2019 Kia Soul: What to check before buying

Heavy oil burning is the main pattern. Reports describe adding a quart every 500 miles, or one to two quarts a week, and some owners find almost no oil at a change with no warning light. Low oil leads to knocking, stalling, and sudden power loss, and some engines fail outright when the connecting rod bearings break apart. Burned oil is blamed for clogged catalytic converters. Four reports involve fire, usually after a burning smell or check engine light. Dealers often top off the oil and run consumption tests instead of repairing the engine.

Excessive oil burning shows up again here, with owners adding quarts every week and seeing no sign of a leak. The low oil pressure light comes on in some cases. Dealers run oil consumption tests and confirm the problem, then ask for oil change records instead of repairing the car. One report involves a fire on the highway. Heavy black smoke comes from under the hood and the brakes stop working before the car burns.

Airbags fail to deploy in serious crashes, including head-on, side-impact, and intersection collisions. Eight of these complaints involve a crash, and 11 injuries are reported. Occupants describe hitting the steering wheel or windshield, with head, neck, chest, and back injuries, and several cars are totaled. In some reports the airbag warning light comes on and goes off at random before the crash, and one owner says the light stays on constantly. This is one of the most serious categories for this car.

The heater and A/C fan speed knob overheats. Reports describe a burning smell, smoke from the dash, a melted plug, and a blackened wiring harness, often after the fan only works between settings 3 and 4. Other reports describe the car shutting off while driving, failed alternators, and batteries that drain after a few days parked. One shutdown ends in a guardrail crash, and one report involves an engine fire. Owners also note the lack of a factory alarm, which makes the car easy to steal.

The brake pedal sinks to the floor and the car does not slow down. The problem comes and goes, and in one case it starts within the first 400 miles. Dealers replace the master cylinder, but the problem sometimes comes back. Two reports involve crashes with injuries, including a skid into the car ahead. Other reports describe ABS warning lights traced to a faulty HECU solenoid relay, and a car that creeps forward with the pedal fully pressed at stops.

The engine revs high but the car barely moves when the driver presses the gas, both from a stop and while driving. One owner says this hesitation happens in every drive mode. Other reports describe sudden vibration, power loss, misfires, and heavy oil burning that damages the catalytic converters, with one converter failing at 80k miles. One owner blames the dual-clutch transmission actuators. On the Soul EV, one report describes violent shaking and a failed transmission at about 73,000 miles.

A worn rubber coupling in the electric power steering makes the wheel go loose, vibrate, and knock. Reported repair estimates run from 650 to 1,500. In one report the power steering suddenly cuts out at speed after an alternator failure, and the driver nearly hits another car. Another describes a control arm coming off a front wheel on the freeway. Thieves also tear apart the steering column, and one car is stolen twice in a year.

The car suddenly loses power at highway speed and coasts to a stall or crawls along unable to go faster. One dealer finds fuel injectors stuck fully open at 37,754 miles. Another car will not go above 20 mph and shows a misfire code before an independent shop replaces the fuel system. A separate report describes badly corroded fuel tank straps found during an inspection.

The rear brake lights burn out again and again, and sometimes the whole tail light goes dark. One owner finds charred, melted bulb sockets around 50,000 miles after replacing the bulbs several times. Water also gets into the high-mounted stop lamp when driving in heavy rain. These failures leave following drivers with no warning when the car brakes.