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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.

About this comparison →

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

What owners actually said

271 reports
Mileage unknown · Apr 20, 2022
Engine

Engine light came on, heard a loud noise. Car is using a lot of oil, there is a rattling noise, car has no power. The piston is loose and ratling causing it to lose oil and have no power. The piston rod has possibly came off due to this. The pistons were not properly sealed by manufacturer causing this problem. This is the same …

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Engine light came on, heard a loud noise. Car is using a lot of oil, there is a rattling noise, car has no power. The piston is loose and ratling causing it to lose oil and have no power. The piston rod has possibly came off due to this. The pistons were not properly sealed by manufacturer causing this problem. This is the same problem that has happened in all the other Kia's that were recalled, but this year was not for some reason.

NHTSA ODI #11461550

Mileage unknown · Apr 8, 2022
Electrical SystemService BrakesSteering

Despite 22V031000 being repaired, the car randomly displays the following warnings, tire pressure, traction control, abs brake failure, check engine, power steering. The speedometer and tachometer cease to function at this point and power steering assistance becomes disabled. Balise Kia service manager Gary Lindsay states the …

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Despite 22V031000 being repaired, the car randomly displays the following warnings, tire pressure, traction control, abs brake failure, check engine, power steering. The speedometer and tachometer cease to function at this point and power steering assistance becomes disabled. Balise Kia service manager Gary Lindsay states the car is safe to drive in this condition and has sent me home twice while waiting for parts. After the second attempt the issue remains.

NHTSA ODI #11460161

Mileage unknown · Apr 8, 2022
Air BagsCrashInjury

Severe front end damage in accident and airbags never deployed on 4/7/2022. Airbag light was never illuminated on the dash. Never received notification of recall before accident. Both driver and passenger taken to emergency room.

NHTSA ODI #11460157

Mileage unknown · Apr 7, 2022
Air Bags

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V031000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the …

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The contact owns a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V031000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ODI #11459979

120,000 miles · Mar 30, 2022
Engine And Engine Cooling

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle started to decelerate. The contact depressed the accelerator and the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to safely guide the vehicle off the highway. The …

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The contact owns a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle started to decelerate. The contact depressed the accelerator and the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to safely guide the vehicle off the highway. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the catalytic converter had dislodged and detached from the exhaust causing a clog in the exhaust system. Additionally, the detached catalytic converter released hot exhaust against the fire wall causing the engine to stall. The vehicle was repaired. The vehicle continued to experience the failure. The contact later drove the vehicle to a dealer, where it was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000. The VIN was invalid.

NHTSA ODI #11458986

68,000 miles · Mar 16, 2022
Engine

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact stated while his girlfriend was driving at 35 MPH, the vehicle started lunging, jerking, and was making abnormal sounds. The vehicle then stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact's girlfriend was able to veer to the side of the road. The contact's girlfriend was…

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The contact owns a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact stated while his girlfriend was driving at 35 MPH, the vehicle started lunging, jerking, and was making abnormal sounds. The vehicle then stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact's girlfriend was able to veer to the side of the road. The contact's girlfriend was unable to restart the vehicle after several attempts. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The independent mechanic referred the contact to the dealer. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist as the contact had failed to complete an unknown manufacturer product improvement campaign on the vehicle prior to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.

NHTSA ODI #11457015

Mileage unknown · Mar 16, 2022
EngineFire

After dropping me off school my partner began his way home. Along the way there was a poof of smoke coming from under the hood. He pulled over to the edge of the highway and as soon as he got out the car caught on fire. Then there was a second burst. The car was completely burned. We lost our lively hood. Medical supplies that w…

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After dropping me off school my partner began his way home. Along the way there was a poof of smoke coming from under the hood. He pulled over to the edge of the highway and as soon as he got out the car caught on fire. Then there was a second burst. The car was completely burned. We lost our lively hood. Medical supplies that were in the car. I have since contacted kia and they are not doing anything about it.

NHTSA ODI #11457008

Mileage unknown · Feb 12, 2022
Unknown Or Other

Smoke will come from the vents and it fogs up the window to the point of no visibility while driving. The sent smell sweet

NHTSA ODI #11451702

Mileage unknown · Feb 8, 2022
Engine

While on the freeway the engine light suddenly came on and then immediately after that the oil light. I started to pull over immediately and BOOM!! the engine blew up. This is a 2017 Kia Soul + with only 32,000 miles. I had the oil changed every 5,000 miles but not every six months as it took forever to get to the 5,000 mile…

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While on the freeway the engine light suddenly came on and then immediately after that the oil light. I started to pull over immediately and BOOM!! the engine blew up. This is a 2017 Kia Soul + with only 32,000 miles. I had the oil changed every 5,000 miles but not every six months as it took forever to get to the 5,000 mile mark. I have researched this happening to other Kia Souls and found out it's not uncommon however Kia would not stand behind the warranty. I had to purchase a new engine with no support from Kia.

NHTSA ODI #11451009

Mileage unknown · Jan 25, 2022
Engine

I was driving normal speed of around 45mph and randomly without warning engine made very loud knocking sound. I had both my children in the vehicle when this happened. We immediately pulled over. Oil was bare but there wasn't any signs of a leak, and no prior warning lights appeared. I bought oil and added to the engine, but thi…

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I was driving normal speed of around 45mph and randomly without warning engine made very loud knocking sound. I had both my children in the vehicle when this happened. We immediately pulled over. Oil was bare but there wasn't any signs of a leak, and no prior warning lights appeared. I bought oil and added to the engine, but this did not resolve the issue. Ended up having to get vehicle towed for inspection. At this time they stated engine was blown due to bad rods. With still having owed around 14,000$ trading car in or selling was not an option, so I spent over 7000$ to get engine replaced. Not even a year later engine is now blown again same scenario. There has been engine recalls on prior years for this make / model along with 2020 and 2021 engines. This needs to be included. This is not safe and nearly caused me to get into a serious accident with another vehicle on both occasions. I have all documentation, and not only am looking to get current engine replacement completed. But I also feel I'm due reimbursement for prior engine replacement that was paid out of pocket. I cant drive this vehicle. If inspection is needed the vehicle would need to be towed, and with what I've already paid I don't feel I should have to pay for another tow either.

NHTSA ODI #11448840

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.