2017 Kia Soul

The engine has structural manufacturer defect causing extreme internal engine oil consumption with zero external leaks, creating a severe risk of sudden oil starvation catastrophic mechanical engine failure. The severe oil consumption problem was confirmed by a certified national corporate service center (Firestone Auto Care). An intermittent P0420 catalytic converter warning is actively appearing on the dashboard, which is a documented consequence of internal engine oil burning. When attempting to get this mechanical defect diagnosed and repaired under the class-action parameters, manufacturer dealerships (Findlay Kia and Jim Marsh Kia) declined to schedule the mandatory manufacturer diagnostic testing, preventing a known vehicle defect from being resolved.

While driving under normal conditions, the check engine light began flashing and the vehicle suddenly lost power and entered limp mode. Acceleration was severely limited, making it difficult to maintain speed in traffic. The vehicle was later diagnosed with diagnostic trouble code P1326, which is associated with engine rod bearing failure. This caused an unexpected loss of engine power and created a safety risk while driving. The vehicle had to be taken to a dealership for inspection due to the severity of the power loss.

I have wasted too much time and my own $ for my local KIA to dismiss their on going re-appointments and months of different service technicians to not have them reacting to an engine light to never retry something not done right. Now, they have my 2017 KiA Soul+ wrongly listed as no recalls remaining. I am trying to be as proactive and not lose my Kia or several more months of covering the Killeen, Tx Dennis Eakin KIA’s rear to quietly avoid redoing more recall call backs they need to finish. So now your national government database shows my Kia doesn’t have the P0420 catalyst and O2 sensor listed. —-I did my part for Killeen KiA and paid my $ to prove to them the check light kept coming back on after they turned it off in early 2022. The gas mileage is horrible. I’m a handicap driver on fixed income, but no stranger auto warns. After a couple recall, full engine replacement attempts. Since my local KIA services, have re-called their own and also factory mechanical repairs. Both myself and Kia have basically had custody of my 2017 KIA. The last attempt they took back my now 2nd reshaped/fresh block from the first ever KIA recall that blew the piston the first few months I invested into this KIA. Every attempt to fix the next following recalls or unfinished work, I was told about late 2021 locally “if I can bring KIA a code of the engine light”(they temporarily hid) Then maybe they would go back and fix it or recall what needs to be fixed. I paid a mechanic after 3 attempts since 2021 of barely getting to drive my KIA. The code is P0420 I already have enough basic vehicle knowledge, to understand it was exhaust system stalling me (and the suspension) ( hack hydraulic also stopped functioning) I do love my KIA and do not want to start ideas of revamping my interest to Dodge or Chevy yet. I just want the recall for the catalyst/O2 and thermostat issue done or redone if my local KIA attempted to check off the P0420 recall before my engine fails again.

While sitting in line with brake applied the idle speed suddenly jumped up and car accelerated forward despite application of brakes. Without any change from me the RPMs suddenly dropped and car stopped again. The car moved a total of a quarter car length, which had I not been angled away from car in front of me would have caused a collision, and had I been at an intersection could have caused an accident or struck a pedestrian.

On 11/07/22 my car started to sputter & lose power while going up a hill, the incident only lasted a few seconds with no warning lights. Later that same day my car wouldn't start and when it finally did start it started sputtering, had no power with no warning lights, plus there was a strong smell of gas from inside the car. I had the car towed to a local shop. The shop cleaned the injectors, put a fuel treatment in the tank and replaced a bad O2 censor. 8 Days later on another hill it happened again. A hard sputtering followed by loss of power, still no warning lights but also no smell of gas. I drove it back to the same shop and after just one day the shop could not get my car to reproduce the same incident but was having difficulty starting it so they installed a new battery. 5 Days later on Thanksgiving my car sputtered hard while driving with no warning lights or smell of gas. I was barely able to get my car across 2 lanes of oncoming traffic in order to pull into a store's parking lot. I had it towed to a new shop. At this new shop it was diagnosed that the car needed new Spark Plugs, a new High Pressure Fuel Pump and new Injectors but the shop took 3 weeks to give me an estimate and so I went and retrieved my car and towed it KIA of Lynchburg, having only had the Spark Plugs replaced. Once at KIA, I was told I had a Catalytic Converter failure and it needed replacing. KIA said that it would be covered under Emissions Warranty. I had the part installed and 3 days later on New Years Eve as I was driving on the highway, I had to come to a stop due to a stop light and when I halted, the car again sputtered and I limped into a nearby parking lot and had it towed back to KIA. KIA tried to say it was Engine Failure this time but the Engineers said the High Pressure Fuel Pump should be replaced. Once installed and during a test drive by the Master Mechanic, smoke emanated from under the hood. Soon after that my Engine bay was on fire which led to a total loss.

On January 16, 2023, my engine suddenly died while driving in moderate traffic, with a loud banging noise. I could have been in a serious accident, or killed, due to manufacturer and dealer negligence. When I was able to restart the car, it knocked terribly, but I was (barely) able to get it the short distance back to my home, where I discovered that there was very little oil in the car, though I have it changed more frequently than recommended and check it, as well. NO WARNING LIGHT came on. On January 17, I called a local dealer, who informed me of a recall that addressed that issue, though I NEVER received a recall notice. The dealer where I bought the car confirmed that this was a safety recall issue, and therefore, since I hadn't done the recall, because I was not notified, my unsafe, barely drivable car would not be repaired by the dealer. As I received this information from 2 dealers and from the manufacturer's customer (lack of) service representative, I have not taken it to a dealer to be inspected. I since learned that the dealer had not given my correct email or address to the car company, so recall notices must have been sent to an address I haven't lived at for 6+ years. They corrected this during my call on January 17. My current car was not even in their data base until my call to the manufacturer. They had a previous car I owned listed. I am seeking restitution and assistance on this matter. These recalls do not show up on this website, either.

My cars check engine light has come on at 87,659 miles with a p0420 code. My dealer has determined that this is a defective catalytic converter and because of the mileage it is not warrantied. In doing research the 2012-2016 Kia Soul with the 1.6 gdi engine. My car is a 2017 experiencing the same symptoms as the cars a year older. The recall campaign is 19v120000 with the NHTSA and SC 176 with KIA dating back to 04/17/2019. My cars model year being a 2017 had not been determined at that time to be effected as the mileage had not yet accumulated to the mileage of the previous years. Now that my 2017 car had reached the mileage in which previous cars where effected , it too is experiencing this defect. The safety issue lies in that when the car is driven it could overheat without any warning lights indicating that and overheating a cylinder, piston damage will occur leading to catastrophic failure that could launch a connecting rod out the side of the engine block and allow oil to spray onto hot exhaust manifold leading to a fire.I would like to see that the recall to cover added years (2017-2019) to this recall as this is a continuing safety issue. The dealership is not wanting to acknowledge and help in this matter so I am filing this complaint to document continuing failures to aid in extending model years covered.