This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
While driving at night, when the blinker is used, the headlights flicker and go out for a few seconds. Once you use the blinker once it will continue to do so for many minutes. This is incredibly unsafe. Upon research, it is a faulty wire that overheats the connector causing it become deformed. This is a safety issue and should be a recall asap.
Was driving down back country highway where there are no highway lights when my head lights would turn off for a few seconds and then back on a couple of times. Then when I thought it was okay to drive, anytime I would use my blinker, all of my interior would turn off and on. This never happened to me until recently. I wasn't hitting any bumps when it happened, just highway. I was driving my kids back home from a weekend trip so it's not like I was close to home either which made it worse. About a year ago I did have my headlight wiring worked on after my left headlight would randomly work and not work on days and it turned out to by my wire burned. Kia fixes that problem but this headlight flickering at night is extremely dangerous and after researching it looks like there are many others who have experienced the same scary scenario with no good outcome from Kia. Just to add as well, I've been recieving numerous calls from Kia before this trying to buy my car back because it is in 'high demand', but after this happened it has came across my mind that they are just trying to buy them back to prevent liability on their part for not putting a recall out on the problem before something happens to someone and/or their family.
The lights in my Kia Souls interior and exterior are flickering and going out completely sometimes. Very unsafe when I am already driving. Happens to my headlights and dash lights and interior roof lighting. It has also caused my lights to stay on sometimes and causes my battery to die. This has happened while the car is idle or driving or off completely when the doors are open.
At night headlights and dashboard goes or flickers while driving down the road. Other people got the same problem of it happening. We all get told that they can't make the problem happen so they can't fix it.
- Dwight, KS, USA
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Headlights flickered/ went out while driving at night on interstate. Had to break suddenly, rainy, had the wipers going, radio on, gps plugged in to auxiliary plug. 7pturned the nob on the steering column on /off, headlights came back on. Went to the next exit. Stopped at traffic stoplight, right blinker, foot on brake, took foot off brake to make right turn, made steering wheel turned to right, lights flickered again. Happened on 3-23-18 9:30pm. Took to my mechanic today 4-1-18 - tcb auto in dallas ga, battery fine, bulbs fine, fuses fine, 3 weeks ago had oil change, new tires. Could not diagnose it..advised me online many reports, even Kia doesn't know how to fix it, ifafter bulletin, no recalls yet...put in this report..
I bought my 2014 Kia Soul used with one previous owner. As I was driving home on the freeway after purchasing it my lights began to flicker. At times they would go out for a few moments. I had to pull over and have my husband drive in front of me with our other vehicle in fear the lights would go out and I wouldn't be able to see the road ahead. I could of been in a serious crash. Also came home to a dead battery one day because my lights which were off when I left the house randomly were on when I got home that night.
Right headlamp began flickering while driving. It has since failed completely. Bulbs have been changed and the issue persists. Does not matter if vehicle is in motion or driving. Approximately 65000 miles.
On 10/25/2017 while driving on the highway, my 2014 Kia Soul caught on fire - spontaneously and without warning (no apparent issues in operating the car, warning lights on the dash, etc.). two fellow motorists honked their horns and flashed their lights in an effort to signal me. The back windshield began to 'fog up' due to the heat/fire, and we immediately pulled off the highway. In an effort to escape this emergency, I along with my son, who was driving, immediately got out of the vehicle and moved a safe distance away before calling 911. At this point flames were coming from both underneath the vehicle and from the engine compartment. The car was soon engulfed in flames. Multiple fire engines responded to the scene in extinguishing the fire and securing the scene. The car was a complete loss (see pictures attached in the report). It is important to note that my 2014 Kia Soul was taken to a local Kia dealership between 10/17/2017 - 10/19/2017 for diagnostics due to lights (internal and on the dash) flickering and an abnormal sound. The dealership's service department replaced the battery, performed a safety inspection, but were unable to identify the flickering lights issue, nor were they able to identify the source of the abnormal sound although they did acknowledge its presence. The service department released the vehicle to me and advised me to drive the vehicle to see what happened. My car was brought home, parked, and not driven until the incident on 10/25/2017.
The headlamps began to flicker and then shut off. The lights would go out while driving the vehicle. After shutting off the car and all lights on the car, the lights continued to flicker occassional and frequently enough to drain the battery. Nothing I did would make the dash lights and flickering lights go out.
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. The contact stated that the headlamps began to flicker and then shut off. The failure occurred whenever a turn signal was in use. The contact would have to switch the headlamp switch on and off in order for the headlamps to illuminate. The rock river Ford dealer stated that there was no recall regarding the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 60,900.
Car randomly start vibrating, misfiring, and it would not increase in speed. It would be difficult to turn on from a cold start. The the engine failed, sent it out to the dealer to work on it under warranty, and we've had an open case since. Then recently my son was driving the car while in motion on its own the engine shut down while driving, making is highly unsafe to drive.
When making a turn of changing lanes when turn signal is set once it resets all lights turn off or high beams flash turn on/off and have to move or play with turn signal handle for the lights to turn one again. Note while driving on freeway and changing lanes at night I set the turn signal to change lanes and when it reset all lights turned off leaving me driving in the dark and my family safety was at high risk. Something is wrong with turn signal handle causing a short, note that some times instead of lights turning off the high beams flash on/off.
With headlights turned on. Headlights sometimes will not come on. Can happen to each headlight independently. Sometime going to high beam will make low beam come on when switched back to low beam. Seems to happen more when cold. This happens while sitting still or while moving. Vibration doesn't seem to make a difference. Lights do not flicker. The just won't come on. Lights have just gone off and will not come back on. Let sit they will come back on after turning light switch off for period of time.
The left headlight would work on and off. I had the dealer check it and they replaced the headlight on 12 Dec with a sylvania headlight bulb I provided. After a while the same issue happened again. On 13 Jan 17 they replaced the headlight again. This time with a Kia bulb.. same issue. I had more issues with the lights working sometimes and not working. The light went out again and I took it to the dealership again and this time they found a short. The problem happened when the vehicle was moving and also when it was stopped. Sometimes it would be working when I parked but would not work when I started the car back up again. It was amazing that the dealership didn't trouble shoot the issue the first time. They said the warranty was invalid after we changed the bulb with a non-Kia bulb. The dealership confirmed the first replacement bulb was compatible with the Kia Soul.
I bought my 2014 Kia Soul with 6 miles on it Nov 2013. I have had nothing but problem after problem with my headlights turning off when I use my turn signal or after using my turn signal. I have taken it to the dealership to have the same problem fixed. Finally big red sports & imports took a Kia Soul off their car lot (after my 3rd trip there & they still didn't have the part) to put a new part in my car to fix the problem. I still had problems with my head lights so I took my Kia to a different dealership. Now my car won't go into reverse at times, and while I'm "trying" to put it in reverse my automatic locks start locking an un-locking really fast. I have to turn my car off, and try to start all over so it will go into reverse. I have also already had to have the battery replaced. My worry is my safety when driving at night with my head lights wanting to work when they feel like it. Or if I get stranded somewhere because my car won't shift gears.
Taking a day trip to the crayola factory, we were 10 miles from our destination when we first smelled smoke then saw it coming in through the vents and from the front passenger corner of the vehicle. I first checked the gauges to see if it was over heated, nothing. Popped the hood and that's when we realized it was on fire. We raced to get the 2 small kids out of the vehicle as the flames were starting to over take the front hood. We were able to secure the kids and get far enough away from the vehicle but 3 minutes later the car was gutted. Nothing but metal left on the inside. We had no warning that something was wrong while driving the car, no engine light, no overheating - just smelled and then saw smoke. We were lucky we had a place to pull off on a busy highway. I was told by the police officer that I'm lucky that I turned off the car and opened the doors before the locks malfunctioned as he has seen in other Kia cars. My hope is that Kia can find the source of the fire and do a recall before anyone else is faced with this nightmare. I reported it to Kia via social media, but they seemed more concerned on how to take my pictures off rather than fix the issue. Updated 11/02/2017
The vehicle hit a tree at an unknown rate of speed. The seat belts functioned, and the air bags were deployed. The vehicle caught fire immediately or shortly thereafter. Two bystanders could not open the doors because the door locks were still engaged. They had to break the glass, manually unlock the doors, then open them - the doors functioned normally after unlocked. It is my understanding that the door locks were supposed to disengage when the airbags deployed - they did not.
While driving home at approximately 30 mph in my 7 month old Kia Soul, I started to smell smoke. All of sudden black smoke started pouring out of my air vents. I went to pull the vehicle over and the it completely locked up. I then went to open the drivers side door and flames were shooting into the car. I had to jump over the console to get out on the passenger side. My disabled daughter was in the back seat and I had a hard time getting her out because the automatic locks kept engaging. I did get her out and by then the entire front of the vehicle was on fire. A passerby stopped to help us and we drove a safe distance from the vehicle. As I called 911 to report the accident, I could hear my windows blowing out. It took the fire dept. 15 minutes to get there and by then the car was completely on fire. There was nothing left of it but the frame. I have written and called Kia to let them know of this incident. I also sent pictures of the car and a video of it burning. They are supposedly checking into it, but this happened on Feb. 6, 2015 and I have still not heard from them.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Irvington, AL, USA