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.
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 and towed my car to dealership in lawrence Kansas. I then checked into hotel which was $125 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 Kia. 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.
- Greeley, CO, USA
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Today while driving home. My 2020 Kia Soul hit 23000 miles. Shortly after as I was on highway on way home still. My vehicle started sputtering like bad gas. Then started jerking and rpms kept revving up even thou I wasnt pushing on gas any harder.about 27miles from home rpms shot up and car started slowing down. Quickly pulled over. So I put in park the shifted to drive again tried to give lil gas but car didnt move had to get towed home.
I stopped at stop sign and the car shut off and made a ding sound but radio never disconnected. Not the usual shut off this was different. Then it started but it made an unusual ding sound. Plus, sounds like the transmission is dragging it was a recall and I took the car back for maintenance and now it's doing same thing again plus this time it was whining for about 10 seconds while I was driving.
While exiting freeway, transmission failed to shift out of 5th gear (automatic transmission). After stopping at light, car failed to shift out of 5th gear. Pulled off road started and stopped car (hoping to reset transmission) tried to engage sport mode to manually shift and transmission indicated 5th gear and would not shift. Turned engine off and on again, shifted out of sport mode. Transmission seemed to engage into lower gear, but shifted back into 5th gear while climbing hill. Turned engine off and on again, pushed accelerator to the floor, transmission revved and managed to make it to the top of hill. Went through 2 stop lights and 1 stop sign (while watching for cross traffic). This was at 11:00pm with no traffic present. Pulled car into carport parking space. Again turned car off and on and was able to put into reverse and then drive with transmission engaging correctly. Very frightening! route from freeway to home is not a very safe area at night to just stop and wait for assistance.
The contact owns a 2020 Kia Soul. The contact stated that after stopping, the vehicle shifter was switched from reverse to the park position. While the driver was exiting, the vehicle erroneously drove forward and crashed into the carport poll. During the incident the contact was injured while attempting to reenter the vehicle and sustained bruising to the body and a right arm injury which required medical attention. A police was report was taken at the scene. The local dealer Kia of sandusky location 7515 Milan rd, sandusky, oh 44870 was notified of the incident. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 3,000.
When I was in the middle of driving on a back road in doswell, va, after making a turn, the RPM meter shot up to 4,000 but I was only going 15 mph. As I tried accelerating the RPM meter kept shooting up even higher than necessary and the engine was making a very loud noise like I was driving 85 mph. I had the car towed and taken to Kia where they said they have to replace the entire transmission. I bought this car two months ago and it only has 1,900 miles. It has been in the shop for a week now and Kia has been very unhelpful in this process and have been very poor with communication about my vehicle. When I called this morning, the technician said he currently has 20 more Kia Souls in the shop that need new transmissions and he doesn't know when I'll have my car back. I don't plan on buying from Kia in the future.
2020 Kia Soul purchased in March of 2020. Vehicle started to develop a mild "ticking" noise from the engine compartment that progressively became worse and worse at the end of October 2020. On 10/11/2020, the vehicle developed a considerable grinding/clicking noise from the engine compartment, but was still drivable. We were stopped at a stoplight that afternoon when the vehicle attempted to lurch forward, but was stopped by the brakes being applied. The vehicle made a screeching noise very briefly, and died. Vehicle was not able to be restarted, and had to be pushed to a parking lot. On attempting to restart the vehicle a few minutes later, the engine turned over, made some very considerable grinding noises and shut off again. All dash indicator lights were illuminated. Kia roadside towed to a dealership, and I have not heard from them at all. I have called 2-3 times, and was only told today by a secretary that it appeared the vehicle needs a whole new motor. I still have not been directly communicated with by the service advisor. Had this failure occurred on the freeway at speeds, the end result could have been very different.
This 2020 Kia Soul has a cvt transmission. It has now failed twice with only 1400 or so miles on the car. The first failure occurred on the highway, approximately 100 miles from our home. The second occurred on streets by my house, directly by a school in a school zone. The car failed to drive multiple times, and the transmission failed. This is an unsafe vehicle and Kia will not even speak with me. The dealership will not assist either. The car was in the shop for 14 days, with only a loaner for 7, and now it is dead a short time later. This vehicle is unsafe to be driven. It was purchased new.
The contact owns a 2020 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving at 55 mph, the engine revved up and decelerated to 3 mph and stalled without warning. The contact and vehicle occupant struck the dashboard however, there were no reported injuries. The vehicle was towed to fuccillo Kia of greece (4321 w ridge rd, rochester, NY 14626, (585) 720-8000) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that there was metal shavings inside of the transmission. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted however, no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 2,300. The VIN was not available.
Traveling on garden state pkwy about 70 mph. Could feel the car "bucking". then the engine suddenly raced and revved to highest level.was able to pull off the road and turned engine off. Started but wouldn't go into gear. Restarted and was able to drive home. Kia had vehicle towed to the dealer. Have been told full transmission replacement necessary.
I went to start the vehicle up on March 2, 2020. I turned the ignition, car turned on and started to violently shake the entire vehicle. I turned it off, check oil level (it's a new vehicle and just had an oil change) oil level was good. I turned it on again, car went to 1.5 rpms, then died (0rpms). I took the key out, waited a while, and started it back up again. Turned on just fine, but this time with the check engine light on. Had Kia road side service tow it the following morning to hanlees in davis. I haven't been given much information as to what was wrong with the car. After 2 weeks of them trying to figure out what was going on, I got a call saying that Kia has authorized to drop a whole new engine in the vehicle and my car would be ready in a week. I called today, March 19, and they still haven't received the engine, so I'm still without a vehicle. I am moving across the us in a week from now, and have to cancel the move because my car is still not ready and the dealership will not ship my vehicle once it is finished. It has been almost a month, and I'm stuck in this lease for another 3.5 years.
Traveling on interstate 75mph, rpms started jumping up & down by 500 and a 10 minutes later the vehicle shifted down to second gear. This thrust us forward due to drastic loss of speed and the engine sounded like it was going to blow since the tachometer was red-lined at max rpms on the dial. I had to immediately cut out of my lane to avoid being rear-ended. The vehicle would not come out out of first gear after it shifted down to that. I had to drive to the next exit at 15 mph and went to a gas station. There I restarted the vehicle and drove around the parking lot and it would not come out of first gear. Had to have the vehicle towed to Kia and they called the next day to indicate it needed a new transmission. The vehicle had 4900 miles on it and I had bought it brand new. If the roads were slick or a vehicle was immediately behind us or we were attempting to pass another vehicle, this could have resulted in serious injury or death due to it dropping gear and causing us to rapidly lose speed while traveling on the interstate.
On February 27th 2020 I was heading to gainesville for surgery. Wow I had the cruise control on the RPM gauge started flipping. When I took it off cruise control the engine gear down and I could not get compression. My roadside service tow the vehicle to lake city Kia where it is setting right now awaiting a transmission replacement. I have two more trips to gainesville. I'm a veteran and I'm service. Of the gainesville va hospital. I'm in a rental right now until the car is fixed. My vehicle only had 18155 mi on it. What can be done?
Over the course of a week, I noticed the RPM fluttering on my dashboard. At first I thought nothing of this because it did not occur all of the time. However, it became increasingly more persistent. So I made an appointment with the dealership to see what the issue was, and I did not think that it was going to be a detrimental issue. I was on my way to an appointment an hour away from where I live, and I was on the highway going 65 mph. All of a sudden, the vehicle would not allow me to accelerate any longer. In fact, the mph decreased significantly until I was going 45 mph on the highway, which is a hazard in itself. Fortunately, there was a wide shoulder to my right, where I pulled off of the highway for safety. I tried to accelerate a little bit on the shoulder, but it continued to decline until it would not move at all. This was an extremely stressful situation due to being on the side of a busy highway where I could have easily been hit by a distracted driver and been killed. I called aaa, and waited on the side of the road for 30 minutes to be picked up so I could have my care towed to the dealership.
Rpms kept increasing to the red line for no apparent reason while driving on the highway. The vehicle would jerk and not have acceleration at higher speeds, the transmission would slip. The transmission would not always engage when accelerating from a stopped position, or when it did it would feel like the vehicle would drag as if something very heavy was tethered to it. At the same time the rpms would increase and decrease wildly without touching the accelerator. The vehicle was returned to the dealer who diagnosed "transmission slipping at higher rpms. Internal issue in the transmission. Per tech case #...' was authorized to replace the transmission assembly"
Bought the car 2-11 with 1200 miles on it drove it for 8 days then on 2-19 it started jumping and jerking and making some really bad sounds. On 2-21 it was so bad that I had it towed to battleground Kia because I was scared to drive it, they had it for 3 days and then on 2-24 called me to come get the car because they found nothing wrong with it. I had the car 1 day it started acting up again and then on 2-26 it was so bad that I drove it back to battleground Kia and made a mechanic drive the car with me in it, because I was scared to death to drive it anymore so we made it all of 1 block then he turned around and headed back to the shop. We came up on a 4 way stop and he gave it gas to go and the RPM's went to 6000 and the car did not go at all, then he gave it more gas and it started jumping and jerking and knocking so bad that when we got back to the dealership he immediately said the transmission has serious issues and put in the paper work to have a new transmission put in. We both decided that driving the car the way it was was very dangerous and not safe at all. There is a serious issue with the ivt transmission that Kia needs to recall, just hope the replacement transmission is not the same. At this point I'm in a rental car provided by Kia while I await my fate.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- O Fallon, MO, USA