My 2018 Kia burns through oil before 3000 miles. I have been told that this is not normal at all. I have been having this issue for some time now. The most recent time was this week. It’s been and issue for at least a year or close to it.
2018 Kia Soul
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 2018 Kia Soul do not stand out strongly from 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
80 reports with mileage · 138 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 140 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Power Train. Review the 31 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 →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
What owners actually said
218 reportsThe contact owns a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at 25 MPH, another vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed crashed into the front end of her vehicle. The air bags did not deploy upon impact which caused the contact to hit her chest on the steering wheel. The contact was treated by EMTs at the scene of t…
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The contact owns a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at 25 MPH, another vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed crashed into the front end of her vehicle. The air bags did not deploy upon impact which caused the contact to hit her chest on the steering wheel. The contact was treated by EMTs at the scene of the accident and was later taken to the emergency room by her daughter. The contact was treated for pain and soreness to her sternum. The other driver was not injured and did not seek medical attention. A police report was filed. The contact's son-in-law was able to drive the vehicle to the contact's home which was nearby. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. Upon investigation, the contact discovered that her vehicle was placed under NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V031000(AIR BAGS). The vehicle had yet to be inspected or diagnosed. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and coast to the side of the road in neutral before the vehicle stalled again. The vehicle was not drivable. The vehicle was towed …
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The contact owns a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and coast to the side of the road in neutral before the vehicle stalled again. The vehicle was not drivable. The vehicle was towed to the residence; the following day the vehicle was towed to the dealer. The contact was informed of three open recalls before the vehicle could be diagnosed. The recalls were completed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 139,354.
The contact owns a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, he heard an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over and discovered a light grayish smoke coming from the engine. The contact had the vehicle towed to his residence and the next day ca…
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The contact owns a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, he heard an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over and discovered a light grayish smoke coming from the engine. The contact had the vehicle towed to his residence and the next day called the dealer. The vehicle was then towed to City KIA of Greater Orlando (9550 S Orange Blossom Trl, Orlando, FL 32837). The contact was informed that since his vehicle was not serviced under a software update, they could service the vehicle under warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
Engine Failure. Car began knocking. Checked oil, it was very low and slugged. No sign of oil leakage. 8k cost to repair. Kia isn’t cooperating with warranty coverage. We are challenging them. About a week earlier car had done spontaneous system check and showed no adverse results. No warnings.
I bought my 2018 Kia Soul from Fredy Kia Dealership in Houston, TX and after 3 years and 124K miles the engine failed. It started with the check light for 'engine knock sensor' code 1326. I had the sensor replaced but the mechanics mentioned that my oil was extremally low and needed oil. I just had my oil replaced by Archer Kia …
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I bought my 2018 Kia Soul from Fredy Kia Dealership in Houston, TX and after 3 years and 124K miles the engine failed. It started with the check light for 'engine knock sensor' code 1326. I had the sensor replaced but the mechanics mentioned that my oil was extremally low and needed oil. I just had my oil replaced by Archer Kia dealership 2 month prior how could that be? So they replace the oil and the sensor. I drove it for 4 hours and the check engine light came on again this time there is a knocking sound. The mechanics say its a blown piston and now the engine has to be replaced. This is incredibly sad and frustrating to know that these cars' engine fail after 100K and have to replace the engine. After researching on on this site and https://www.aboutautomobile.com/, this engine problem has been going on since 2012. How can this be? Why isn't Kia doing something to cover and fix this issue?
MY ENGINE STARTED TO KNOCK OUT OF NO WHERE AND IT BLEW A ROD. I HAD A MECHANIC LOOK AT THE CAR AND HE SAID THE ENGINE WAS GONE. HE SAID YOUR CAR SHOULD NOT BE HAVING ENGINE PROBLEM AT ALL FOR THE YEAR OF THE CAR. I HAD ONLY HAD MY CAR NOT EVEN A YEAR. I GOT MY CAR IN 2020. MY CAR HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY YARD WITH A BLOWN ENGINE A…
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MY ENGINE STARTED TO KNOCK OUT OF NO WHERE AND IT BLEW A ROD. I HAD A MECHANIC LOOK AT THE CAR AND HE SAID THE ENGINE WAS GONE. HE SAID YOUR CAR SHOULD NOT BE HAVING ENGINE PROBLEM AT ALL FOR THE YEAR OF THE CAR. I HAD ONLY HAD MY CAR NOT EVEN A YEAR. I GOT MY CAR IN 2020. MY CAR HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY YARD WITH A BLOWN ENGINE AND I AM MAKING MONTHLY PAYMENTS ON A CAR I CAN NOT DRIVE. I AM FURIOUS. I GOT MY CAR FROM HERTZ. I AM SO PISS. I NOTICE THEY RECALLED OTHER YEARS EXCEPT 2018. I NOTICE ALOT OF PEOPLE HAS REPORT THIS PROBLEM.
The contact owned a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving 35-40 MPH in an intersection, another vehicle ran the red light, causing his vehicle to crash into the passenger side of the other vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to exit the vehicle on …
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The contact owned a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving 35-40 MPH in an intersection, another vehicle ran the red light, causing his vehicle to crash into the passenger side of the other vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to exit the vehicle on his own. The contact sought medical assistance the next day and was diagnosed with a ruptured disk on his neck and lower back. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot, where it was totaled. The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure and advised the contact that the air bags acted as intended and did not have to deploy. The contact became aware of the recall for NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V031000 (AIR BAGS). The contact followed with the manufacturer who informed him they could not assist as his VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 37,000.
Follow up to complaint number 11446088 submitted on 1/3/2022 Car was taken to dealership on 12/18/2021 for check engine light with code P1326 and car entered a limp home mode that limited engine RPMs to 1800-2000 RPM. I received a call from dealership on 1/12/2022 informing me that car was ready for pickup. Picked up car on 1…
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Follow up to complaint number 11446088 submitted on 1/3/2022 Car was taken to dealership on 12/18/2021 for check engine light with code P1326 and car entered a limp home mode that limited engine RPMs to 1800-2000 RPM. I received a call from dealership on 1/12/2022 informing me that car was ready for pickup. Picked up car on 1/13/2022, where invoice says the following: "77240 p1326 DTC 39250fln/39250rq0 check engine light on arrival, trouble code p1326. bearing clearance test was not able to be performed due to no tsb opened yet for this year make and model. opened a pwa case performed compression and leak down test passed . performed few test tech line required and came to a conclusion that engine replacement is not approved, knock sensor was approved under warranty vehicle will be shipped with no dcts over 2 drive cycles of 10 miles" Two notes: (1) it appears that the manufacturer informed dealership that it would not approve replacing the engine, despite the engine being under warranty, because no recall has yet been issued on the 2018 model year. (2) the dealership say they performed 2 drive cycles, each of at least 10 miles. This was not done, as shown on the mileage in/out readings on the attached invoice (see attached document, "06 - 2022-01-12 - Kia Carson - Invoice"). Attached are 8 documents for all the documents I have related to this problem: (1) NHTSA - Vehicle Complaint - 11446088 - 2022-01-03 (2) Kia Product Improvement Campaign Letter - 2021-11-16 (3) 01 - 2021-12-04 - Kia Carson - Workorder (4) 02 - 2021-12-04 - Kia Carson - Invoice (5) 03 - 2021-12-07 - Kia Carson - Workorder (6) 04 - 2021-12-07 - Kia Carson - Invoice (7) 05 - 2021-12-18 - Kia Carson - Workorder (8) 06 - 2022-01-12 - Kia Carson - Invoice Answers to questions above: (1) not available for inspection. I no longer possess vehicle (2) see complaint 11446088 (3) dealer confirmed problem, see 2022-01-12 invoice (4) yes, see 2022-01-12 invoice (5) see complaint 11446088
The contact's daughter-in-law owns a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. The oil warning light illuminated, and the contact's husband poured oil into the oil reservoir. The vehicle was towed to the contact's daughter-in-law's residence. An u…
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The contact's daughter-in-law owns a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. The oil warning light illuminated, and the contact's husband poured oil into the oil reservoir. The vehicle was towed to the contact's daughter-in-law's residence. An unknown dealer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The vehicle was diagnosed by two independent mechanics with engine damage and connecting rod failure, which punctured the engine block. The engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that they had issued a Product Improvement Campaign for the engine in November 2020; however, they did not have the contact's daughter-in-law's address. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
Official recalls
122V031000 · 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
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.
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