2022 Kia Seltos: What to check before buying

Oil drops between changes with no visible leak, smoke, or low-oil warning, sometimes by as much as 3 quarts. Engines then lose power, stall, or shut off at highway speed, during turns, and at red lights. Ticking or clicking noises are common. Some dealers find metal in the oil and call for a new engine. Several owners say coverage was denied because they lacked oil-change receipts or because the car had passed a recall inspection. Failures cluster around 44,000 to 54,000 miles, with others near 84,000.

Most of these reports are about delays, not new failures. Owners receive recall notices, then dealers tell them the recall is on hold, parts are unavailable, or the manufacturer has told them not to do the repair. Several owners say the wait has gone on too long. Where failures do occur, they include stalling at low speeds with the check engine light on, hesitation on hills, a quart of oil needed every 2 to 3 days, and white exhaust smoke with oil droplets. In some cases dealers diagnose failed piston rings and say the engine needs replacing.

Two problems dominate. The first is the dual-clutch transmission overheating in stop-and-go traffic. A warning tells the driver to pull over, and power can drop in busy traffic, sometimes within weeks of purchase. The second is heavy oil burning that continues after a recall inspection, along with knocking, smoke from the exhaust, gritty oil, and in some cases a seized engine. Repeated stalling, a coolant leak dealers could not locate, and a timing chain diagnosis also appear. Dealers often say they cannot find a fault.

Engines shut off at stoplights and during turns, and one owner describes a near collision while turning left. With Idle Stop & Go engaged, the engine can fail to restart when the driver presses the accelerator, showing a "Press Ignition Button" message. One fire report describes smoke, lost power and braking, then flames in the engine bay. Another car was found backed into a ditch with every warning light on. Smaller complaints cover an erratic instrument panel, stability control and lane keeping fault codes, and a horn that works only some of the time.

Airbags fail to deploy in frontal crashes. One report involves a collision with a deer at 55 mph and the other a crash that left the driver with a severe concussion. Both drivers were injured, and neither saw a warning beforehand. A separate report describes every safety warning light coming on at once while the power steering and air conditioning cut out and the shifter sometimes locks in park. A dealer repair did not stop it.