2020 Kia Soul

THE TRANSMISSION HAS FAILED TWICE IN THIS 2020 KIA SOUL, ONCE AT 4K MILES AND AGAIN WITH A NEW TRANSMISSION AT 12K MILES. TWICE WITHIN 18 MONTHS. EACH TIME DRIVING ON I-10 EXPRESSWAY NEAR PENSACOLA, FLORIDA WHEN ENGINE STARTS DECELERATING AND CAN NOT ACCELERATE UNTIL THE POINT WHERE THE ENGINE STARTS WHINING AND THE CAR IS BASICALLY COASTING AT 10-15 MPH.

JUST PRIOR TO CHRISTMAS OF 2020 WAS THE FIRST TIME MY TRANSMISSION WENT OUT. THE CAR WAS NOT EVEN A YEAR OUT FROM PURCHASE AND HAD LESS THAN 15,000 MILES ON IT. THEY TOLD ME THAT 'THERE'S A BAD ONE NOW AND THEN'. THEY SAID THEY HAD FIXED IT. TODAY WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY THE RPM STARTED FLUCTUATING AND SURGING EVEN WHEN I WASN'T PUSHING ON THE GAS. THE CAR THEN WOULD NOT SPEED UP WHEN I GAVE IT GAS TO KEEP UP WITH TRAFFIC FLOW. THE ENGINE WOULD REV UP BUT THE CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AND CONTINUED TO SLOW. IT SLOWED SO MUCH THAT I WAS BARELY MOVING ON THE HIGHWAY. I COULD NOT CHANGE LANES BECAUSE I WAS IN THE FAR LANE AND IF I ATTEMPTED TO GET OVER I WOULD HAVE BEEN HIT BY THE CARS PASSING. THIS WAS DURING RUSH HOUR I'M A MAJOR CITY. LUCKILY THERE WAS AN EXIT TO THE LEFT I WAS ABLE TO STEER OFF TO GET OFF HIGHWAY. I ATTEMPTED TO GET OFF THE ROAD AND THE CAR COMPLETELY STOPPED ON THE EXIT RAMP IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC. I WAS STUCK AND COULDN'T MOVE OUT OF THE WAY. I HAD TO CALL LAW ENFORCEMENT WHO CLOSED THE RAMP LANE UNTIL I COULD BE TOWED. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THE TRANSMISSION HAS GONE OUT IN MY 'NEW' CAR THAT I BOUGHT IN ORDER TO HAVE A MORE RELIABLE VEHICLE. I'M SERIOUSLY REGRETTING RID OF MY OLD VEHICLE. I SHOULD HAVE JUST FIXED IT. THIS HAS BEEN THE WORST PURCHASE OF MY LIFE. I HAVE BEEN SO AFRAID BOTH TIMES THIS CAR HAS BROKEN DOWN, BOTH TIMES ON THE HIGHWAY. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE THAT COULD GET SOMEONE KILLED.

MY 2020 SOUL WAS NOT EVEN 1 YEAR OLD WITH APPROX. 12,000 MILES WHEN I WAS TAKING A TRIP FROM STL MY HOME TO COLORADO. 5 HOURS OUT IN LAWRENCE KANSAS AT 12:15 AM MY SOUL BEGAN SHAKING, WITH RPM'S ACTING WEIRD WHEN I WOULD PRESS GAS PEDDLES RPM'S WOULD REV UP TO THE VERY TOP AND CAR WOULD NOT GO. I WAS APPROACHING A TOLL BOOTH AND WHEN I GOT MY TICKET AND TRIED TO MOVE THE CAR WAS OBVIOUSLY HAVING TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS. I PULLED ONTO SIDE OF HIGHWAY AND CALLED ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE AND WAS ON HOLD FOR ABOUT 1 HOURS WHEN I NOTICED VIA THE KIA APP THAT ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE COULD BE REACHED BY THE NAVIGATION UNIT. I HIT ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE AND A WOMEN ANSWERED WITHIN A FEW MINUTES. SHE SEEMED EXTREMELY CONFUSED HOW TO DO HER JOB. SHE ASKED ME LOCATION, MY NAME, AND OTHER INFO SEVERAL TIMES. THE CALL WAS ABOUT 30 MINUTES WHEN SHE FINALLY SAID ASSISTANCE WOULD BE ON THE WAY. I RECEIVED 3 TEXT MESSAGES OVER THE NEXT 1 STATING SORRY FOR INCONVENIENCE WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO GET A SERVICE PROVIDER. WHILE WAITING I OBVIOUSLY GOOGLED AND SAW MAY STORIES ABOUT 2020 KIA SOUL TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS. IT WAS NOW ABOUT 6:00AM AND A STATE TROOPER CAME AND SAID I DON'T THINK ANYONE IS COMING AND I WAS EXHAUSTED, STARVING, AND NEEDED TO DESPERATELY USE THE RESTROOM. HE CALLED AND GOT ME A TOW TRUCK. I PAID $179.00 AND TOWED MY CAR TO DEALERSHIP IN LAWRENCE KANSAS. I THEN CHECKED INTO HOTEL WHICH WAS $125.00 AND RESTED WHILE I WAITED FOR THEM TO CALL. THAT AFTERNOON AROUND NOON THEY CALLED AND SAID MY BASICALLY NEW CAR NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION.

I WAS ON A TWO-HOUR DRIVE WHEN THE CAR STARTED MAKING ODD NOISES AND THE AUTOMATIC GEARS DID NOT SEEM TO BE SYNCING/SHIFTING CORRECTLY WITH MY ACCELERATION. I HAD TO PULL OVER OFF THE HIGHWAY SEVERAL TIMES. THEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. THAT'S WHEN IT STARTED TO GET REALLY BAD. I WAS OVER AN HOUR AWAY FROM HOME DRIVING UP TO A COURTHOUSE TO FILE A PETITION THAT WAS ON A DEADLINE. SO I CALLED THE LOCAL KIA DEALERSHIP AND EXPLAINED WHAT WAS HAPPENING. I ASKED THEM IF IT WAS SAFE TO KEEP DRIVING AND WHETHER THE ENGINE WAS GOING TO BLOW UP. THE MAN WITH WHOM I SPOKE SAID HE KNEW WHAT WAS PROBABLY WRONG WITH THE CAR BECAUSE IT WAS NOT "UNCOMMON" BUT HE COULD NOT TELL ME ANY DETAILS BECAUSE OF THE "WARRANTY." HOWEVER, HE SAID I WAS SAFE TO KEEP DRIVING. I WAS NOT, IN FACT, SAFE TO KEEP DRIVING. THE TRANSMISSION DIED WHEN I WAS GOING 75MPH ON THE HIGHWAY. THE CAR IS NOW IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT THE KIA DEALERSHIP IN BURLINGTON, NC, WAITING FOR A NEW TRANSMISSION THAT IS NOW ON BACKORDER. THIS WAS A BRAND NEW CAR, AND IT LITERALLY ALMOST KILLED ME. THE MAN AT THE SERVICE BARELY BATTED AN EYE. YOU WOULD THINK I WAS GETTING MY OIL CHANGED. I COULD NOT BELIEVE HOW MATTER-OF-FACT HE WAS WHEN HE DESCRIBED HOW "COMMON" THIS PROBLEM IS IN THE NEW KIAS. THIS SHOULD NOT EVER BE A "COMMON PROBLEM" FOR ANY BRAND NEW VEHICLE. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING AND COMPLETELY DISTURBING. I DON'T EVEN HAVE ANY PAPERWORK ON THIS. THE DEALERSHIP HAD ME PICKED UP BY ENTERPRISE AND GAVE ME LITERALLY NOTHING. I WILL BE CALLING THEM TOMORROW MORNING WHEN THEY OPEN TO REQUEST THIS DOCUMENTATION.

1-ON THREE DIFFERENT TIMES I PULLED OUT ONTO THE HIGHWAY TO GO AND MY CAR GOES INTO LIMP MODE NO POWER HOW MUCH YOU PUSH THE GAS PETAL THEM EVENTUALLY IT TAKES OFF AND GOES. CALLED THE DEALER WHERE I PURCHASED MY CAR AND THEY TOLD ME TO JUST DRIVE MY CAR IN SPORT MODE. I DON'T LIKE HAVING TO DRIVE MY CAR IN SPORT MODE THE RPM'S RUN HIGH AND IT USES MORE GAS. 2- MY FORWARD COLLISION ASSIST SYSTEM CAUSES MY DASH LIGHTS (COLLISION LIGHT, ABS LIGHT, TRACTION CONTROL LIGHTS COME ON AND AGAIN WENT BACK TO KIA AND THEY BASICALLY TOLD ME UNTIL THEY CAN DUPLICATE IT THEY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO CALL KIA ABOUT. 3- MY GAS HAND LIES AT TIMES I CAN FILL MY CAR UP AND THE HAND GOES TO HALF A TANK AND TAKES HRS TO A DAY OR TWO FOR THE HAND TO MOVE TO FULL. 4-JUST RECENTLY IN A WALMART PARKING LOT MY CAR JUST SHUT OF AS IF I TURNED THE KEY OFF AGAIN MY DEALER SAID IF THE CAN'T DUPLICATE IT THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. I DON'T FEEL SAFE DRIVING MY CAR SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE I WONDER IF ANYONE ELSE IS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING OVER 5 MONTHS WITH THE LAST EPISODE ON JAN.6,2021

AT 10K MILES THE VEHICLE SHUT OFF MULTIPLE TIMES WITH NO WARNING OR DUMMY LIGHTS RIGHT AFTER I SLOWED AND MADE A TURN. OIL CHANGE WAS SCHEDULED FOR THE FOLLOWING WEEK. TOOK VEHICLE IN AND WAS ALMOST OUT OF OIL. AT 13,400 MILES VEHICLE STARTED MAKING LOUD TICKING NOISE AND WAS NOT PROPERLY ACCELERATING. EACH TIME I HAD SLOWED TO MAKE A TURN AND WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE, THE RPM WOULD GO UP, BUT THE VEHICLE DID NOT GO AS IF IT WAS IN NEUTRAL. TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID THERE WAS NO OIL ON THE DIPSTICK. THEY STARTED AN OIL CONSUMPTION TEST AND SAID THE ACCELERATION ISSUE WAS DUE TO LACK OF OIL. 5 DAYS AND 200 MILES LATER I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP BECAUSE IT WAS MAKING THE LOUD NOISE AGAIN FROM THE ENGINE AND ALSO NOT ACCELERATING PROPERLY. THEY TEST DROVE IT AND SAID THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG AND TO COME BACK IN 300 MORE MILES. THIS VEHICLE IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE 300 MORE MILES DUE TO THE ACCELERATION ISSUES. I CALLED KIA CORPORATE AND THEY SAID THE DEALERSHIP KNOWS BEST. I AM FEARFUL OF DRIVING IT BECAUSE IT HAS ALREADY ALMOST CAUSED AN ACCIDENT ONCE.

I STARTED EXPERIENCING SLIPPING UNDER THE 9K MILEAGE MARK WHILE ACCELERATING. RECENTLY AROUND 25K, WHILE GETTING AN OIL CHANGE, THE DEALERSHIP SAID THERE WAS AN UPDATE REQUIRED FOR THE TRANSMISSION THAT NEEDED TO BE LOADED TO THE COMPUTER. ABOUT 300 MILES AFTER THAT UPDATE, WHILE IN PARK, MY ENGINE SHUT OFF, FOLLOWED BY THE ENGINE LIGHT COMING ON, THEN THE OIL LIGHT AND THE BATTERY LIGHT. THIS HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES RECENTLY IN SEVERAL WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND AFTER SEVERAL DIFFERENT PREVIOUS DRIVING DISTANCES. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY WERE UNABLE TO RECREATE THE ISSUE. I BROUGHT IT BACK A FEW TIMES AND I RECREATED THE ISSUE AND THEY DOCUMENTED IT, BUT THEY WERE UNABLE TO GET A TECH TO COME OUT AND READ THE CODES. I BROUGHT IT BACK AGAIN AND THEY WERE STILL UNABLE TO LOCATE ANY ISSUES. I ASKED IF THEY HAD CHECKED THE TRANSMISSION, BUT THEY SAID THAT THEY HAD NOT. I RECEIVED A LETTER IN THE MAIL FROM KIA SAYING THAT THERE WAS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND THAT IF IT WAS TURNING OFF THE ENGINE THAT IT MAY NEED REPLACING. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND LET THEM KNOW THAT I WANTED THEM TO VERIFY THERE WEREN'T SHAVINGS IN THE TRANSMISSION AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE DIAGNOSTICS RUN. THEY SAID TO BRING IT BACK IN AND THEY WOULD HAVE THEIR TECHS RUN MORE TESTS. I AM STILL WAITING TO FIND OUT THE ISSUE.