Power Train Problems of Kia Motor Soul - part 2

2018 kia Soul gas pedal stopped working while driving on interstate 695. On April 7, 2024 my car displayed the following warning message on the dash while I was driving on the beltway. “transmission temp high please stop safely”. The warning light went off, but I took my car to the koons kia service on April 9, 2024. A few days later I was informed by the dealer that the transmission needed to be replaced and that the engine had sludge. I was later informed that the clutch actuator also needed to be replaced. The transmission was covered under warranty and koons kia allegedly did the repair. I picked my car up on April 17th. The very next day (April 18) the transmissions started making noise. I contacted the dealer on the 18th and reported the concern. They told me to bring the car back on Tuesday , April 23rd. At no time did anyone warn me of the potential safety issue. I do not know what the mechanics at koons kia did, but the car was worse and more dangerous after the repair. Unfortunately, on April 22,2024 while driving on interstate 695, my car started to lose power and suddenly slow down. Cars rushing by and my car would not accelerate when I applied the gas pedal. The warning message “ transmission temp high stop safely “ appeared again. I pulled over on the shoulder until the car cooled off. This time there was a smell along with it. When the car cooled off, I slowly drove the rest of the way with my hazard lights on. I contacted kia dealership, kia roadside assistance, and kia customer service. No one warned me of the extreme safety issue nor did they offer any assistance with getting me home or with getting car back to service department. My car is back at the dealership. But this is a major safety issue. The gas pedal stopped working without warning while I was on interstate 695 going well over 50mph. There were other cars zooming by. Very dangerous. I could have been hurt or someone else could have been hurt.

See all problems of the 2018 Kia Motor Soul 🔎.

The propulsion battery has so much degradation that when I drive on the freeway the "turtle" mode activated not allowing me to do freeway speeds with cars around me. It forced me to slow unsafely while cars were behind me, I had to react quickly to turn on my hazards and try to get the vehicle to speed up. If I was too slow or another driver was inattentive we would have been hit from behind by a vehicle going much faster.

See all problems of the 2016 Kia Motor Soul 🔎.

I had recently acquired my 2016 kia Soul from a used dealership, and as I had gotten it, inspected by a mechanic, the back rear brake was locked. The penrod was missing on one of them, and my driver side door lock was broken and I thought that was simple issues that could be repaired. You know that’s a used car whatever as I started driving it not even a month later I start feeling heavy acceleration when barely hitting the gas and trying to shift because it is a manual and loss of power on first and second gear, like it was going to stall out without even rubbing the rpms to get it to move. I did some research found out that there was multiple recalls on the catalytic converter and it’s causing a fire the ecus and also the antitheft system so I am a single mom. I work constantly and my only vehicle with 4kids, so a full month mark my oil light all of a sudden started coming on but flickering I pulled over there’s no smell of burning oil no leaks no high temp I checked my oil stick. It was fine a thick drip on it. I thought everything was fine, but the light still kept coming on and flickering when I would accelerate it would go off when I would decelerator push clutch in it would stay. I called kia dealer had it taken, did the recall orders on it but they told me they wouldnt do an oil check or do a code diagnostics for it unless I paid over $200 for just that diagnostics after they did all the recall orders I picked up the car over a day later. Started having misfires the car was driving worse then when I took it to the dealership, I would drive up hill I’d lose power. Shifting gears from 1-4 it sounds like the whole engine was shaking like it was gonna fall out of the car I called the dealership and told them what was goin on. They were really rude to me and told me an hour later it was throwing codes of misfires an again have to pay for it, they stated the oil an misfires werent their fault doin the recalls. Ecu an antitheft, I am worried for my kids safety!!!!!.

The contact owns a 2015 kia Soul. The contact stated that the vehicle began decelerating and vibrating while driving at approximately 40 mph. When attempting to accelerate forward and or switch lanes the vehicle would display a hesitation before completing the desired action check engine light illuminated. The vehicle began overheating causing smoke to come from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The vehicle stalled and lost complete power. The contact waited till the smoke dissipated and the vehicle cooled down before moving the vehicle to the side of the road. There were no injuries. No medical attention was needed. There was no police report was filed. The vehicle had been towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the catalytic converter and diagnosed the engine as failing. The engine needed to be replaced as well. The engine was not repaired and the vehicle was returned to the dealer who confirmed the diagnosis of the engine failing and needing to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 133,000.

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The vehicle started with what felt like the car was going gently slower and faster as if it was almost out of fuel but had a full tank. This happened a couple times and I had the dealership check it out but they were unable to recreated the problem. This progress to a more obvious gear shifting harder or not when it should. There are times where when I try to accelerate, it shutters and doesn't want to go. I just recently had an issue after stopping for gas, where it lost power all together and started to almost redline. I pulled off to the side of the road and made several attempts to get going again and it would rev up but was not giving any power to the wheels. I shut off the vehicle and let it sit for a for moments and turned it back on and tried again and was able to get moving again. It didn't act up again until a few days later when I was heading to work. It would have this gentle feeling of having power and loosing power on the highway. When I got off the highway and started to go after I stopped it shuttered hard and I took my foot off the gas and it stopped and I was able to go. This is all the same characteristics of the vehicles with this transmission that do have a recall. This recall needs to be extended!!.

See all problems of the 2020 Kia Motor Soul 🔎.

Transmission leaking after a long drive , fluids replaced in the transmission then car leaked out the fluid after driving the vehicle it doesn’t leak when at rest.

Dct transmission, actuators . Design flaw. Electrical problems.

See all problems of the 2019 Kia Motor Soul 🔎.

The vehicle experiences a complete loss of power when slowing to a stop before it powers off on its own. The car powers off while going down the road. The car experiences partial loss of power while on cruise control and the car will slow to nearly stopped. The immediate loss of power puts myself and others at risk as the car is now stopping unexpected on the highway. I have left numerous voicemails for service managers at the dealership it was purchased brand-new from 2 years ago. They have not reached out to me. I had an appointment at their dealership to have the car inspected to see if this was covered with my warranty and they explained my warranty was only 60k miles and my car is now at 65k miles. The car was shutting off and having power loss a week before the first indicator light came on, which was the engine light. The code pulled for that sensor was the p0171 sensor which measures air in the fuel system and it stated "bank 1 running lean". I have now taken the car to a local shop and they are advising there was no oil in the car and there are metal shards in the valves in the engine. Werner kia is the only shop that has ever worked on my car or changed the oil and they have not advised me of any oil leaks at all.

See all problems of the 2021 Kia Motor Soul 🔎.

Dear officer, I'm writing to report the powertrain and engine issue on my green kia Soul 2017 with a 1. 6l engine. The engine misfired when I was driving on interstate 26 with my whole family (including my wife, mom, and 4-year-old daughter). The speed was down first with no signal and then the car started to shake strongly. It was extremely dangerous as it would very likely have made a collision from the back. I was so scared after that. I couldn't imagine the consequences if the car crashed due to a sudden engine misfire on the interstate. Thank godness, we are blessed as there was an exit that led us to get off the interstate. After towing the car to the dealer for a full inspection, I was told to pay at least $6,600 to buy a new engine to fix this issue without a warranty. I do need your help on the engine issue. More importantly, I hope no more similar safety events happening to other drivers and their families. I greatly appreciate your immediate attention and response. Thank you very much. Sincerely, jingwei li.

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The contact owns a 2018 kia Soul. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to maintain oil pressure, causing engine failure. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to maintain power and would stall after being started. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The contact was made aware of NHTSA campaign number: 22v051000 (service brakes, hydraulic) however, the VIN nor the model vehicle was included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.

About several months ago the car was skipping. I was told it was a coil. I had it replaced. It then drove fine. Then in christmas day it started again and the engine light came on once again. I took it to a mechanic and he thought it was the plug for the coil. They changed it and it did it again. He said that with kia and Hyundai cars there is always problems like this. He said he fixed a kia with the same problem as mine about a week ago. As a matter of fact last week when I went to get the oil changed at another place before I took to them (the last place) there was another man in there who also described his car was doing the same. I was surprised when he said he had a kia Soul. That’s why I took it to this last mechanic who could do the work. He said it would cost me anywhere from three to five thousand dollars because the motor would need to be replaced. So apparently this is a problem with kia Soul motors. My car app said something about the trans. I can get the form of where the coil was fixed. I just got the call and have not picked it up yet.

In April 2023 I purchased a 2021 kia Soul. I had no issues at all with my used kia Soul. In Nov 2023 I was in an accident. I hit a deer and that did cause damage. My insurance company fixed it. I got my car back in Dec [xx], 2023 with approximately 96,000 miles on it. A few days later on my way to work. I entered the highway the car was running fine at 70mph then all of a sudden it lost power. . No power in the middle of the busy atlanta highway!! I was able to coast onto the shoulder. At that point I turned the car off. Turn the car back on to see if I was able to get it into drive. Unfortunately that didn’t work my car didn’t move at all. I had to call the tow company get it towed back down to the collision shop. Only for the collision shop to send it to a kia dealership. My car had been at the dealership for a few weeks. Today is February 8. I got the notice from my insurance company that the kia dealership said I had metal shavings inside of my transmission and fluid. How does that happen? then I decided to do some research and I noticed that this transmission is a problem. Not only a problem for people that are struggling with bills and finance charges but a problem with the manufacturing of this product. I’m not sure why there isn’t a recall on this transmission, if I was unable to get off of the highway I would have been hit. What is being done about this problem? to add injury to insult my 100,000 mile warranty isn’t any good because I’m the second owner of the car. I don’t understand how this isn’t a safety recall issue. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Had oil changed and noticed car was stalling. Went to get car checked out and there was no oil. Replaced oil and car still had the same issue. Was notified that there was an issue with these cars and burning oil. Engine was replaced but car still has issues.

The contact owns a 2021 kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The vehicle was later towed to the local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the transmission and the engine had failed, and both needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 21v259000 (engine). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 109,000.

The contact owned a 2012 kia Soul. The contact stated while stopped at an intersection, the vehicle independently accelerated while the contact's foot was on the brake pedal. The contact steered the vehicle to the left in an attempt to stop the acceleration and repeatedly depressed the brake pedal. Due to the failure, the contact hit a curb, a sidewalk post, and finally a retaining wall which stopped the acceleration. The sidewalk post was damaged due to the crash. The contact was unaware if any warning lights appeared on the instrument panel. The air bags did not deploy at any time during the failure. A woman was knocked over by the vehicle as a result of the failure. The woman sustained a cut to her right hand and suffered pain to the right side of her body. The woman was taken to the hospital by ambulance for treatment, her whereabouts remain unknown. The contact was treated at the scene by paramedics but did not need further medical assistance. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed from the scene to an independent mechanic and was deemed a total loss. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 99,700.

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Transmission issues. 10/27/23 the engine turned off on rt93 highway in massachusetts while in stop-and-go traffic. I put it in park, and restarted the car. It seems to accelerate fine, but is herky-jerky when slowing down. It has a rubber band effect, and threatens to stall at 22mph and 12mph when slowing down. The dealer's first appointment is 2 months out. I'll have to drive it until then. Hopefully they can update the software and change the transmission fluid. Web traffic says that "might" fix it. Super sad, love the car, but constantly stressed out when driving it.

See all problems of the 2022 Kia Motor Soul 🔎.

I put the car in park, and exited the car to do something, and it started to move forward on its own. I jumped back in the car and stepped on brakes, and shut the engine off. I was to the side of the car, so did not get injured. On a different occasion I was parking the car in the carport, and put the car into park. When I released the foot brake, the car started moving forward on its own again. I put on the brake, put the car into reverse to reverse to the parking spot, put the car into park and put the parking brake on. Others were around the car, but not directly in front of the car so no one was injured. The car has not been taken to the dealer yet for this issue, not has anyone inspected it for this problem. I have an appointment soon for an inspection by the dealer. These incidents happened without warning.

The engine is consuming motor oil in excess after conducting oil changes. If it goes unaddressed after oil changes, it causes the pins in the engine to not operate properly. This results in a check engine light requiring the owners to get another oil change prior to actually needing one. Kia motors is aware of this issue; however are only willing to replace the engine if it fails due to pins and not the excessive oil consumption if your mileage is over the 10 year/100,000 miles. Both issues are interrelated and the engine needs to be replaced regardless!.

See all problems of the 2014 Kia Motor Soul 🔎.

The contact owns a 2023 kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 23v531000 (power train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

See all problems of the 2023 Kia Motor Soul 🔎.

The contact owns a 2015 kia Soul. The contact stated that after a software update was completed, while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle went into safe mode. The battery warning light was illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 23v724000 (power train, electrical system) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The dealer informed the contact that the battery was on backorder. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and opened a case. The failure mileage was unknown. Parts distribution disconnect.

We were traveling on the freeway 70 mph surrounded by heavy traffic at night, the vehicle started surging and bucking, shaking violently. The rpm's swung wildly from 2000 to above 3500 and car started to decelerate quickly in heavy traffic. I was able to get the car into right lane but feared being rear ended due to speed falling abruptly. Even though accelerator was being depressed and engine running car would not go and loosing power fast. I was able to turn off at an exit and there was just enough enough power to make it up a slight hill and turn right onto a round-a-bout where the vehicle would no longer move, abruptly stopping the fast traffic behind and again fearing a rear end collision to us. The engine produced power but nothing going to wheels, it was as if vehicle was in neutral no matter where the shift selector was placed. The police helped to push us off the road into a parking lot.

Air bag new.

Oil consumption and catalytic converter clogging. My car burns through 5 liters of oil about every 1,000 miles. I've already had the catalytic converter replaced and my mechanic said it's from excessive oil leaking, and the only alternative to fix it is to replace the engine.

Excessive oil consumption, burning a quart of oil a week. Mechanic looked my car there aren't any oil leaks, said car is burning oil.

See all problems of the 2013 Kia Motor Soul 🔎.

Unresolved recall. The vehicle was under recall in 2019 and should not have been sold by jts kia in columbia, SC. The piston oil rings were affected in the 2019 recall and also caused an issue for the 2020 kia Souls. The car was sold under recall. Once the revised recall came out in 2021 jts kia did not properly resolved the issue and later the car engine overheated and caught fire. Jts kia never took responsibility and told the south carolina department of consumer affairs that the kia corporation will not honor any repairs. The car was no longer able to turn on and jts kia is still selling these dangerous cars that has had piston oil ring issues since 2010.

There is an active recall on 2016 kia catalytic converters. I was told my VIN is not included, even though I have this make and model. The car consistently struggled at 60 mph, and was driving rough at lower speeds, but randomly. I had to travel no more than 45-50 mph. This was dangerous since I was on the highway when the car started to struggle at 60 mph. Kia said my catalytic converter is clogged and not fixable, I needed a new one. The car only has 80k miles, I bought it certified from kia.

Approximately 30 miles into a trip, with mostly highway driving, the transmission failed completely. Stepping on the gas pedal caused the engine to roar but did not move the car. Unfortunately, this happened while I was driving eastbound on the san francisco bay bridge, causing a very dangerous situation. There was a slight downhill at that point, so I was able to coast, but eventually the car stopped. Once it stopped, I turned off the engine and restarted it and put the car in drive, but this did not enable me to move the car. I tried this a few times. This put me in great danger of being hit by other cars. Fortunately, the passenger was able to call 911 and a caltrans tow truck arrived soon and pushed my vehicle, first to the shoulder and then into a bridge parking facility between the eastbound and westbound lanes. Another fortunate thing was that the traffic was moving well below the speed limit.

The car stalled when coming to a stop and would not start for over 5 mins while on a major road. When the car finally started engine light started to flash and at a fast speed. Got the car home and noticed the oil leaking heavily. I have only had the car for 2 weeks so I took the car into the autocare shop for diagnoses and the code came back as code p1327. I was told the car must go to the kia dealership immediately and be towed.

Bought 2016 kia Soul one year ago (may 2022) with 79k miles. Feb 2023 engine light came on. Took it to kia service center & they reset it and told us to come back if light came back on. It did along with oil change light (June 2023, 92k miles). We were told it had no oil, it was consuming oil, sludge in motor and there was nothing they could do. Service mgr told us to check oil level regularly, top it off as needed and get regular oil changes and if/when it failed, then they would replace engine under new lawsuit settlement (extended warranty to 15yr/150k). We consulted another mechanic and he said it is faulty piston rings that caused oil consumption, that caused low oil and that ultimately caused possible sludge. Why aren't they fixing the problem instead of waiting until the engine fails? probably because they were waiting to see if your engine fails after 15yr/150k mile warranty expires. New lawsuit in the works regarding oil consumption because it's happening to a lot of kias.

I recently purchased this 2020 kia Soul at the end of April 2023. About 2 weeks ago while I was stopped for a red light in a busy intersection and the "restart" feature was engaged as I had the brake pedal pressed but then as the light turns green and I move my foot from brake to gas (that step is supposed to restart the engine) it did not start immediatley as it should have, which left me in the lane of traffic vulnerable to possible accidents until it restarted. It finally started after what seemed to be forever and embarassment caused by the restart failure. This event could have had a different outcome if the car wouldn't have restarted. I am taking the car to the dealer tomorrow to have it inspected. I wasn't that there was even a problem until this happened there were no warning lights. I also recieved a "voucher" in the mail to take with me to the dealer stating that my car is a high risk potential pre existing conditions with mechanical or electrical issues. I have only had this car less than 2 months and am already having issues with it. I think I'm regretting this purchase. There is also a sluggish gear shift in the transmission it does'nt seem to be working properly also an engine knock that wasn't there previously. It's not even due for the first oil change since purchase. Kia shoulkd get it together and stop duping unsuspecting naive first time car buyers like myself.

The contact owns a 2015 kia Soul. The contact stated that upon research, he noticed that the VIN was included in the NHTSA campaign number: 20v389000 (power train, electrical system) and 23v218000 (electrical system) however, the parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the parts were not available for the recall remedy. 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.

I was on the freeway, and the car was shuddering a bit before I lost the ability to accelerate. It would rev but no power to the wheels. Had to pull over and get towed to the dealer. I think it may be a transmission failure.

Bought this vehicle used with 32k miles. Have experienced a judder when accelerating since we purchased it. This a known issue with kia. I sent it to a dealership and they replaced a fuel injector and said that was the problem, it's not. Got the car back and it is still malfunctioning. This issue was reported on this vehicle previously when it was brand new. I need this issue fixed.

Three repeat incidents, a few months apart, introduced same hazard to passengers and others: end of year 2022 (date not remembered): car was stopped at stop sign at t-intersection to enter busy roadway. Break depressed. Engine rpms started high revving, and unexpected forward motion of car lurched into busy intersection - almost collision. April 2023 (two incidents in same month): 1. Car was at lighted intersection on state highway. Break depressed. Engine rpms started high revving (loudly noticed). Was familiar with condition so heavily leaned on break while rpms continued to climb. When intersection light turned green, break released, and car lunched forward. 2. Car traveling in heavy stop-and-go city traffic in downtown urban area. Break was momentarily depressed and held. Again, engine rpms regain to rev loudly. Pressed down on break harder and harder and could not control forward motion of car - almost bumped into car ahead of us. So, next put car in neutral and then in park then back in drive. Revving condition stopped. Made appointment with kia dealership 6/1/23 to address, but I think this might be a recall condition to report.

My experience: my transmission failed while driving at full speed on the highway. My car initially started balking, with rpms jumping between 2000 and 3000 rmps. Then, it revved high and rpms suddenly jumped into the red while the car was not propelling forward at any real speed. It was an extremely dangerous, scary situation in the rain, with an 18-wheeler right behind me. I am grateful to have made it to the dealer without having a crash. There were never any warning lamps and this happened out of the blue, without prior warning. Dealer report: "metal debris on speed sensor; transmission internal failure. Techline authorized transmission replacement. " transmission has been replaced.