2022 Kia Soul: What to check before buying

Oil disappears between changes, often with no low-oil warning, and the engine then rattles, runs rough, loses power, or stalls in traffic and on highways. Dealers document stuck oil control rings and repeated failed oil consumption tests, and several cars end up needing a full engine replacement. Timing damage follows oil starvation, including a failed timing chain tensioner and camshaft timing codes. Some owners also report stalling with white smoke while auto start-stop is on. Warranty denials, sludge findings, and long waits without a loaner car come up often.

Engines burn oil, knock or rattle, and stall while driving. Some seize with smoke coming from the engine bay and have to be towed. Owners say the low oil warning light stays off even when the oil is quarts low. Most of these reports, though, are about waiting for a recall repair. Dealers say parts are unavailable and the remedy is on hold. Where work does happen, dealers replace engines, oil pumps, or spark plugs, and some owners are turned away because they have no maintenance receipts.

The IVT transmission fails early. The rpm swings, then all power is lost, leaving cars stuck in intersections and on highways between 4,300 and 10,734 miles. Dealers find metal shavings in the fluid, and some replacement transmissions fail again. These reports include two injuries. Other complaints describe stalling caused by timing faults linked to low oil, with failures returning after major timing repairs. Owners also report jerky, rubber-band deceleration that feels close to stalling, and engines that shut off on the interstate with smoke coming from the rear.

The car loses power and stalls, whether at highway speed or at a complete stop, and dealers often find no cause. ABS, traction control, and forward collision avoidance warning lights come on together and keep returning. Some stalls at a stop are tied to the start/stop feature. Other reports cover a broken CVVT pin that requires a new exhaust camshaft and CVVT assembly, a starter failing soon after an engine replacement, power windows that won't roll back up, and automatic emergency braking that grabs too early in reverse.

Acceleration lags and the rpm climbs while the car barely gains speed. Shifts come late and loud. Other reports describe chugging on the freeway with the car unable to go over 50 mph, a no-start, and rpm surges on deceleration in sport mode. Oil loss between changes and a humming air conditioner appear alongside these symptoms. In one case, a dealer will not perform recall service until an unresponsive ECU is replaced.

Airbags fail to deploy in crashes, and both complaints here are crash reports with three people injured in total. In a rear-end collision at a stop, the seat belts also fail to retract, and a front passenger needs stitches for a head injury. In a frontal impact at about 35 mph that totals the car, the driver reports neck and shoulder injuries. The two reports come at very different mileages, so no shared pattern shows.

Rodents chew through the main wire harness, twice in the same spot on one car, and the repair runs into the thousands. The owner suspects soy-based wire coating. The other report is not a steering fault. The car shuts down in drive with the battery, oil, and engine lights on, then restarts normally after being turned off and on. This repeats over several years while the dealer finds no cause, later progressing to shutdowns every 10 minutes.