would you keep her?

Now that I got your attention, this is not about a wife,
truck or tractor, but rather a car. The backstory: In 2021
I bought a new Kia Soul Ex. Good price point, lots of
standard amenities and just a comfortable fun little car
to drive.

Last week at 8000 miles the automatic transmission needed
replacing. Kia honored the warranty and I already have the
vehicle back with a remanufactured transmission same model
as the one which failed. The tech said they have so many
failures that KIA rebuilds the old defective units. As far
as I know it is identical to the failed unit without
improvements. I have lost confidence in the car because I
see no reason for it not happening again. In addition this
model year is also prone to engine failure to what degree
I do not know. I am looking for your perspectives, knowing
there are bound to be some service techs lurking here with
inside information, how common is this in the auto
industry, was it a poor installation during the build or
have you had a similar experience with your vehicle, did
you stay or go?

No I would not if I could find another vehicle. Especially with winter coming on.

I've gotten rid of cars for a lot less reasons then that. I would get rid of it.

I would definitely check the online Kia owner's and Soul owner's forums to the see if there are repeat failures in the rebuilt transmissions or if they are good after that. If there are more failures then I would get rid of it.

Sell it while it's still alive!

Since it was a known warranty issue, who knows how good a job the tech did replacing it. Did he replace the converter, flush or replace the cooler? Good chance it was done as fast and cheap as possible.

Hmm. It's probably best to research the reliability of a vehicle before you buy it. Doing so afterwards is just going to give you a bad case of buyer's remorse.

If the reputation of your Kia is as bad as you say it is, the poor reliability is going to be reflected in its resale value. It may well be cheaper to keep her, if it's going to cost a lot to trade.

If you rely solely on internet post to assess the reliability of a vehicle, you'll probably think they're all junk. Every make and model has its shortfalls, and the folks who happen to get a lemon are the most vocal.

What I'm wondering is, why did you buy it in the first place?

I don't think I would push the panic button. If your concerned about more failures, I'd try to have it gone before the warranty runs out. Might as well ride out whatever's left on warranty. Trade it or sell just before it runs out. Maybe 1 month or 1000 miles short, in case the next guy has a buyer concern of no warrant at all.

Sell it fast, unless you like driving that fun little car back and forth to the shop.

I did a bunch of research before buying. I bought the 2021 model in December 2020, so little information was available about the 2020 model year which btw was the changeover year for the Soul. Previous years had really good reviews and that was the information available to me at the time. It is only now in hindsight that these 2020-2021 model issues are becoming apparent. So I bought the car based on really good reviews with the best information available in December 2020 on previous models.

I have it on good authority that Kias are through away cars and after so many miles you will be spending a lot on replacement parts.

You mention the price point; that reminds me that Kias seem to be unusually popular with our tenants. I doubt that's because of Kia's stellar reputation for reliability. Tenants rent their homes and lease their cars; they couldn't care less how long the car lasts after they turn it back in. All they care about is whether or not they can afford the lease payment. My point is that reliability may not be that important to the Kia brand, assuming their business model is to build cheap, disposable cars that are going to be leased for two years then scrapped.

Wow! I hate reading this!, my daughter drove her 2011 Soul 140,000 miles with only a timing belt and one set of brakes, never saw a shop for anything but maintenance, served her well until a lady totaled it running a stop sign last year. If youve lost confidence in it, its time to go, but good luck finding a replacement car, few to choose from, and absolutely no deals to be had.

There is a recall on some engines in Kias. Engine Lockup and some accidents. A whistle blower is involved. it may not involve your car, but check it out. Kia has come a long way from the early days, but there is still a ways to go. Selling for price point is a compromise. Jim

Everything is throw away now.

(quoted from post at 12:03:34 11/22/21) I have it on good authority that Kias are through away cars and after so many miles you will be spending a lot on replacement parts.

Click to expand...

I guess if you consider a car that still looks good at 10 years old, runs 150,000 miles with nothing but normal maintenance a "throwaway" we have a very different idea of the meaning of the word.

Back in the 1960's, 1970's and into the 1980's, 3 years and 50,000 miles your engine was shot, your transmission was shot, you could see the road through the floorboards... but those weren't throwaway cars...

If you like it or at least tolerate the car, keep it for now and then decide when the warranty is about to expire. Everybody makes a Friday afternoon or a Monday morning car. Several years ago, my wife rented a Toyota car with under 2,000 miles on it. While driving, the transmission completely failed and the rental company had to tow it back. You could buy a new one right now, but most dealerships have a huge markup over MSRP.

I had a warranty issue on a Hyundai Tuscon AWD at 3300 miles. The selling dealer said the issue was my fault. A different local Hyundai Dealer said that there was no way that I was the cause of the issue, he had seen it many times before and was willing to back me up. When I called Hyundai/Kia they said that they would only take the word of the selling dealer. I no longer own a Hyundai/Kia product and never will again.

What is it, the use of the term "price point"? Why not just "price"?

I finally understood the cool "spendy", but this......Leo

Gee, I hate to hear that, too. My son bought a Kia (don't remember the model, early 2,000 something age) that one went though three family members) hand-me-down) and made 180,000 miles before they scrapped it. Granted it was basically a wheelbarrow with seat belts, but it seemed to be quite reliable.

I thought cars were all assembled with robots. But I suppose the robot could be programmed to do inferior work on Friday afternoon.

(quoted from post at 15:07:55 11/22/21) What is it, the use of the term "price point"? Why not just "price"?

I finally understood the cool "spendy", but this......Leo

Click to expand...

Leo, maybe "Price point" is to show that you are savvy with marketing. I wonder about starting with "Hmmm", as if you are thinking before posting as if the one you are responding to didn't think before he did whatever he is posting about.

Leo, this car comes in about six different trim levels, so price point refers to
the same price in another car manufacture with the same amenities. The Price is
spread out depending at what point you want to cut off some options. It's just a
term but it points to a more apples to apples comparison between two similar
brands. Either word or term is fine with me, so Leo, what would you do?

The Ex trim level of this Kia Soul looks like the inside of a space capsule, they have come a long way!

I can tell you first hand on a LEMON . Just after Thanksgiving of 1977i bought a brand new 78 Ford F250 4X4 Snow patrol . I had a lot of commercial lots including the Ford Dealer. I needed it NOW . They did not have the truck i wanted , BUT a dealer 20+ miles away had a truck almost the way i wanted . SOOOoo they dealer traded . This was a thrusday evening and the sales manager and i took one of there trucks and went up to make the trade . At one time i had worked in that same building when it was another dealership . The truck was setting in my old four stales . Bob went in to do the paper work while i did a quick check on the truck , like all fluid levels kick the tires , make sure the plow went up and down right and left , and the GAS and lights . The 78's were the first with dual tanks and she had just short of 50 gallon capacity . When i turned on the key the gauge went full and the switch for the change over was on the Main , ok wonder what they are calling main and aux. so i flipped the switch and the gauge stayed on the full mark . HUMMM , in all my years in the dealerships not once did i ever see FULL tanks and If gas was added usually it was sorta Std. to put 8 gallons in let lone darn near 50 . So we will see how far it will go . This was all being done in a rush as oh wait we have a major storm moving in and it is now starting to come down big time . Bob comes out and said ok lets go is the truck ok ?????? well there MIGHT BE a problem as when have you EVER sold or shipped a ca of truck with a FULL tank of gas let lone two full tanks . We laughed and jumped i and out the door pulled around the building and stopped got out and locked in the hubs . Yea it was getting that bad . Left turn down the street another left turn and on to the four lane down to the next exit . To same some time i went straight instead of turning and going thru the small town and i went down past the fair grounds . Made another left past the state patrol post and just past the last entranceto the fair grounds the truck started acting like it was running out of gas and i flipped the switch and turned around to head back into town and fill that puppy up . we made it to the next entrance when she DIED . This is back in the days of NO CELL PHONES . I get out and open the hood when some guy in a V W stops and offer to help So he runs me into the Sohio station in town . I knew most of all there and they gave me a five gallon can full , the guy with the V W runs me back . I offer him ten for his trouble and he refuses . Go to put gas in and figured that i wold split it between both tanks Back tank takes a couple gallon before it is running on my boot , Ft tank takes about the same . I always have some sort of TOOLS on me after trying several times to get this truck to run i pulled the top of the carb off and she was not getting gas . SOOOO with the storm getting worse the truck does not run and it is 8:00 i walk up to the patrol post and have them radio down to my county post to have them call the dealer and get a wrecker coming . I then called the wife to have the owner of the dealership call me at the patrol post ( they had goofy rules about out going calls ) . SO will Bob is freezing in the DOA new truck and i am nice and warm waiting on hank to call he calls , i am Way past the HOT mark and i inform him what has happened and that Dick the service manger Don the parts manage and Kenny the head wrench had best be there when WE get there and NOBODY IS LEAVING till this truck RUNS TONIGHT . We get back to the dealership around 9:30 and they start on it and work on it and work on it and work on it . Now it will not even run long enough to make a lap around the building , it is NOW 4:30 AM and the snow is piling up i am and hour and a half BEHIND . Hank is still there and i tell Hank best get me the keys for the black one i have to get started NOW . So i took the black 250 that was a four speed and went plowing . Wish i had a bale counter on the clutch pedal . I got caught up around 11:30 and went back to see how they were coming . Dick tells me SHE IS DONE , i told him get in we are going for a ride and i am not going to be the one WALKING when it stops . Out of the dealership left turn down the big hill out to the gravel pit and turn around and start back . at the base of the hill is where it died . the look on Dicks face was priceless . Tow it back and all that day and into the night they worked on it . This small problem was crud in BOTh fuel tanks . I dove the black on for another day adding more scuff marks to the plow . got mine back swapping blades . It made it till the next Sunday when the next storm hit . This time the alt. went south . this was and all new alt. and bigger then the rest , to get me going once again the black truck was used for the alt. till they could get one in on a unit down . it ran another week when the trans went out with under a 1000 miles On the odometer as backing up really would take miles off . and this was just the beginning of the nightmare of the 78 F 250 with lots more to come , like 7 Alt. , 5 power steering pumps ,five traction loc rearends, two engines , and FIVE transmission . All in the first year not counting trans #6 that i built that one lasted 6 years . engine #3 i built , we dumped the 400 M and i dug thru my old stock of 385 parts ordered in some new parts and hand built a 460 and stuffed into it . way more power , lot better gas mileage . out of the first 12 months the truck was in the shop 7 i got to drive my 10218.36 truck five months . Back then they only had a 12000 mile or 12 month warranty. I have had two SUN KISSED FORD lemons .

Did you get the hamsters with it?

Stories like that are all too common with almost all new cars. That's why I won't buy a car made in the 21st century. My son bought a new Hyundai SUV a couple years ago and already you can hear main bearing noise in it. They are all competing to make the cheapest junk
they can.

(quoted from post at 20:58:34 11/22/21) The Ex trim level of this Kia Soul looks like the inside of a space capsule, they have come a long way!

Click to expand...

I would see what Carvana would give me for it.

If a good price, buy something else and then let carvana have it.
Before the word gets out that the 2021 models are branded as lemons.

Yea. You should have told that to my wife when she was stranded along side the road and had to call the rental company to come get her.
It wasn't all that long ago that Chrysler fired and had to rehire some workers who were drinking and smoking pot during their lunch breaks. Perhaps these people were the robot programmers.

The 2015 Kia's also seem to have had a lot of engine problems. My grand daughter recently bought a 2015 Soul from a nurse who no longer needed it last year because of nnalert travel restrictions and she was driving back to college the first Sunday night of last month from Perry, Ga. on I-75 in South Ga. and suddenly it went to sputtering and all that good stuff. She just happened to be close to the exit that went to her boyfriends home and she limped to his house and he took her on down to ABAC in Tifton. She called her parents and Monday morning her mother called the local Kia dealer and they said that it needed the computer updated. They wouldn't make an appointment but told her she would have to just get in line. Seems there is a recall on that problem but if no body complains they do not do it. I had to go to Tifton and trailer it back to Perry,(round trip was 307 miles from my house) and drop it off at the dealer. The whole repair/update took less than 20 minutes to do. If Kia had notified people this could have been done at owner's convenience and it would not have caused so much trouble for everyone.

With the used car market being strong I'd unload it.Before I buy a vehicle I call my friends at the salvage yard they know what goes bad,is problematic,lemons,etc,etc.Of course a brand new model they haven't gotten any in yet.They do have a contract with the IIHS that crash tests cars to buy the wrecked ones so they get some new ones.

I did get a quote from Carvana and the car is worth more today than it was a year
ago, that said I'll be giving back any profit when I trade it in On a new one as
those are equally inflated right now.

Hope you have better luck than I did with a 1991 Grand Caravan.
50k needed a factory rebuild tranny, 100k and 150k. After 3 trannys I sold it.
Should have sold it after the second. Not sure if Mopar ever got their trannys right.
I never bought another one. Had a similar story with daughter 1990 doge.

Mark,
I would ask my transmission man, that's been in business for about 50 years, his opinion.