332 and 15V-736. Vehicles previously remedied under those numbers are being recalled again under this campaign.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
1EA21003 · Engine Fires
Opened Dec 22, 2021 · Closed Feb 5, 2024
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Engine
On March 29, 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened two Preliminary Evaluations (PE19-003 on Hyundai and PE19-004 on Kia) to broadly investigate incidents of non-crash fires (regardless of origin or operational status of the vehicle) on various model year Hyundai and Kia vehicles. During the PE investigations, Hyundai and Kia issued several recalls to address vehicle fires, including those due to engine failures involving various engine types. The remedies for the engine failure recalls typically involve engine inspection (to detect existing damage), and if necessary, engine replacement. Additionally, both manufacturers have been installing an engine control software modification known as Knock Sensor Detection Software (KSDS) which is intended to detect impending engine failure, alert the driver, and limit engine power (to lessen likelihood of engine failure).KSDS is being installed under recalls and non-safety field actions, and both companies have extended limited engine warranties (see recall files). On December 22, 2021, ODI upgraded PE19-003 and PE19-004 to this Engineering Analysis (EA21-003, covering both Hyundai and Kia) to evaluate the scope of the prior recalls related to engine failures/fires and the efficacy of the recall remedies for the recalls, as well as the long-term viability of related programs and non-safety field actions being conducted by Hyundai and Kia. The former issue involved approximately 550,000 MY 2013 Hyundai Elantra, MY 2011 Kia Sorento, and MY 2012-2015 Kia Rio. The latter issue involved approximately 2.5 million recalled vehicles, which have been identified as displaying potential remedy concerns: Hyundai recalls 15V-568, 17V-226, 20V-746, and 21V-727; and Kia recalls 17V-224, 19V-120, 20V-750, and 21V-844. Regarding the recall scope issue, among all of the scope vehicles identified at EA opening, ODI found only the MY 2011 Kia Sorento vehicles equipped with both the Theta II 2.4L 4-cylinder Multi-Point Injection (MPI) and the Lambda II 3.5L 6-cylinder MPI engines experienced relatively high rates of reported fires. In December 2023, Kia issued recall 23V-877 that will cover about 80,000 MY 2011 Kia Sorento vehicles equipped with the Theta II 2.4L MPI engines. The remedy will involve an inspection, and if necessary, a replacement of the engine, as well as the installation of KSDS. It should be noted that in 2021 these vehicles were included in a KSDS product improvement campaign with warranty extension. For the MY 2011 Sorento vehicles equipped with the Lambda II 3.5L engines, ODI believes that future engine failures/fires involving these vehicles will likely be due to a lax in adhering to the proper or scheduled engine maintenance (regular engine oil changes), rather than a design or manufacturing engine issue. Regarding the issue of the efficacy of the recall remedies, ODI found the majority of the recalled Hyundai and Kia vehicles, by model, experienced lower reported fire rates after the remedies were applied. Furthermore, ODI found that for most vehicles that did not receive the recall remedies, by model, experienced relatively high fire rates. To address this problem, Hyundai informed ODI in December 2023, that it will renotify all of its owners covered by the Hyundai recalls of engine failures/fires every 8 months for the next 3 years. In December 2023, Kia stated that it will renotify the majority of its owners every 8 months for the next 3 years.Several previously recalled Kia models are excluded from the renotification due to their lower reported rates of engine fires. Overall, the renotification actions will help to increase the recall completion rates, thus reduce the frequency of engine fires in the future. In view of the recall action being taken by Kia and renotification actions being taken by both Kia and Hyundai, ODI is closing this Engineering Analysis. Also, both companies have been released from the 2020-iniated Consent Orders (Kia since November 2022 and Hyundai since November 2023). The agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
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