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2017 Kia Soul

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2017 Kia Soul do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 225.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

117 reports with mileage · 154 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 190 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 19 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 19 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

17 crash reports14 fire reports13 injury reports

Engine complaints

190 reports
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Mileage unknown · Nov 13, 2021
Engine

Engine completely shutdown in heavy traffic. Very unsafe condition. Teenage driver unable to control the vehicle and nearly caused subsequent accident. No prior warning messages, prior to the engine shutting down, and then getting the check engine light. Had to have car towed to local dealer. Engine no longer usable and needs …

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Engine completely shutdown in heavy traffic. Very unsafe condition. Teenage driver unable to control the vehicle and nearly caused subsequent accident. No prior warning messages, prior to the engine shutting down, and then getting the check engine light. Had to have car towed to local dealer. Engine no longer usable and needs to be replaced. Vehicle has only 62,000 miles on it, 2000 miles out of warranty. Vehicle unsafe.

NHTSA ODI #11440335

Mileage unknown · Oct 27, 2021
Engine

On 10/23/2021, I took my vehicle for a oil change around 10:30 in the morning, afterwards I proceeded to run errands before heading to work. While on my way to work my vehicle started to make a rattling noise from the engine bay. So I decided to drive to the dealership to see if my oil change was done incorrectly on the way to d…

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On 10/23/2021, I took my vehicle for a oil change around 10:30 in the morning, afterwards I proceeded to run errands before heading to work. While on my way to work my vehicle started to make a rattling noise from the engine bay. So I decided to drive to the dealership to see if my oil change was done incorrectly on the way to dealership my vehicle rattling grew louder and started to sound like a freight train I made it to the dealership a the service advisor said I’m glad you made it and checked my vehicle after letting him know I just got a oil change I was advised oil change wasn’t done incorrectly but my vehicle is possibly among the recall for the 2.0L engines for failure my vehicle is only at 45,000 miles.

NHTSA ODI #11438381

Mileage unknown · Oct 18, 2021
Engine

while driving on the freeway, car completely shut off. There was a safety risk as the car was driving 65 on the freeway at the time. Car has been at a indpependent car shop and has now been at the dealership for 5 weeks and was told that complete engine failure. Car was driving fine up until the moment it died. There was no …

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while driving on the freeway, car completely shut off. There was a safety risk as the car was driving 65 on the freeway at the time. Car has been at a indpependent car shop and has now been at the dealership for 5 weeks and was told that complete engine failure. Car was driving fine up until the moment it died. There was no sputtering, or engine light that came on for a warning. Had to very carefully get the car over to the side of the freeway.

NHTSA ODI #11437252

Mileage unknown · Sep 8, 2021
Engine

Engined seized and had to be replaced due to an issue known to dealer. (Learned after the fact) Zero issues before it happend. Nearly caused accident. Going up a hill and all at once dead shake, lost acceleration and steering for a moment.

NHTSA ODI #11432208

Mileage unknown · Sep 8, 2021
Engine

We have been driving the vehicle all day doing some shopping and my fiance took the vehicle up to his parents house after we got home to eat dinner with them. The vehicle had driven fine day long and we had just done an oil change and tune up 2 weeks prior. There was no warning lights no knocking and no indication that the…

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We have been driving the vehicle all day doing some shopping and my fiance took the vehicle up to his parents house after we got home to eat dinner with them. The vehicle had driven fine day long and we had just done an oil change and tune up 2 weeks prior. There was no warning lights no knocking and no indication that there was any issue. Regardless on the way home my fiance calls me and tells me he had just he Had to push the vehicle from the middle of the road where it stopped cold turkey to get it out of traffic. We now have had to drop thousands by due to catalytic converter being faulty it caused the engine to throw a piston. Which just so happens was the exact thing that caused prior years to be recalled . The car only has 110000 and I'm the only owner I purchased it brand new and to top it off I still owe 5000 on the thing

NHTSA ODI #11432139

Mileage unknown · Sep 7, 2021
Engine

At around 50,000 miles the engine of the vehicle began knocking loudly. I immediately pulled over and had it towed to the dealership. It has been well-maintained and there were no warning lights. The engine has failed and Kia is refusing to honor the warranty, citing lack of physical records of oil change.

NHTSA ODI #11431938

Mileage unknown · Sep 3, 2021
Engine

Upon startup one day, the engine began knocking. It was turned off and towed. Both an independent service center and Kia dealer have confirmed connecting rod failure, and the need for a total engine replacement. The vehicle is still available for inspection at this time. Fortunately, the issue began when the engine was turn…

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Upon startup one day, the engine began knocking. It was turned off and towed. Both an independent service center and Kia dealer have confirmed connecting rod failure, and the need for a total engine replacement. The vehicle is still available for inspection at this time. Fortunately, the issue began when the engine was turned on so the car was not moving at the time of failure, but had it begun on the highway or had a portion of the rod perforated the engine, it could have led to immediate loss of power while in motion and/or leaking oil. There were no warning lamps or messages prior to failure, and the engine had been maintained according to manufacturer guidelines. Periodically prior to this occurrence, the engine did demonstrate temporary reductions in power when accelerating, like it was hesitating to rev up beyond idle speed. However, the local Kia dealer was unable to diagnose the problem at that time (53,293 miles), and simply said to come back if it got worse, giving me the phone number for Kia Roadside Service. Although the loss of power was always temporary and infrequent, it could be a bit surprising when making a right turn into moving traffic, or a left turn across traffic because the car did not move into the traffic as fast as usual, which could have led to a collision with oncoming traffic. Fortunately it never lasted more than a second or two at a time. These symptoms returned the day prior to engine failure in greater frequency and duration. This type of failure is highly unusual for a vehicle of this age (4 years old) and mileage (67,000 miles), and Kia has denied warranty coverage, even though engine issues began before expiration of the warranty.

NHTSA ODI #11431670

Mileage unknown · Aug 30, 2021
Engine

The car's oil pressure light started blinking while driving on the highway. The vehicle stalled at a nearby gas station, and no oil was present on the dipstick. The car was less than 1,500 miles off of an oil change, and had oil present on the dipstick before the incident. After filling the car back up with oil a knock was pres…

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The car's oil pressure light started blinking while driving on the highway. The vehicle stalled at a nearby gas station, and no oil was present on the dipstick. The car was less than 1,500 miles off of an oil change, and had oil present on the dipstick before the incident. After filling the car back up with oil a knock was present, and no check engine light was shown. The car was towed to a dealer who claimed it was a rod bearing.

NHTSA ODI #11431091

Mileage unknown · Aug 16, 2021
Engine

Engine blew while driving down the highway, gave no indication anything was wrong.

NHTSA ODI #11429231

Mileage unknown · Jul 31, 2021
Engine

On Tuesday July 27 2021, we noticed that the oil light was flickering at idle on our 2017 Kia Soul. We called a dealership and they recommended that we have the car towed to their service department. We received confirmation that the car arrived at the dealership at 1.32 pm on Tuesday July 27 2021. We’d like to note that our 2…

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On Tuesday July 27 2021, we noticed that the oil light was flickering at idle on our 2017 Kia Soul. We called a dealership and they recommended that we have the car towed to their service department. We received confirmation that the car arrived at the dealership at 1.32 pm on Tuesday July 27 2021. We’d like to note that our 2017 Kia Soul had approximately 20,000 miles on it at this time. The dealership ran diagnostics on car and found nothing wrong. They also drove the car and said that they saw no indication of a problem (no flickering oil light). They said that the oil looked dark and thin. We had checked the oil the day before and it looked yellow to gold in color. We were not shown any evidence that the oil was dark, only the word of the service department. We had the car serviced and then picked it up from the dealership. 10 minutes or so after picking the car up from the dealership, on Colorado Highway 58 heading west, just outside Golden, CO, there was a loud knocking noise and the check engine and oil pressure lights starting blinking. Seconds later, the car lost power, and then stalled. My husband was able to steer it to side of the highway, where we waited more than three hours for roadside assistance from Kia before having to leave the car to get somewhere safe. The outside temperatures were 90 degrees of more and our child, who was with us, is very sensitive to high temperatures. We are waiting to hear from the dealership (Kia towing somehow managed to cancel the tow order and left the car on the side of the road all night) and do not yet know the exact nature of the engine failure but the car is undriveable. The fact that the engine stalled and died on the highway, traveling at a speed of 55 mph, is incredibly dangerous and put my husband at extreme risk for an accident or the infamous Kia engine fire. All of this happened just minutes after picking up a car that we were told had no issues.

NHTSA ODI #11427280

Official recalls

1

22V031000 · Air Bags

Jan 25, 2022

Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Sedona, Soul, Soul EV, 2017-2018 Forte, and 2017 Forte Koup vehicles. The Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) cover may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board and damage the electrical circuit. Circuit damage may result in deactivated air bags that will not deploy in a crash.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect the ACU, and either update the software or replace the unit, as necessary. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 21, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC226.

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

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.